| Home > South-Asia >> India | |
Attack against drinking women in India triggers debate on modern values
The Australian - January 31, 2009
Amanda Hodge, South Asia correspondent – An attack by a gang of Hindu nationalists on young women drinking in the city of Mangalore has triggered debate on modern values and accusations that conservative groups are "Talibanising" India.
In a vicious attack captured on camera, apparently with the consent of activists from the ultra-conservative Hindu group Sri Ram Sena (Ram's Army), women were set upon by dozens of men who slapped, kicked and pushed them to the ground and in some cases attempted to strip them.
The group later defended the actions at the Amnesia pub as an attempt to protect Hindu morality and traditional Indian culture. More than 25 people in the southwestern city have been arrested over last Saturday's incident, which has been condemned by the media, police and government officials.
One minister said the so-called "saffron hooligans" sought to Talibanise India.
But the attack highlighted the social chasm between the middle classes, who have embraced Western-style bars and shopping, and the vast majority of the population, who live on less than $2 a day and adhere to more traditional values.
Sri Ram leader Pramod Muthalik, who was among those arrested, said: "(We) are not a group of madmen. We are the citizens of this nation and I feel it is our duty to discipline indecent behaviour. It is out of this sense of duty that we feel the need to safeguard our culture."
With national elections expected in April, the issue has been exploited by political parties.
The conservative Bharatiya Janata Party was forced to condemn the Sri Ram Sena, an organisation with which it is aligned. The chief ministers of Rajasthan and Karnataka panned the rising pub culture.
Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot, a member of the ruling Congress Party, suggested a link between women drinking in bars and an increase in sex crimes. "I want to end the pub and mall culture where young boys and girls roam about hand-in-hand," the Chief Minister said.
Antara Dev Sen, editor of the progressive Little Magazine, described the incident in an opinion piece in The Asian Age yesterday as a less extreme example of honour crimes.
"Attacking fashion shows and women in pubs is just the tip of the iceberg of honour crimes," she said.
"It's time our political masters showed the will to deal not just with the tip, but the whole iceberg of shameless patriarchal violence lurking unopposed in our society."
Ms Sen told The Weekend Australian yesterday that the attacks were more a reflection of the excesses of India's political classes than its society. "Indian society is much more willing to accept change than the Indian political classes," she said.
The political classes were more than willing to exploit and inflame resentments and perceived threats to their way of life for electoral gain, she added. (Additional reporting by AFP)
See also:
 |