India

[Mighty_Emperor]

Why bachelors of Bihar are terrified

By Rahul Bedi in New Delhi
October 4, 2003


It is a big mistake to venture out at night if you are young, male and unmarried in the Indian state of Bihar.

Subhash Kumar, a bank clerk in Patna, let his guard down and paid the price by being kidnapped. Four days after being carried off by a gang of thugs, manacled to a bed, starved and severely beaten, Kumar found himself married to a girl he had never seen before.

His tears and offers to pay ransom led to beatings, at least until the nuptials were complete. During the marriage ceremony a rope was tied around Kumar's waist in case he disgraced the bride's family by trying to flee. But by then, the resistance had been beaten out of him.

In those dark hours, all he wanted was for the nightmare to end, even if it meant being married to a complete stranger. The next day a sullen Kumar took his wife home, vowing vengeance against his in-laws.

But, like thousands of similarly married Bihari grooms, he feared the kidnappers' vengeance. Unwilling to face more beatings, he resigned himself to marriage.

"After marriage, compliance [of the groom] is guaranteed by the kidnappers for an extra fee," said Mithelesh Singh, a political activist from near Patna.

This is marriage season in Bihar, in India's east, and it is a dangerous time for young men. Bihari social workers say excessive dowry demands by grooms has forced the parents of young women to hire men to organise such "shotgun alliances".

Bihar is among the most violent of India's 28 states, where politicians and landlords own private armies and the rule of law barely exists. Officials in the state capital, Patna, said scores of bachelors were abducted each year in the state's Gaya, Darbangha and Purnea districts and, after being beaten senseless, were married according to Hindu rites, in a custom that had gained tacit social approval.

Payment of large dowries - banned by law - is widespread in Bihar. The bride is expected to bring with her a wide range of consumer goods and presents and jewellery for her husband and family. Dowry demands often continue well into the marriage. When the bride refuses or is simply unable to meet them, she is brutally treated, at times even set on fire.

In the early 1980s such deaths became so common that anti-dowry activists forced the Government to change the law. Today, any such death by burning within seven years of marriage is deemed unnatural and the husband and his parents are charged with murder.

More than 12,612 dowry deaths were recorded across India in 1998 and 1999, the largest number in Bihar and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

Activists in Bihar said the groom kidnapping system was well honed. Delivery by the "groom contractors" was guaranteed within days.

Middle-class professionals are among the top targets.

"Eligible bachelors are so terrorised by these enforced nuptials that many rarely ever venture out alone during the marriage season," Mr Singh said. Many even left the state.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/03/1064988410945.html

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Pushkin, Lenin and Stalin Live in India

01/22/2004 14:05

Sometimes Russian names help those Hindu who bear them

Hindu bearing Russian names met in the city of Trivandrum in southern India. A 58-year-old man named Stalin was the oldest participant of the meeting and a schoolgirl named Pravda was the youngest. A man known by the name Lenin delivered a speech, then Khrushchev and Gorbachev came out as well. Pushkin read his verses to the audience.

The Russian cultural center in Trivandrum reports a really curious incident. A man named Lenin worked in Russia's Consulate General in Madras. Once, an official from the city administration invited Lenin for a great meeting, the official's name was Stalin. When the consulate official was asked where he was going at the height of the workday, he replied that he was going to Stalin. The answer caused turmoil at the Consulate, as some of the officials suspected that Lenin might be insane.

Director of the Russian cultural center in Trivandrum told Russia's newspaper Izvestia that an idea to organize a meeting of people bearing Russian names occurred to him when he learnt that a girl named Tereshkova (the name of the first woman cosmonaut) was living in the state of Kerala; then someone told that there was an actor Pushkin. So, the director of the cultural center decided to publish an advertisement and invite people with Russian names for a meeting. The event gathered 43 people.

Besides Hindu named after famous Russian politicians, there were two men named Pushkin, one Brodsky (named after poet Joseph Brodsky) and Bazhenov (named after architect Vasily Bazhenov). Two men were named Leo and Maksim, after the Russian writers Leo Tolstoy and Maksim Gorky. However, some names sounded really exotic even though they were actually Russian words. One participant of the meeting was named Sputnik (Satellite) and two girls were named Pravda. Many years ago, their parents lived in Russia and read the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. So, the girls were named after the Russian popular newspaper.

The remarkable day of April 12, 1961 when Soviet cosmonaut went into space is the birthday of a Hindu man named Gagarin. The man's parents were so overcome with emotion that they gave the name of the Soviet cosmonaut to their son. A peasant Hindu family named their daughter Tereshkova after Soviet woman cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. The father of Hindu named Pushkin was a writer keen on verses of the Russian poet.

Parents of majority of people at the meeting graduated from higher education institutions in Russia some time ago. When back home, they named their children after Russian friends they knew being students. This is the reason why there are girls named Olga, Tatyana, Svetlana in India. Names of political figures were traditionally given to people of the older generation whose parents belonged to the Communist Party and preferred such names because of ideology.

Sometimes Russian names help those Hindu who bear them. Once Gagarin came to an interview for a very good job. Dozens of other candidates were seeking the same position, however when the employers learnt that one of the candidates was Gagarin, they organized an individual interview for him. They asked the man to tell about the life of the first cosmonaut. As a result, Indian Gagarin was beyond comparison and got the employment. The man named Pushkin was often asked if he was a poet, so the man decided to write poems in English. After the unique meeting in the Russian cultural center the poet promised he would take up the Russian language.

Yeugeny Shestakov

http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/361/11861_india.html

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

As another in a series of Fortean guides to strange lands (i,.e. all of them) we reach India.

