Last Refuge of Islamic Scoundrel
Shivkumar Singh
wriggle out of reasoning saying Koran is contextual.
If Muslims think Koran has a context, why the hell do they not throw
the shitty verses into dust bin now that in 21st century the context
has irrevocably changed.
Intelligent answers welcome.
Singha
Tailpeace: The truth is even if you take into account koran's
contextual nature, it is still a very ugly, evil and satanic work.
On many occasions, muslim louts can sound convincing to gullible
people is because they camouflage the truth and most non-Muslims are
unlikely to verify the truth by reading the original sources Koran and
Sunnath, and those who do so will not have their rejoinders accepted
by the media at large.
For truth about Islam visit http://www.faithfreedom.org
It is ridiculous to talk about the universality and permanence of what
is contextual.
James
"Shivkumar Singh" <kshat...@onebox.com> wrote in message
news:292f4994.03062...@posting.google.com...
You are so right my friend. The truth is Islam's greatest enemy. We are
living in an information age. However, many millions of Muslims do not have
access to that information. When individuals have been raised from birth in
Islam, many will not see the truth even when it is shown to them. That is
why I feel so sorry for the millions of children in Islam.
The very foundation of Islam is based on a lie. The lie is that Mohammed
was God's prophet. They built on that foundation with lies upon lies. The
second biggest lie is that Mohammed's moon god Allah is the same god as the
God of Abraham. Mohammed declared that Jesus was a prophet. Jesus never
put foot inside a Mosque because there was no Mosque. Jesus never put foot
inside a Christian Church because there were no Churches. Where did he go
to worship then? He went to the Temple in Jerusalem. The very Temple that
many of the Muslims are now trying to say never existed. When their entire
faith is based on lies is it any wonder that they can deny the truth in face
of overwhelming evidence. Just like they deny Holocaust.
--
On Sept. 12, 2001, Israel's flags were flying at half-staff and the
Palestinians were dancing in the streets.
oN...@cts.com
> Muslim louts whenever faced with the ugly truth about Koran try to
> wriggle out of reasoning saying Koran is contextual.
OTOH, crazed Saffron Nazis don't seem very receptive to the idea
that their heros, such as the Nazi collaborator S. C. Bose, who
used to work for the German Propaganda Ministry broadcasting
fatuous nonsense in support of Japanese Imperialism, might not
be the universally admired figure he is in Mother India, where
every home has his black and white lithiograph over the mantlepiece.
> If Muslims think Koran has a context, why the hell do they not throw
> the shitty verses into dust bin now that in 21st century the context
> has irrevocably changed.
Perhaps it is because they are unable to contemplate the idea that
something which is at the core of their identity might be a crock,
just as you are unable to embrace the idea that your Nazi hero Bose
was an accessory to the Holocaust.
> Intelligent answers welcome.
Ah, but you mean answers that agree with your constipated bigotry.
> Singha
> Tailpeace: The truth is even if you take into account koran's
> contextual nature, it is still a very ugly, evil and satanic work.
Actually, the Vedas doesn't look too clever either if you ask me.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hai/news_publications/har/fall_1995/fall95-4.html
> On many occasions, muslim louts can sound convincing to gullible
> people is because they camouflage the truth and most non-Muslims are
> unlikely to verify the truth by reading the original sources Koran and
> Sunnath, and those who do so will not have their rejoinders accepted
> by the media at large.
> For truth about Islam visit http://www.faithfreedom.org
For the truth about your very very very right wing Hindusim, see:
> It is ridiculous to talk about the universality and permanence of what
> is contextual.
Both Naziism and Hinudism crumble before British Imperialism.
--
From: "harmony" <a...@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Indian woman dies on husband's pyre
Message-ID: <ulrbpeo...@corp.supernews.com>
>I am proud to be a member of mommedan parliament.
oN...@cts.com
(self serving crap deleted).
> You are so right my friend. The truth is Islam's greatest enemy. We are
> living in an information age.
Yes, but it is the content of that information - in particular its
veracity - which is important, not merely tht fact of its existence.
> However, many millions of Muslims do not have
> access to that information. When individuals have been raised from birth in
> Islam, many will not see the truth even when it is shown to them. That is
> why I feel so sorry for the millions of children in Islam.
>
> The very foundation of Islam is based on a lie. The lie is that Mohammed
> was God's prophet. They built on that foundation with lies upon lies. The
> second biggest lie is that Mohammed's moon god Allah is the same god as the
> God of Abraham. Mohammed declared that Jesus was a prophet. Jesus never
> put foot inside a Mosque because there was no Mosque. Jesus never put foot
> inside a Christian Church because there were no Churches. Where did he go
> to worship then? He went to the Temple in Jerusalem. The very Temple that
> many of the Muslims are now trying to say never existed. When their entire
> faith is based on lies is it any wonder that they can deny the truth in face
> of overwhelming evidence. Just like they deny Holocaust.
Talking of the Holocaust did you know that your Indian pals
revere a Nazi collaborator, S C Bose? In the West we'd find a
cult that worshipped Lord Haw-Haw a bit odd, but black and white
lithiographs of Bose adorn the walls of your Hindu friends' homes all
over India. Apparently it matters nothing to people like
you that Bose worked for the German Propaganda Ministry for
ages, recruited a Labour Battalion, recruited for the Wehrmacht
special forces, and created a Legion that defended the Atlantic
Wall. Today Bose is feted as an anti-Imperialist whereas his
work was in support of the Japanese Imperial Army, the nadir of
Imperialism, which devastated China and Indo-China.
> --
> On Sept. 12, 2001, Israel's flags were flying at half-staff and the
> Palestinians were dancing in the streets.
