Friday, February 6, 2009

N-test of a different kind

It is just crossing all limits. Pramod Mutalik, the chief of so-called Rashtriya Hindu Sena, and his men are dictating terms to people of Karnataka or rather testing their nerves.

After attacking women in a pub in the name of Indian culture, he now wants to put an end to Valentine's Day celebrations. He says Valentine's Day is an offshoot of Christian culture.. and not Indian! I wonder when Mutalik will demand the government ban Christmas celebrations too.

Mutalik, I hope you will at least try to understand that the crowd in Mangalore pub the day when your men unleashed a brutal attack on them, might have had girls who were Christians or Muslims or Jains too. The Indian culture that you are dying for is purely Hindu culture, right? How can you expect a girl from a different faith to follow Hindu culture?

At a meeting chaired by Mutalik in Bangalore on Wednesday (Feb 4), Sri Ram Sene decided to arrange marriage between dating couples. Sene's five teams will roam around Bangalore with a video camera and turmeric stub. Dating couples will be forced to wed on the spot and will be taken to a sub-registrar's office to solemnize the wedding, according to T S Vasanth Kumar Bhavani, Sene's Bangalore city president. He had the cheek to announce it amid roaring protests from all over against whatever they have done so far. I hope Mutalik will have an explanation where in Indian culture weddings were conducted by partymen rather than by the family of the couple.

Local goons in Mangalore have also issued threats to all young women to desist from wearing noodle straps and tight jeans or face action! Minister for woman and child development Renuka Chowdhury was right. Mutalik and his men are trying to Talibanize India. If he expects that girls would heed to his demands, he is mistaken. He should listen to protests echoing from every nook and corner of the country. Many girls who have never been to pubs have made up their mind to go there at least once. Many girls who were comfortable in long sleeved-dresses are now willing to wear noodle straps and tight jeans! So 'inspiring' were the speech of Mutalik and his men!

I think their brains should be made specimen for some research. It may give links to some creatures that existed before the Stone Age. Mutalik, do you use grinding stone instead of mixer or grinder in your home? Can you ensure that all your family members, including the youngest, have at least seen grinding stones? You cannot link all ancient traditions to culture. It depends on lifestyle.

It is not that all Hindus dress alike or all Christians dress alike. May be if you go to villages, you may find people wearing similar dress, irrespective of their religious or cultural background. Likewise in cities.

If you take the case of Muslims and Christians, they are organized religiously... children are given lessons right from a very young age at madrasas or Sunday schools. I bet there are many youngsters belonging to Hindu religion who don't know who is Rama or Karna. The number will only increase in the coming days.

I wish Mutalik had taken all these efforts and had this determination in curbing female foeticide or rape or dowry deaths or the other umpteen evils with which the society has got fed up. In a country where even two-year-old kids are being raped, I hope you will stand up and say with the same cheek you had while pronouncing punishment for noodle straps, that you will put an end to any one of these evils.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

A very powerful post, a very valid one too. Valentine's Day, noodle staps, dating etc have all got unnecessary publicity.

The best indication of a well-evolved and well-developed society is the options it offers to itts citizens. These radicals haven't understood what a city is. Just as a village has its milieu, a city too has its own. A city is characterised by its diversity.

While each religion and culture has its unique aspects, for any individual, it's always a cross-cultural life. There is a bit of everything in each of our daily lives.

And lastly, culture is a way of life, it can never be imposed. It only evolves. It's upto each one to decide what path he or she should take. The bottomline is live and let live.

Ajith said...

Mutalik and other saffron clad goons is actually implementing a well thought out strategy planned by the BJP leaders - 'Divide and Rule'. Elections are nearby and they will show their dirty Hindutva face again. Its high time people should isolate these anti social elements. One thing is for sure, India, today has a secular image compared to our neighbors, but things are slipping from our hand very fast. We can't expect the same support from other nations, as they will soon realise that we have leaders who can match Al qaeda.

-Poison- said...

my roommate's girlfriend is in bangalore. fearing a sudden marriage solemnized by the srs brethren, he went to visit her this weekend. india is shining eh. lunatic dystopia is unfurling itself slowly, and quite steadily. maybe the srs should be sent to fight terrorists as well, since that is also against indian culture(maybe?)

Anonymous said...

.... I wish someone could ask Muthalik whatz his definition of Indian culture. Any good reporters out there???

Pilo said...

"I bet there are many youngsters belonging to Hindu religion who don't know who is Rama or Karna."
This is the mistake of the present day education which when imparts values in life,has greatly degraded Hindu values. A story from Bible or Koran is given a holy touch where as the stories from our purans and bagavathm are decried. God,wrong wrong, Krishna alone can save our souls. nosle.com pilo