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| Apr 14, 2007 |
Jharkhand's Mahato tribals wear ghost costumes during worship of Lord Shiva
Tamad (Jharkhand), April 14: Mahto tribals in Jharkhand's Tamad village has a unique traditional festival known as "Koka", in which the participants wear ghost costumes and dance to look like as the ardent devotees of Shiva.
Mahatos has a lot of influence of Bengali culture in its religious rituals.
Even the neighbouring area of Tamad, a non-descript village nearly 70 kilometres from Ranchi, has a large presence of Lord Shiva followers.
However, Tamad Village is popular for its Koka festival. But the fact that entities related to the age-old Koka festival are ghosts, it entices attention of a lot of tribals interested in Tantrik rituals.
Koka festival starts of during Chaitra (spring season) as per Hindu alamanc.
Hundreds of devotees observe a weeklong fasting and wear ornaments made of Gulaichi flowers. Finally, they take bath in the river and participate in huge procession that meanders through the village. This procession commences from Shiva Manda, located in the centre of Tamad.
Paat Bhakta, the head devotee, is dressed in red colour.
However, it is the dummy ghosts or Kokas who happen to be the main attraction of the procession. In fact, they lead the procession and the Kokas are regarded as a part of Lord Shiva's marriage entourage.
"It has been practiced for generations. I believe it's been now nearly 1000 years or even more. I have been observing this festival since 1963 as a nine-year old. All said and done, it is a major festival," said Rattan Lal Rai, a Koka.
Many persons disguise their appearance since the belief is that if one makes a vow to the Lord for some favour, the person has to put on such looks for a particular number of times. They believe that the God listens to their vows and fulfills them!
"In this festival we make a vow and pray to God to accept it. We speak of putting into some time period for the vow saying that we will practice certain rituals, say for three years if it is fulfilled. I made a vow to the God to let me regain my health and it happened," said Raj Rai, another Koka.
Finally, the procession arrives at Shiva Manda. While the devotees enter the temple, the Kokas merely touch the steps leading to the temple and return.
Thus, the Kokas are the main attraction of the entire procession and people from far and near gather for a memorable glimpse of Kokas. None of the participants is afraid of having any nightmare since a Koka, the dummy ghost is a devout Bhakta of Lord Shiva. By Girija Shankar Ojha
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/133529.php/Jharkhands-Mahato-tribals-wear-ghost
-costumes-during-worship-of-Lord-Shiva
They rob, but with utmost politeness!
RANCHI, April 14. — Mummyji, behenji, please heart lose mat kijiye (Mother, sister, please don't lose heart) ~ the entreaty was made by, believe it or not, a bunch of thieves while robbing a house.
A gang of robbers raided Mr Virendra Mishra's house in Khuti police station area, 35 km from this Jharkhand capital, Friday night. They took away jewellery worth Rs 40,000, Rs 5,000 in cash and a motorcycle ~ but with utmost politeness. The robbers told Mr Mishra's distraught wife: "Mummyji please do not cry." They even requested for dinner: "We are hungry, please give us some food," one of them was quoted as saying by her. Not only that. While leaving, they gave Rs 10 to the children in the house.
"Why are you are worried Mishraji? You will get the bike money from insurance," another thief was quoted as saying by Mr Mishra. He has lodged an FIR at the Khuti police station. The FIR says around 10 thieves raided his house and took away jewellery, a bike and cash. Police said the thieves were members of the Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT), which is active in Khuti.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=153479
Steel Authority bags Sitanala coal block
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has been allotted the Sitanala coking coal block in Jharkhand, which will result in significant cost savings on raw materials.
In an intimation to the stock exchanges, SAIL has stated that as per the communication from the Union ministry of coal, the central government had decided to allot the Sitanala coking coal block in Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) command area. Industry sources said Sitanala has reserves of around 108 million tonne.
SAIL's total coal requirement is around 15 million tonne, of which around 10 million tonne is imported. SAIL evinced interest in the Sitanala block in October 2005.
In 2005-06, the steel PSU incurred a cost of Rs 8,022 crore on account of coal usage. While the company is covered for its iron ore requirements, the situation is not the same with coal.
SAIL has three collieries, Chasnala with reserves of 40 million tonne, Jitpur with 16 million tonne and Ramnagar at 150 million tonne.