And left wing organisations like Sinn Fein, which is funded by the
USA, declared that the destruction of the WTC towers was the fault
of American foreign policy. However, your reaction to the PIRA and
it Sinn Fein is as incomprehensible to me as your reaction to the
collaborator Bose. The PIRA has been removed from the USA's foreign
terrorist list and Sinn Fein is regarded as a legit political organ
of Irish Nationalism. Sinn Fein/PIRA are bosom allies of the PLO
but I bet you know that.
Shivkumar Singh
> In soc.culture.british Shivkumar Singh <kshat...@onebox.com> wrote:
> > Muslim louts whenever faced with the ugly truth about Koran try to
> > wriggle out of reasoning saying Koran is contextual.
>
> OTOH, crazed Saffron Nazis don't seem very receptive to the idea
> that their heros, such as the Nazi collaborator S. C. Bose, who
> used to work for the German Propaganda Ministry broadcasting
> fatuous nonsense in support of Japanese Imperialism, might not
> be the universally admired figure he is in Mother India, where
> every home has his black and white lithiograph over the mantlepiece.
Your cut paste job can not hide the ridiculous nature of your facts.
(1) Not many people in India have Bose's picture at their homes.
(2)Bose's cooperation was of a strategic nature. Bose partnered Japan
(not Germany)and the objective of
(3) If we extend your perverted logic you will reach the conclusion
that Bush is a Muslim because he collaborates with Pakistan and Saudi
Arabia, nations where Islam, Jehad and Islamic terrorism are
institutionalised.
>
>
> > If Muslims think Koran has a context, why the hell do they not throw
> > the shitty verses into dust bin now that in 21st century the context
> > has irrevocably changed.
>
> Perhaps it is because they are unable to contemplate the idea that
> something which is at the core of their identity might be a crock,
> just as you are unable to embrace the idea that your Nazi hero Bose
> was an accessory to the Holocaust.
Answered above. If at all Bose participated in the Nazi crime of
Holocasust he will certainly deserve to be admonished.
Perverted louts like you may argue that even Schindler was an
accessory to holocaust.
>
>
> > Intelligent answers welcome.
>
> Ah, but you mean answers that agree with your constipated bigotry.
No Lout. Answers that deal with facts and truth.
>
> > Singha
>
> > Tailpeace: The truth is even if you take into account koran's
> > contextual nature, it is still a very ugly, evil and satanic work.
>
> Actually, the Vedas doesn't look too clever either if you ask me.
>
> http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-aids20-india3.storyhttp://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-aids20-india3.story
>
>
> http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hai/news_publications/har/fall_1995/fall95-4.html
Only your idiotic mind can percive links between vedas and the above
provided links.
>
>
> > On many occasions, muslim louts can sound convincing to gullible
> > people is because they camouflage the truth and most non-Muslims are
> > unlikely to verify the truth by reading the original sources Koran and
> > Sunnath, and those who do so will not have their rejoinders accepted
> > by the media at large.
>
> > For truth about Islam visit http://www.faithfreedom.org
>
> For the truth about your very very very right wing Hindusim, see:
>
> http://www.dalitstan.org
Let us focus on the groud facts:
(a) In India Dalits now have enormous power and influence. They rule
politically the most important state of India - Uttar Pradesh thanks
to the support of very very very right wing Hindus.
(b) Dalitstan as everyone is aware is a Paki Islamic Jehad inspired
site to create divisions among Hindus. Not so long ago the site
contained information on Islamisation of India, bomb making and
terrorism.
Lies can not camouflage truth beyond a point.
>
>
> > It is ridiculous to talk about the universality and permanence of what
> > is contextual.
>
>
> Both Naziism and Hinudism crumble before British Imperialism.
Message of the evil ideology of Islam (Koran) crumbles before Truth.
Singha
Prudence
Seeker?
prophetfucker
>
> And left wing organisations like Sinn Fein, which is funded by the
> USA, declared that the destruction of the WTC towers was the fault
> of American foreign policy. However, your reaction to the PIRA and
> it Sinn Fein is as incomprehensible to me as your reaction to the
> collaborator Bose. The PIRA has been removed from the USA's foreign
> terrorist list and Sinn Fein is regarded as a legit political organ
> of Irish Nationalism. Sinn Fein/PIRA are bosom allies of the PLO
> but I bet you know that.
Stick to the topic wise guy!
The fact of the matter is Islam is the enemy of TRUTH, full stop. Why
are you again going out of the way? Read below..
------------------------------------------------------------
"Muslim louts whenever faced with the ugly truth about Koran try to
wriggle out of reasoning saying Koran is contextual."
------------------------------------------------------------
This is precisly what is you are doing, SOB lout... If you have guts,
prove that Koran-shit is indeed "divine" and is "revealed". Otherwise
fuckoff from this thread.
Nusrat Rizvi
Singh) wrote:
You keep giving your nation credit for destroying Nazis but in point
of fact it was the Red Army along with the US Expeditionary Force that
did the Germans in. British role in this enterprise was a minor one at
best specially after Dunkirk debacle.
As regards the British crumbling the Hindus, allow me to point out
that Hindu faith is alive and well in UK and gaining converts lot
faster than Christians ever did in India.
oN...@cts.com
> oN...@cts.com wrote in message news:<%5KLa.1641$Va5.4...@dca1-nnrp1.news.algx.net>...
> Seeker?
Wanker, is that you?
http://endabuse.org/programs/display.php3?DocID=102
INDIA
Chappal, Sticks and Bags
by Meeta Rani Jha
Violence against women, of which domestic violence is a part, affects
women of every class, caste, religion, tribe, and age in India. Depending
on the particular social, caste, religious and class background, the
violence women experience may be manifested in very different forms. As a
result, women's groups in India do not work on the issue of domestic
violence as separate from other forms of gender violence. In this paper, I
first attempt to lay out the pattern of violence against women. Second, I
describe the unique responses to violence developed by women's
organizations, using both traditional forms of resistance as well as
Western feminist strategies.
