Tara Krishnaswamy

Cannes Gold+2 Silvers - social impact. Co-founder @politicalshakti, @citizensforblr. Politics/urban governance/gender/federalism/author. @[email protected]

[Tara Krishnaswamy @tarauk]

Send him this 1.5 mins to open his eyes.

[ThePrintIndia @ThePrintIndia]

Hathras case a small issue, woman was not gang-raped, says UP minister

https://t.co/IR1ltWdWYc

[Tara Krishnaswamy @tarauk]

Perfect way to exclude truly needy women + create black market

Only reason to do this is so GoK departments can do internal money transfers. Don't push your inter-dept challenges to people

Like Aadhaar, it'll create more problems than solves & ultimately be equally useless.

[ChristinMathewPhilip @ChristinMP_]

Karnataka Transport Minister @byrathi_suresh said govt will soon issue smart cards to women for free travel on state-run buses to streamline Shakti scheme. Around 3 crore smart cards are proposed to be distributed. Women will receive them free of cost while men can purchase rechargeable cards similar to Metro cards. A global tender has been floated for the production of the cards & a pilot rollout is expected soon.

Suresh said Congress government's Shakti scheme has significantly benefited women, with bus ridership increasing by 40% since its launch.

He assumed office at Vidhana Soudha on Monday & later reviewed the functioning of KSRTC, BMTC, KKRTC and NWKRTC with senior officials.

[DP SATISH @dp_satish]

The Chief Minister @CMofKarnataka @DKShivakumar reappoints Sunil Kanugolu as Chief Advisor to the CM with rank of a Cabinet Minister.

[Tara Krishnaswamy @tarauk]

@kingslyj @hydcitypolice I am told, Gujarat. The hotel brought up his earlier visit to the city from a decade earlier when he stayed elsewhere AND had a record of countries where his passport had been stamped. Ugliness beyond belief.

[Shantanu @shaandelhite]

Earlier, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge Ji had questioned the funding process of RSS. RSS called itself a “body of individuals”.

Now, after taking charge as Home Minister, he has asked the RSS to look for its documents & get registered.

Nightmare for ‘Body of individual’.😂

[Tara Krishnaswamy @tarauk]

No better recipient! Jean’s a saint.

[Rajendran Narayanan @rajendran_naray]

This is such a well deserved recognition. Jean is one of the really rare people for whom equality is not an end but an everyday practice. It's a proud moment for India & all those engaged in the pursuit of equality.

https://t.co/1Mt7FNV5i9

[Kannan Gopinathan @naukarshah]

TW: suicide, abuse, revenge porn

A story of multiple betrayals.

Over the past few months, I have gotten multiple requests of the same kind for some help with the police. The same nightmare. A boyfriend during the relationship asks for intimate photos or videos. She trusts him. She says yes because she believes in their bond. Not out of fear. Out of love.

Then they break up. Maybe he found someone else. Maybe she ended it. Within days or weeks, he messages , “I’ll leak your nudes to your college, your parents, your workplace.” Or worse, he actually uploads them. Telegram groups. Porn sites. WhatsApp forwards.

The first betrayal! Her life shatters overnight.

Then comes the second betrayal. Her family feels she betrayed them and they feel ashamed and embarrassed of her. Often blaming her for what has happened. One girl couldn’t eat for a week out of fear. Another dropped out of her college because screenshots were sent to her college groups. One tried suicide.

The third betrayal is the worst as even the state/police behave as if it is her own fault.

Yes, these women knew they were being filmed. They consented at the time, because they trusted the man they were in a relationship with. The crime is not the filming. The crime is the betrayal! Using trust and love and a moment's vulnerability as a weapon after the relationship ends.

Indian law under BNS 77 (IPC 354C) does have a clause that says that even if consent was given for filming, if distribution happens without consent, it is still an offense. But in practice, police officers don’t understand this. They see that she only filmed it, or that she agreed to it, and immediately blame the victim. It becomes even more embarrassing and difficult to visit the police stations for the complaint. Also the worry, what if the videos leak from the police itself!

The maximum punishment under 77 for first offense is weak - 1 to 3 years. But convictions are far too rare. Most cases never go to trial. The girls are too scared, ashamed, cursing themselves. The boyfriends know this. They threaten, blackmail, and destroy lives with near impunity.

A kind of psychological terrorism.

Compare this to how other countries treat the same act.

The UK has a dedicated intimate-image offence under the Online Safety Act 2023.

Canada gives up to 5 years.

The US has the TAKE IT DOWN Act making it a federal crime.

Japan has a dedicated Revenge Porn Law.

We are still using the voyeurism section that doesn’t fit at all here. Or the generic IT act sections.

What can we do?

