Friday, April 13, 2018

SHAME: Right-wing Hindutva extremists raped girl, tortured, murdered her to scare Muslims

The horrific rape of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu has shaken the country.

The rapists including an ex-bureaucrat and a special police officer tortured the child--who was given sedatives and raped repeatedly after being kept confined in a the temple in Kathua.

It was a pre-planned crime that was aimed to scare the nomadic Muslims living in the region, says police charge-sheet. The DNA reports have corroborated the involvement of Sanji Ram, Special Police Officer Deepak Khajuria and others.

If that is not enough, they called a person to rape her once more, before she was to be killed. When the accused were arrested, the BJP (and some Congress too) leaders came out in support of rape accused.

They took out a 'tiranga yatra' in Jammu. Lawyers in Jammu supported the accused and resisted the charge-sheet in the court. The lawyer fight the child's case was threatened. BJP leaders including ministers kept speaking in favour of the rapists.

But the question that haunts us is that how could these people turn so evil that they planned to plan the horrible crime of kidnapping a child--the age of their granddaughter, and rape her in a temple!

Still, the BJP leaders came out demanding release of the monsters involved in the crime. There were rallies. The media was not interested. It took nearly three months, a charge-sheet, outrage on social media, that finally this case has got the attention.

The photographs of the accused, the story of the victim--nothing was carried in mass circulated English and Hindi newspapers for months. It was absolute silence. After candle light vigils and protests on April 12, finally media picked it up.

Still, BJP leaders on TV, were involved in hate speak and weird counter arguments. The incident shows how there is now a breed in India that has lost all sense of morality and can go to any extent to further their power, influence, authority and ideology. Right-wing Hindu extremism has reached Nazi level in India in 2018.

Time to wake, before it's too late. 

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Woman beheaded with sword for going to work, hurting 'Rajput pride' in Rajasthan: Regressive practices, atrocities on women in India

In a shocking incident, a man beheaded his daughter-in-law for defying 'Rajput traditions'.

The woman--Uma Rajput, was hacked to death by her father-in-law, as she 'dared to go out for work'.

In a patriarchal society, this had brought 'dishonour to his family', felt the accused. He publicly killed his daughter-in-law, by attacking her with a sword.

The incident took place in Alwar in Rajasthan. India Today reports, "The woman was on her way to work at a factory in Shahjahanpur village in Alwar district when her father-in-law brandished a sword and allegedly chopped her head off."

"As the woman was attacked, none of the passersby came forward to help her. She died on the spot. Subsequently, police took her body to the mortuary of the local hospital. The victim, identified as Uma, is survived by her husband Mukesh Rajput and two children", India Today further reports.

"Both Uma and Mukesh worked to run the family and provide for the education of their two children. When questioned, family members and neighbours of the woman said that her father-in-law Maamraj was upset with her for working in a factory", the report adds.

In fact, such incidents are so common that they don't make it to the state capitals, let alone getting discussed in news rooms. Also, they don't affect TV anchors who feel that TRP comes only if there is a issue that pits majority against minority, not inward looking or talking about reforms.

Woman beheaded with sword for going to work, hurting 'Rajput pride' in Rajasthan: Regressive practices in India

In a shocking incident, a man beheaded his daughter-in-law for defying 'Rajput traditions'.

The woman--Uma Rajput, was hacked to death by her father-in-law, as she 'dared to go out for work'.

In a patriarchal society, this had brought 'dishonour to his family', felt the accused. He publicly killed his daughter-in-law, by attacking her with a sword.

The incident took place in Alwar in Rajasthan. India Today reports, "The woman was on her way to work at a factory in Shahjahanpur village in Alwar district when her father-in-law brandished a sword and allegedly chopped her head off."

"As the woman was attacked, none of the passersby came forward to help her. She died on the spot. Subsequently, police took her body to the mortuary of the local hospital. The victim, identified as Uma, is survived by her husband Mukesh Rajput and two children", India Today further reports.

"Both Uma and Mukesh worked to run the family and provide for the education of their two children. When questioned, family members and neighbours of the woman said that her father-in-law Maamraj was upset with her for working in a factory", the report adds.

Wednesday, March 07, 2018

Child marriages in India: 27% girls are married before they turn 18


Child marriages are widely prevalent in India.

One of the biggest social evils, the practice of child marriage is yet to be checked in the country.

Millions of minors tie the knot every year because of social acceptance in several regions.

The latest figures suggest that 27 percent of girls, or nearly 1.5 million girls, get married before they turn 18 in India.

Though there has been a decline in number of child marriages in India, compared to last decade, the figure is still mind-boggling. In rural parts of the India, child marriages are more common.

In Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and other North Indian states, tens of thousands of children are made to tie the nuptial knot on the day of 'Akshay Tritiya'.

UNICEF claims that the steps to check child marriages have brought the numbers down, yet, the practice is so widespread that it is difficult to stop it.

India leads the world in child marriages. It recorded six times more child marriages that Bangladesh. It is far ahead of Nigeria, Brazil and Ethiopia that are other countries on the list.

While India is on the top, the other countries in the list include Bangladesh, Nigeria, Brazil, Ethiopia
Pakistan, Indonesia, Mexico, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Clearly, in seventy years, India hasn't done enough to eradicate social evils. 

Monday, March 05, 2018

Social evils in India: Caste discrimination form of apartheid, rampant in Indian society


Caste is the fundamental identity in India, at times, even stronger than religion.

Every day, there are incidents of casteist violence and oppression all over the country.

Many people who pretend to be modern and flaunt their liberal credentials deny that caste exist and vehemently say that they don't believe in caste.

But when it comes to marriage, they always go for a match from their own caste. It's a harsh reality. Caste groups hold events regularly, organise their conventions in cities and towns, inculcate sense of pride among their members.

They also hold introductory meets for youths so that the youngsters marry within the caste. The so-called 'honour killings' are just an example of this deep-rooted caste phenomenon in Indian society.

Casteism is a mental ailment. People afflicted it with are conditioned from childhood. It's like apartheid, even worse. Here, the race is same, religion is same and even skin colour is same. But hate overcomes everything.

A girl is writhing in pain on the floor after she was made to drink poison by her own family. Sushma was given this punishment as she loved a man outside the community and wanted to marry him.

This incident occurred near Mysuru in Karnataka. Sushma wanted to marry a Dalit youth. Hence, the family decided to kill her. Her father forced poison down her throat. See report

And that's so common that it doesn't prick the conscience of people or shock the nation, anymore.

It is no aberration but a regularity. It happens in rural parts, it happens even in town and big cities of the country.

Just see the matrimonial advertisements and you find how caste functions. Everyone wants to marry within caste.

And those who are exceptions--say 'Caste no bar', yet don't want to marry Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe  (ST) or Other Backward Caste (OBC).