India has a population of approximately nine hundred million people, of
which 49 percent are women. The Hindu caste system structures Indian
society in a complex hierarchy that can be socially oppressive for the
majority of women. Not only are the lower castes and tribal groups
socially ostracized and oppressed, but women from these groups face
multiple oppressions that are aligned along the lines of gender, caste and
class.
Historical and traditional caste, gender, class and religious oppressions
were further exacerbated during three hundred years of British colonial
rule that empowered some higher caste women through access to education
and economy, but simultaneously marginalized those at the bottom. Current
economic conditions have worsened the divisions among women.
In order to understand violence against women, close attention has to be
paid to the intersection of various systems and the harsh everyday
realities in the lives of women. The majority of women are from small
peasant and landless agricultural laborer households, and from communities
of lower castes and tribal groups. Further, for many of these women,
gender-based violence can be used by family members, men from their
community, from other communities and by the state. These take on many
different forms, from aborting female fetuses to the murder of women. The
violence may include female infanticide; dowry payments (bridal gifts,
compulsory marriage); sati (widow immolation); wife battery; dowry
harassment; sexual abuse and incest; witch burning; physical violence;
emotional and mental abuse of girls and women.
The life stories of many women, especially of poorer women, begin in the
shadow of female infanticide, neglect, and sexual abuse at a young age
from family members. Women occupy a secondary position in Indian society.
Men are more valued because they are economic assets, carry the family
line and have social and religious significance for the afterlife.
Therefore, violence against women may begin before birth, with pre-natal
sex determination tests carried out at private clinics that also offer
abortion if test results indicate that the fetus is female. Violence
against girls and women is common in any class, caste, and religion, but
the economic and social background of the girl determines what hardships
she is going to face.
As girls get older, the supposed burden of dowry (payment in exchange for
marriage) is used to neglect their nutritional, educational and other
critical needs. Historically, dowry, as moveable goods like jewelry, was
given to women because they never inherited land, which in rural India, is
the most valuable asset because it is able to accumulate capital. Dowry
has been wrongly equated to land and over time has become a means for men
to circulate valuables and money through women. Although many feminists
have used the term "dowry deaths" as a rallying cry, it is wife murder
with dowry as the excuse.
Once the girl is married, abuse by the husband and his family may begin.
Later in life, many women face violence from their sons and family when
they reach old age. If they are unfortunate enough to become widows,
violence may take the form of widow immolation.
The proportion of females to males in India has been declining since the
beginning of the century, in contrast to most other countries, where
females usually outnumber males. India has a higher mortality rate for
women, and a much higher mortality rate for girls than boys. Girls are
more likely to die than boys between the ages of one to five years and the
risk is 43 percent higher for girls than for boys. Birth order is
influential in determining risk for survival-the higher the birth order,
the lesser chance of survival.
The issue of domestic violence in the United Kingdom had, to some extent,
been influenced by the middle-class white women's movement and had
excluded the experiences of immigrant, black, women of color, lesbian,
disabled and working class women. Over the last decade, due to the hard
work done by women activists and advocates from these groups, the issues
impacting battered women from those communities have been made visible.
Similarly, the western definition of domestic violence does not fit into
the reality of women's lives in the context of India. Much of the violence
that happens within the home (as private space) spills into public space
depending upon the social group of the women. Women have very little
ownership of any physical space they may inhabit, either private or
public. For the majority of Indian women, violence crosses over into all
spaces, not just designated private or public spaces. For many groups of
women such as poor or tribal or lower caste women, violence is also
perpetrated by the upper caste/class men, the state, police and landlord.
This is often manifested as physical violence, sexual harassment, rape and
mass rape on Adivasi women (tribal group), Dalit women (the word chosen by
the anti-caste untouchable movement to describe themselves, a reclaiming
of name) and working-class women in their homes, in their villages and in
their communities.
Violence within the family has always remained hidden and even now, women
hesitate to speak of it for a variety of reasons. Family violence or
"family quarrel" is common to all classes, religions, and communities, all
over India. In many families, particularly in the middle class, a woman's
status is defined only in the context of a man's and the patriarchal
family. Hence, it is difficult for women to give up their limited rights
in an oppressive situation in order to break the pattern of abuse. This is
exacerbated by poverty and hardship, scarcity of food and clothing, and
lack of education. Social and religious traditions offer contradictory
messages making a difficult situation almost intolerable for many women.
Although women are taught to revere their husbands as gods, there have
always been traditions of resistance with images of powerful women who
have lived empowered lives. Unfortunately, in the current fundamentalist
climate, the images of powerful women are given short shrift and the
consequences for women are deadly.
To counter violence against women, many organizations have developed over
the last three decades. Some feminists feel that the Indian women's
movement became active during the United Nations' declaration of 1975 as
International Women's Year, which provided a focus for activities
centering on women. The "women's decade" from 1975 to 1985 led the
government of India to publish a report called "Towards Equality," which
generated debate about women's exploitation throughout the country. Many
women's groups emerged and the work on violence against women became more
systematic and national. Up until then, work on women was more fragmented
and regional. The focus of women's groups ranged from changing the law on
domestic violence and rape, to improving legal and social rights for
women, to economic empowerment, to environmental rights, to theoretical
discussions on women's issues.
Rape and Resistance
Rape is one of the most common and frequent of crimes against women in
India. It has many forms: "landlord rape;" rape by those in authority of
women employees or juniors within the workplace; "marital rape;" "caste
rape," in which caste hierarchy is exercised to rape lower-caste or tribal
women; "class rape;" "police rape;" and "army rape." For working class,
tribal and Dalit women, rape can occur both in their homes and on their
land. The scale and frequency of police rape is quite startling in India:
police records show the number of rapes by "government servants" in rural
and tribal areas exceed one a day in Delhi.
Forum Against Oppression of Women (FAOW) was started as Forum Against Rape
in 1979 to campaign against an extremely unjust judgment on a rape case.
