I stumbled on this news-item on Barbarindian’s blog. From a news-report in The Hindu:
“…Cyriac Joseph, Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, on Friday said that the provocative dresses that women wear in buses put the men travelling in the buses in awkward situations and hence women must dress modestly.
Coming back to why attacks on women happen, he linked it to their clothes…”

I am stumped.
Please also read: On Jeans, Indian Men and “Indecent Behaviour” and Let us blow up “Khajuraho”
Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Stumbled across this news today: “No love on Valentine’s Day, Sena on a rampage“
“… In Delhi, about a dozen Sena protesters briefly blocked a road early on Wednesday and burnt Valentine’s Day cards and gifts, chanting ‘Down with Valentine’.
In Lucknow, Sena activists sent out a diktat against Valentine’s Day celebration and threatened to beat up couples found celebrating their love.
“Our volunteers will check parks, hotels and restaurants and swoop upon young lovers found walking hand-in-hand,” Vijay Tiwari, a Shiv Sena activist in Lucknow, said. “We are deadly against Valentine’s Day,” …

One of�the many unsung heroes who�deserve an “Indian of the Year” nomination:
Rerported by Kinnari Patel, CNN-IBN, Man saves woman from molesters, killed
“…Thirty-five-year old Keshav Vishwakarma tried to prevent 40-year old Lilavati � a mother of two � from being harassed.
Four hours later, the accused allegedly doused him with kerosene and burnt him in his house in the Pandesara area of Surat.
“A few people were teasing me and saying a lot of things. I saw him trying to prevent them. I don’t know what happened after that,� says the molestation victim …

By now most, if not all, of you must have read about the shameful and disgusting incidents of molestations of young women in Mumbai and New Delhi on New Year’s Eve…
What shocked me even more was this ridiculous (I wish I had a stronger word…) statement from one of the accused*:
…Addressing the media, the accused…said that while the newspapers splashed ‘molestation’ pictures, they did not write a word about how the girls in question were drunk.
“The couples were in an inebriated state. They were smooching on the road. What were …

I read about this shameful and horrifying rape in Tehelka’s recent issue and it filled me with rage and a deep sense of frustration…Rage at what happened and the indifference of police authorities and frustration that these kind of crimes are still being seen through the prism of caste.
Here is a shocking excerpt of what happened to Para Devi (from Tehelka):
“On June 23, Para, a Dalit daily wage labourer from Santoshpura, left home for work at 8am with her husband, Ranglal.
Feeling unwell during the day, she set out for the …

Dear Readers,
I am moving several comments on the Turkey and Secularism post here due to the fact that they are more to do with Hinduism and discrimination and less with the subject of the original post.
Please continue this discussion on this thread.
Thanks
*** COMMENTS BEGIN ***
1. Patriot, on October 8th, 2007
There is this whole positioning about Hinduism (excuse me, VCK) being such a tolerant religion, which has not imposed its faith on others.
I really, really want to question this:
Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma is a drawdown from the polytheistic faith of …

Most of you must have read about the “tilak” controversy in Bihar from a few days ago.
Yesterday, an alert reader sent me this snippet from thelondonpaper*:
A Heathrow worker was today fighting to win back her job after being sacked for wearing a nose stud.
Amrit Lalji, 40, worked at the airport for more than a year – wearing the tiny stud – and said she wore it as part of her Hindu religion.
Lalji, a customer relations worker in Terminal 1, refused to remove it after being told this summer that jewellery …

I stumbled across this news-story  Jeans for boys, seminary tells women students a few days back and it immediately struck a chord.
The report mentioned (emphasis mine):
A mufti of the seminary (Darul Uloom), Ahshan Quereshi, told The Telegraph over the phone that women should not behave in a way that attracts undesirable male attention.
Most of you would know that Darul Uloom is the “spiritual” home of Taliban. However, thoughts and views like these are hardly unique to Darul Uloom.
A few weeks earlier, I had come across this quote and comment (edited …

Last week, Bismillah, a 40-yr old woman in Nuh, Mewat�gave birth to her 23rd child.
The father, 50-yr old Mohammad Ishaq, neither remembers the names of his 23 kids nor recognises all of them…and yet, is “all set to welcome his 24th child next year”
Speaking to MiD DAY*, a happy and delighted father, Mohammad Ishaq said:
�Yeh toh sab Allah ki den hai, agar hamara chaubiswa baccha agle sal hua toh woh bhi hum Allah ki den samjhenge. (All this is Allah�s gift. If we get a 24th child next year, …

*****CAUTION: Long Post*****
By now, most of you must have heard or read about the controversy caused by Smt Pratibha Patil’s recent remarks on the purdah system.
To recap briefly, Smt Patil, the Congress nominee for the post of President, while speaking at a function to commemorate the 467th birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap in Udaipur said, “We have been practising purdah in Rajasthan, which was brought about since we had to fight the Mughals”We had to protect our women and children and that is why the women were kept behind closed …