Sources said SAIL had also indicated interest in the Kapuria block in Orissa. The block has reserves of around 40 million tonne.
SAIL's requirement of coal will only go up. According to the corporate plan 2011-12, the company would endeavour to achieve 22 million tonne capacity and the coal requirement for enhanced capacity would be in the region of 22-23 million tonne as against 15 million tonne at present.
SAIL was also in dialogue with Coal India subsidiary, BCCL for floating a special purpose vehicle, for joint mines development.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=281229&leftnm=1
&subLeft=0&chkFlg =
'Apt time for armed action'
- Maoists resolve to make bases in Bihar, Jharkhand
Ranchi, April 12: It is official. In the latest issue of its mouthpiece, People's March, CPI (Maoist) has laid down its plans to develop Dandakaranya (Chhattisgarh) and B-J Area (Bihar-Jharkhand) as "base areas".
It also acknowledges that it has suffered reverses in Andhra Pradesh and has made a strategic retreat from there, at least temporarily.
The party claims to have held its 9th party congress somewhere in Jharkhand in February this year after a gap of 37 years.
Adding to the discomfiture of the government, the rebels appear to have resolved that they would intervene in all the "people's struggles", specially those pertaining to displacement by SEZs. Dams, mining, urban development etc.
Noting that people, including traders, peasants, workers and Dalits, are breaking out into spontaneous protests, CPI (Maoist) chief Ganapathi is quoted as saying that all this presents an "excellent situation to advance the armed struggle".
"Even though the state forces have resorted to the policy of 'burn-all, kill all' under the banner of Salwa Judum, the party has been able to effectively hit back and push the genocidal forces to the defensive," the report said.
In Bihar-Jharkhand too the party has effectively countered the Sendra and paramilitary counterinsurgency forces and spread the movement in vast areas, it claimed.
Maoists admit to 130 "military actions" during the past two years in which 485 weapons were seized and 315 policemen were "wiped out".
It was also time to finalise and urban policy and advance into urban areas, added Ganapathi.
Admitting a weakness in resolving disputes, he states: "When differences arose in 1985 in PW, we were not able to deal with it properly and so it led to a split. Again in 1992 in PW we could not resolve the differences properly. In the erstwhile MCC there were also differences in 2001-02 and the opportunist Bharat-Badal group left the party. We must understand how to settle differences...only then we will advance."
The report has alarmed officials who expect Maoist violence to escalate in Santhal Pargana and in areas bordering Munger in Bihar.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070413/asp/jamshedpur/story_7642177.asp
'Patna should be within 5 hrs reach from rest of bihar'
Q&A/ Nitish Kumar, chief minister, Bihar
You have now been in power for 18 months. What is the progress on Bihar's road building programme?
We are spending Rs 150 crore on roads just in Patna. All over Bihar, road building is being taken up on a war footing. When the Centre withdrew money from the road building programme, we decided to fund it ourselves.
Recently, visitors to Patna were impressed to see that roads were being swept there…
No, because work is going on, you will find people laying bitumen, not necessarily sweeping the roads. People are being temporarily inconvenienced but you will find Patna will have spanking new roads in a few months. Our next priority for the capital is flyovers all over the city. But let me make it clear, road building is going on all over Bihar. We aim to spend Rs 3,000 crore on building roads. This does not include the Prime Minister's Gram Sadak Yojana.
The Centre has not even completed its target of national highways. In fact, the state government was late in starting road construction. We floated the bids, but no contractors came out to take up the project. Remember, Bihar hasn't really known road building — it has only had roads that have been repaired. So contractors don't even have the proper equipment that road building requires.
So we are planning something more — a Road Equipment Bank. We are offering any private person, land to start a shed or a place where he can store road building equipment — heavy machinery like mixers, cranes and road-rollers. Whoever builds the roads can borrow the equipment for a fee. We have already chosen the land. We are just waiting to see what equipment is on offer. It has to be the best, most modern road building equipment.
How much will the equipment bank cost?
Virtually nothing. The land will come from the PWD. In the Eleventh Plan, Bihar will have spent Rs 17-18,000 crore on roads. It will surpass the national average.
