The Consortium of Pub-Going, Loose, and Forward Women
By Tony on March 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »
While the rest of the world was celebrating Valentine’s Day over a romantic dinner for two (or perhaps a lonely tub of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia), India was fighting its own unique version of the culture wars. And, although Valentine’s has come and gone, Indians are still fully positioned in the trenches.
As mentioned in our posting Got Milk? Indians Don’t!, the moral police are ever vigilant on the Subcontinent. Ultra-conservative Hindus play roughly the same role here that ultra-conservative Christians play in the United States exerting significant influence on politics as well as daily life.
Young, modern Indian couples taking a walk together or, even worse, going on an actual date are causing the moral fabric of India to unravel at lightning speed. Fearing that the sanctity of arranged marriage is under attack, Hindu extremist groups decided to take action.
Shiva Sena activists were some of the most vocal in their opposition to the evils of dating. In Jammu (the grossest city in India), they burnt piles of Valentine’s Day cards in the street. A rather minor protest, compared to Aurangabad where they blackened passing couples’ faces or Pune where they forced passing couples to marry!
But that wasn’t the worst of it. In several locations, the extremists’ actions escalated into physical violence. Several couples were beaten up. In one university, a girl found in a boy’s room was dragged through the halls by her hair. Bajrang Dal followers went so far as to attack a brother and sister walking down the street, mistaking them for a couple. Shiv Sainiks actually broke into the zoo in Gwalior to target romantic couples. All in the name of preserving decency.
But don’t think that progressive Indians are just going to take this lying down. Indian women tired of such shenanigans, have formed the Consortium of Pub-Going, Loose, and Forward Women, a Facebook group dedicated to raging against the radical Hindu machine. You go girls!!!
Topics: India | 1 Comment »
March 4th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
INTOLERANCE IS A VERY UGLY THING