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Magazine
Questions of culture
The article (“In the name of culture? Magazine, February 8) conveys the message that India is yet to grow up. Incidents like the one in Mangalore are a blemish on the face of our country and so are the perpetrators behind the incident. A more interesting point is that a hitherto unheard of group called the Sri Ram Sene suddenly found the need to beat up some girls and teach the female community a lesson in culture (read male domination). Is that the real reason or can political elements trying to shake up the new government in Karnataka be counted in as well?
Also, what a man can do, a woman can do equally well. These self-proclaimed champions of culture should imagine what would happen when women start chasing men about with sticks, ready to thrash them because, instead of being traditional, responsible men who live up to the ideals and value of their culture, they are spending away their hard-earned money on drink and dance. Maybe the action is an advertising tactic by an organisation that needs more recruitments? These people are a bane to the country and little can be done to nullify their actions unless the government openly condemns such misguided and cheap acts and bans groups like the Sene which use culture as an excuse to wreak havoc on society. When these organisations start acting lawlessly, who is going to stop them?
Yasha Aluru
Email
The wide coverage of the unfortunate Mangalore incident by the media is totally unwarranted as the same is an act of some unruly hooligans, which can be treated as a law and order problem. Sri Ram Sena is not the true representative of Hindus nor are they the saviours of the Indian culture. But they have achieved what they wanted by the media hype viz. publicity. Such instances deserve no detailed analysis and in any country we will find such small groups trying to steal the limelight. No right thinking person will support similar activities and this Sena cannot be equated with another Sena of Mumbai, which shared power in Maharashtra. It is not known who has given them powers to represent the Hindu religion and protect its culture. The media can concentrate on more purposeful issues and save their energy to fight for the peoples’ rights in other burning problems, instead of highlighting such trivial incidents, which the law and order machinery will take care of.
G. Ramachandran,
Thiruvananthapuram
The articles have highlighted the need for society to take a strong view against the recent increase in atrocities against women. We have found the inefficacy of the State to book the culprits in time and to get them punished due to several reasons, including their political clout, muscle and money power. In the present context of our social life, it may be worth mentioning that our women folk toil and earn for the livelihood of the majority of rural and urban Indian families. Hence the men can not keep them inside the four walls of the house. The situation is not merely a law and order problem, but a social and cultural problem which we are facing. A moral reformation in the atmosphere of our families, educational institutions and by cultural leaders is an urgent necessity.
K.R.Sudhakaran Pillai, I.R.S.(Retd)
Ernakulam
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It’s about time someone wrote an article showcasing the rise in urban terrorism in India. The only thing that separates terrorist groups like MNS and Sri Ram Sene from groups like the Taliban are the AK47s. Their ideology remains the same: In the name of securing their culture, they attack the independence of women, stop love and breed hate. Unfortunately the media only portrays what happens in the city (the Mangalore pub incident and the “V-day Frustoos” ) but what about the women in Indian villages and homes where the mental trauma is so much that they start believing women are lower than men and they spread these thoughts to their kids which starts another cycle of ignorance?
Vinay Prakadan,
Email
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The articles have rightly condemned the actions of Sri Ram Sene activists, the so-called “guardians of culture”. The attack by the activists on five women in a Mangalore pub was an attack not just on those five but on the changing face of Indian women in society. The brazen attack also puts a light on the slack law and order situation in the country wherein nothing is done to stop this type of extreme radicalism. For how long will Indian society continue to keep women in fetters? When would it actually let them breathe?
Tarun Girdhar,
Chandigarh
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A revelation
The write up on Madeira (“Gateway to new worlds”, February 8) was indeed a revelation, even for someone like yours truly who has been teaching modern history for nearly three decades. Really, how little do we know about Madeira and similar little outposts of history which were destined to influence the course of so many events?
Prof. Anil K. Joshi,
Dept. of History, Kumaun University, Nainital
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