My dream is to make sure that between Patna and anywhere in Bihar, the journey should not take more than five hours. I have just completed the run from Patna to Monghyr in three-and-a-half hours (Till a year ago, this distance of 180 km used to take seven to eight hours — Editor)
You don't seem to have any difficulty in spending money. But your colleague at the Centre, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh says he keeps giving you money for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) that Bihar is unable to spend. He has written many letters to you…
I have no time to keep writing letters to people who have nothing better to do than write letters. Some people are desperate for attention.
The state has reported low targets in NREGP…
Yes, there are teething problems. Can any work be taken up or just Panchayat work? On what land should the work be taken up? There is a problem of defining minimum wages: we have revised it from Rs 67 earlier to Rs 77 now, but this is not uniform. Muster rolls are not maintained. I told Prof Jean Dreze of the National Advisory Council about this. He said it is being implemented with great success elsewhere.
But I can't spend money simply because Raghuvansh babu wants me to. It isn't his money. I am not here to throw national resources down the drain. The tragedy is that you are reduced to having to learn to spend money from such people.
Your position on Special Economic Zones (SEZ) has been vindicated. You said you wanted no SEZs in Bihar, now most state governments are saying the same thing.
Our priorities are different. Bihar has formulated an excellent land acquisition policy. Earlier, the state government used to give land at the price at which it was registered, and add a solatium. We are acquiring land at the cost at which it is registered, but we add 50 per cent of the market rate to it. Plus, if the person gives the land willingly, he gets a solatium of 60 per cent. So if the cost of the land is Rs 100, we pay him Rs 240.
We need land for roads, flyovers, bridges… So we have started a land bank: land over which there is no dispute. We have invested Rs 400 crore so far. We have got industry — sugar, maize, alcohol — coming to the state. This means the farmer senses a gain straightaway.
The West Bengal chief minister said recently he didn't know the police had fired bullets in Nandigram. Is this possible?
Well, I don't know under what circumstances the firing took place. Sometimes the police sense a threat and have to fire. They can't ask the CM for his permission at that moment.
What were the mistakes he made in acquiring land?
I don't know enough to say.
You have another serious problem: Power.
Yes, this is a serious problem, especially because a solution cannot come overnight. Power plants take time to build. Here again, Bihar's problems are different. Power generation by the state is near zero. We have to purchase every unit of power we consume from the Centre. The sub-transmission system in the state is poor.
In three or four years, NTPC will set up plants in Bhagalpur, Kahalgaon and Barh. I got Atal Bihari Vajpayee to inaugurate the Barh plant when he was the PM. So this is not a new plan. NTPC was committed to it. But the Bihar government never bothered to get the Power Purchase Agreement signed.
NTPC is also going to set up a plant in Nabinagar (1320 Mw). Some hydel projects in Indrapur, on the Sone, the Kosi barrage and Kaimur are also going to come up.
We can purchase all the power we want. But consider the figures: the national average per capita consumption of power is 600 units. Bihar consumes 74 units per capita.
Bihar has presented a deficit budget for 2007-08. How will you find the money to do all this ?
You know how much revenue from sales tax has increased in 18 months? 23 per cent. We had given concessions to the transport sector. The enforcement has been lax. There is no improvement in collections. I am going to address this. Collections from excise are upwards of Rs 400 crore. The main thing is the visible, demonstrable punishment for corruption through fast track courts.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu2&subLeft=2&a
utono=281212&tab=r
Bengal, N-E on bird flu alert
KOLKATA/GUWAHATI: With cases of bird flu on the rise in neighbouring Bangladesh, West Bengal and all the seven North-Eastern state governments have stepped up vigilance in the bordering areas. A team from National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), which visited the bordering villages in North 24-Parganas, has issued the relevant guidelines.
The West Bengal government has identified North 24-Parganas, Murshidabad and Nadia among nine bordering districts for surveillance. Director, health services, Sanchita Bakshi, said no confirmed bird flu case has been reported in the state so far.
"The last report of poultry deaths came from from Gaighata in North 24-Parganas about six weeks back. The samples have been collected and sent to Bhopal's high security animal diseases laboratory. The report is still awaited," Bakshi said.
The NICD team has asked the state government to form special teams to monitor bordering villages. "These teams will be stationed at the villages and interact with local people.
They will liaise with poultry owners and make regular tests as well. Any unnatural death will have to be reported to the health department immediately so that samples can be sent for tests," a senior official of the animal husbandry department said.