FAOW takes up issues of rape as well as dowry, wife beating, sexual
harassment, indecent portrayal and sex stereotyping of women in the media,
sex determination and sex pre-selection techniques, and against harmful
long-acting contraceptives. In its anti-rape campaign, FAOW demanded legal
changes - lobbying for changes in the law, demanding new laws as well as
better implementation. The intensive investigation of rape cases,
including police rape cases, the reports made to women's network, and the
publicity obtained in the mass media strengthened the success of various
cases in the legal system.
Between 1983-1986, anti-domestic violence work by FAOW and other women's
groups led to the introduction of preventive legislation. For example,
there was an amendment in the Indian criminal law or Penal Code, which
allowed women to lodge complaints against their husbands and in-laws for
physical and mental abuse within the last seven years. In 1983, after a
long series of campaigns and a much publicized rape case, amendments were
made to the rape laws. In 1986, amendments were also made in the Dowry
Prohibition Law to remove loopholes in the original law. Several states in
India have women-run police stations, though many activists feel that
these are no different than male-run police stations, as patriarchal
beliefs also influence the attitudes of the police women.
Class, Caste and Violence Against Women
In India, the institutionalized oppression of the tribal community is part
of everyday life. Tribal communities are one of the poorest communities in
the country, due to entrenched discrimination and lack of resources.
Tribal women are prostituted, raped, beaten and used as cheap labor.
Tribal men and women are treated as subhuman. Their land has been
appropriated over centuries, despite laws forbidding any non-tribal people
from owning land in tribal areas.
Mass violence and mass rapes against tribal women are part of the complex
matrix of the continued imposition of patriarchal and misogynist Hindu
ideologies as well as control of land on certain tribal communities. In
some tribal communities women's spaces are not controlled by men. They
have the freedom to have pre-marital sex, to choose their husbands,
divorce if they wish. They don't have to physically cover themselves, and
have a much more relaxed attitude towards their sexuality. Mainstream
Hindu India often sees this as a direct threat that needs to be curtailed
and brought under patriarchal purview.
One example of resistance to violence by tribal and peasant women is the
anti-alcohol agitation of 1972-1973, a unique strategy against violence
coming out of the landless tribal women's movement. During the communist
uprising, Shramik Sangathana (tribal landless laborers' movement) was
formed in 1972, against the oppressive practices of local landlords, which
included rapes of tribal women. Among the laborers who were active in the
movement, women played the most active role in leading the demonstrations,
and mobilizing the masses. As women's militancy developed over two years,
women began to express consciousness of their oppression as women. The
problem of wife-beating and family violence was raised.
This issue led to the development of a women's anti-alcohol agitation.
Groups of tribal women would go to "alcohol hideouts" and break all the
liquor pots because many men beat their wives after getting drunk. Through
consciousness-raising groups, women learned that wife beating was about
power and control over women and alcohol intake was only a contributory
factor. The protests against alcohol selling and consumption moved women
to protest against wife-beaters, which included shaming the batterer in
front of his community. The strategy had changed from an indirect protest
against violence in the family to a fairly direct one, making a public
issue out of what is generally regarded as a private problem.1
In recent years, "witch burning" - a means to control women and express
village discontent - has emerged as a new form of misogynist violence,
occurring in tribal and poorer areas. According to Sofia Khan, a feminist
advocate who worked for the Ahmedabad Women's Action Group (AWAG) in
Ahmedabad, the capital city of the state of Gujarat: "Witch hunting is
instigated by family members, where widows who have property are blamed
for natural disasters affecting the village. If there is a drought due to
lack of rain, the greedy relatives have a golden opportunity to dispose of
these women by exploiting the superstitious beliefs of the village." In
the last two years, there have been cases of witch burning in the states
of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Bihar." A number of women's groups,
including Shakti Shalini, a shelter for abused women which works in many
regions of India, are conducting "awareness workshops" to clear the names
of women declared witches and provide shelter to condemned women.
Jagori is a women's training, documentation and communication center which
began in 1982 in Delhi to work on the issue of violence against women.
Jagori works in slums of Delhi, with women of lower caste and class. One
of Jagori's pioneering projects is the "Single Women's Group." This
project grew out of an action-research project called the
"Life-Circumstances of Single Women in North India." The main aim was to
change the self-perception of single women from "abla" (unable /weak
woman) to "sabla" (strong woman), and to change the dual image of single
women as "bad" women and "helpless" women within the society they lived
in. The group members are mostly domestic workers who are single women
15-45 years old, who meet weekly in an unauthorized slum in the city of
Delhi called "Subhaas camp." They challenge the primacy of marriage as the
premier institution within which women live their lives and address such
issues as family violence, police harassment, and lack of water.
When a woman is harassed by her husband, relatives, or in-laws, she can
come to the Jagori's weekly meeting and discuss her case. The process of
supporting, questioning, discussing options and consequences empowers the
woman as she realizes the injustice of the harassment. Strategies are
decided in the group with the woman's agreement.
In some cases, two to three group members go to the house of the batterer.
They investigate the case by talking to the neighbors and to the batterer,
and they explain the consequences to him. If his behavior does not change,
he is given time to change his behavior. If no change occurs, he is
threatened, and eventually the women resort to public shaming and physical
violence. Sometimes, the group chooses to confront the attacker directly.
Physical violence takes the form of 25-30 women attacking the batterer
with rubber chappals (sandals), sticks and bags. This strategy works in a
number of ways: sometimes it scares the batterer into stopping the
violence; it also informs the whole street that such violence won't be
tolerated; and challenges the belief that women are passive sufferers of
violence inflicted on them.
