| alt.fan.jai-maharaj@googlegroups.com (Dr. Jai Maharaj): Mar 12 04:25AM India's Daughter and Richard Dawkins' Racism -- Kalavai Venkat Tuesday, March 10, 2015 http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2015/03/indias-daughter-and-richard-dawkins.html Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi Om Shanti http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj |
| alt.fan.jai-maharaj@googlegroups.com (Dr. Jai Maharaj): Mar 11 10:25PM India's Daughter and BBC - Belgian Professor speaks out Prof. Jakob De Roover Niti Central niticentral.com Wednesday, March 11, 2015 Imagine. A filmmaker travels to Belgium because she has heard about the pedophilia scandals in the country. She directs a documentary film, which includes an interview with an infamous pedophile. This man says that the girls he raped had actually seduced him and that they really enjoyed it. The filmmaker then comments that Belgian society is responsible for creating such pedophiles by teaching them what to think. Most men in this country are programmed in this way, she insists. In fact, this is all part of a larger disease and culture, which is also reflected in Belgian cinema. How would we Belgians react? We would find this shocking and infuriating. It is as though pedophilia is an expression of the core of our culture, as though we are programmed for child abuse. This story is not all that imaginary, even though it does concern another country. Over the past week, the international hue and cry about rape in India has gone through another round. This time the cause is a documentary where one of the accused in a brutal rape case makes atrocious statements. Significantly, the English filmmaker, Leslee Udwin, does not see this man as a pathological individual. In an interview, she characterises him as representative of "most men in this country," who are "programmed in a certain way." It is this society that creates and encourages such rapists, she says, and the objectifying of women in Bollywood films reveals how this is part of a larger disease and culture. Many Indians reacted with shock. Many are also infuriated. Some even see this as an international conspiracy to defame India and call for banning the film. It is easy to dismiss all of this as expressions of a hurt national pride unable to cope with the reality of rape and misogyny in India. Or to ridicule it as a form of cultural paranoia. But the many Indians who feel this way are neither paranoid nor stupid. In fact, there is a need to make sense of the widespread impression that such an international conspiracy is going on. To understand what is at stake, let us turn back to the heart of Europe. Here, the media agrees with the filmmaker. One headline says "A girl should just let herself be raped quietly" -insinuating that this is a widespread opinion in India. The journalist writes: "Especially in North India women are considered outlaws when it comes to sex." In other words, any man can have a go at them without threat of punishment. But how could Indian men in general - who are also fathers, brothers and sons of women -see these women as objects freely available for rape? This can be the case only if the culture is itself morally perverse: mothers and fathers must raise their sons to become rapists. This is the implicit message of the discourse about rape in India. India used to be the land of gurus, snake charmers, and fakirs. It was the country of caste, cows and curry. Nowadays, it has become the rape nation in the Western imagination. Time and again, women travelling to India are warned: "Be careful with all those rapists there." People from all walks of life express their disgust at a culture where rape seems to be part of everyday life. Recently, a German university professor refused an Indian intern because of "the rape problem in India" and the threat he would pose to her female students. The media join in: "How India became a country of gang rapes." "The terrible truth about rape in India." "In rural India, rapes are common, but justice for victims is not." "Why rapes are 'normal' in India." These are only a few representative headlines. What is so striking about these claims is the following: they transform the immoral acts of certain individuals into expressions of an entire culture and its values. What are the factual grounds for this move? In Belgium, four to five gang rapes take place every week. Eight women are raped every single day. In a study of the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights one third of all European women reveal that they have been the victims of physical and sexual violence. As many report that they went through such violence at the hands of adults during their youth. 