-------------------

News Updated on Sunday, October 24, 2004 8:54:08 PM

A bizarre Dusshera ritual where people hurl stones at each other

Kaladav (MP) | October 24, 2004 6:24:44 PM IST

In a bizarre ritual villagers in Kaladev village pelted stones and abused each other as part of Dusshera festival.

The locals were joined by hundreds more, including women, from neighbouring areas as they sweared, called names and made sarcastic remarks provoking each other to hit them with stones, usually small pebbles not more than the size of a large marble.

According to Hindu mythological epic Ramayana, the village was the site of the battle between Lord Rama and his twin sons, living in exile since their birth, which ultimately ended in their reunion.

Villagers recreate the battle by throwing stones with the abuses being a modern-day addition by young men, who enjoy their day out in the field. "This ritual has been our tradition. We form two groups, namely, Ram and Ravana. They throw stones at each other. Nobody gets hurt in the process. In fact nobody gets injured even if they shoot with a gun," said Ram Bhau, a villager.

"We have been participating since the last eight years. I still don't know why nobody gets hurt. Maybe its god's race or some magic," said Neelesh, another participant.

Though dozens are injured, sometimes seriously, repeated attempts by police to stop the ritual have failed with the superstitious villagers firmly believing that a break in tradition will invoke divine wrath. (ANI)

http://www.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=50886&cat=India

 

[Anonymous]

Check this out.

http://www.indiamike.com

 

[ramonmercado]

Rioting by India police hopefuls

Hundreds of people applying to join the police have gone on the rampage in the northern Indian city of Ghaziabad.
Riots began because many felt a written test was too difficult, officials say.

The mob of would-be officers rampaged along a stretch of the main road to Delhi, attacking people and property. Almost 30 people were arrested.

Passengers were forced from their vehicles and reports say several women were molested. It took police an hour to bring the riots under control.

Women assaulted

About 20,000 hopefuls had turned up on Sunday evening to take the written test assessing their suitability to be constables in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh police.

These men will become gangsters if they do not become policemen

Ghaziabad resident

The state's home secretary, RM Srivastava, told the BBC that the candidates were upset because they found the question paper too difficult.

As they left the police headquarters in Ghaziabad, several hundred angry applicants began stopping cars and buses on the highway, breaking windows and demanding lifts.

The mob then ran out of control along a 5km (three-mile) section of the main highway to Delhi, smashing fences, looting food from kiosks and beating up shopkeepers.

Security forces baton-charged the rioters to restore order.




Uttar Pradesh police say they have now obtained still photographs and film of the riots and are busy identifying those responsible so their applications to join the police can be rejected.


India's police force is battling an image problem

"These men will become gangsters if they do not become policemen," one man in Ghaziabad was quoted as saying by the Times of India newspaper.

The unrest comes as the government is trying to reform the police services.

Complaints of police corruption and heavy-handedness are commonplace in India.

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Delhi says most Indians have little faith in their police, viewing them as lazy, corrupt and inefficient.

The riots will do little to change that perception, our correspondent says.




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6119928.stm

 

[Xanatico]

I´d prefer to let them be gansters then. Which part of the written test was too difficult I wonder, was it the "Write your name here" part?

 

[Peripart]

These men will become gangsters if they do not become policemen

If this is what they put on their CVs, it's probably not too surprising that they were turned down for the job.

 

[Xanatico]

I´ll have to try it in my next job interview.
"So tell us why you want this job."
"Well, it is either this or becoming a gangster. Gangsters have bad dental plans."

 

[ramonmercado]

Indian bar dancers to seek office
By Monica Chadha
BBC News, Mumbai



In Mumbai bars, women danced and clients threw money

Jobless bar dancers in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) say they will fight forthcoming municipal elections to gain a foothold in government.

The women hope this will help overturn a ban imposed on them in 2005.

More than 100,000 women employed in about 1,400 dance bars across Maharashtra state lost their jobs under the state government ban.

Authorities say the bars are breeding grounds for crime and prostitution and they corrupt young people.

'Support'

The president of the Maharashtra Bar Owners' Association, Manjit Singh Sethi, told the BBC that if they had representation in the government, the ban would not have been imposed.

We realised that people were with us and not against us

Manjit Singh Sethi,
Bar Owners' Association

"We had no voice anywhere so we felt that we needed to have some sort of representation in the state's municipal corporation and the legislative assembly.

"We plan to fight these elections with all our might and try to get in as many candidates as possible," he said.

Mr Sethi said they received great encouragement when a former bar dancer and bar owner won civic elections in the past.

"When they won, we realised that people were with us and not against us," he said.

Mr Sethi said they would pick as candidates those who were related to the dance bar industry, such as former dancers, bar owners and other staff.

The municipal elections are due on 1 February.

'Positive step'

The ban, which is currently before the Supreme Court, left many bar dancers unemployed.

Some returned to their home towns, others took up prostitution to fend for themselves or moved to other states in search of work.

The president of the Indian Bar Dancers' Association, Varsha Kale, says many bar dancers have expressed a desire to enter politics and fight for themselves as well as others.

She says this was a positive step, but warned that the dancers may not taste victory in this round.

"There is very little time [before elections] and many of the former bar girls have been jobless for a very long time. So the kind of time and power required to win elections is not there," she says.

Ms Kale, however, says given more time the dancers will certainly win positions of power.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6233995.stm

Edit to amend title.

 

[Xanatico]

"Jobless bar dancers"

I bet many people who are hard of hearing have been disappointed when coming to that bar.