In cases where women need to flee violence, the group arranges space in
the shelter network and maintains contact and support with the woman. The
group uses many methods like community organizing, publicity through
media, casework, and counseling but does not use legal methods. Legal
cases are difficult to follow up, and for a group of poor women, the
majority of whom are illiterate, legal cases are a disempowering
experience. Legal cases may also involve police collusion with the
batterer, slow court processes and class prejudice.
The success of this group is due to the similarity in the economic
background of the women who come to the group. All are poor and
economically deprived. The group strengthens "singleness" as a viable
alternative to marriage and to break out of the vicious cycle of marital
and family violence. In certain cases, the women from the group have built
'with their own hands' huts for homeless group members leaving violent
homes.
Jagori increases awareness of how family members perpetuate violence. In
the context of India, the status of women in the family changes during the
course of her life. As she gets older and bears children, especially male
children, she becomes more powerful in the patriarchal family. Giving
power to certain women and depriving it from others is a way of dividing
women with patriarchal control. Mothers-in-law are a case in point and are
often part of the vicious cycle of domestic violence. Other perpetrators
include fathers, sons, brothers, and other members of the extended family.
Jagori has also been actively involved in various campaigns, on the local
and national level. They took up the Sudha Goel sati case of 1988, and a
gang-rape case in 1992 (Bhanwari Bhateri case), organizing marches,
singing songs against violence and also performing street plays in public
marketplace. The group participated in Delhi's first "Take Back the Night
March". The campaign around the gang rape case led to the declaration of
the National Protest Day Against Violence Against Women on September 22,
1992. Groups all over the country wore black clothes on that day and
organized meetings on village and slum levels on the issue of violence
against women. In the cities of Delhi, Bombay and Hyderabad, women got
onto the public transport and distributed leaflets and flyers and sang
songs about violence against women. In many cities, meetings with men were
organized for the first time to educate them that violence against women
is a public issue, and not just a woman's issue.
Organizers meet at the village level to form women's groups against
poverty and environmental degradation.
Dowry Harassment and Wife Murder
Dowry has always been part of marriage in India, but the dramatic increase
in dowry-giving in the post-independence period, reflects the declining
value of women in the Indian society. Though the giving and taking of
dowry is a legal offense since the passage of a legislation in 1961, the
custom has flourished, invading lower castes and working class communities
among whom this was not a practice.
Such requested products as videocassette recorders, washing machines,
refrigerators, and scooters reflect the higher dowry demands asked from
the girl's family. Sudha Tiwari of Shakti Shalini (a women's shelter in
Delhi), blames the excessive demands by the boy's family on the western
influence of capitalist materialism and the promotion of mindless
consumerism by the mass media.
The first protests against dowry in the contemporary Indian women's
movement were made by the "Progressive Organization of Women" in the city
of Hyderabad in 1975. Though some of their demonstrations numbered as many
as 2,000 people, the protests did not grow into a full-fledged campaign.
The Mahila Dakshata Samiti was the first women's organization in Delhi to
take up the issue of dowry and dowry harassment, but it was Stri Sangharsh
whose campaign made "dowry murder" a household term. These organizations
use many different methods: investigation and collection of evidence;
recording witness accounts; working with specialist lawyers' collectives;
using the mass media; mobilizing anti-violence women's networks;
organizing local and national marches; lobbying the courts and the
Government with high level of publicity; publicizing corrupt police system
which colludes with the batterer and his family.
If a girl's parents are not able to meet the demands, even after the
marriage the violence may escalate over many years, forcing many woman to
either kill themselves to escape daily torture or be killed. Madhu Kishwar
and Ruth Vanita, in their book In Search of Answers: Indian Women's Voices
from Manushi, tells the tragic story of Dr. Shakuntala Arora, who was a
lecturer in a women's college and who died of burns. Her family and her
colleagues feel that emotional and physical abuse and torture over many
years drove her to kill herself.
The harassment of Dr. Shakuntala Arora started at the time of her wedding,
when the bridegroom insisted on a scooter as an item in the bride's dowry.
Shakuntala's parents had to comply with this demand or else the wedding
would have been called off. When Shakuntala moved into her in-laws' house,
she was asked to pay off wedding costs of 25,000 rupees, which she was
forced to obtain from her parents. Any resistance on Shakuntala's part led
to physical and emotional abuse. Shakuntala was allowed a meager pocket
money from her salary as a lecturer for food and transport. At the birth
of her first child, she received no help from her husband. Her husband
became increasingly more violent at her second delivery; he kicked her in
the stomach before taking her to the hospital. Only a few weeks after her
cesarean section, Shakuntala, badly beaten and in tears, with a small baby
in her arms, entered her mother's house to seek temporary respite from the
tortures of her husband. She had no money to pay off the taxi. These were
some of the economic, physical and emotional tortures that turned
Shakuntala's life into a nightmare. Two days before her death, she was
beaten up and forbidden to attend her brother's marriage ceremony, because
she had failed to get money from her widowed mother.
The term dowry and "dowry deaths" has become synonymous with
wife-battering and domestic violence. It has become a key issue and
rallying cry in practically all movements in which women are active.
However, we need to remember that dowry is only an excuse used by
patriarchal families to continue to torture and kill women. The
unfortunate consequence of using this term as a rallying cry is that it
minimizes the regular abuse and killing of women. The result is that
dowry-related wife murders and suicides are criticized, but other domestic
violence may not be since it is thought that the wife could have been
provoking the abuse.
Religion and Family Violence
Sati, as the practice of self-immolation, is a long-standing tradition
among upper caste Hindus. Although legitimized through myth, it is a
violent practice against women. It is complicated by the fact that it is
often used against women to take control of land that they might inherit
as widows. Widows have very little status in Hindu India and are often
seen as bad omens. Therefore, they are treated miserably. Some do commit
suicide rather than be subject to daily torture and humiliation and some
are killed.