The team that went to Gaighata is also preparing its study. "We will have to await reports from Bhopal," a health department official said. Movement of poultry and related products along the border in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Manipur has been banned.
Manipur has also proscribed imports of poultry products from Myanmar following reports of avian flu outbreak in Yangon. Nagaland, which also shares porous border with Myanmar, has taken up preventive measures by educating poultry farmers.
The Mizoram government has alerted its people. Following the instruction of the Centre on March 20, it has banned all import of poultry, foodgrains and related products from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Vet departments in Assam and Meghalaya have stepped up surveillance along the international border. While rapid response teams from Assam's regional disease diagnostic laboratory have been rushed to border districts to conduct random sero-surveillance, Meghalaya government has constituted a task force.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Bengal_N-E_on_bird_flu_alert/articleshow/
1907421.cms
Dalits embrace Buddhism in Orissa over temple entry
Kendrapada (Orissa), April 14 (IANS) Around 1,000 Dalits in Orissa's Kendrapda district Saturday embraced Buddhism in protest against having been denied entry into a Hindu temple by upper castes and the local administration despite a court order.
About 2,000 Dalits of Keradagarh and its nearby villages in the coastal district of Kendrapda congregated at Aul village, 30 km from here, to mark the 116th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, who championed the cause of the depressed classes in the country.
Around 1,000 of them embraced Buddhism in the presence of leading state Dalit leaders as some Buddhist monks performed rituals, Ashok Mallik, Dalit leader and president of Republican Youth and Students Front (RPSF), told IANS.
The Dalits embraced Buddhism saying that though they were Hindus they were not allowed to enter the 300-year-old Jagannath temple at Keradagarh village. There are around 400 Dalits in the village of 1,400.
Dalits had attempted to enter the temple several times in the past but were barred by the upper castes. There were also clashes between Dalits and upper castes.
A division bench of the Orissa High Court had Dec 14 last year ruled on a public interest petition that all Hindus had the right to enter any temple irrespective of their caste.
Mallick said the Dalits were earlier allowed to worship the deity at Keradagarh through nine holes on the outer wall of the temple. After the court's direction, the administration closed the holes and built an iron grill, barring everyone except priests, from entering the sanctum sanctorum. The Dalits are unhappy over the local administration's move.
'It is an insult to all Dalits and violates the court's order,' he said.
Dalits say the local administration is not ready to help them and that is why they took the drastic step, said Mallick.
A Buddhist monk Bhiku Biswabandhu from New Delhi laid the foundation stone for a Buddhist temple at Aul on the occasion, he said.
'As per the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967, a person has to file an affidavit before the district collector one month prior to changing his religion. As per the rule at least 1,000 Dalits had filed en masse petitions before the district collector on Jan 3, 2007, to embrace Buddhism,' he said.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1291368.php/Dalits_embrace_
Buddhism_in_Orissa_over_temple_entry
Blind customs cause death of 10 Oriya tribals
Andrahal (Orissa), Apr 12: The onset of the Chaitra Parab (first month of their New Year) has proved disastrous for the Bonda tribe of Orissa, with seven persons, including six children, losing their lives.
The tribals, suffering from a respiratory illness and high fever, in Andrahal village refused to take medicines, citing the ongoing month-long festival, and died.
As per tribal rituals, they are not allowed to consume any medicines during the festival, as they fear it would "anger" their presiding deity.
"My son died four days ago as he had high fever. We could not give him any medicine as our Parab (festival) is going on. Secondly, doctors are not available here, otherwise he (son) wouldn't have been this serious," said Sani Kirsani, a tribal, who lost one of his sons.
Medical facilities in remote villages are almost non-existence with the closest doctor being nearly 30 kilometres away. Officials also say that doctors should visit such places more often.
"Health care is not that sufficient in my opinion and doctors should visit these villages time and again. I do request those people, I have also written to the doctors and the medical staff. In fact, they are telling that they are moving to these villages," said Sisir Kumar Panda, Special Officer of the Bonda Development Agency.
Living in the dense forests of Malkangiri and Koraput regions of the state, Bonda tribals have been described by anthropologists as wild and ferocious.
Scantily dressed in hand-spun cloth and adorned in beads and silver jewellery, they are extremely protective of their territory and attack any outsider trying to enter their villages.