 

[ramonmercado]

India's 'Saddam Hussein' village
By Amarnath Tewary
BBC News, Lakhanow village, Bihar

It is a typical nondescript village - like many others - in the northern Indian state of Bihar. It consists of unplastered brick houses, dusty lanes, thatched structures and dirt-laden children with no shoes and running noses.

There appears to be little running water or other infrastructure.

But there is one thing about the village of Lakhanow - and other settlements in the area - that makes them strikingly different.

Sunni Muslims

Ejaj Alam - a small-time civil contractor in his mid-30s - provides the answer: he has decided to re-name his three-year-old son.

Instead of being called Majhar Alam, Mr Alam has opted to call the boy Saddam Hussein in honour of the former Iraqi leader who was executed on 30 December.


God willing one day our village will be full of Saddam Husseins

Ejaj Alam


Stalins and Lenins in India

What is more, the child will not be the only Saddam Hussein in the neighbourhood. There are more than 20 other Saddam Husseins in Lakhanow alone.

Local people say there are more than 100 Saddam Husseins in 27 adjoining villages dominated by mostly Sunni Muslims.

There is even a family with one son called Saddam Hussein and a younger sibling called Osama Bin Laden.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that all the children bearing the name of Saddam Hussein were born after the first American war with Iraq in 1991.

Before the war, the name Saddam Hussein was hardly used at all, says Mohammed Nizamuddin, whose grandson was born in 1991 and is called Saddam Hussein.

'Miscalculations'

And, now after the recent high-profile and much photographed execution of the Iraqi leader, the villagers of Lakhanow have decided to name all the new born baby boys after him.

"This is our way to pay tribute to our leader. We want to carry on his legacy here at least in our village," said Ejaj Alam.

"God willing one day our village will be full of Saddam Husseins."

Other villagers feel equally passionate about the issue.



Saddam Hussein is hero of the village

"George Bush can hang one Saddam Hussein but we will create an army of Saddam Husseins. Let him come to our village and see how Saddam Hussein can never be executed," local leader Ayub Khan said.

There is no talk here of the former Iraqi leader's appalling human rights record, no mention of the people he murdered and no references to his numerous "miscalculations". All that is brushed aside by the Saddam Hussein personality cult.

Close to the village is the only private school, Dini Academy, where almost 100 Saddam Husseins come to read, write and know more about the former Iraqi leader.

"It was during the Gulf War we came to know about the bravery and valour of the Iraqi president who mustered courage to defy American diktats," Mr Nizamuddin said.

'Great leader'

The villagers make no secret of the fact that the American president is not their most admired personality.

Most argue that Saddam Hussein has been "immortalised" following his execution.

Many may have only scant knowledge of who Saddam was, but that does not stop them believing propaganda which confers him with almost God-like status.

So what do the new Saddam Husseins think about their name changes? The signs are that they have been told what to think from an early age.


Most say they want to emulate the Iraqi leader

"I feel extremely proud being named Saddam Hussein. He was a great leader, a lion who took on the might of America and became a saviour of the weak," said one "Little Saddam" born in May 1993.

"I too would like to be like the Iraqi president and die a death like him."

Another Saddam - born in May 1992 - says proudly that he "will try and live up to name of the great warrior".

Yet another calls Saddam Hussein a "dear leader".

The eldest Saddam Hussein in the village - born soon after the first Gulf war - appears the most vociferous.

"I owe a great debt to my father for naming me after our revered leader. It was only after his execution, when news and photographs appeared in the newspapers that I came to know how great he was," he said.

On the day of the execution, all the Saddam Husseins of the area congregated in the village mosque to pray for his soul.


Then they staged a procession and burnt effigies of George Bush.

But there is one problem in having so many Saddam Husseins, says villager Mohammed Hassan Abbas.

"In the playground we have Saddam Hussein running after Saddam Hussein, behind Saddam Hussein who is ahead of Saddam Hussein but too far from Saddam Hussein... it can all get a little confusing," he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6244425.stm?ls

 

[ramonmercado]

Not sure if theres an appropriate thread for this, it doesn't really fit into Strange Deaths (imho).

More women die in fires in India
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7919682.stm

Young women are more likely to suffer a fire-related death, research suggests
Young women in India are three times as likely to suffer a fire-related death as young men, according to a new study.

The study, published in the Lancet medical journal, looked at death statistics in India for the year 2001.

Of an estimated 163,000 fire-related deaths, two-thirds of the victims were females, mostly aged between 15 and 34.

These deaths are attributed to kitchen accidents, self-immolation and different forms of domestic violence, such as dowry disputes.

The study, conducted by Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University and independent researchers, looked at hospital records, death registries and verbal autopsy reports to find their results.

By combining several health data sets, the authors found that in 2001 there were 106,000 fire-related deaths among Indian women, mostly between 15 and 34 years of age - a number six times higher than the police recorded.

In all their research, there were "alarming" spikes in deaths by fire in the 15 to 34 age group of females in India, the authors said.

This could be attributed in part to "sudden exposure to the cooking environment", though some believe that many homicides are covered up as accidents and are considered a cultural norm, so the police do little to investigate or intervene.

The relative youth of the demographic most affected also corresponds with the age distribution of fertility. In addition, domestic violence is not unheard of in India.

Dowry deaths, in which a woman is doused with kerosene and then set on fire, are sometimes perpetrated by the family of the husband if the bride's dowry does not meet expectations.

The Hindu practice of sati, the act of a widow's suicide by jumping on to her husband's funeral pyre, is illegal in India.

The study concluded that better research into fire-related deaths could produce policy measures that would prevent unintentional as well as intentional fire-related deaths among Indian women.

