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BRIDE BURNING IN INDIA: A SHAME FOR HINDUISM: ACT NOW
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Subject: BRIDE BURNING IN INDIA: A SHAME FOR HINDUISM: ACT NOW
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From: pb019@csc.albany.edu (Partha Banerjee)
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Date: 9 Oct 1995 18:32:19 GMT
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Approved: srh <srh@rbhatnagar>
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Article: 381 of soc.religion.hindu
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Newsgroups: soc.religion.hindu
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Organization: The University at Albany
Hinduism has now experienced a terrible brutality on its women: bride
burning and dowry deaths have now spread in Indian Hindu populations
like the plague. This is a disgrace to our country and religion and we
must act now to stop this tragedy.
In spite of the fact that wife battering is a worldwide phenomenon
(and the western world is no exception), in India and some adjoining
countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, brides are being killed
upon demands of dowry. The practice has rapidly increased over the
past ten years and although it has been concentrated in the Hindu
heartland of north India (Delhi, Hariyana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan), it is spreading at an alarming rate
throughout the subcontinent. Traditionally dowry-free Islamic
countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh have also witnessed quite a
few cases of this extreme form of violence against women.
The just-concluded first international conference on bride burning and
dowry deaths held at Harvard University from September 30 through October 2 has
observed the following facts:
1. The terrible nature of the problem is more prevalent in the
conservative and chauvinistic Hindu heartlland of northern India
(where incidentally, the fundamentalist Hindu parties are the
strongest)
2. The problem is predominantly concentrated in the areas where the
caste system is most stringent
3. Most of the incidents are observed among the upper-caste (Brahman
and Khsatriya) affluent Hindu communities
4. In spite of some landmark rulings by the Indian Supreme Court and
some laws passed by the Indian Govt. in the recent years, there has
been extreme lack of sincerity on the part of the police and the
conservative ruling class to implement them
5. A severe form of corruption in the police and bureaucracy has made
it almost impossible to make a dent into the system
6. Women are being used as commodity to bring money to the groom's
family and there is very little sense of decency or conscience on the
part of the groom's family
7. In many cases, the "educated" groom is taking precautions and
playing tricks to bypass the law
8. The family of the abused (i.e., the parents of the bride, etc.) are
being threatened severely and kept from taking actions.
A very strong form of world-wide action is needed to stop this
practice of killing of innocent young women. I personally urge all
progressive Hindus of the world to come forward to denounce this
practice. Pressurize the conservative Indian political hierarchy to
stop this brutal practice.
DO IT NOW, PLEASE.
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