55% of all women has experienced sexual intimidation. But how many newspaper stories do we see about "how Belgium became a country of gang rapes"? How many journalists try to explain "why sexual violence is 'normal' in Europe" or "how women in the EU are outlawed when it comes to sex"? Right. None. "Three women raped per hour in India," the European press cried out recently. But they forget to mention that this is out of a population of 1.25 billion. In Belgium, one rape is reported every three hours - out of a population of 11 million. In England and Wales alone, where the population is less than 56 million, about 78,000 rapes are estimated to occur every year. That amounts to more than 9 rapes every hour. You can do the math yourself. Or you could leave that to a 2010 United Nations report. In India, 1.8 rapes per 100,000 inhabitants were reported that year. In Belgium, the number was almost 30. It was 27.3 for the US and about 28 for the UK. The predictable response is that only a fraction of rapes is reported in India. Well, in countries like Belgium, experts estimate that only 1 in 10 cases of sexual violence is reported by the victims. Even if the number in India is only 1 in 100, there are still many more cases of sexual violence in Belgium, the US or the UK. One could add that the Indian police is notoriously corrupt in its condoning of rape and that even these projections underestimate the real number. But this only shows that one can deny any empirical data in order to embrace the image of India as a rape nation. The reporting about India excels in ignorance. It blindly buys into the stories told by a particular class of journalists and intellectuals. Thus, when two girls were found hanging from a tree in an Indian village in May 2014, the European media jumped on this. Obviously, these girls had been raped and murdered because of caste, the evil social system of India. "You can rape and kill a Dalit girl," said one headline. Another article reported that these girls were from "the Dalit community, a group of people at the bottom of the social ladder who were excluded from the caste system." The higher castes, both journalists revealed with much fanfare, use sexual violence to oppress the lower castes. When more facts emerged, these same media kept quiet. They offered no evidence for the claim that men from 'higher castes' systematically rape women from 'lower castes'. They also failed to admit that the alleged perpetrators did not belong to an upper caste and the girls were not Dalits, but that both belonged to OBC groups. It would be even more painful to recognise that the CBI came to the conclusion that there was no evidence of rape or murder, that one of the girls had been having an affair with the main accused, and that the family members had made inconsistent statements and appeared to have bribed the witnesses. Instead they insinuated that the police was trying to cover up the crimes. This fit beautifully into the hackneyed story about India; the facts did not. In Europe (and among certain intellectuals in India) clichés about India replace reasonable reflection. Hatred towards women is deeply rooted in this society, journalists say. Evidently, the implicit comparison is always with European society and its emancipation of women. Well, let us compare the role of women in the Indian political landscape with that of a country like Belgium. The last ten years, arguably the most powerful person in India was a woman. Similarly, several women could be found among the most popular and powerful leaders of state-level governments. The same goes for mayors and university vice-chancellors.India had its first female prime minister in 1966. Fifty years later, we are still waiting. As of yet, no woman has become prime minister of the federal government of Belgium. As of yet, no woman has become minister-president of the regional government of Flanders. As of yet, my city has seen no woman as its mayor. Oh yes, recently my university did appoint its first female rector in almost 200 years. It is not that all of the European reporting about India is fictitious. The country has its share of problems when it comes to the relationship between men and women. Only a fool would deny that. There is tremendous injustice towards women, as is the case elsewhere. In cities like Delhi, sexual violence and harassment are a major concern. The hobnobbing between politicians and goondas in certain parts of India rightly shocks observers. But our dominant stories do not allow us to understand any of these dimensions of Indian society. They only create delusions