The last couple of weeks we all had witnessed shocking and disturbing images on our television screens. The barbaric attack unleashed by Sri Ram Sena in Mangalore, the attack on the daughter of a Kerala MLA and more attacks on Hindu girls for talking to Muslim boys. In all this, one girl had taken her life as she couldn’t bear the humiliation but there are tens and hundreds of them who continue to suffer the trauma of these attacks. Many have lent their voices against these attacks and held campaign to send the message across that such attacks are not tolerated in a civilized society. Even after all these, it is extremely shocking to see our law enforcement agencies sitting idle and forgetting the fact that they had taken oath to protect the very same common man/woman who pays for their living (tax money paid to exchequer). All they did is to file a lawsuit against the Woman Union Minster for her comment “Mangalore has been Talibanised”. It is ironic to see such attacks on women in a country where a woman had recently made history by becoming the First women to occupy the “august office” of the Presidency (Commander-in-Chief), another is the most Powerful person in the country as she heads the ruling collation and pitted by the media as the lady who calls all the shots of days government (central) and in addition there are these women chief ministers, women ministers, women politicians, women bureaucrats, women professionals, etc.
All these attacks are done in the name of “Indian Culture”, but what is Indian Culture? Who has defined this? We live in a great country where culture (language/dialect, customs, clothing, food, etc.) changes every few hundred kilometers. Any layman who had read a little bit of Indian history would know that until the freedom movement this nation was actually a combination of small kingdoms. So the question, when did we have an “Indian Culture”? Where or which literature has captured this? Does it say that it is Indian to attack women but not Indian to go for pubs or Hindu girls talking to Muslim boys?
All these attacks were reported from the state of Karnataka, as far as my memory goes this the first time that I’m hearing of such attacks from this state. Given the fact that the state is ruled by a party that has its foundation in religion and given that this is the first time that it is in power make me wonder, if these extremist Hindu groups had taken advantage of this or were they given an open hand by the ruling bosses to go about with these attacks or did the state government protect these groups by making the law enforcement teams ineffective.
This state of affairs is really worrisome and raises questions on the direction our nation is heading too. All these attacks and divisions in the name of religion remind me of the “divide and rule policy” practiced during the British era. Our forefathers fought to free us from these very same policies and wanted us stand untied and secular. But, it looks few elements was us to slip back as we move into the future.
All these attacks are done in the name of “Indian Culture”, but what is Indian Culture? Who has defined this? We live in a great country where culture (language/dialect, customs, clothing, food, etc.) changes every few hundred kilometers. Any layman who had read a little bit of Indian history would know that until the freedom movement this nation was actually a combination of small kingdoms. So the question, when did we have an “Indian Culture”? Where or which literature has captured this? Does it say that it is Indian to attack women but not Indian to go for pubs or Hindu girls talking to Muslim boys?
All these attacks were reported from the state of Karnataka, as far as my memory goes this the first time that I’m hearing of such attacks from this state. Given the fact that the state is ruled by a party that has its foundation in religion and given that this is the first time that it is in power make me wonder, if these extremist Hindu groups had taken advantage of this or were they given an open hand by the ruling bosses to go about with these attacks or did the state government protect these groups by making the law enforcement teams ineffective.
This state of affairs is really worrisome and raises questions on the direction our nation is heading too. All these attacks and divisions in the name of religion remind me of the “divide and rule policy” practiced during the British era. Our forefathers fought to free us from these very same policies and wanted us stand untied and secular. But, it looks few elements was us to slip back as we move into the future.
