CC_India

Corruption fuels conflict and itself reinforces corruption.
The political economies of conflict are non accountable
producing huge distortions and inequalities. Counter
insurgency strategies and the politics of pacification
and appeasement shovel wild money that spawns non
accountable patronage networks undermining democratic
institutions and transparent processes. Extortion
is rampant in these conflict affected areas. Women,
especially women without men, are rendered particularly
vulnerable in accessing basic needs and rights in
conditions of systemic corruption reinforced by insecurity
and militarisation. The CCs reflected a high degree
of cynicism and demoralised resignation at the widespread
and prevalent nature of corruption — which
taints everything, hollowing out the education system,
undermining land rights, access to jobs, welfare and
development schemes, compensation entitlements,
and even the soldiers food entitlements.
In Tripura and J&K the state setting its sight on national
security ‘bribes’ in the name of counter-insurgency and
pacification reinforcing patronage networks, distorting
development, corroding institutions and entrenching
non accountability. The women in an LoC village in
Poonch poignantly and succinctly captured the wastefulness
of badly designed and implemented facilities
which were so desperately in need such as a Public
Health Centre (PHC) with life saving facilities all locked
up beyond the reach of the pregnant women whose
lives and whose babies’ lives might be lost while struggling
to reach a distant hospital. All because as is the
way of ‘doing’ in the area, the local CO had promised
a ‘job’/bribe in the hurry to acquire land for the PHC
in time for a flashy inaugural with Sonia Gandhi which
then failed to deliver. In this model village a public toilet
had been built, a demand especially of the women. Who
decides where? The army’s favourites -this time it was
the sarpanch who wanted it as an adjunct to his house.
The last laugh was on him. There is no water.
In Tripura expressions like ‘middle men’ and ‘political
manipulation’ are used to convey the entrenched structures
of discrimination and disadvantage vis-à-vis the
tribals at the levels of governance, institutions (State
Women’s Commission) and accessing basic entitlements.
On the other side is the rampant extortion of
the militants, once accepted as ‘taxation’, now seen as
oppressively criminal. The nexus of politicians, business
and militants is based on corruption. The women
drew attention to the need to encourage independent
media agencies to investigate and publicise corruption
involved in land deeds, the links between insurgents/
corporate business and politicians and third parties and
corruption in the military which particularly hurts the
ordinary soldier.
In Odisha, the women in the resistance struggle are
well aware of reinforcing layers of corruption that has
brought POSCO to their land and the position of the
government as the protector of globalised corporate
interest and not of poor citizens. In Kandhamal, the
power of the Hindu caste majority corrupts, absolutely,
the law and order institutions that are suppose to protect
them. Police stand by while the most vulnerable
and marginalised are attacked, sexually tortured and
brutally killed.
No sector is aloof from the taint. The political economy
of militarisation as one woman summed up is ‘dukandari’
(business). Practices of impunity reinforce non
accountability. Corruption and patronage networks
thrive on non transparency. With the militarisation of
development, people perceive the army is as entangled
in day-to-day corruption of inviting tenders, awarding
‘favourites’, making ‘deals’. So inured are women and
men regarding corruption that you hear of the notion of
‘efficient corruption’ and ‘inefficient corruption’ — the
difference being bribes will be paid, but while some will
actually get the work done, others will just pocket the
money.
As a student in Jammu said — from the militants, they
expect nothing more or better, but the army is there for
ensuring the security of all citizens. So then why is it
oppressing innocents, corroding everything around it?
Running through these conversations is a deep sense of
being unequal citizens. And yet our conversations with
the women were also a strong reminder that when ‘all is
burning’ — it is the women who begin to rebuild broken
homes and broken lives. The images that stay are that
of women survivors resilient and strong like Reshma, so
proudly showing us a small homestead that she transformed
into a vegetable garden with a few fruit orchard
trees, a pucca roof that she waited 10 years to build
waiting for militancy to end, three buffaloes, a daughter
married, a son who migrated to Saudi Arabia for work,
a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. She is one of
the thousands of elected women in the local self governance
tier of the government. She is building a brighter,
hopefully more inclusive future — that is as long as the
ceasefire holds. She does not talk of peace.
52 UNEQUAL CITIZENS: Women’s Narratives of Resistance, Militarisation, Corruption and Security