Passing the buck is a fine art in the Indian political establishment. The home ministry, quite unable to answer the questions of
Ms Renuka Chowdhury, the minister of state for women and child welfare, and her delegation about the increase in crimes against women, neatly accused the victims of being in the wrong. The counter-questions, posed by the officials surrounding the home minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, were the epitome of pedestrian crudeness. Why women wear clothes that lure predators is a question with which victims of violence are painfully familiar. Equally familiar is the question as to why women should be out, unescorted, at night. These, of course, are not questions on the part of the ministry officials, but demands as well as moralistic accusations in disguise. They are unapologetically designed to suggest that in order to survive criminal violence, women must lead cloistered lives — step back into purdah perhaps. And women who do not follow these rules deserve what they get.

That Ms Chowdhury shot back with a couple of hard truths is heartening, but how far does it take the question? An almost 10 per cent increase in violence against women between 2003 and 2004 in just the official figures is truly alarming. The question that must be asked is whether the home ministry is just passing the buck because they are inefficient or is the collective attitude expressed by the officers the reason behind a total lack of political will to make a change? It may be shocking to find that government officials calmly ignore the constitutional rights of citizens — if they happen to be women — and condone criminal violence instead. But the real shock goes beyond the ugly incivilities; it lies in the exposure of the way men in responsible positions in 21st century India think about women.