 

[OneWingedBird]

Of an estimated 163,000 fire-related deaths, two-thirds of the victims were females, mostly aged between 15 and 34.

um, if 2/3 of the victims are female, then women are twice as likely to die by fire as men, not 3 times.

way back i had a bangladeshi lodger who said that asian women had a strange habit of mysteriously catching fire in their kitchens in bradford... no idea if that's true though.

 

[ramonmercado]

Indian political parties with strange names
By Tanvi Misra
BBC News
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26775258

Indian Lovers Party website message

In April, India's 814 million eligible voters are due at the polls. There are more than 1,600 registered political parties - some with very unexpected names.

B Kumar Sri Sri launched the Indian Lovers Party on Valentine's Day 2008. His bubble-gum pink posters announce the party's resolve to fight for star-crossed lovers from different castes and religious backgrounds, whose parents don't approve of their relationship.

He's putting up candidates in the state of Tamil Nadu in the forthcoming elections and is hopeful they will secure 40-50,000 votes - much more than the 3,000 votes he got in the 2011 state elections. The party is already registered in Tamil Nadu, but after the election he plans to get federal registration, using his own design - the Taj Mahal framed in a heart - as the party's symbol.

Symbol Kumar wants for his party
Symbol Kumar wants for his party
To register a party with the Election Commission, you need to supply a host of details, including name, address, number of members (at least 100), objectives and structure. Then, once the registration fee of 10,000 rupees (£100) has been paid, "there you are, you have a party," says Anil Verma, head of the Association of Democratic reforms, a Delhi-based think tank.

The Election Commission can reject the application if certain conditions aren't met, he adds, - for example, if the name has an obvious caste or religious reference.

The Religion of Man Revolving Political Party of India managed to get registered, though.

"The name has everything in it - man, religion, political, party, India and most importantly (and inexplicably) 'revolving'," writes journalist Soumyadip Choudhury in his blog. Choudhury is not new to unconventional names. He says they are common in the north-eastern part of India, where he is from. "That we once had a minister called Adolf Hitler should be indicative enough," he says.

It's likely the name Religion of Man Revolving Party is an odd translation from a local language, he says.

"It is obvious that most of the popular parties are not very adventurous when it comes to choosing names. In such monotony of political party names funny names are actually welcome."

Other parties with odd names, at least in English translation, include the Poor Man's Party and the Yours-Mine Party. The first splintered from the Common Man's party - which recently won the Delhi elections. The Yours-Mine party supports "nationalism, Indianism and one-ism" according to its website.

Indian Lovers Party posters
Indian Lovers Party posters
The Indian Oceanic Party, launched in 2010, claims to be "an ocean of philosophies, an ocean of honest people, an ocean where the power of creating a prosperous India is developed" its website says. The party symbol, however, is not an ocean or a wave but a telephone - representing a connection between people.

Oceanic party logo
The Pyramid Party of India, meanwhile, has been around since 1999 to "spread the twin concepts of vegetarianism and meditation". The name borrows from a local movement that advocates meditation as the "true source of wisdom".

Pyramid Party of India symbol
Pyramid Party of India symbol
Then there is the Stay Awake Party, a recent addition to the Election Commission's list of registered parties. The name echoes the cries of watchmen on the graveyard shifts who yell "stay awake!" periodically to remind each other to be vigilant. The cries, punctuated with the thumps of their batons, also double as warnings for prospective thieves.

Watchmen only guard small neighbourhoods, but the the members of this party "have to guard the nation," says its founder, anti-corruption activist Praful Desai. He wants the party to serve as a corruption watchdog, though for this election, he is supporting a bigger, mainstream party with a similar programme.

Technically, if parties don't fight elections for six consecutive years they are supposed to be taken off the registered list, but sometimes nobody bothers, Verma says. People often create parties for social prestige and power, and also for perks like tax exemptions, he adds.

"The irony is that a whole lot of them get registered and never fight elections."

 

[ramonmercado]

Is this the world's biggest election loser?
By Sandeep Sahu
Berhampur, Odisha
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26849932

Dr K Shyam Babu Subudhi

He has stood in every Indian parliamentary election since 1962 - and lost every one - but that has not deterred 78-year-old Shyam Babu Subudhi from throwing his hat into the ring once again.

Dr Subudhi is a homeopathy practitioner in Berhampur, a town in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. And he is contesting two constituencies, Berhampur and Aska, in India's forthcoming parliamentary polls.

Despite losing his deposit in every previous election, having won less than a sixth of the votes cast each time, Dr Subudhi is surprisingly confident he can win both seats this time. His one-page election manifesto even claims that there is "enough of a possibility" of him being appointed prime minister of India after the coming elections.

This will be his 13th attempt in a row to enter India's parliament.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

I am in electoral politics because I want to end corruption in the country”

Dr Subudhi
"People are fed up with the current crop of leaders, who switch parties when they are not given a ticket by their own party. They have seen that I am the only person who has steadfastly refused to join any political party since the 1960s," Dr Subudhi told the BBC at his home in Berhampur.

Dr Subudhi's electoral debut came in 1957, when he battled former State Minister Brundaban Nayak over the setting up of a school in Berhampur.

"I fought with him in the Hinjili Assembly constituency and lost narrowly," he says proudly.

What started as a battle over a school soon turned into an obsession for this man, a familiar sight on the streets of Berhampur in his trademark cap, uneven beard, bulging black bag and well-worn suit, even in the scorching summer heat.

He fought in both assembly and parliamentary elections until 1980, when he took on former Chief Minister JB Patnaik in Begunia. From then on, he has focused his efforts purely on parliamentary elections.