There has been on an average, something like one sati a year, but the
death of Roop Kanwar in September 1987 led to a massive agitation both for
and against sati. Sati was most common in the state of Rajasthan, amongst
the Hindu Rajput caste. The Indian feminist magazine, Manushi and Radha
Kumar in her book, The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of
Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India, 1800-1990, describe
the practice of sati and the movements against it.
The pro-sati organizations invoked a chivalric Rajput (Hindu upper caste
identity) tradition in which men defended the Hindu tradition on
battlefields by killing and being killed, while women defended it at home
by killing themselves. One case of sati was that of Roop Kanwar. Roop
Kanwar had brought a large amount of gold in her dowry and had only been
married for six months before her husband, who was suffering from mental
disorder, died. Roop Kanwar's in-laws decided she would become sati - and
did not inform her parents.
The evidence that feminist organizations gathered pointed to murder: some
of her neighbors said she had run away and tried to hide before the
ceremony, but was dragged out, pumped full of drugs, dressed in bridal
finery and put on her husband's funeral pyre. The feminists held
counter-demonstrations along the route of the procession and were
confronted by groups of hostile women, who had appropriated the language
of rights, stating that they should have the right, as Hindus and as
women, to commit, worship and practice sati.
The "Joint Action Committee Against Sati" formed and demanded state
intervention on three levels: first, Roop Kanwar's in-laws and the doctor
who drugged her should be charged with murder; second, that all those who
profited financially or politically from her death should be punished; and
third, that a law should be passed banning both commission and
glorification of crimes against women in the name of religion. Even though
the government passed a law under which sati was defined as unlawful, the
first person to be punished was the woman herself, for attempting to
commit suicide.
In the current fundamentalist climate, sati is seen as a return to old
"wonderful" and traditional values with women being the upholders of all
moral traditions. In fact, careful scrutiny of the Roop Kanwar case shows
that this sati was a complex mixture of misogyny, economics and
fundamentalism.
Religion is also a significant factor in the multiple oppression faced by
Muslim women.2 The Muslim community is one of the largest minority groups
in India.
Muslim women face violence at home and outside the home in the same way as
Hindu women. One difference was that Muslim women had the right to
divorce, inheritance, and maintenance. However, these rights have been
eroded over time. All leaders of the women's movement have urged the
restitution of these rights. Due to the passage of the Hindu Code bill in
1956, the inequality between the rights of Hindu men and women was
technically eliminated. But this was not the case with the Muslim Personal
Law, which is based on religion.3 As a result, the inequality between
Muslim women and men remained. Women's organizations started examining
laws in an attempt to look at women's rights in marriage, divorce,
property and maintenance and demanded secular laws which allowed universal
rights for all women.
The issue of personal law became extremely controversial in the Shah Bano
case between 1986-1987. After she had been thrown out of her home
following fifty years of marriage, Shah Bano filed a case under a criminal
law (Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code), asking that her husband
be ordered to pay maintenance. This law granted divorced or deserted women
maintenance from their husbands. Muslim feminists, women's groups,
liberals and social reformers began campaigns all over India to publicize
the upholding of this law and to demand improvements. Many women's
organizations like the Janwadi Mahila Samiti, the Mahila Dakshata Samiti,
the National Federation of Indian Women and the Dahej Virodhi (Anti-Dowry)
Chetna Manch, campaigned for universal legal rights for all women.
The courts granted Shah Bano maintenance from her previous husband.
However, fundamentalists on both sides saw this case as a rallying point
for their cause. The old scars of partition in India in 1947 were raised
again and communalism saw a steep rise with severe oppression of the
Muslim community and the destruction of a critical mosque - Babri Masjid.
The government caved in to fundamentalist demands eroding the limited
rights of Muslim women.
Most women's organizations recognize the issue of communal harmony as
vital when doing anti-violence work. AWAG is one such group which not only
focuses on issues surrounding violence against women but carries out
extensive work around communal harmony in riot-torn areas. Sofia Khan of
AWAG explains, "After the bloody riots of 1992 that followed the
demolition of Babri Masjid, this issue was so emotionally charged, you
could not talk about this within the Muslim communities. Women's groups
now talk about equality between Muslim women and men when they campaign
for universalizing these laws so that Muslim women would have the same
legal rights as Hindu women".
The Indian women's movement has made many creative interventions for
social change in mobilizing against violence against women. For example,
AWAG, provides training for police and judiciary around gender issues and
violence in order to counter their attitudes and implement law more
effectively. Shakti Salini is planning a "police sensitization program,"
and training on reproductive health, family planning techniques, and
mental health awareness.
Peace rally against caste violence on Dalit, Dalit Women's Action Council,
Kurichy, 1995
Sofia Khan of AWAG remains optimistic about the changes happening at the
grass roots level and on the governmental level. She thinks that the
system of reserving spots for women on different levels of the
governmental power structure will allow women access to resources. In
1990, a National Women's Commission was established to investigate the
subordinate position of women in India. There were plans to establish
women's commissions on the state level. Recently, due to an amendment, 33
percent of the designated posts have been reserved for women in the
Village Panchayat (village council). The Panchayat controls the power
structure in the village, in relation to land and access to water,
mediates conflicts, and has connection to the State government. More women
having access to resources could lead to improvement in the lives of women
at this village level.
Like the pioneering work of Jagori, most women's anti-violence
organizations work on many levels and use many methods or organizing. But
regardless of their methods, their goals are the same: to change the
culture of violence against women systemic in Indian society.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The author would like to thank Sofia Khan, a previous employee of AWAG,
Sudha Tiwari of Shakti Shalini and Jagori. This article would not be
possible without the wealth of information provided by them.
We gratefully acknowledge Sujata Warrier, Ph.D. of the New York Office of
the Prevention of Domestic Violence and MANAVI, a South Asian group in New
Jersey, USA, for her invaluable editorial assistance.
Indian and Western activists sometimes romanticize the position of tribal
women as being "freer" than those of upper caste Hindu women. While this
might be true to some extent in some areas and in certain tribes, there is
a great deal of variation in the status of tribal women.