about the country. Indeed, in a population of 1.25 billion, one will find more psychopaths and pathological individuals than in a population of 11 million. But to infer from this that most Indian men are programmed to think of women as objects of rape is an instance of the fallacy of hasty generalisation. "Not all Indian men think and act in this way," commentators often admit. But this just confirms how twisted this approach is. Pathological men are now presented as the norm of Indian society and others as the exception, while it is surely the other way round. To show how defective this discourse is, we can just select another set of facts, which allow us to draw opposite conclusions. The numerous female politicians, the devis so commonly revered, gurus like Amma followed by so many, the importance of the mother in Indian society. All of these facts could be used to suggest that women occupy an extraordinary position in Indian culture. Without serious research, such a conclusion would be as empty as the stories about "the deeply rooted hatred of women." But this exercise reveals just how irrational the discourse about rape culture in India is. The fallacy of hasty generalisation is commonly used in propaganda and the politics of fear. Now, it is part and parcel of the discourse about rape in India. No wonder then that many Indians have the sense of an international conspiracy against their country. However misguided the calls for banning films and books may be, they are expressions of feeling powerless in the face of a centuries-old discourse about Indian culture that continues to dominate international public opinion. In insidious ways, this discourse misrepresents India as the very embodiment of immorality: a culture that programs its people to follow immoral rules as though these are moral. India and the West could together look for solutions to the problems that we share. Instead, Western commentators reproduce old colonial stories about India as an immoral culture. This gives them a twisted relationship to the Indian people. On the one hand, they keep turning towards the same class of Indian journalists, activists, and intellectuals for 'local knowledge'. But these native informants merely talk the talk of the West to the West. On the other hand, more and more Indians are disgusted by the West's condescending attitude towards their country. And this is then dismissed as hurt pride. If we want to bring our two peoples and cultures closer together in this new age, reason and empathy are our only hope. The madness of the current discourse about India must end. (Author: Jakob De Roover is a Professor at the India Platform, Ghent University, Belgium) Continues at: http://www.niticentral.com/2015/03/11/indias-daughter-and-bbc-belgian-professor-speaks-out-306333.html Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi Om Shanti http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj o o o o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article. FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several times. |
| Adam Kubias <adam.kubias@gmail.com>: Mar 11 07:17AM -0400 On 2015-03-10 2:16 PM, Dr. Jai Maharaj wrote: > Rape is a global issue, then why is only India in the > spotlight: BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi Part of it is that it reflects societal acceptance not shared by the Western world. In the West, we expect Muslims to beat and rape women, but India is supposed to be a rising economy. That creates certain cultural and moral expectations, which are shocking to Western countries. To me, the fascinating thing about India is how many criminals hold political office. I don't mean that in the Western sense, but in the real sense of both real and accused murderers, rapists, etc. |
| Dex <Dex@music.com>: Mar 11 12:01PM On 11/03/2015 11:17, Adam Kubias wrote: > To me, the fascinating thing about India is how many criminals hold > political office. I don't mean that in the Western sense, but in the > real sense of both real and accused murderers, rapists, etc. Shite media coverage and certain freedoms of speech. They blocked the BBC's India's Daughter from airing over there. On the other hand Hillary Clinton is in the spotlight for using a personal email account in the Whitehouse, it's possible her presidential campaign is over because of it. What a silly country America is. |
