I: You have never
read a book on world history

2: Common sense and
logic have not really affected you much.

You wrote “Across space and
time, wherever that desert religion has had its baleful influence, there’s been
lack of prosperity. Places which were peaceful before, once the desert religion
got its stranglehold, descended into barbarity and chaos”

Ever heard of Moorish
Spain? Never before and never since has
Spain been called beacon of knowledge for Europe. Also, Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) only
twice became the center of civilization, first at the beginning of human
history when it gave the world concepts of writing & agriculture and next
time when it was under the Abbassi rule.
Just these two examples are enough to prove your theory wrong.

“Two of India’s present day
neighbors are countries which have as their foundation that desert religion.
Both are worse off than India”. So is
Nepal where your so called “desert religion” has no influence. Using your logic, there are only two
countries in the world where people of your dharmic religion are in majority
and they are both barely above the sub Saharan Africa, so …….

G. Ali

As I indicated, I agree with a few of your points.

What I disliked is the irreverence that you accord to Islam through the transparent veil of the term “desert religion”.

Whether the concept of Kafirs exist in Islam or not, the point is that all Muslims dont thrust their thumbs and religion onto others. History cannot be cited for everything.

My final line indicates why I disagree with you. I think religious and sectarian matters can be resolved through education and dialogue. By deeming the presence of a group in a community as a virus, you are in essence not allowing education and dialogue to ever play a part as you are alienating them

In any case, I love your writing and views. An opinionated leader is better than a confused one.

Thanks
Sunil

Thanks for reading my blog.

I would be happy to respond to your charge that my views are becoming bigoted. If you would, please cite some evidence of my bigotry. Thank you.

Anyhow… about the point of “all religions are bad” thing.. I am sure most pseudos use the “equal-equal” strategy to deflate the attack on their favorite desert religion and diminish and blunt it. It is very effective, I must say and also helps them self-rationalize in their head and more importantly help them with being in denial – which is a comfort zone.

The analogy I like to use is – parking your car at a wrong place is illegal and so is murder. But in pseudo-secularists world, it works like “they both are crimes” and hence “equal-equal”.

You should read columns in Times of India by Amresh Misra. It will make you believe that Hindus are worse than Talibans and that Muslims are mary’s little lambs who are India’s only innocent victims.

And what may be the correct approach according to you?

Have been a longtime reader of this blog. But I think your views are becoming a bit bigoted.

However, I loved this point

“Brother, I don’t care what you believe in. You can believe in a stone as long as you don’t throw it at me.”

and this too
“I am a Hindu but I am also an atheist. I don’t believe in anything that does not make sense to me. I don’t believe in the supernatural. I don’t care what you believe in or don’t believe in.

I don’t judge people for what their beliefs are. I judge ideologies for what they are. I judge people based on how they behave.”

The reason I say this is that taking a “digging your heels in” approach may not be correct in today’s world.

Cheers
Sunil

subtle & strong.

@DJ
First, learn to read properly, before you outrage. *lol*

@WFJ Laws are badly crafted and implemented in this country. That is well known. I’m no legal expert, so don’t know how the law can be improved or what it can be replaced with. Perhaps, making it bailable would be a start. Although, the lawmakers must have made it non-bailable because there is the high probability that there would be further problems outside. There has to be a better mechanism for cases that are under trial. At the end of the day, laws can only do so much to prevent issues born out of deep social backwardness. But, yes, any laws have to be fair to both parties.

Now you know why in the desert religion last prophet did not like women witnesses. Even when they are victims. lol

I can give you 1000 links – where men are sexually violated in India, abused in their own houses, forced to pay money on blackmailing/extortion….

Now, I think you trust courts or SC or Law Commission reports. Courts do check on the evidences.

Law is very much skewed in favor of women. Judges almost always give consideration to that. And, still people not getting convicted? Yes, they are not. It is not related to strong evidences, rather with flimsy evidences they are filed in the 1st place!

But, by that time entire family behind bars, jobs gone, children tormented, old parents nowhere related tortured by police! Do you feel what a jail means for a common Indian family? These are cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable. For rapist also it is bailable and for a murder also it is compoundable. What kind of family laws are these? Police chargesheet sheet rate is at around 95%. I can talk sitting on my chair and in fact I was till I faced the system and saw it 1st hand.

Also man suicides are very high in India. Married men suicides are the highest (no.1 reason – domestic abuse), 70:30 – man:woman again credible Data from NCRB. On an average a man lives 7 years less than woman worldwide. In India, 5 to 6 years.

One can’t tell just by numbers whether most of them are valid complaints or not. I can’t make that out.

Secondly, conviction rates are low, so seems like the proof has to be really strong for conviction, so it doesn’t seem like people are getting convicted wrongly on flimsy charges, are they?

