13.7.08

News meeows - 16

One month to the day that she was widowed in Lahore, Asha Patil landed in Mumbai. “I’m very happy to be back. I’ll meet my parents. The Pakistani government has helped me a lot, so have the Indian authorities,” she said.

Patil will soon return to Pakistan to embark on the ‘umrah’, a pilgrimage to Mecca, which is being sponsored by the PML(N) government of the Punjab province. She has also secured a share in her husband’s property and the promise of a Pakistani citizenship.

This is news. The Pakistani government has on earlier occasions reacted with much suspicion about such cross border alliances and now when her husband and first child are dead, they are offering her all possible help. It couldn’t merely be her acceptance of Islam or the promise to make her son (she is expecting a baby and it is assumed it will be a boy) into a ‘Hafiz-e-Koran’, one who memorises the Holy Book in its entirety.

I do understand that she may have attachment to the place where her spouse and child are buried, but I do not understand a political party getting into the act to ensure her personal beliefs and desires are fulfilled.

How many Pakistani women can claim rights over property? How many single women are assisted in their attempts to undertake a pilgrimage? How many women are given the assurance that the government will step in if they are harassed by their in-laws?

I find the case getting curiouser and curiouser.

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Criticising the UP police once again for their alleged irresponsible handling of the Aarushi murder case, Union minister for women and child development Renuka Choudhary said that the family should sue the police. “The family should sue the state police and those responsible for bungling the case must be suspended,’’ she said.

This isn’t mere concern about how the case was handled and the character assassination of Aarushi’s father Dr. Rajesh Talwar. It is about party politics.

This is a way to make the Mayawati government accountable.

It is true the police was most shabby in how they went about getting evidence, but why did the Talwars not mention their compounder Krishna’s name right then? Now he is the prime suspect. The question also remains as to where the parents were when the murder took place and how soon did they inform the police.

And just for the information of the minister, it wasn’t merely the cops who tarnished Aarushi’s name; the media went haywire. There was no need to report all that and no need to show all those teachers and students certifying the girl’s reputation. All this only draws attention to something that may be untrue but gives enough scope for rumours.

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A Las Vegas man who devised a “Men on a Mission” calendar that features shirtless Mormon missionaries is facing a disciplinary hearing and possible excommunication because of his “conduct unbecoming a member of the church.”

“I wondered what would happen if we took that perfect Disneyland image that the church spends millions of dollars cultivating each year and shook it up a little bit,” Hardy said.

Interestingly, the ‘models’ have not faced any action. I have no clue as to why they did it, but is it possible more people will go to church now?

Our sadhus go nude often, of course they are doing some sort of bhakti. Mullahs will not do this sort of thing publicly, though Osama (no mullah but at least a wannabe) baring his torso would make a greater impact in all those videos he sends to Al Jazeera.

6 comments:

  1. We must give credit to the govt for taking the initiative and not be cynical. Asha says she feels like a Pakistani,that is good reason.

    ReplyDelete
  2. KB:

    I disagree. This is a political move by the party.

    She says she feels 100 per cent Pakistani. I find it strange. Especially since in today's papers she has said no 'Patil' minister came to help her...she is still Asha Patil at heart, as she should be.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "...she is still Asha Patil at
    heart, as she should be."

    And you have the authority to say what someone's heart "should" be...why exactly?
    Shouldn't people just accept her own 'definition' of hersef, not go about questioning it as if we have the right to?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am not questioning her right...but the fact is that she is seeking recognition/acceptance from her clan. So, it is a way of putting it...that she is still a Patil at heart, as she should be, as in ought to be because we cannot jettison our past, and a recent one at that.

    Read this:

    http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=MMIR&login=default&Enter=true&Skin=MM&GZ=T

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  5. It's wrong for people to be discussing the personal aspects of the woman's actions. All that is worthy of debate here is the government's hypocrisy...whether or not she ought to call herself "100% Paistani" and "Patil" is really nobody's business.
    I think there's something wrong with the link- it doesn't go to any specific article.

    ReplyDelete
  6. When we comment on something it is not a question of whether it is our business or not but what it conveys. And now it is in the public domain and she is crying all over the place.

    Am afraid that link works only for the day. Most things do.

    ReplyDelete

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