1 of 2. A policeman uses a baton to disperse a demonstrator during a protest in front of India Gate in New Delhi December 23, 2012.

NEW DELHI | Mon Dec 24, 2012 2:24am EST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian authorities throttled movement in the heart of the capital on Monday, shutting roads and railway stations in a bid to restore law and order after police fought pitched battles with protesters enraged by the gang rape of a young woman.

In an unusual televised address, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for calm after the weekend clashes in New Delhi and vowed to punish the rapists for their "monstrous" crime.

Singh's government, often accused by critics of being out of touch with the aspirations of many Indians, has been caught off-guard by the depth of the popular outrage as protests have snowballed and spread to other cities. India is seen as one of the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman.

Instead of channeling the outrage, the government has found itself on the defensive over the use of force against the mostly student protesters in New Delhi and complaints that it has done little to create a safer environment for women.

The protests have been the biggest in the capital since 2011 demonstrations against corruption that rocked the government.

"As in much else, this government is clueless as to what India aspires to and demands," Mint newspaper said in an editorial.

Police barricaded roads leading to India Gate, an imposing Arc de Triomphe-style war memorial in the center of the city, that has become a hub of the protests by mostly college students. Many metro rail stations in fog-shrouded Delhi were also closed, crippling movement around the city of 16 million.

The 23-year-old victim of the December 16 attack, who was beaten, raped for almost an hour and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi, was still in a critical condition on respiratory support, doctors said.

In the weekend spasm of violent protests, police use batons, teargas and water cannon against demonstrators around the capital. Protests have also taken place in other Indian cities but they have been more peaceful.

"I appeal to all concerned citizens to maintain peace and calm. I assure you we will make all possible efforts to ensure security and safety of women in this country," Singh said in his televised address to the nation.

Singh has been under fire for remaining largely silent since the rape. He issued a statement for the first time on Sunday, a week after the crime. Sonia Gandhi, chief of the ruling Congress Party, has met some of the protesters to hear their demands.

Comments by political commentators, sociologists and protesters suggest the rape has tapped into a deep well of frustration that many Indians have over what they see as weak governance and poor leadership on social and economic issues.

"There is a huge amount of anger. People are deeply upset that despite so many incidents there has not been much response from the state and the government," said social activist Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research in Delhi.

SOCIAL MEDIA SITES DRIVE PROTESTS

New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures. A global poll by Thomson Reuters Foundation in June found that India was the worst place in the world to be a woman because of high rates of infanticide, child marriage and slavery.

Since last week's rape, the authorities have promised better police patrolling to ensure safety for women returning from work and entertainment districts, the installation of global positioning system devices on public transport vehicles, more buses at night, and fast-track courts for swift verdicts on cases of rape and sexual assaults.

But protesters view those measures as inadequate and are looking for the government to take a firmer stand on sexual assaults, most of which go unreported.

Opposition political parties, normally quick to exploit the government's vulnerabilities, have largely been sidelined in the protests, which have mostly been organized through social media networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

The protesters come from all walks of life but many are young and middle class with growing aspirations after a decade of rapid economic growth.

Noting the youth of the protesters, Mint newspaper said "the protests against the brutal assault is only a metaphor of their general dissatisfaction.

"The new India promises much but delivers little. There are no jobs to absorb the 12 million joining the workforce every year."

The protesters' focus has been on the rape case rather than on other grievances. They are demanding more steps from the authorities to ensure safety for women - particularly better policing - and some want the death penalty for those convicted.

(Additional reporting By Arup Roychoudhury and Satarupa Bhattacharjya, writing by Ross Colvin,; Editing by John Chalmers and Robert Birsel)

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1 of 5. Police use water cannons to disperse demonstrators near the presidential palace during a protest rally in New Delhi December 22, 2012. Indian police used batons, tear gas and water cannon to turn back thousands of people marching on the presidential palace on Saturday in intensifying protests against the gang-rape of a woman on the streets and on social media.

NEW DELHI | Sat Dec 22, 2012 6:23am EST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian police used batons, tear gas and water cannon to turn back thousands of people marching on the presidential palace on Saturday in intensifying protests against the gang-rape of a woman on the streets and on social media.

The 23-year-old victim is battling for her life in hospital after she was beaten, raped for almost an hour and thrown out of a moving bus on a busy New Delhi street last Sunday. Five people have been arrested.

The protesters, largely college students, are demanding the death penalty for the accused and safety assurances for women.

New Delhi, home to about 16 million people, has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities. Police figures show a rape is reported on average every 18 hours and some other form of sexual attack every 14 hours.

Appealing for calm, India's junior minister for home affairs, R.P.N. Singh, said the government had listened to the protesters.

"We have assured on the floor of the house and on every platform possible that strictest action will be taken against the accused. The police have been asked to show restraint but I want to tell boys and girls that breaking barriers will not help," Singh said.

But the protests are growing amid widespread media coverage.

"If Rahul Gandhi claims to be a youth icon then he should have been here, talking to protesters and taking up the issue of women's safety," one protester said.

Gandhi, the 42-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for most of its 65 years of independence, is widely seen as a future prime minister.

Marches, demonstrations and candlelight vigils have spread during the week to cities in states from the north of the country to the south.

In the northeastern state of Assam, hundreds of women and girls marched through the city of Guwahati on Friday, carrying placards and shouting "Hang Rapists" and "Stop Violence Against Women".

(Additional reporting by Anuja Jairam; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Author Salman Rushdie gestures during an interview with Reuters in central London, September 28, 2012.

MUMBAI | Tue Oct 9, 2012 9:55am EDT

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A film based on Salman Rushdie's novel "Midnight's Children" is set to be screened in India, its distributor said, a month after the movie's director said she feared "insecure politicians" could prevent it from being shown.

The film, which chronicles the story of an Indian family living through the tumultuous events from India's recent past including the partition in 1947 and 1970s state of emergency, features a voiceover by Rushdie.

The British author, who won the coveted Booker Prize for Midnight's Children in 1981, was forced to cancel a visit to a literature festival in his native India earlier this year after assassination threats were made against him.

Rushdie's 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses", which many Muslims deemed blasphemous, is banned in India, and his depiction of sensitive issues like former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's role during the Emergency in Midnight's Children had thrown the film's screening into doubt.

Director Deepa Mehta chose to film the movie in Sri Lanka instead of India, after her previous production in the country was hit by protests from right-wing Hindu groups.

But PVR Pictures, the distribution company that has acquired the film in India, does not expect any problems.

"We are not (expecting any trouble). We don't think the film is controversial," Kamal Gianchandani, PVR's president, told Reuters, adding that the film was expected to be released in India in December.

He declined to say whether Rushdie, who has promoted the movie at festivals such as Toronto and Telluride, would be in India to launch it there.

"If the censor board has a perspective, it will be respected," Gianchandani added. "Whatever is the law of the land will be followed in (its) entirety."

Last month, Mehta said she feared "insecure politicians" might derail the film's release plans in India.

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Henry Foy and Paul Casciato)

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