Surveys have shown that domestic violence is a huge problem. Probably the worst in the world, so I don’t find the large numbers surprising. In fact, there should probably be many more. But, I can see the potential for misuse of the law. And, we have to be careful that the law is well framed and implemented, which one can assume isn’t the case in India. But, are there stats out there for genuine cases vs false cases?

http://infochangeindia.org/women/news/indian-men-most-sexually-violent-says-survey-of-six-developing-nations.html

http://southasia.oneworld.net/archive/Article/indian-survey-highlights-spousal-abuse-no-pay-for-working-women

Good that you noticed and found it to be appalling. I do not know about a kejriwal or shah.

But, typical indian male do not know mostly or too “macho” (at least by talk) to even admit it. The mass hysteria created by many Indian Males on Death Penalty or castration mob justice…have just added to this increasing chorus.

Talk of digging their own graves by highly demanding it…!!

Hmm…about “men” (really?) inside those group. Let us see what they did:

In year 2011, close to 100,000 cases are filed under 498A (80% false only in trial courts and in upper courts it is over 90% with no less than SC calling it “Legal Terrorism”). I explained with exact data from NCRB in my blog. 498A is there since 1983! TADA, POTA came and went afterwards saying that terror laws are too harsh in India! But not 498A. UAPA, less draconian than 498A (yes,in UAPA you do not pull in the entire family of an Afazal Guru when someone complaints – but in 498A you can !!)

DV Act 2005 by Renuka Chowdhury, 498A was not enough: In 2011, 9431 and only 3 convicted.
2009 – 7803 cases, 8 convicted.
2010 – 11736 cases and 11 convicted.

Of course no one will believe again. So:

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/296671/low-conviction-rate-domestic-violence.html

And they are family laws, inside Indian families – and are cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable.

Expect with this recommendation (and if passes), left and right you will find harassment/assault reports now.

Ignore at your own peril…Indian males do not wake till it hit them personally!

Its wrong to blame men and male protestors for this though. Its the fault of the policy makers. But, yes, men (and women) will have to speak up with as much force against these stupid recommendations. The question to ask is, aren’t there any men in the women’s group which drafted these recommendations?

This is the problem in India, and with Kejriwal’s approach. Activism does not lead to good laws because of intellectual gaps in our middle class, not to speak of the political class.

The recommendations you have listed, if true, are appalling.

According to a female lawyer, one third of rape cases in India are filed by parents of daughters who eloped by their own choice. Just imagine, one-third of the accused will be presumed guilty. And, surely these numbers will ramp up, if these silly recommendations are accepted. If a rape victim is going to get a govt job, then all of rural India will line up on day one. It will be quite funny.

Please see this article on why policy making has to be carefully done and not on a knee-jerk basis based on activism:

http://ajayshahblog.blogspot.in/2013/01/activism-and-wonkery-are-yin-and-yang.html

Its called pseudo-secularism. They think they have to show as Hindus that they are tolerant, as Hindus are known to be. What they don’t understand is that being tolerant does not mean being tolerant to everything, especially that which is wrong, evil and stupid. Its the same trap that liberals in the West fall into. Giving freedom rights to religions and cults while not realizing that they are inherently not free and hence will undermine society.

My imagination capabilities have gone for a toss as I can’t quite picture a Bong in California saying these words.

GOVT, WOMEN’S GROUPS PROPOSALS ON NEW RAPE AMENDMENTS:

(Present punishment for rape is minimum 7 years and maximum life sentence and in rarest of cases death penalty)

1. Punishment for rape accused should be hanging till death, presently the death penalty stands only for rape and murder

2. Chemical castration for accused

3. Accused must prove that he has not committed the rape, the victim does not need to give any proof or even a medical test. The victim only has to claim that she has been raped and whoever she named will be arrested immediately and not get bail till the case is over, irrespective of how long it goes on

4. As soon as the victim files the case, regardless of whether it is true or false, she will get a minimum of Rs 2 lakh with a first installment of Rs 50,000 available immediately

5. A rape victim will get a government job

6. In a marital dispute, the wife can file a rape charge on her husband along with Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and the husband will have no defence.

7. There should be no punishment for women making false rape or gang rape charges.

Do not believe. Of course you will not! I was like you before hit by 498A. So, here is one link for Times of India:

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=UE1JUi8yMDEzLzAxLzA3I0FyMDAyMDA%3D

Good scheme will be spawn now. Let MEN go more hysteric on these cases and let us see how many more laws can be put forward till it hits everyone.

In India, as Atanu you have aptly put – “Indian voters deserve the police heel on its neck & the lathi on its back good & hard” – especially the Indian men now!

What I cannot fathom is why Hindus (this Vickram seems to be one; I may be wrong, of course) feel the need to take up cudgels in defense of the desert religion. We Hindus seem to be compelled into defending the afore-mentioned religion.

I wish I understood this, because it infuriates me. Thoughts?

I wish some Jholawala reads the the Jholawala post and takes to streets to abuse the Fakeer and you

Awesome post

Thanks

Go read “The Jholawala Syndrome” for details on what a jholawala is.

Atanu

SORRY if the question seems stupid but I don’t get it. It’s better to ask than to remain ignorant.:)