The Dark Ages come to Denmark in broad daylight, as a Pakistani man murders his sister in a public street …
Calmly and methodically, big brother stoops over his little sister while shooting one projectile after the other into her. Her spouse, affected by several shots to the abdomen, can only look on helplessly, while his wife is executed by her own family.
Life is a Random Draw 
An act from the dark ages no doubt. But does Atanu Dey recognize that this happens in India? That this happens among the Hindu community? Would Atanu post such an article and called it an act of an Indian, if it was committed by an Indian? Probably he would, but he wouldnt refer to the criminal as an Indian. He would’ve called the blog ‘Man kills sister’, with no reference to Nationality and Religion. By categorizing any crime commited by Muslims as “just an islamic way of life(jihad, fatwa, honor killing etc.), we magnify the amount of hate towards that religion. Not that I have anything against that, but I dont think it’s allows objectivity in people’s view.
Atanu’s Response: Yes, Christina, if the Danish newspapers reported that an Indian, Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Sikh or Buddhist or Jain or Parsi or Jew or Animist was involved in an act from the dark ages in Denmark or Timbuktoo, I would also remark on that. But it did not happen while the Pakistani “honor killing” did.
India is a very large country. Given over a billion people, even extremely rare events happen every so often. Have there been instances of honor killings and bride burning? Absolutely certain. Almost as certain as the drowning of babies by their mothers by driving them into the lake in cars, as happened in the US. It is not whether a particular act of mindless inhumanity occurs or not; it is the prevalance of that act.
Rape happens all over the world. What defines the society is what the society does in response. In some, the rapist is found guilty and jailed. In others, such as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the raped is jailed. About 15,000 raped women are in jail. Why? Probably because while it is known that “sexual intercourse” out of wedlock occurred, it is not proven that it was rape because four Muslim male witnesses have not testified and the testimony of the woman raped counts only as half a witness according to the laws of Pakistan.
Try not to compare the secular democratic republic of India with Pakistan. India has faults but compared to Pakistan, it is a paragon of virtues.
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Interestingly, today the OpEd talks about rape in Pakistan with some stinging rebuke for the General. It is not often that you see a major newspaper brand a head of state a liar, and that is precisely what The Post has done. I guess it really ticked them off when the General made his ludicrous rape-for-immigration comment, only to deny it when reported. He is nailed pretty fair and square because they recorded it, and I’m glad they don’t mince words.
While most pragmatists see peace as the only way forward with Pakistan, spare a thought for the people on both sides engaging with this pathalogical liar. The Post touches on just a few canards relevant to the West; his full record dating back to his pre-coup days would form a tome if compiled. Will the peace overtures truly last?
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Sorry about the messy, over-arching hyperlink above! We have to be careful the way we hyperlink text, else “Submit comment” chops off the intended hyperlinked text, and hyperlinks the rest upto the end of the comment. I meant Washington Post Op Ed in my comment. And I’ll pay attention to the clear instructions next time 🙂
Editor: Fixed the problem in your previous comment.
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Christina,
Even though your question was addressed to Atanu, Ill take the liberty of throwing in my 2 cents.
The act may be described accurately as Islamic, as it is widely prevalent and condoned in Islamic societies, be they native or expatriate. Such things happen in India (or the US) too, but these are acts that are not condoned by Indian/Hindu/American society at large. They are merely acts of disturbed individuals or the harsh echos from a rapidly receding past. Otoh, in Islamic societies, these acts appear to be getting more and more “popular” as the urge to be ever more pure and ever more Islamic gets stronger and stronger.
Such attitudes are a concern for all of us, as the world shrinks and what happens in Islamic societies begins to have repurcussions on all of us.
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What I cannot believe is that you go to the lgf site!!
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LGF RULES!
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Again it is a matter of cross national tollerance.
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