Ram Sene to marry off dating couples 6 Feb 2009, 0237 hrs IST, TNN
BANGALORE: With `lasting love' as his mantra, Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik on Thursday said dating couples in Karnataka would be forced to tie the knot on Valentine's Day. ``Love is an emotional and bonding issue. I am not against love. But it should not be confined to one particular day, rather it should be expressed all through the year,'' Muthalik told reporters. Returning quickly to his agenda, he added: ``Valentine's Day is a Western concept and most often celebrated by Christians. We will try to stall the celebrations at any cost.'' The fuss over Valentine's Day celebration by the self-styled moral police now appears to be getting on Bangalore's nerves. Clearly unwilling to let themselves face a culture shock of sorts by spoilsports of the Sri Rama Sene who have threatened to ruin the celebrations, youth wings of many parties and student leaders have vowed to keep the city safe and peaceful on February 14. Progressive voices said they would take on the Sene and not allow them to intimidate students. Who are these people to decide what others should do, they asked. On its part, the ruling BJP said though Valentine's Day was not our culture, it would not oppose it. The government did not seem to have any new plan of action to counter Sene's threat. Valentine's Day paves the way for outraging the modesty of women, he claimed, adding that he has records to prove that 38 girls were raped in Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata last year on this day. To register their protest, the Sene would submit a memorandum to governor Rameshwar Thakur, CM B S Yeddyurappa, home minister V S Acharya and Bangalore police commissioner Shankar Bidari, urging a ban on Valentine's Day. Asked why the Sene was focusing on Valentine's Day, while rape, murders and exploitation of women is an everyday affair in the country, Muthalik said his organization was also working towards that issue. He claimed to have rehabilitated many women in distress. The Sene has been opposing Father's Day, Mother's Day and Friendship Day for the last decade, he said. On Wednesday afternoon, Rashtriya Hindu Sena chief Pramod Mutalik went into a huddle with his band of supporters and declared war on what he called "anti-Indian" practices. The Sene asked the government, heads of educational institutions and the police to discourage this "Christian practice of celebrating Valentine's Day''. THWARTING V-DAY * Sene to submit memorandum to government to ban celebrations * Write letters to colleges, hotels and greeting card shop owners not to promote V-Day on their premises * Ask colleges to take strict action against students who celebrate * In Bangalore, to protest before restaurants in prime areas promoting V-Day WEDDING MARCH * Tie-or-die is still the Sri Rama Sene's slogan — firming up plans to marry off dating couples, they said it will have to be either the knot or the rakhi * Sene has formed five teams comprising a number of members * They will roam around Bangalore, holding a video camera and a turmeric stub * On spotting young couples dating, they will be forced to tie the knot, not on the spot, but in a temple * The couples would be taken to a sub-registrar's office to solemnize the marriage * In case they are brothers and sisters, they will be forced to tie a rakhi * However, the Sene is silent on married couples. ``In that case we cannot do anything,'' Muthalik said ROSES AND THORNS Muthalik's response to Renuka Chowdhury's comments on his bachelorhood and ignorance of love: ``Being a bachelor does not mean that I do not know anything about love. I am born in a cultured family. I love my parents, sisters and brothers. I welcome her to Bangalore on February 14, as she intends to come here.'' However, he did not comment on whether he would accept a rose given by Renuka with sisterly affection, if she were to. DRESSING DOWN FOR GIRLS? Girls are free to wear anything they like. I have never commented about the dress code. On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 11:36 AM, damodar prasad <[email protected]>wrote: > Thus spake Pramod Muthalilk, the Sreeram Sena chief: > > http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=India&id=20d8220c-b24c-48ba-929e-feba3b2e72bd&ParentID=93bc7ba7-ccb6-4de0-bbc0-b2df3f996ccf&MatchID1=4922&TeamID1=4&TeamID2=2&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1244&PrimaryID=4922&Headline=People+need+us%2c+says+Muthalik > *What will these campaigns focus on? * > > We will oppose Velentine's Day. The method will be discussed today > (February 4, 2009). We will also take up cow slaughter. We will discuss more > such issues later in the day. > > *Why do you want to obstruct young men and women on V-Day?