When Taliban took over from a civilian government in Afghanistan, one of the first things they did was to impose Shariat law. It prohibited women from attending schools/colleges, talking to other men apart from their husband or father, covering entire body right from head to toe with veils and so on. Many of independent successful women from Afghanistan were confined to home during the regime. The one who tried to defy the law were either sentenced or splashed with acid on their face. Many women were executed for carrying out prostitution. The plight of women during the Taliban regime was horrible. Clearly there were no human rights what so ever.
Coming to recent attack in Mangalore pub and a collage student for talking to a Muslim guy raises questions not only about some self styled morale police (self appointed cultural cops) copying Taliban culture but also about situation of law and order in Karnataka. To add salt to wound, they further threatened to disrupt Valentine’s Day in Bangalore. More sadly the approach of state government in these cases was disappointing and irresponsible. Instead of cracking on them and putting them behind bars, Karnataka home minister issued many statements which had put fear in citizens about safety of common man.
Mind you media from across the border waits for such opportunity to malign India and showcase to the world how human rights are violated here. There are many channels and websites (like www.pakalert.wordpress.com) in Pakistan or which are supported by Pakistan show such incidents to the world by exaggerating the actual facts. Incidents like Mangalore give all such people chance to degrade us in every possible manner.
India, the land of Khajuraho and an ancient civilization from where greatest tale of Love Kamasutra, was scripted facing a new threat from these modern saffron Taliban brigade. These people are not only deciding what others should do, but also imposing their own culture on us. This clearly shows problematic male attitude towards women. (I think I need a separate page to talk on this issue)
When we are accepting liberalization as a main step to become a world class economy, import of western culture is part of that process. The fact is VHP and many Hindu organizations get huge money from abroad in the name of protecting Hindu culture. There is no count for the amount of money saffron brigade has got for building Ram temple (Which they remember ONLY during election time). For some people money is acceptable in Dollars and Euros. But westernization is not accepted. Attacking people in the name of violating Hindu culture has become a style. It is an easy way to get publicity. Who knew about Muthalik before Mangalore attacks? And who knew about Raj Thackery before his people attacked non-Marathi people in Mumbai. Taking law into one’s own hand in the name of protecting Indian culture has become a new trend. These kinds of acts will surely assure you instant publicity and an overnight celebrity status.
Cartoon of the week - (Forwarded by R Bimal)
Whether it is Shiv Sena or MNS goons in Maharashtra or Sri Ram Sene in Mangalore or even some Maulvi who imposed fatwa on Salman Khan for offering prayers at Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai, all are same who just want to get publicity and want to showcase themselves as sole protectors of local culture. (Let’s not forget it was Shiv Sena who first arranged Michael Jackson concert in Mumbai, and Mr Raj Thackery welcomed Jackson along with Sonali Bendre. Today he claims himself to be a sole person to protect the rights of Marathi Manoose in Mumbai).
Senior BJP leader late Pramod Mahajan’s daughter was into modeling and used to wear skinny dresses as it was the part of the profession. None of these saffron parties protested at that time. Even recently no one protested for Rahul Mahajan’s not so decent act of using foul language or even getting intimate with co-occupants (Payal Rohatgi, Monica Bedi) on a reality show (Bigg Boss).
In the past, India was invaded by so many emperors. Right from Alexander the Great to French, British etc., but still the culture here remains intact. There were people like Chageez khan, Ghajani Mohammad, Timur Lung (On December 17, 1398, Timur ordered killing of 100,000 captives most of them were Hindus. Women were forcibly married to his soldiers and converted to Islam. (Wikipedia article on Timur.) Number of Moghal emperors who tried to convert and converted innumerous Hindus to Islam. Many innocent Hindus were massacred during attacks by Mongols and Moghals. Later there were many attempts to convert people in British, Portuguese and French rulers. But still today the Indian culture remains strong and healthy. India remains and strong secular state where many religions co exists with communal harmony and cultural tolerance. India remains a strong role model to many nations even now. Muslims here never buy an idea of western Islam and still Indian civilization is totally secular. There are number of places where both Hindu and Muslim gods are worshipped together.
The real world.. 