We should immediately have a standalone law called “Prohibition of Non-Consensual Intimate Image Distribution” – with a minimum 3 years, maximum 10 years for aggravated cases (blackmail, wide sharing, suicide attempt).

More importantly, serious Police training to stop this victim-blaming. This is not her fault.

As it is now, neither the law nor the system recognizes it for what it is. A digital sexual abuse. Sexual violence carried out with a phone and a grudge.

That has to change.

[Sandhya Ramesh @sandygrains]

A male doctor raped a patient who was a young girl, so the government is yelling at a bunch of women doctors

[KR Balasubramanyam / Baloo @BalooET]

Karnataka CM @DKShivakumar made a refreshing beginning today by taking metro from Vidhana Soudha to Silk Institute on way to his constituency Kanakapura. He decided not to go by congested Kanakapura road as it would inconvenience citizens. @ETPolitics

[Joy @Joydas]

Nothing against CJP protest. Everyone has right to protest. But they are lucky to get kid treatment. This is Haryana. All over India, NSUI and IYC is protesting for same issues and getting lathi charged. You can support anyone but don’t say why is Opposition parties not on ground

[Tenzing Lamsang @TenzingLamsang]

Yes, what a great emergency.

It will take 160 years for India’s population to fall to 1 billion.

I think there are far more pressing issues like climate change, AI replacing jobs, income equality etc.

https://t.co/7knfN5i94U

[Tara Krishnaswamy @tarauk]

@itissubhasree Tamil pronunciation butchers the language. Not just ழ but the Ls, Ns, Rs, Ks, Ps … endless.

For all the political focus the language has received in decades, zero attempt to actually teach it properly.

TN could use Malayalis as teachers. Malayalis do a superb job.

[pamela philipose @pamelaphilipose]

Half the people who died in India in 2024 had no access to a health professional or health care. This is literally how the other half dies. This is one of the disturbing details that emerged from the Sample Registration System Statistical report. Do we even care?

[Archana K R / ಅರ್ಚನಾ ಕೆ ಆರ್ @archanakra]

Today we visited this place

Just 80 km from Bangalore,
1. Dalits are still denied entry into temples.

2. Dalits are not appointed as cooks in schools.

3. Youth with master's degrees are unemployed.

Do you know where is this?

Hint: it’s very close to our CM

@Stand4she

[Shashi Tharoor @ShashiTharoor]

Come on, @Ram_Guha, this is a bit much. What experience did Barack Obama, a first-term Senator from Illinois, have in world affairs when he became President of the most powerful country on earth, while it was caught up in multiple global issues? For that matter, how much international exposure did the CM of Gujarat have to manage India’s International relationships? @RahulGandhi has led a national party for a dozen years. He has extensive contacts with leaders around the world and no shortage of advisers inside and outside his party. No President or PM handles crises alone; that’s why he heads a government! I think it’s time to put this overblown controversy to rest.

[Prem Panicker @prempanicker]

Now this is bizarre, sorry. Without claiming credit for being a "hater" -- I question his politics, not the man -- it is a stretch to claim that I can trust Modi to handle a Gulf crisis (he demonstrably can't), China attack (huh? he failed) or other emergency (Covid came, and found him wanting). Argue that RG doesn't have experience -- that is a whole other thing -- but to suggest that Modi can be trusted to handle any sort of crisis, major or minor, when the record of 12 years demonstrates the opposite, is a reach too far.

[T M Krishna @tmkrishna]

Ok! another occasion of having to respond to an individual's comment. You are most welcome to hold your leader in high esteem but to say Tamil Nadu was waiting for 60 years for a leader to emerge is just absolute crap and disrespects all the work done by your predecessors. It insults not just them, but also the people of Tamil Nadu.
We expect better.

[CK രാഘവൻ @ck_raghavan]

Perspective on Nicobar issue.

RG took it upon himself to go there, meet people concerned & bring the issue to light.

No source of public discourse - Media, SM, Celebrities, Citizen orgs, NGOs care to even acknowledge the existence of it.

What a bubble the country lives in !!!

[Tara Krishnaswamy @tarauk]

@prannv99 @GSCQ1969 The question above is about specific Articles

[Tara Krishnaswamy @tarauk]

It’s a terrible law that ought to be repealed entirely.

Through paternalism, it infantilizes adult women, their agency and choices. It works against women as bona fide citizens with individual rights.

It is a kind of oppression that Love Jihad type laws ride on

[Rohini Singh @rohini_sgh]

A consensual relationship that did not end in marriage is not rape. If everyone starts getting jailed for ‘false promises’ then the entire political system will be behind bars…

[Tara Krishnaswamy @tarauk]

@GSCQ1969 @prannv99 what say?