Hillary Clinton and Narasimha Rao pictured in 1995
Dr Subudhi remembers his "fight" against former Prime Minister Rao (right) as a high point of his career
The high point of his long electoral career came in 1996 when he "fought" the Prime Minister of India, PV Narasimha Rao, for the Berhampur seat. Biju Patnaik, father of India's current chief minister and the biggest political leader in the state's post-independence history, is among his other notable "rivals".

Continue reading the main story
The forthcoming election

India's 16th general election to take place between April and May
Election will be held in nine phases
There are 39 parties in current parliament
Some 814 million Indians are eligible to vote at 930,000 polling stations
No single party has won a majority in India's parliament since 1989
Recent governments formed with the support of smaller, regional parties
There are more than 1,600 registered political parties - some with very unexpected names
"I am in electoral politics because I want to end corruption in the country," Dr Subudhi says.

But how can he end corruption, even if he wins the election, when he is only an independent candidate?

"I am sure I will get the support of many others in parliament," he says confidently.

Curiously for someone who is 78 and on the ballot in two constituencies, his manifesto promises to bar people above 60 from contesting elections, and put an end to the practice of standing in more than one seat.

His campaign style is also frugal and lacks the pomp and ostentation usually associated with Indian elections. He moves about mostly on foot, by bicycle or even bull-drawn cart, as he meets his electorate in ones and twos.

But Dr Subudhi readily concedes that despite his no-frills campaign style, he could end up spending about 500,000 Indian rupees ($8,300; £5,000) this time. But he laughs away any suggestion his family members might be peeved with him for "wasting" the money.

Indian workers make different party campaign flags at a workshop in Hyderabad on 7 March 2014
Election materials can make up a big part of a candidate's expenses
They do not appear too perturbed. "He spends his own money and never asks for help from anybody," says his daughter-in-law Rashmita.

His earnings apparently come from his still-flourishing homeopathy practice, while his sizeable ancestral property ensures that he is never short of money to fight elections.

Many people in the town think he is mad. Others think he is an old man obsessed with getting into the Guinness Book of Records as the man who has contested the most elections.

But there are some - like his contemporary and good friend Venkat Bihari Praharaj - who do take him seriously. They believe he is standing sincerely and is not in the fight for fun. "But the problem is people tend to vote for parties rather than individuals," Praharaj says.

There is nothing to suggest that the voters will behave any differently this time. But Dr K Shyam Babu Subudhi will have none of it.

Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

 

[OneWingedBird]

The party symbol, however, is not an ocean or a wave but a telephone - representing a connection between people.

iirc the true significance of party symbols in India is that they're what enables people to put a mark against their party on the ballot sheet in a country were a good proportion of the population are illiterate.

 

[ramonmercado]

India's Shyam Saran Negi ready for 16th general election
By Baldev Chauhan
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-26933761

India's first voter Shyam Saran Negi

Shyam Saran Negi has voted in every single election since 1951-52

A 97-year-old man, who is among India's oldest voters, says he is getting ready to cast his ballot for a 16th time in a general election.

Shyam Saran Negi is a retired teacher in northern Himachal Pradesh state.

He has voted in every single election since 1951-52 - when India held its first general election after gaining independence from British rule.

Indians began voting in a nine-phase election on Monday. Voting will take five weeks, with results due on 16 May.

More than 814 million people are eligible to vote in a poll dominated by corruption and high inflation.

Country's first voter?
Mr Negi, who lives in the Himalayan village of Kalpa in Kinnaur district, will cast his vote on 7 May, the day voting will be held in all five seats of Himachal Pradesh.

The Election Commission of India has held him up as an example to others, and Google India recently put out a video on Mr Negi - #PledgeToVote tells the "true story of a man who never missed an opportunity to vote".

Continue reading the main story
Indian election 2014

7 April - 2 states, 6 constituencies
9 April - 5 states, 7 constituencies
10 April - 14 states, 92 constituencies
12 April - 3 states, 5 constituencies
17 April - 13 states, 142 constituencies
24 April - 12 states, 117 constituencies
30 April - 9 states, 89 constituencies
7 May - 7 states, 64 constituencies
12 May - 3 states, 41 constituencies
Counting of votes - 16 May
Election Commission of India
Since the video went up on 24 March, it has been viewed by nearly 1.7 million people around the world.

The short film begins with Mr Negi sipping tea at home, looking out at the spectacular snow covered peaks.

Then, he puts on his coat and cap, picks up his walking stick and begins his journey to the polling centre.

Walking upright and sure-footed on the snow-covered road which winds through apple orchards and pine woods, he arrives at the polling station to a grand welcome by fellow tribespeople before casting his vote.

The film also describes Mr Negi as the country's first voter - it says that independent India's first polling station was set up at Kalpa months before elections were held in the rest of India in February 1952.

"Before the roads got blocked in deep winter, we voted several months ahead of the rest of India on 25 October 1951," Mr Negi says.

"Since then I have voted in every general election and the state assembly elections. On 7 May, I will vote for a record 16th time [in a general election]," he adds.

The video has him saying: "I still remember that day all those years ago. It was snowing heavily as I walked to vote for the first time."

Mr Negi refuses to divulge which party has his support. "I will vote for a party which will sincerely attempt to change the country and provide a good government."

He is not particularly excited by the Nota (None of The Above) option the Election Commission has introduced for the first time in these elections. Nota gives the voter an option to reject all candidates.

"I am not in favour of Nota. Surely things are not so bad that there is nobody to vote for among the candidates," he told the BBC over the phone from his village.

 

[ramonmercado]

I guess this was to be expected given that Maoist guerrillas are active in about half of India's States. They are trying to enforce a boycott.