* > > It is not our culture. It is western culture and thrust upon us by > Christians. You cannot limit love to one day. Let me also tell you that > there's a big international conspiracy to mislead young men and women in our > country through these Days. It is not appropriate for members of the > Christian lobby to thrust their culture on us. Let me assure you that we > will not take law into our hands this time. Tomorrow (February 5), we will > meet the Chief Minister, the Governor and the Home Minister and other > people's representatives and request them to ban the celebrations on that > day. We will also request the heads of educational institutions and > restaurant owners to protect our own culture. In 2008, I remember that 17 > girls (college students) were raped on Valentine's Day in Karnataka. > > *Will you resort to Gandhigiri* *this time on V-Day?* > > It will be within the norms of a democratic system. *Gandhigiri *and those > means adopted by Bhagat Singh will be used to oppose V-Day. > ..... (and comes the final shot..) > > *I believe you are an admirer of Nathuram Ghodse and visit Pune on his > death anniversary every year*. > > He is my icon. He did nothing wrong. Whatever he did was to prevent the > partition of India. Yes, I am his admirer > On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 8:07 PM, renu ramanath <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Forwarding one more mail regarding the Mangalore violence from Rati >> Rao,President, AIPWA, Karnataka and Gandhimathi, General Secretary, AIPWA, >> Karnataka All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) . >> __________________________________________________________- >> >> Dear friends,Please join us in expressing solidarity against the Mangalore >> pub attack and forward this message.Gandhimathi Women's freedom, not >> 'pub culture,'is their target ! >> >> Around 40 goons of the 'Sri Ram Sene' entered a pub, assaulted people >> there, dragged women by the hair, molesting them and lifting up >> their blouses and skirts. They claimed to be righteous defenders of 'Indian >> morality,' incensed 'women boozing,' and 'pub culture.' Since these scenes >> came to people 's notice through national TV, there was widespread outrage, >> and after a delay of many days, finally, some of the perpetrators were >> arrested. The Chief of the Sri Ram Sene PV Muthalik, is yet to be booked for >> masterminding this assault though he has been taken into custody on some >> other charges. The ruling BJP and even the Sangh Parivar (RSS) has tried to >> distance itself from the Sri Ram Sene. >> >> Today, there are many attempts to turn the story upside down. The >> perpetrators are being painted as 'rescuers.' The targets of the assault - >> the women - are being projected as the villains. Their crime? They were >> spreading >> 'pub culture,' says CM Yeddyurappa, and 'pub culture,' 'boozing,' etc are >> 'against Indian culture.' The Chief Minister is echoing the words of >> Muthalik, the leader of the outfit that attacked women. The 'seer,' of the >> Udupi Pejawar >> math has also tacitly encouraged the attack, saying that if women provoke >> religious sensitivities by visiting pubs, it is natural for 'everybody to >> protest.' The State Women's Commission, instead of being concerned over >> women's >> rights, has recommended that the pub be closed! Even more shockingly, >> Nirmala Venkatesh, a representative of the National Women's Commission, has >> not only recommended closure of the pub; she has said that the Sri Ram Sena >> member she met in jail said they were 'provoked' by women 'dancing semi >> nude,' and women, in order to 'protect themselves,' ought not to wear such >> clothes! The Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss from the UPA Central >> Government, the AP CM YSR Reddy and the Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, both >> from the Congress, have all spoken >> against 'pub culture.' >> >> Is pub culture the real issue? >> >> Is the pub incident a sudden one that happened because innocent men were >> 'provoked,' by 'semi nude dancing,' and 'boozing,'? Have saffron Sangh >> Parivar outfits never attacked women before? Let us recollect some facts >> about events in Karnataka: >> >> On December 12, 2008, a college bus, on an official trip from Mangalore to >> Mysore, was stoned by the Bajrang Dal, an outfit of the sangh Parivar, a >> sister organization of the BJP that rules the state. Several students were >> injured. >> The Bajrang Dal defended the attack, saying that allowing Hindu girls >> to travel with fellow students, especially boys, who were Muslim or >> Christian, was 'against Indian culture.' (See The Hindu, Dec 12, 2008) >> >> Between July and September 2008, there were at least ten incidents >> recorded with