The Bondas are expert farmers, practising shifting agriculture and also hunt and fish. They also participate in an extremely brutal ceremonial hunting exercise in the months of March and April.
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/133011.php/Blind-customs-cause-death-of-10-Oriya-tribals
Are Naxalites on path of righteousness…?
In plain terms, what is the magnitude of India's tolerance to absorb shock waves, emanating from terrorism, communalism, Naxalism and age-old casteism, which are almost inter-linked?
As if Pak-sponsored terrorism is not enough to bleed India, Naxalism, based on a borrowed doctrine, advocating Maoist Communism—which stands against the Indian establishment--- is emerging as a hydra-headed monster in the country.
The latest massacre of 55 persons of the Chattisgarh Armed Police (CAP) by the Naxalites, at Ranibodli police camp in Dantewada district, shows to what extent the Naxalism has spread its tentacles, creating civil war- like situation in the affected regions.
Whatever be the authenticity of the report, most CAP personnel were allegedly in an inebriated state. Only six policemen were on duty; they were 'sufficiently' alert to repulse the attack of some 400 armed guerrillas. Any how they were no match to raiders.
Another version says 16 policemen and 30 Special Police officers were killed in the attack. DIG (Bastar range) John Longkumer, while denying reports of drunkenness, has said: "Drinking is an integral part of the Adivasi culture. To drink is one thing; to be drunk another".
Undoubtedly, it was a wake-up call for the nation. The menace of Naxalism cannot go on endlessly and should not be taken lightly as just a law and order problem by the mandarins in the South Block. A total 551 people--- 316 civilians, 147 policemen and 88 Maoists—have been killed in Naxal violence in Chattisgarh since January 2006. It is the worst affected state after Andhra Pradesh.
Chattisgarh and Jharkhand account for major incidents in the Naxalite belt, extending from the north of Andhra Pradesh to the Nepal border encompassing Orissa, Bihar and Maharashtra (Gadcharoli). The situation is very alarming. Even the Army is alarmed at the growing menace of Naxalism.
Naxalites now openly support for secessionist activities in Kashmir and the northeast. The Naxalite leadership generally refrained from issuing such pro-secessionist statements in the past. They mainly confined themselves to getting a firm foothold in the tribal belt. Not any longer.
The banned Maoist party--- the CPI(Maoist)—at its 9th party conclave, somewhere in the 'liberated zones' along Jharkhand-Bihar border, has supported the demand for pardon of Afzal Guru, who has been convicted in the Parliament attack case.
The month-long conclave was held after 36 years. It was the first such congregation after the merger of the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC) and the People's War Group (PWG) in 2004. The latter had earlier come into existence in 1981 in Hyderabad. 100 delegates from 16 states attended the deliberations which ended on February 2.
A call issued from the conclave has called for support to 'just struggles' of nationalities and sub-nationalities, demanding secession. "Kashmir and various nationalities of the North-East have been waging an armed struggle against the Indian Government for their right to self-determination, including the right to secede from the so-called Union of India", Muppala Lakshman Rao alias Ganapathi, who was re-elected General Secretary of the CPI(Maoist), told the delegates.
Unbelievable but true, the Maoists have set up full-fledged Research and Development (R & D) wings through the support of some scientists, who are ideologically close to Maoists. Some scientists of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) are reportedly working in R & D labs controlled by the guerrillas. This side of Naxalite activity came to light when security forces unearthed a full fledged R & D unit near Bhopal. Another such unit has been noticed in Jabalpur.
The 'disclosure' came just on the heels of the attack at Ranibodli police post, in which the Naxalites are said to have used an improved version of petrol bomb for the first time. The extremists are trying to develop more lethal weapons to target security forces. The 'guerrillas' are running what can be termed as a parallel government in their 'zones'.
According to the annual report of Maoists' Central Military Commission, they are striving to raise a parallel army called "Revolutionary Army" to fight the Indian Army. Surprisingly enough, it is happening at a time when India is trying to enlarge its sphere globally to emerge as a super power and when its GDP is growing.
The Naxalites have also planned to 'disturb' growing private sector in many ways. They have chalked out a huge plan to disrupt proposed infrastructure for mining projects and steel plants in mineral-rich belt, where they hold sway.