Indian election: Bomb blasts kill 12 in Chhattisgarh

Maoist rebels have waged a campaign of violence across several Indian states

Two bombs planted by suspected Maoist rebels have killed at least 12 people in the eastern Indian state of Chhattisgarh as voting continues in the general election. The first blast hit a bus carrying election officials in Bijapur district, police said, killing seven. The second attack - half an hour later - killed five police in an ambulance in the Bastar district.

India began five weeks of general election polling last Monday.

Officials said the bus in Bijapur district was blown up by a landmine as it travelled between Gudma and the town of Kutru. Four people were injured. Several people were also injured in the separate attack on the ambulance, which took place in the village of Kamanar, election officials said.

Maoist rebels have staged frequent attacks over several decades across a swathe of India in their campaign for the poor to have a greater share of India's natural resources.

Chhattisgarh has seen some of the worst violence. Polling began in part of the state on 10 April and continues with two further rounds in the coming weeks.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27001888

 

[ramonmercado]

Imran Masood, the Congress party's candidate from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was sent to jail for 14 days on 29 March after he threatened to "chop off" Mr Modi "into pieces".

Eh? Whats the problem? Full text at link.

Indian media praise poll watchdog's ban on 'hate speech'

The Election Commission (EC) has imposed a ban on Amit Shah, a top aide of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, and Azam Khan, a senior minister in the Samajwadi party government in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Shah, who is leading the BJP's poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh, allegedly asked people at a public meeting to take "revenge" for last year's religious riots in Muzaffarnagar town in which 43 people died.

Meanwhile, Mr Khan has been reprimanded for saying that India's victory in the 1999 Kargil conflict over Pakistan was ensured by Muslim soldiers and not Hindus. Pakistani-backed forces had infiltrated into the Kargil mountains in Indian-administered Kashmir leading to an armed conflict between the two countries.

The Hindu feels the ban sends a "strong message" to politicians who resort to hate speech during elections.

Before Mr Shah and Mr Khan's comments, a Congress politician was arrested for giving "hate speech" last month. Imran Masood, the Congress party's candidate from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was sent to jail for 14 days on 29 March after he threatened to "chop off" Mr Modi "into pieces".
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27017950

 

[ramonmercado]

Astrologers are more important than spin-doctors in Indian politics

Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded his mother as prime minister, was initially dismissive of astrologers but as his political capital gradually declined he travelled across the country visiting influential “godmen” when up for re-election in 1989. One such personality he visited lived high up a tree in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Would Cameron visit a tree dwelling holy hermit.?

Full text at link.

Indian politicians try to see if success is written in the stars
Astrologers, soothsayers and clairvoyants wield influence in India’s political process

Indian politicians are busy consulting astrologers, stargazers, soothsayers and clairvoyants to help them emerge victorious in general elections in which the third of nine rounds of polling took place earlier this week.

Hundreds of competing “godmen” are not only “managing” the heavens for their political patrons, but also dominating all their public and private moves ahead of voting to elect 543 MPs that concludes on May 12th. Many of them believe their success or failure will be on display in results that will be declared four days later.

“In life, timing for all human activity in keeping with star and planetary movements is not everything, it is the only thing, especially for politicians,” said Vinay Aditya, an astrologer based in New Delhi who advises several MPs and local legislators. Following such a course diligently based on astrological advice is almost certain to have a positive outcome, he added.

“The greater the uncertainty, the more the need for astrologers as guides into the unknown,” said Suresh Chander Misra, another of Delhi’s politically connected astrologers. “There are hardly any Indian politicians who do not consult a bank of astrologers or Tantric priests who indulge in black magic and sundry mumbo jumbo to ensure their clients’ electoral success,” he added.

These celestial minders, he added, dictate not only the date and exact time their clients file their nomination papers but also when they launch their campaigns, how many electoral meetings they hold and where. Their advice also determines their patrons’ travel plans, the clothes they wear and even the food they consume on the campaign trail.

Whether these politicians believe all heir astrologers tell them is another matter. But as one senior MP from the ruling Congress Party said, there was no “celestial” advice he would for go – it just might work.

Members of India’s four Communist parties remain the exception in this regard. But many believers are of the view that leftist scepticism in matters astrological has been responsible for their political influence being limited to just three Indian states.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/as ... -1.1760898

 

[ramonmercado]

An ancient ceremony - thought up by a hotel manager 20 years ago. The invention of tradition yet again. Full text at link.

Invented tradition and the religion of the ancients

There's much we know about the world's biggest election, currently in full swing in India - some 800 million voters, voting in nine separate stages over five weeks, before results on 16 May. But in India, there are always surprises, as the BBC's Owen Bennett Jones has been reminded on the campaign trail.

Varanasi - it was the obvious place to go for all sorts of reasons.

It was hosting a high profile clash between the man who would be prime minister, Narendra Modi, and Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of a new party committed to fighting corruption.

You could tell it was a high profile electoral battleground from the fact that whenever he appeared in public Mr Kejriwal had eggs and ink thrown at him.

It is also known as India's holiest city, a place that exudes exactly the kind of Hindu cultural identity that Modi says he want so protect.

And just to shake it all up a bit, there was a transgender candidate standing too.

All very promising.

Within an hour of reaching Varanasi it was all going very much according to plan.

With surprising speed I ended up, with a couple of other journalists and a local businessman, on a boat being rowed down the Ganges towards a Hindu ceremony.

There in the fading evening light six priests standing on plinths on the riverbank were surrounded by thousands of people sitting on ancient stone steps that led down to the water. The priests - some with long hair tied back behind their necks - were dressed in white robes from head to toe.

