>The Shiv Sena sickens me at the best of time. I find their political >ideas and moral values so repugnant that ......
>The Shiv Sena is an urban phenomenon and so perhaps unaware that >most rapes in India occur in the villages. ..... That is our Indian culture. >... If the Shiv Sena represents 'Indian culture' >then I am proud to be Westernized. We should be scpetical of all the "SENAs" (Shiv Sena, Yuva Hindu Sena, Lachit Sena and others) who try to do everything in the name of defending the culture : Hindutwa in mainland India and Oxomiyatto in Assam. All Senas should be made outlaw and put to jail. Rajen Barua _______________________________________________ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chan Mahanta" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 10:27 AM Subject: [Assam] From the Sentinel > Proud to be Westernized! > Tavleen Singh > > When I am in Mumbai I live on Marine Drive within spitting distance > of the police cabin in which monster More raped a girl so young we > cannot tell you her name. Much horror has already been expressed > over a 16-year-old virgin being raped by a policeman in broad > daylight on Mumbai's busiest street so I am not going to go over > that ground again. Only somebody as monstrous as police constable > Sunil More would not be sickened by what he did. As far as I am > concerned the cruelest punishment is not cruel enough for men who > rape children. > > What worries me is that in all the expressions of horror and all the > protests that have followed the rape, nobody has noticed that the > obscenity law and (ironically) middle class morality are to blame > for what happened. In case you have forgotten, Maharashtra's > high-minded rulers have a proclivity for moral policing that > precedes the advent of Mr R.R. Patil. Even before Patil decided that > he was appointed Maharashtra's Home Minister to close down dance > bars, Mumbai's rulers gave policemen the right, under some vague > obscenity law, to arrest lovers who make the smallest gesture of > love in public places. In this column, a few years ago, I wrote about > a young couple having been arrested on Valentine's Day on Marine > Drive. The girl was from Manipur and her boyfriend a young student in > Mumbai. They arranged a Valentine's Day assignation and being too > poor to afford the luxury of a hotel room in this hideously > expensive city were sitting in a quiet corner of Marine Drive when > the police swooped down and hauled them in. > > > They were seated in a police van when I happened to walk by. The > girl had such an expression of terror on her face that I stopped to > ask the fat, leering policemen who sat by her why she was being > arrested. The leer deepened as one of them said, "They were breaking > the obscenity law. What are they doing here at this time of the > night". > > Luckily, I was with a Maharashtrian friend who intervened to point > out angrily that in a city where the police could not protect young > girls from rape what right did they have to arrest lovers. The > couple was released but middle class morality remains in place and > the man who was Police Commissioner at the time defended the arrest > of lovers on the grounds that it was not in keeping with 'Indian > culture' to express love in public. > > This time it is the Shiv Sena that has reminded us of that nebulous, > ill-defined thing we call 'Indian culture'. Saamna, Bal Thakeray's > mouthpiece, virtually absolved More of blame in a front page article > last week. Had pictures of semi-nude women not been found in his > cabin? Did this not mean that the poor creature was aroused? How can > men be blamed for their acts when women dress provocatively? > > "Those who argue that there is no connection between women and girls > wearing skimpy clothes and rape should keep the social structure in > mind. Besides rape, it is in the evil eye of men provoked by the > culture of skimpy clothes that is harmful. Why encourage these > perverse tendencies." Elsewhere, the article blamed 'page three > culture' for declining moral standards. > > The Shiv Sena sickens me at the best of time. I find their political > ideas and moral values so repugnant that I only comment on them when > they go too far like that time in September 2001 when they burned > down a Mumbai hospital because one of their workers died in it. If I > comment this time on their views it is because I believe that a > dangerously large number of middle class Indians unthinkingly > subscribe to them. > > The Shiv Sena is an urban phenomenon and so perhaps unaware that > most rapes in India occur in the villages. Most victims of rape are > Dalit and Adivasi women who are considered fair game by the upper > castes. That is our Indian culture. > > A favourite way for rural Indians to humiliate Dalits who get too > uppity is to strip their mothers, wives and sisters naked and parade > them through the streets. When this is not considered humiliation > enough rape follows. > > When a woman dares to go to a police station to report rape she is > often raped by the policemen. If the case ever comes to court the > rapists are usually acquitted. Remember Bhanwari Devi, the saathin > from Rajasthan who was gangraped by upper caste men because she was > trying to prevent child marriages? Remember what happened? The > rapists were acquitted because the judges did not believe upper > caste men would rape a low caste woman. Nearly eighty per cent of > rape cases result in acquittals. > > Most do not even get reported because, according to some statistics, > more than sixty per cent of rape cases in India occur within the > four walls of the family home, usually by a father, brother or uncle > and usually of a minor. Statistics from Delhi, our proud capital > city, a few years ago showed that 75 per cent of all rape cases were > of minors and 25 per cent were of girls under the age of twelve. > > Neither the village women who get raped, nor the little girls who > get raped in their homes, have anything to do with 'page three > culture'. They have everything to do with traditional Indian culture > and values. It was among the crowds who tore down the police cabin > on Marine Drive and protested for days in the streets that you saw > Westernized Indians. If the Shiv Sena represents 'Indian culture' > then I am proud to be Westernized. > _______________________________________________ > Assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam > > Mailing list FAQ: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html > To unsubscribe or change options: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam > _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [email protected] http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
