http://www.merinews.com/article/india-the-rape-kingdom/15782707.shtml


IT ISNT so much the possibility of a stranger lurking in the gullies you by-pass to reach home. There is a far greater chance it may be your neighbour or teacher, or even worse, your own brother or uncle. The year 2008, reported more than 20,000 rapes (and estimates say only about one in 69 cases is reported in India). In a staggering 92 per cent of the cases, the perpetrators were known to the victim.

One of the worst places for a woman to live in, in terms of personal safety and security, India records 57 rape cases per day, up by 800 per cent if one considers the seven per day recorded in 1971. This is excluding the several others that are muffled or pushed under the carpet for reasons of honour and family name. Rape is present as at least one of every four crimes recorded in India. Every hour, there are at least 20 crimes committed against women across the country. And out of all rape cases, only about 20 per cent actually see conviction for the offenders.

Are we ashamed? We ought to be. According to 2008 statistics, out of 35 cities checked for womens security, national as well as rape capital Delhi stood first, with an incredible one-third of total rapes happening here. If the capital of the country and one of its biggest cities does not guarantee safety, what will? And to think that these are estimates that dont even reveal the whole truth. If one were to have the real figures in hand, one would realise that there is indeed truth in the claim that rape is Indias biggest crime at the moment.

What compounds most of our problems is that we Indians tend to have stereotypes for everything. So, what would your typical rapist be like? The immediate thought that comes to mind is of a red-eyed, sinister-looking and lecherous guy who stares you at the bus stop or in the office or at the departmental store. We know little about him, except that we have comfortably assumed it is a rank stranger. Well, we couldnt be more mistaken. Research of several years has revealed that in India, you neednt be a stranger to perpetrate sexual crimes. Which is why women need to be afraid. You need to be alert to the male figures already around you, instead of assuming he will come from another planet.

A stupendous 92 per cent of all rape victims already knew and decently well, the ones than violated them. These figures are clearly indicative of the Indian social fabric indeed being so designed that it leaves little scope for a woman to express her resentment of anything, even intrusion in her own space. The knowledge that she will keep quiet for fear of being ill-treated and taunted is exactly what drives most rapists to their crime. And not only that, the rate of conviction of rapists is also insignificant. Put together, these two factors create a lethal combination that encourages rape, for the fear of being caught and punished is insignificant while the chances of getting away with the crime are very high.

Psychologists say it is a result of a dangerously lopsided equation between the sexes. On one hand, you have men who still possess more or less the same set of values they did in the 16th century and on the other, women are getting increasingly empowered. So now, the new breed we have is one of women who make no bones about taking their decisions on their own, and on the other hand, we have men who are very evidently squirming in their seats about these new developments, for the Indian style of bringing up children contains no chapter on gender equality or harmony. With the woman increasingly being perceived in extremes, either as a sex object or as a threateningly confident force, violence against them has steadily been on the rise. This, according to estimates, is a major reason why rape has become so commonplace.

Whatever the reasons, one thing is painfully clear: rape is very evidently Indias biggest crime threat. Even as we move ahead on the path to equal participation of women in the economy, it makes sense to wonder whether we are indeed creating a climate thats good enough for them to want to step out of their homes in the first place.

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"Anti indian, the raja of the jungle!!"

no dick control these dirty hindooos

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Pakistan Airforce: The largest distributor of Indian airforce parts in Asia



Pathankot Strike
8 F-86Fs of No 19 Squadron led by Squadron Leader Sajjad Haider struck Pathankot airfield. With carefully positioned dives and selecting each individual aircraft in their protected pens for their strafing attacks, the strike elements completed a textbook operation against Pathankot. Wing Commander M G Tawab, flying one of the two Sabres as tied escorts overhead, counted 14 wrecks burning on the airfield. Among the aircraft destroyed on the ground were nearly all of the IAFs Soviet-supplied Mig-21s till then received, none of which were seen again during the War.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFHlzP69n9c

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India a nation of rapists


Dubai: Nine out of 10 Indian women are "raped at some point in their married life". Statistical fact

But Indian actor Irrfan Khan said this when tabloid! asked him to comment on the fact that Bollywood star Shiney Ahuja is in police custody on a charge of raping his 18-year-old housemaid.

"...I think 90 per cent of married Indian women are raped at some point in their married life. You know what I mean," Khan said.

Is India a nation of rapists? Well, this statement would have the world believe so.

According to a 2001 census in India, there were 220,389,861 married couples in the country.

Mrinaltai Gore, a well-known social worker from Mumbai, placed things in perspective for Gulf News.

"Ninety per cent! I don't think there is anything like that happening in India," she said.

However, Gore, 80, who has been helping women in India find a voice for nearly 60 years, agreed that a problem does exist.

"In our country, where there is limited social freedom for interaction between men and women, marriage is the path most couples take for conjugal relations.

"It is a fact not spoken about but something men and women understand. In cases of forced marriages, yes rape takes place, but it is not 90 per cent."

Instead, Gore placed the figure at 10 per cent.

"India has changed over the decades ...women have a better idea of their rights, but there are those who have still not grasped the idea that marriage does not mean spending the rest of their lives doing their husband's bidding," she said.

A total of 185,312 crimes against women were reported in India in 2007, up from 164,765 in 2006. As per India's National Family Health Survey between 2005 and 2006 that covered 28,139 married women, more than one third reported suffering physical violence at the hands of their husbands. Of this, 7.7 per cent reported sexual abuse, too.

Domestic violence has always been an issue in the country with a population of over a billion, with a focus on bride burning and torture.

A recent Reuters report quoting an Indian government survey stated that "54 per cent of women, against 51 per cent of men, say wife-beating is justified in some circumstances".

Audrey D'Mello, deputy director of the Legal Centre at Majlis, a non-governmental legal aid body based in Mumbai that utilises the judiciary and policy-level intervention to champion women's rights, said that the statement by the Indian actor was unfortunate and conveyed the wrong image of India to a world audience.

She said: "He [Khan] has worked with our centre and is quite sensitive and aware. We would not, as a body react to the statement, as we work within the judiciary and rather follow that path to help women."

D'Mello added that "90 per cent" is a general figure that people use in statements, but not a "pure statistic".

On the issue of marital rape, she said the "state does not recognise it as an offence.

"In 2006 the Domestic Violence Act came into force that covers all forms of violence in domestic relationships, including forced intercourse. But it is difficult to prove. Only when it is a separated couple can a criminal case be filed."

D'Mello said that this was the reason there are no clear statistics on marital rape, especially as it is highly under-reported.

"Women have to stand in front of a magistrate court, which also tries other petty criminal offences, and talk about the abuse - an extremely humiliating experience, so women do not report it."

She said that the difficulty in proving marital rape or adultery, even when it is blatant, forces them to suffer in silence.

"It is an issue in the community - when we speak to the women they do tell us about it. The option to encourage women to report would be perhaps an in-camera trial."