Maoists control over 19 per cent of India's best forests. Tribals are in their belly and they too are comfortable with the Naxalites, who exploit increasing alienation of tribals and 'colonial era repressive forest laws'. Timber mafia and poachers pay 'protection money' to the Maoists.
According to a study, there are 'linkages' between 'forest mismanagement' and the spread of Maoism. Forest-related issues are being used by the Maoists to gain control of villages in tribal areas.
Analysing the socio-economic conditions in the most affected areas of Orissa, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, the study predicted that 50 per cent of India's forest cover could be 'potentially brought' under the Maoist control within five years. 'Mobility' of government officials inside these forests is falling in Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand and it has come down to just 15 per cent, a fall of around 40 per cent in five years. The Maoist violence, it says, affects close to 300 million people across 7000 villages. The CPI (Maoist) is said to be in control of 155 districts in 15 states from 55 districts.
The Maoists are not on the path of righteousness. While their counterparts in Nepal have discarded violence and joined mainstream political parties in delivering governance, Indian Maoists are still lurking. They should take a look at China and Russia from where they have borrowed their ideology, terminology and techniques. They would do well to join the mainstream of national life and fight for the cause of the downtrodden within the democratic set-up.
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/5325
Chhattisgarh cracks whip on extortion calls from jail
Raipur, April 14 (IANS) Concerned over a report that imprisoned criminals in Chhattisgarh were running their extortion rackets from behind bars with the help of mobile phones belonging to junior jail officials, the government has decided to crack the whip.
Jail superintendents and district police chiefs have been asked to monitor all incoming and outgoing phone calls made from jails.
'We believe there are hundreds of hardcore criminals who have been using mobile sets inside lockups and netting up good incomes through extortion,' a senior police officer posted in Chhattisgarh's state police headquarters, Raipur, told IANS Saturday
On April 9, 139 prisoners lodged in a sub-jail in Katghora town of Korba district ran amok when a police team led by district superintendent Himanshu Gupta raided the prison in connection with an extortion case.
Prisoners revolted against the raid, injured six policemen and then briefly took control of the jail, even snapping communication and power lines.
Police recovered two mobile sets from the jail inmates that belonged to junior jail officials. It was found that the cell numbers were frequently used by prisoners having major criminal records to make extortion calls to businessmen.
'The Katghora jail takeover by inmates when police tried to bust an extortion racket was an eye-opener for the government,' the officer said.
'In the wake of the April 9 incident, the home department held a meeting with senior jail officials across the state and got a report that criminals operate their extortion rackets more freely from inside jail than they do from outside. Now we are monitoring all incoming and outgoing phone calls made from jails,' the official added.
He said that criminals had terrorised lower ranking jail officials and often managed to use their mobile sets to make extortion calls. The police officer also said the government would boot out jail officials having a nexus with prisoners.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1291423.php/Chhattisgarh_cracks_
whip_on_extortion_calls_from_jail
Call for ban on Sindhi girls using mobile sets opposed
Raipur, April 14 The Chhattisgarh Sindhi Panchayat (CSP) said Saturday girls of the community are mentally mature to utilise benefits of technology and should not be barred from using them as demanded by a section of the community in the backlash of a controversial inter-religion marriage.
The CSP's statement came in wake of proposed ban by the Sindhi community in Madhya Pradesh on use of mobile phones and vehicles by Sindhi girls after one of them, Priyanka in Bhopal eloped with Muslim boy Omar and married him after the boy converted to Hinduism. The incident raised a hue and cry in both the Hindu and Muslim conservative groups.
The Hindu organisations including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) added fuel to the fire to the Bhopal episode and the boy's family moved court for protection, fearing threat to his life. The court directed police to provide security to the couple.
'It is an isolated case and only because of an act of a girl, we cannot be conservative and bar girls from using mobile sets and vehicles,' CSP state chief Sreechand Sundrani and other community leaders said.
'They are modern and mature and there is no need to distrust them,' the CSP said.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/51879.html
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| Hot issues of Today |
- Apr 13, 2007
- Apr 12, 2007
- Apr 11, 2007
- Apr 10, 2007
- Apr 09, 2007
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- Apr 07, 2007
- Apr 06, 2007
- Apr 05, 2007
- Apr 04, 2007
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