the district police of attacks on young people in Dakshina >> Kannada district. The Bajrang Dal claimed responsibility for seven of these >> incidents which included assaults on a young woman who visited a friend >> (another young woman) from another community; on a group of friends >> including a Hindu girl with her Hindu and Muslim male friends at a hotel in >> Mangalore; a similar group of young friends who were laughing and talking >> loudly in a public place; a young woman with her Muslim fiance travelling in >> a bus; a young Hindu man who brought medicines for his Muslim friend who had >> been suffering from malaria; Muslim school boys carrying school bags of >> their classmates who were Hindu girls etc. According to the Bajrang Dal, >> socializing between communities was an 'immoral act.' The Bajrang Dal head >> of Dakshina Kannada district, Sudarshan Moodabidri, said 'Sometimes it >> becomes necessary to use force. Fear of such action should >> deter such misadventures. Girls reform themselves once they are thrashed >> and humiliated in public, but boys are tougher to control.' (See The Hindu, >> Sep 07, 2008) >> >> So, months before the pub attack, a prominent Sangh Parivar leader of >> Karnataka was openly defending his outfit's actions of 'thrashing and >> humiliating (women) in public.' Mr. Yeddyurappa: Why were Moodabidri and >> his goons not arrested? When women are 'thrashed and humiliated,' in pubs, >> you say you will close down pubs. When girls are thrashed in schools and >> colleges, it seems you will ban education for women?! >> >> The same Sangh Parivar in BJP-ruled Gujarat raped and massacred thousands >> of Muslims in 2002. Babu Bajrangi, a Bajrang Dal leader of Gujarat, boasts >> that he has 'rescued,' (abducted) 1000 Hindu women who had married >> Muslim men, persuading them no doubt through 'thrashing and humiliation,' >> to disown their inter-community marriages. Now, the same forces, with help >> from an obliging BJP government, are trying to turn Karnataka into Gujarat. >> Can we afford to allow them? >> >> It is a real shame that, instead of sharply challenging the communal >> fascist and anti-woman agenda of the Sangh Parivar and the BJP-ruled states, >> Congress leaders, as well as the UPA Government, and its institutions like >> the NCW, are busy blaming 'pub culture,' and women's choice of dress and >> lifestyle. Shame on NCW member Nirmala Venkatesh for echoing the patriarchal >> commandment that women are 'responsible for their own safety,' i.e, they are >> guilty even when they themselves are the victims of assaults! >> >> Sanghi Terrorism >> The Sene chief Muthalik has been giving speeches openly boasting of the >> Malegaon blasts and promising more of the same. There are also audio >> recordings, recovered by the Maharashtra ATS, of a retired Major boasting >> that the Mecca Masjid blasts too (for which innocent Muslim young men >> suffered brutal torture) were conducted by 'one of us.' By now, it is clear >> that the Malegaon blasts were the tip of the iceberg. The Sanghi terrorists >> had a gameplan of subverting the Indian constitution and democracy and >> establishing a 'Hindu Rashtra.' In such a Hindu Rashtra, needless to say, >> Muslims, Christians and other minorities will face the fate they did in >> Gujarat and Kandhamal (Orissa). And women can visualize life in such 'Hindu >> Rashtra,' by seeing the events in Karnataka for the past several months. >> >> Indian women have won their rights and freedoms to education, to choose >> partners of their choice; against child marriage; against being burnt for >> sati; to equality in the workplace through hard struggle: a struggle they >> have >> to fight daily. We will not surrender these rights to the diktats of the >> Sanghi terrorists, the saffron Taliban! Let us raise our voice loud and >> clear against the BJP regime in Karnataka and all other self-appointed >> custodians of >> 'morality.' Let us say 'the only morality we uphold is one which respects >> women's unfettered freedom, and rights to decide their own education, jobs, >> sexual preferences and partners, and lifestyle; on which abhors any attempts >> >> to poison the relationships between communities. >> >> Rati Rao, >> President, AIPWA, Karnataka >> Gandhimathi, >> General Secretary, AIPWA, >> Karnataka >> >> All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) >> >> ALL INDIA PROGRESSIVE WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION #14, RIYAZ BUILDING, >> BASAVANAGARA ROAD, HOODI, BANGALORE >> >> ------------------------------ >> Discover your phone style & WIN a Windows Mobile phone. Your style! Try >> it now! <http://www.whatsmyphonestyle.com/> >> >> > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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