On January 24th the little-known group Sri Ram Sena (The army of Lord Ram) attacked a number of women who were drinking alcohol in a bar in Mangalore: "The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says the attack - which was filmed and then broadcast on national television - has shocked many Indians. Television pictures showed the men chasing and beating up the panicking women - some wearing skirts. Some of the women, who tripped and fell, were kicked by the men."
Now the group, based in Karnataka, is promising to 'protest' against couples celebrating Valentine's Day in public. Given their previous 'protest', one can only assume that violence will ensue. The attacks have been widely condemned in the media, while an obscenity case against a married couple for alleged kissing in public was thrown out by the judge, who thought it ridiculous. However, anti-female attitudes still run deep, with far too many still willing to resort to violence to repress women's freedom of choice.
Sri Ram Sena have a low public profile and so it is difficult to get an accurate picture of them. All we really have is a blog by their international president, which hasn't been updated since November 16th. On it there are strong endorsements for the BJP (India's equivalent to the BNP), especially Narenda Modi (unsurprisingly). The blog aims for a sanitised message at times, but on other occasions demonstrates a Hindu fundamentalist streak (with ramblings about Christian covert missionaries and media outlets not controlled by Hindus). Much of the blog is focused on Jammu and Kashmir, as the president used to be in charge of the Sri Ram Sena party there. And he doesn't like gays.
Sri Ram Sena have a low public profile and so it is difficult to get an accurate picture of them. All we really have is a blog by their international president, which hasn't been updated since November 16th. On it there are strong endorsements for the BJP (India's equivalent to the BNP), especially Narenda Modi (unsurprisingly). The blog aims for a sanitised message at times, but on other occasions demonstrates a Hindu fundamentalist streak (with ramblings about Christian covert missionaries and media outlets not controlled by Hindus). Much of the blog is focused on Jammu and Kashmir, as the president used to be in charge of the Sri Ram Sena party there. And he doesn't like gays.