They started by blowing into some conch shells creating a low timeless sound and then came the bells and the incense swirling through the air. As the rhythmic chanting lulled the spectators into a state of spiritual relaxation, attendants produced lamps, each one with a thousand candles.

On the Ganges itself some candles in small bowls were launched on the calm wide waters - they floated into distance, diminishing specks of light.

"I am surprised I have never seen these images on TV," I remarked to another journalist on the boat.

"Oh! There are festivals all over India. They are happening all the time," he replied.

Back on the riverbank the priests had started whirling some sort of ancient looking contraptions in the air. The bell ringing was more intense now, boys pulling on strings that made a whole row of bells high in the air, chime in time with the chanting.

And then to my side there appeared a convoy of wooden boats - a long procession meandering up the Ganges. ...
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27049295

 

[ramonmercado]

Actors urge India to 'vote secular'

An open letter from Bollywood film personalities urging people to support secular parties in India's general election has caused a stir, it appears.

The hashtag #BollywoodSplit became the top trend in India on Thursday as people debated whether popular actors and directors should be weighing in on politics. The letter, signed by 60 prominent people, says: "India's secular character is not negotiable!" according to NDTV. "Vote for the secular party which is most likely to win in your constituency."

The letter doesn't name parties, but seems to target the BJP - India's main opposition party - and its allies, says screenwriter Anjum Rajabali, who is spearheading the initiative. Directors such as Imtiaz Ali and Kabir Khan, and actresses Nandita Das and Aditi Rao Hydari are among those who signed the letter.

But the message has proved divisive. Film director Madhur Bhandarkar says in a tweet that the letter is "shocking". Another actor, Tusshar Kapoor, warns "the 'secular' card is being stretched a bit too far".

The letter appeared on the eve of India's biggest polling day, in which nearly 200 million people are eligible to vote. Mumbai, where the Hindi film industry is based, goes the polls on 24 April.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from ... e-27063743

 

[ramonmercado]

India election: Maoist attack kills police, poll officials

Authorities in the Indian state of Jharkhand are hunting those behind a Maoist rebel attack which killed three election officials and five policemen.

The attack came half-an-hour after voting in the state closed in the sixth phase of India's general election. The rebels set off a landmine as a bus carrying officials crossed a bridge near Asna village in the Dumka area.

The Maoists had called for a boycott of the elections, but voters ignored their call turning out in large numbers.

There were angry scenes as the bodies were brought to the local hospital, with relatives shouting "shame on you" at local officials, the BBC's Rahul Tandon reports from Dumka. Ten people were also injured in the attack.

The Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor and landless, have been described as India's biggest internal security challenge by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Jharkhand is one of the states in central India where Maoists have a strong presence.

Thursday's vote was held in 117 seats in 12 states and union territories.

The nine-phase marathon election concludes on 12 May. Counting of votes is due on 16 May
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27153670

 

[ramonmercado]

India MP Giriraj Singh in burglary embarrassment

A controversial MP from India's ruling BJP is being investigated after a theft at his home led to the recovery of 11.4m rupees ($190,833; £111,513) in cash, expensive watches and jewellery.

Giriraj Singh is reported to have said only about 50,000 rupees were taken.

Four people, including three of Mr Singh's staff, have been arrested.

He made headlines during recent polls by saying that anyone who did not vote for his party leader - now PM Narendra Modi - should be expelled to Pakistan.

But he has not been quite so vocal about a theft at his flat on Monday.

Police said the BJP MP in the state of Bihar did not mention anything being stolen when he initially reported the break-in, although a party colleague later said a sum worth around 50,000 rupees had gone.

But police then caught the alleged burglar, with a suitcase stuffed with cash, seven designer wrist-watches and a substantial amount of gold jewellery.

The burglar said all of it had come from the MP's flat, after some of his staff helped him break in. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-28223852

 

[ramonmercado]

Murder charge no bar for Modi's aide Amit Shah

Amit Shah (left) is a close aide of Narendra Modi (right)

It was a hard road for Prashant Dayal to realise his dream of becoming a journalist. After flunking his school exams, his parents nearly threw him out.

He eventually paid his way through journalism school by working nights as a rickshaw driver, but had to offer to work for free to secure his first reporting job in his native Gujarat. That tenacity helped him land a scoop leading to one of the closest confidants of India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, being charged with murder.

The indicted aide is Amit Shah, who Mr Modi appointed earlier this week to the powerful post of president of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Fitting recognition, supporters say, for Mr Shah's decisive role in the BJP's victory in May. And Mr Shah denies any wrongdoing. ...

The case goes back to November 2005 when police in Gujarat said they had shot dead a suspected gangster called Sohrabbudin Sheikh.

They claimed he was planning to assassinate a senior politician and that he was linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group later accused of planning the 2008 attacks on Mumbai.

But Mr Dayal exposed a very different version of events, thanks to one of his favourite tip-gathering tactics of drinking with police officers.

One night in 2006, officers from Gujarat's anti-terrorism squad, their tongues loosened with several rounds of "cheap whisky" according to Mr Dayal, boasted to him that "they had shot dead an underworld don and his wife in a fake-encounter". ...

Mr Dayal established the victims were Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi, leading to a series of investigations that implicated Mr Shah, then Mr Modi's home minister in Gujarat. First the police officers were arrested and then in 2010 Shah himself, accused of ordering the murders.

