Indian women in Mangalore fight the Hindu Talibs with pink panties!

Last month, the Hindu-twin of the Taliban went on a rampage in Mangalore, India, attacking women having a drink at a bar (with men, gasp!). The attack was caught on video and spurred outrage throughout India and the world.



The New Kerala: (Jan. 27)

"Karnataka Police on Tuesday arrested the State convener of the Sri Ram Sena, Prasad Attavar for his role in the attack on women at a pub in Mangalore. The Police also arrested Pramod Muthalik, the president of the Karnataka unit. Twenty seven people have been arrested so far.Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa on Tuesday said the police is gathering evidence on top functionaries.

'The government will not tolerate people taking law into their hands and indulging in criminal activities. Police is gathering evidence on the top functionaries for the arrest,' he said. Yeddyurappa also ruled out any link between the Ram Sena and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). 'I am telling this honestly, the party has nothing to do with the Sena, who have brought disgrace to the state,' he added."

That's his story and he's sticking to it, but I don't believe it.

The Times of India: (Feb 13)

"NEW DELHI: The moral policing by Sri Ram Sene was raised in Rajya Sabha on Friday with CPM (Congress Party member of parliament) Brinda Karat demanding strong action against the outfit. . . Karat said the government should act as the outfit has threatened to marry off girls found in the company of boys on Valentine's Day.

She alleged that the Sene was operating in connivance with the BJP* government in the state, which had witnessed an attack on a pub recently. Karat cited the suicide of a girl allegedly after being humiliated in Bangalore on Thursday for moving around with a Muslim boy. Karat also said the daughter of a CPM MLA was abducted and threatened in Karnataka, where the Sene has acquired the role of the 'Hindu twin' of Taliban."

In any event, they didn't stay in jail long or get a clue and crawl back under the rock they crawled out of.

Times Online: (Feb 11)

"Mr Mutalik was arrested but has been bailed. He has vowed to force unmarried couples found together on Valentine’s Day to either get married or to tie rakhis – string bracelets – on their wrists signifying that they are brother and sister."

You see, these self-appointed moral police have a particular problem with Valentine's Day, so the brave ladies in question started their own Facebook page -- A Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women -- and urged people to turn the other cheek, so to speak, and send the boys of Sri Ram Sene big, pink chaddis (panties) in the mail for Valentines Day.

Times Online (again):

"Nisha Susan, 29, a journalist from Karnataka, told The Times that she started the group after reading about the attack in Mangalore and the subsequent threats by the SRS. 'It wasn’t a serious thing at first, but now it’s becoming something bigger,' she said.

Ms Susan said she had been overwhelmed by responses from men and women who wanted to protect their constitutional rights:

'Most of us are just regular people. We decided to give the Sri Ram Sena attention, but not the kind they want.'

The chaddi gesture is an allusion to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the biggest and oldest group in the Hindu nationalist movement, which includes the SRS and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. RSS members are often called chaddi wallahs because their uniform includes baggy khaki shorts.

'These people are not loonies – they’re guys looking for political capital,' Ms Susan said. 'The worrying thing is that we’ve seen before in this region how there can be a period of freedom and then it’s taken away. Look at Afghanistan.'"

Indeed! Just look at Mumbai, for that matter.

The day after Valentine's:

The Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women's Facebook blog reported yesterday:

"For most modern Indian women, whether residents or non-residents of the country, February 14th this year was no ordinary day – and I’m not talking about the fact that it was Valentine’s Day. It was the day that over 43,000 of them (including some men) sent pink underwear to the Sri Ram Sene . . . Clearly, they didn’t think of the backlash. Even more clearly, they didn’t know that times have changed . . .

After literally getting truckloads of pink underwear from across the country on the 14th, the Sri Ram Sene have decided, in defence, (after changing their mind on the issue thrice) that they will burn the packages of underwear that are still being delivered to them. The Campaign, meanwhile, aims to get the government to agree that ‘beating up women is against Indian culture’, for a start."

He he, dumbasses! This is what democracy looks like. (Now, let's get every women and girl in the Swat Valley and Afghanistan a computer!!!!!! (Anyone know Mullah Omar's address?)

Footnote and an extra point:

*The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), BTW, is the other big party in India, and has its origins in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a rabidly nationalist -- some might say fascist -- organization, devoted to Hindu superiority. Known as the Hindu brown shirts, they espouse a ruthless devotion to hindu-ness or Hindutva and is also where Natharam Godse, Mahatma's assassin got his inspiration.

One last note: Think we're not to blame a bit for this? Think again. Where these wackos get their money.

Colorlines Magazine (March 22 2005)

"Indian Muslims and Hindus not aligned with the nationalists . . . claim India's ethnic hatred has found a patron in the U.S., through the contributions of Hindu nationalists who have settled in here, and that other Indian Americans are unwittingly donating money to their cause because they do not know the true intent of their work.

One central focus of their concerns in the U.S. is a Maryland-based charity called the India Development and Relief Fund, which is accused by secular Indian groups of raising millions for Hindu nationalist groups in India alleged to be involved in the harassment and killings of Indian Christians and Muslims.

The worst incident occurred in 2002, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, where 2,000 Muslims were killed in such fashion that India scholars and activists in the western Indian state of Gujarat, where 2,000 Muslims were killed in such fashion that India scholars and activists likened the violence to pogroms."

Lucky for them they're not a Palestinian charity or they'd all be in jail, right now.