I came across this story in the New York Times about girls being attacked in a college town in India for visiting a bar. That college town is ‘my’ college town so the story hits close to home and brings back memories of somehow being made to feel guilty because you got molested – “Well, why were you out after dark? Probably to meet your boyfriend. Heh heh” Even if that is the truth, how does that give anybody the right to molest a woman?
For all the globalization in India, the only progress seems to have happened there is in the consumer culture – there is more stuff to buy and fancier pubs to visit. The reverse logic of blaming women for the crimes committed against them and that of suppressing women continues. Rapists are not brought to justice, and most women are still scared of going to the police to report a crime. The political parties continue the ‘talibanization’ of the culture by recruiting a moral police – a way for insignificant men to feel powerful. Women drinking in a bar is against the 'culture', but, pray, tell me what kind of culture condones assaulting women? No wonder these men call themselves 'Lord Ram's army', the very same Ram who went to great lengths to rescue his wife from a kidnapper, and then denounced her and eventually abandoned her in a jungle while she was pregnant, because she had been with another man, namely, the kidnapper. It was all about Ram's honor - when rescuing his wife and when abandoning her. By the way another traditional name for Ram is 'Best among men'. Sigh. As Christopher Hitchens says – religion does poison everything.
Raising kids in a non-native environment while constantly worrying about striking the right balance.
3 comments:
As my daughter G pointed out - if it is against pub culture that they want to voice out...why attack only the girls in the pub? Why not the guys who are there ?? anyways who are they to take law onto their hands ?? - veena
As my daughter G pointed out - if it is against pub culture that they want to voice out...why attack only the girls in the pub? Why not the guys who are there ?? anyways who are they to take law onto their hands ?? - veena
Exactly. If they are against the pub culture, that is their choice but it doesn't give them the right to beat other people up. What bothers me even more is that there isn't a collective outrage against this - I bet a lot of people justify what these hooligan did. Unless there is that cultural finger-wagging at such bullying acts, they won't stop.
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