One of the common myths regarding Muslim women and oppression is centered
around the practice of Purdah or female seclusion/veiling. This practice
is extremely varied and in the context of India occurs also among upper
caste Hindu women. The meaning of purdah is different for both
communities. In the Muslim context, purdah divides space into the home (as
private) and the outside world (as public). In the Hindu context, space is
divided into public and private within the home as well as within the
outside world.
In India, there are Hindu, Muslim etc., Personal Laws in addition to the
secular laws.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meeta Rani Jha
Meeta Rani Jha has worked on issues of domestic violence, immigration and
anti-racism for last ten years, mostly in United Kingdom. She was a
management committee member of "Subah", a South Asian young women's
shelter for three years and worked as "Black rights worker" at Salford Law
Center for five years, in Greater Manchester (UK). She was born in India.
Her family migrated to the UK in 1977, when she was eleven years old.
Since 1996, she has been living in the San Francisco Bay area, where she
has been involved with Narika and the Asian Women's Shelter.
oN...@cts.com
> oN...@cts.com wrote in message news:<%5KLa.1641$Va5.4...@dca1-nnrp1.news.algx.net>...
>> In soc.culture.british Shivkumar Singh <kshat...@onebox.com> wrote:
>> > Muslim louts whenever faced with the ugly truth about Koran try to
>> > wriggle out of reasoning saying Koran is contextual.
>>
>> OTOH, crazed Saffron Nazis don't seem very receptive to the idea
>> that their heros, such as the Nazi collaborator S. C. Bose, who
>> used to work for the German Propaganda Ministry broadcasting
>> fatuous nonsense in support of Japanese Imperialism, might not
>> be the universally admired figure he is in Mother India, where
>> every home has his black and white lithiograph over the mantlepiece.
> Your cut paste job can not hide the ridiculous nature of your facts.
Glueing a skunk to your head cannot hide your baldness forever.
> (1) Not many people in India have Bose's picture at their homes.
(1) Yes, they do.
> (2)Bose's cooperation was of a strategic nature.
Ha ha ha! Many Hindu Nationalists of the era admired Hitlerism and
Boz was no exception.
> Bose partnered Japan
> (not Germany)
You lie. Bose worked for Goebbels in the German Propoganda Ministry.
He recruited Indian POWs captured by Rommel in North Africa raising
a Labour Battalion, recruiting the more able Indian soldiers to the
Special Operations division of the Wehrmacht (they operated in East
Persia), and creating the Free Indian Legion, who manned the Atlantic
Wall in three places: Zeeland, near Bordeaux and somewhere in the
South.
> and the objective of
of making you look exactly like the very very very right wing
saffronazi you are?
> (3) If we extend your perverted logic you will reach the conclusion
> that Bush is a Muslim because he collaborates with Pakistan and Saudi
> Arabia, nations where Islam, Jehad and Islamic terrorism are
> institutionalised.
Looks like you very own true Durgha logic but by all means go ahead
and denounce Bush as a Muslim, after all, you've denounced everyone
else in the same terms.
>> > If Muslims think Koran has a context, why the hell do they not throw
>> > the shitty verses into dust bin now that in 21st century the context
>> > has irrevocably changed.
>>
>> Perhaps it is because they are unable to contemplate the idea that
>> something which is at the core of their identity might be a crock,
>> just as you are unable to embrace the idea that your Nazi hero Bose
>> was an accessory to the Holocaust.
> Answered above. If at all Bose participated in the Nazi crime of
> Holocasust he will certainly deserve to be admonished.
I think 'hanged' is the phrase you are looking for. However, the
Allies went easy on the Nazis because they hoped to recruit them
as anti-communist consultants.
> Perverted louts like you may argue that even Schindler was an
> accessory to holocaust.
You mean Holocaust; note the capital H, moron. The strawmen
arguments suit you immensely, btw.
>> > Intelligent answers welcome.
>>
>> Ah, but you mean answers that agree with your constipated bigotry.
> No Lout. Answers that deal with facts and truth.
Bozo, you wouldn't recognize the truth if it laid eges in your skull.
>> > Singha
>>
>> > Tailpeace: The truth is even if you take into account koran's
>> > contextual nature, it is still a very ugly, evil and satanic work.
>>
>> Actually, the Vedas doesn't look too clever either if you ask me.
>>
>> http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-aids20-india3.storyhttp://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-aids20-india3.story
>>
>>
>> http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hai/news_publications/har/fall_1995/fall95-4.html
> Only your idiotic mind can percive links between vedas and the above
> provided links.
Unless you read them, the link is tenuous indeed.
>> > On many occasions, muslim louts can sound convincing to gullible
>> > people is because they camouflage the truth and most non-Muslims are
>> > unlikely to verify the truth by reading the original sources Koran and
>> > Sunnath, and those who do so will not have their rejoinders accepted
>> > by the media at large.
>>
>> > For truth about Islam visit http://www.faithfreedom.org
>>
>> For the truth about your very very very right wing Hindusim, see:
>>
>> http://www.dalitstan.org
> Let us focus on the groud facts:
> (a) In India Dalits now have enormous power and influence. They rule
> politically the most important state of India - Uttar Pradesh thanks
> to the support of very very very right wing Hindus.
> (b) Dalitstan as everyone is aware is a Paki Islamic Jehad inspired
> site to create divisions among Hindus. Not so long ago the site
> contained information on Islamisation of India, bomb making and
> terrorism.
And the US state department somehow overlooked this remarkable assertion?
Not one Hindu superpatriot like you saw fit to alert the authorities.
> Lies can not camouflage truth beyond a point.
I am not sure. Everyone thinks the world of Hindus, for example.
>>
>> > It is ridiculous to talk about the universality and permanence of what
>> > is contextual.