| alt.fan.jai-maharaj@googlegroups.com (Dr. Jai Maharaj): Mar 11 05:29PM Dr. Jai Maharaj posted: > > is of the world at large, why is only India being covered > > globally? > > (Meenakshi Lekhi is BJP spokesperson) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rape-is-a-global-issue-then-why-is-only-India-in-the-spotlight-BJPs-Meenakshi-Lekhi/articleshow/46513189.cms > > More at: > > The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com > Rape in India - Why it becomes a worldwide story > By Sankrant Sanu, Niti Central, niticentral.com > December 23, 2014 http://www.niticentral.com/2014/12/23/rape-india-becomes-worldwide-story-292683.html Rape rate: Countries Compared http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Rape-rate Definition: Number of rape incidents per 100,000 citizens in different countries. Figures do not take into account rape incidents that go unreported to the police. 1 - South Africa - 132.4 - 2010 2 - Botswana - 92.9 - 2010 3 - Lesotho - 82.7 - 2009 4 - Swaziland - 77.5 - 2004 5 - Bermuda - 67.3 - 2004 6 - Sweden - 63.5 - 2010 7 - Suriname - 45.2 - 2004 8 - Costa Rica - 36.7 - 2009 9 - Nicaragua - 31.6 - 2010 10 - Grenada - 30.6 - 2010 11 - Australia - 28.6 - 2010 11 - Saint Kitts and Nevis - 28.6 - 2010 13 - Belgium - 27.9 - 2010 14 - United States - 27.3 - 2010 15 - Bolivia - 26.1 - 2010 16 - New Zealand - 25.8 - 2010 17 - Zimbabwe - 25.6 - 2008 17 - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 25.6 - 2010 19 - Barbados - 24.9 - 2009 20 - Iceland - 24.7 - 2009 21 - Jamaica - 24.4 - 2010 22 - Peru - 23.5 - 2009 23 - The Bahamas - 22.7 - 2010 24 - Norway - 19.2 - 2010 25 - Trinidad and Tobago - 18.5 - 2009 26 - Israel - 17.6 - 2009 27 - France - 16.2 - 2009 28 - Guyana - 15.5 - 2010 29 - Finland - 15.2 - 2010 30 - South Korea - 13.5 - 2004 31 - Chile - 13.3 - 2009 32 - Mexico - 13.2 - 2010 33 - Mongolia - 12.4 - 2010 34 - Luxembourg - 11.9 - 2009 35 - El Salvador - 11 - 2010 35 - Solomon Islands - 11 - 2009 37 - Ecuador - 10.9 - 2006 38 - Ireland - 10.7 - 2010 39 - Austria - 10.4 - 2010 40 - Moldova - 10.3 - 2010 European Union average - 10.19 - 2009 41 - Bangladesh - 9.82 - 2006 42 - Uruguay - 9.8 - 2004 43 - Germany - 9.4 - 2010 44 - Netherlands - 9.2 - 2010 45 - Argentina - 8.5 - 2008 46 - Kazakhstan - 8.4 - 2009 47 - Italy - 7.6 - 2006 47 - Brunei - 7.6 - 2006 49 - Sri Lanka - 7.3 - 2004 50 - Colombia - 6.8 - 2010 51 - Thailand - 6.7 - 2010 51 - Belize - 6.7 - 2010 53 - Oman - 6.6 - 2009 54 - Denmark - 6.4 - 2009 55 - Philippines - 6.3 - 2009 55 - Lithuania - 6.3 - 2010 57 - Estonia - 6 - 2010 57 - Paraguay - 6 - 2006 59 - Kyrgyzstan - 5.9 - 2010 60 - Monaco - 5.7 - 2006 61 - Senegal - 5.6 - 2010 62 - Republic of Macedonia - 5 - 2006 63 - Morocco - 4.8 - 2009 64 - Romania - 4.7 - 2009 64 - Malta - 4.7 - 2009 66 - Bahrain - 4.6 - 2009 66 - Czech Republic - 4.6 - 2009 68 - Kuwait - 4.5 - 2009 69 - Poland - 4.1 - 2010 70 - Portugal - 4 - 2010 71 - Mauritius - 3.9 - 2010 72 - Latvia - 3.5 - 2010 73 - Spain - 3.4 - 2010 73 - Russia - 3.4 - 2010 75 - Croatia - 3.2 - 2010 76 - Slovenia - 3.1 - 2010 77 - Palestine - 3 - 2005 77 - Maldives - 3 - 2009 79 - Sudan - 2.9 - 2009 79 - Guatemala - 2.9 - 2009 81 - Bulgaria - 2.8 - 2010 82 - Singapore - 2.7 - 2006 83 - Slovakia - 2.6 - 2009 84 - Hungary - 2.5 - 2010 84 - Cyprus - 2.5 - 2009 86 - Cameroon - 2.4 - 2008 86 - Algeria - 2.4 - 2008 88 - Belarus - 2.3 - 2009 89 - Kenya - 2.1 - 2009 89 - Uganda - 2.1 - 2010 91 - Jordan - 2 - 2006 92 - Georgia - 1.9 - 2010 92 - Greece - 1.9 - 2010 94 - Montenegro - 1.8 - 2006 94 - Qatar - 1.8 - 2004 94 - India - 1.8 - 2010 97 - Canada - 1.7 - 2010 98 - Hong Kong - 1.6 - 2010 99 - Turkey - 1.5 - 2008 99 - United Arab Emirates - 1.5 - 2006 101 - Sierra Leone - 1.4 - 2009 101 - Ukraine - 1.4 - 2010 103 - Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1.2 - 2010 103 - Andorra - 1.2 - 2010 105 - Guinea - 1 - 2008 105 - Japan - 1 - 2010 107 - Nepal - 0.8 - 2006 107 - Syria - 0.8 - 2008 107 - Yemen - 0.8 - 2009 110 - Serbia - 0.7 - 2010 110 - Albania - 0.7 - 2010 112 - Turkmenistan - 0.6 - 2006 113 - Tajikistan - 0.5 - 2009 113 - Lebanon - 0.5 - 2006 115 - Armenia - 0.4 - 2010 116 - Azerbaijan - 0.2 - 2010 116 - Mozambique - 0.2 - 2009 118 - Egypt - 0.1 - 2009 119 - Liechtenstein - 0.0 - 2010 Citation "Countries Compared by Crime - Rape rate. International Statistics at NationMaster.com", UN Crime Stats. Aggregates compiled by NationMaster. Retrieved from http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Rape-rate More at: NationMaster.com http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Rape-rate Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi Om Shanti http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj o o o o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article. FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one or more net terrorists, this post may be reposted several times. |
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