The evidence against him includes hundreds of phone calls to the accused police officers at the time the couple disappeared - records that Mr Modi's officials in Gujarat reportedly tried to suppress. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-28259077

 

[ramonmercado]

A 22-year-old, who has become the new poster boy of protests in India, has announced plans for a 10-day march through major cities in the western state of Gujarat to press for his controversial demand that the Patels - widely considered to be among India's most affluent communities - be given better access to government jobs and education through the quota system.

Hardik Patel, along with hundreds of thousands of supporters, dominated the headlines in India last week when he led a massive protest which shut down Ahmedabad, the main city in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat.

Now he is about to set out to replicate independence hero Mahatma Gandhi's famous "salt march" from Ahmedabad to Dandi - except he's going to reverse the route by starting on the beach of Dandi and ending at the Gandhi ashram (commune) in Ahmedabad.

Mr Patel is not the first protester to grab eyeballs in India which, as Nobel Prize-winning author VS Naipaul famously said, "is a land of million mutinies".

The BBC's Geeta Pandey in Delhi profiles some of India's most unusual protests - and protesters.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34125840

 

[ramonmercado]

The Indian agriculture minister has said his government is supporting "yogic" farming to "empower seeds with the help of positive thinking".

Radha Mohan Singh said it would help improve yield and soil fertility and contribute to making India prosperous.

More than 50% of India's population depends on agriculture for a living.

But farming in India has been going through a crisis in recent years with thousands of farmers killing themselves in despair over poor harvests.

The minister's comments follow earlier controversial statements - in July, he was criticised for his bizarre comments that farmer suicides were a result of "failed love affairs" and "impotency".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34254964

 

[ramonmercado]

Professional mourners to street dentists: India's dying professions

In India, several professions which were passed on within families from one generation to the next have become redundant in 21st Century modern India. In her new book, The Lost Generation, author Nidhi Dugar Kundalia chronicles the "dying professions" of India.

Scribes of old Delhi

Back in the Mughal era, calligraphy was considered a virtuous and pious act and katibs (scribes) were deeply revered by the kings, princes and noblemen.

Calligraphy was considered the pinnacle of divinity, and the artist was uplifted along with it.

Members of the royal family often learnt calligraphy from the finest experts and offered them high positions in their courts.

Wasim Ahmed, a scribe and teacher of Urdu, Persian and Arabic calligraphy, has been practicing the art for over 30 years.

He once inscribed books and made hand-drawn posters, both flawless in terms of fine design and flawed in the slight caprices of an artist's hand.

They then went to the printers to be replicated and sold to be hunge in the homes and offices of people who believed that the sacred verses would bring them good vibes and luck.

But Mr Ahmed and others like him have long lost the patronage and the benefits that came with calligraphy

Their final death knell came with the introduction of Urdu font on computers which had been difficult to create until now.

Rudaalis, or the professional mourners, of Rajasthan

In the Thar desert in the western states of Rajasthan, where women from privileged and upper-caste backgrounds are expected to preserve their dignity by not exhibiting their emotions in front of commoners, the lower-caste rudaalis are called in to mourn for them.

As soon as a man is on his death bed, the rudaalis are called in for the imminent death rituals.

After death, the rudaalis sitting amidst the women in their black scarves, break into action - crying out aloud, tossing their heads, and wailing to the heavens, beating their chests and slapping the ground in front of them.

"Arrey, tharo toh suhag giyore (Oh, your husband is now dead)," they cry, holding the widow's hands.

"What is the reason for your existence in this world now," they wail, beating their chest.

This performance goes on for 12 days after a death. A longer mourning period better explains the family's affluence, and the more theatrical the act, the more it is spoken about in the homes of the neighbours. ...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35299619

 

[ramonmercado]

The governments of Egypt and Turkey are brazenly leading a multi-pronged assault on writers, artists and intellectuals. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last month denounced his critics among Turkish academics as treasonous fifth columnists of foreign powers; many of them have been subsequently dismissed and suspended. Both Turkey and Egypt have imprisoned journalists, provoking international protests. But the suppression of intellectual and creative freedoms is assuming much cannier forms in India, a country with formal and apparently free democratic institutions.

Controlled by upper-caste Hindu nationalists, Indian universities have been purging “anti-nationals” from both syllabuses and campuses for some months now. In a shocking turn of events last month, Rohith Vemula, a PhD student in Hyderabad, killed himself. Accused of “anti-national” political opinions, the impoverished research scholar, who belonged to one of India’s traditionally and cruelly disadvantaged castes, was suspended, and, after his fellowship was cancelled, expelled from student housing. Letters from Modi’s government in Delhi to university authorities revealed that the latter were under relentless pressure to move against “extremist and anti-national politics” on campus. Vemula’s heartbreaking suicide note attests to the near-total isolation and despair of a gifted writer and thinker.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/20...ence-writers-india?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet

 

[ramonmercado]

Police in India have come up with an eye-catching way to shame people who urinate in public - by hanging flower garlands around their necks.

A new campaign in the city of Hyderabad sees traffic officers swoop on people spotted relieving themselves on the street, before handing them the colourful neckwear, the Deccan Chronicle reports. Insp Rama Swamy says he got the idea after seeing social workers doing something similar in Delhi several years ago. "After garlanding them, we request them not to create filth and use the public toilets instead," he says. The force has also been handing out chocolates to scooter riders who wear helmets, in an attempt to persuade others to follow suit.

Many people commenting on the force's Facebook page applaud the initiative, although plenty think the problem could be solved with greater access to public facilities. "Construct public toilets first... Don't waste on flowers," one person writes. But others think it's more of an attitude problem. "Has anyone seen a woman doing this nonsense in public? Isn't she human too? And, if a woman can control, why cannot a man?" asks one user.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-35630615