>>
>>
>> Both Naziism and Hinudism crumble before British Imperialism.
> Message of the evil ideology of Islam (Koran) crumbles before Truth.
Let's hope so.
> Singha
oN...@cts.com
> oN...@cts.com wrote in message news:<zqKLa.1644$Va5.4...@dca1-nnrp1.news.algx.net>...
>>
>> And left wing organisations like Sinn Fein, which is funded by the
>> USA, declared that the destruction of the WTC towers was the fault
>> of American foreign policy. However, your reaction to the PIRA and
>> it Sinn Fein is as incomprehensible to me as your reaction to the
>> collaborator Bose. The PIRA has been removed from the USA's foreign
>> terrorist list and Sinn Fein is regarded as a legit political organ
>> of Irish Nationalism. Sinn Fein/PIRA are bosom allies of the PLO
>> but I bet you know that.
> ________________________________________________________________________
> Stick to the topic wise guy!
The lying Hinud saffronazi deletes the bulk of my message except
the single paragraphy where I broaden my theme and then accuse me
of wavering from the point. Doubtless any fan of Goebbels will
applaud your technique.
> The fact of the matter is Islam is the enemy of TRUTH, full stop.
So is your Hindu extremism.
> Why
> are you again going out of the way?
To insult you. Apparently it is impossible for you, pampered
prince that you are, that anyone might find you persona non grata.
> Read below..
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> "Muslim louts whenever faced with the ugly truth about Koran try to
> wriggle out of reasoning saying Koran is contextual."
> ------------------------------------------------------------
Hindu dacoits whenever faced with the ugly truth about Hinduism
try to wriggle out of reasoning saying Caste System, female in-
fanticide, eve-teasing, dowry deaths, child servitude etc are
not part of Hinduism and that anyone who complains about these
things is a Muslim.
> This is precisly what is you are doing, SOB lout...
No, I am saying your Hinduism is as grotesque as Islam.
> If you have guts,
> prove that Koran-shit is indeed "divine" and is "revealed".
It would take a liar of your own calibre to pull off such a stunt.
I certainly can't do it.
> Otherwise fuckoff from this thread.
Why don't you try and make me, you pakistani prat.
Shivkumar Singh
> In soc.culture.british Shivkumar Singh <kshat...@onebox.com> wrote:
> > oN...@cts.com wrote in message news:<%5KLa.1641$Va5.4...@dca1-nnrp1.news.algx.net>...
> >> In soc.culture.british Shivkumar Singh <kshat...@onebox.com> wrote:
> >> > Muslim louts whenever faced with the ugly truth about Koran try to
> >> > wriggle out of reasoning saying Koran is contextual.
> >>
> >> OTOH, crazed Saffron Nazis don't seem very receptive to the idea
> >> that their heros, such as the Nazi collaborator S. C. Bose, who
> >> used to work for the German Propaganda Ministry broadcasting
> >> fatuous nonsense in support of Japanese Imperialism, might not
> >> be the universally admired figure he is in Mother India, where
> >> every home has his black and white lithiograph over the mantlepiece.
>
> > Your cut paste job can not hide the ridiculous nature of your facts.
>
> Glueing a skunk to your head cannot hide your baldness forever.
Another Non Sequitor Idiot. Your reasoning is an insult to Logic.
>
> > (1) Not many people in India have Bose's picture at their homes.
>
> (1) Yes, they do.
May be less than 0.0001%. This may be your perception of many.
>
> > (2)Bose's cooperation was of a strategic nature.
>
> Ha ha ha! Many Hindu Nationalists of the era admired Hitlerism and
> Boz was no exception.
A few hindus could have admired Hitler for fighting the british. Noone
Hindu admired Hitler for his racist views.
Also as you may want to know far more Muslims admired Nazism not
surprising since Islam resembled Nazism:
Islam's Mein Kampf is Koran.
Let us look at the root of Fascism the generic name for the ideology
of Nazism:
Fascism drives from the Italian word fascia, which means a bundle of
woods. This was an old Roman emblem. The idea is that a single stick
of wood can be broken easily, but when you bundle many sticks together
and fasten them with each other, they become strong and unbreakable.
Nazism and Islam are both inspired by fascistic ideas. In Islam, just
as in Nazism the minorities are underdogs, their rights are denied and
violated and the might is revered as right. The best description of
fascism is given by Mohummad in this verse "Muhammad is the messenger
of Allah; and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers,
(but) compassionate amongst each other." (Q. 48:29)
>
> > Bose partnered Japan
> > (not Germany)
>
> You lie. Bose worked for Goebbels in the German Propoganda Ministry.
> He recruited Indian POWs captured by Rommel in North Africa raising
> a Labour Battalion, recruiting the more able Indian soldiers to the
> Special Operations division of the Wehrmacht (they operated in East
> Persia), and creating the Free Indian Legion, who manned the Atlantic
> Wall in three places: Zeeland, near Bordeaux and somewhere in the
> South.
Even granting Bose recruited Indian POWs, he did that to fight British
occupiers of India not to ally in Nazis' evil against Jews.
Nazi Alliance against Jews was provided by Muslims, such as the grand
mufthi of Palestine.
Again you are missing the point and begging the question idiot.
Son of a Grashti, The links that dealt with firearms were withdrawn
after some of us alerted the authorities.
>
> > Lies can not camouflage truth beyond a point.
>
> I am not sure. Everyone thinks the world of Hindus, for example.
>
> >>
> >> > It is ridiculous to talk about the universality and permanence of what
> >> > is contextual.
> >>
> >>
> >> Both Naziism and Hinudism crumble before British Imperialism.
>
> > Message of the evil ideology of Islam (Koran) crumbles before Truth.
>
> Let's hope so.
God will ensure that this hope gets fructified soon.
>
> > Singha
Truth about Islam available at http://www.faithfreedom.org