Women Empowerment Gone Awry

                             India they say is a patriarchal society (male dominated) that oppressed its women and so, our policymakers in there wisdom constituted laws to safeguard freedom & empower women that's half of our population. Whether the laws that were deemed draconian by section of society to protect freedom and safety of women were useful is debatable, but rampant misuse of gender biased laws is a growing concern. The frequent  misuse of anti-dowry and rape laws has initiated debate whether govt should amend such barbaric laws or not ?

                            

                   Empowering women through financial independence is prudent and praiseworthy as it teaches women, to rise above the fear and speak against the wrong. An educated women can better take care of her family and thus instrumental in strengthening the society.Unfortunately,freedom and women empowerment are the most misinterpreted, misunderstood and misused words in our society today, in most of the cases it is interpreted or compared with irregularities in lifestyle.  With increasing number of females getting education and absorbed in workforce there was felt an urgent need to protect them from unscrupulous elements thus legislating laws for there safety and well being. Similarly laws were made to end exploitation of women in marriage.

                           The growing concern in our society today is the frequent misuse of gender biased laws by women. Excessive amounts of freedom sometimes led to its misuse and the biggest irony is women are exploiting the same laws meant to protect them for settling personal scores in there relationships. It is imperative for lawmakers to understand that Indian society has transformed immensely, women have become westernized and easily walkout of relationships on frivolous issues with little or no inducement. Concocted and fabricated cases are leveled against men often with catastrophic results for men and his family. 

                                  After the infamous "Nirbhaya" case, women rights organizations vehemently advocated for more stringent harsher punishment for rapists. It's a common practice now, women who develop consensual physical relationship with their lovers and after the relationship goes sour file false rape cases to force(intimidate) guys to marry them. Such false cases make mockery of institution of marriage and deprecates our society immensely.A study of rape cases by Delhi Commission for Women in Delhi filed in a six month period found that the majority of rape cases (53+%) were false. This unacceptably high rate of false accusations has set an extremely dangerous precedent to the dignity and liberty of innocent men who are incarcerated without proper investigation merely on the basis of allegations and thus seriously undermines the credence of genuine rape victims.

                  

                             Another dangerous and unfortunate addition to this saga is the media itch to play adjudicator. Earlier, we witnessed mob justice in Nagaland when people lynched to death an alleged rapist in north eastern state of India. Mob justice dispensation on mere allegation of rape is a travesty of justice. Reports  of the alleged victim’s medical examination however pointed to the murdered man’s possible de facto innocence.

                   Another high profile case hogging limelight is the video of two infamous Rohtak sisters bravado of mercilessly beating a guy over alleged rape and molestation attempt. Dubbed by the media as “braveheart sisters” were felicitated by govt and certain social organizations only to realize later after investigation there bogus and  malicious conduct thus exonerating the victim(guy) . Newspapers are nowadays are riddled with such fictitious stories of allegations by girls,and after investigation such cases fell flat on substance.

                The role of media in such cases is questionable, horrific acts of violence on men and the vilification of men in general discourse is unfortunate. Media channels resort to passing stereotypes against men thus making situation more grim for men with each passing day. Crimes aren't gender dependent and to stem the wroth in our society, we need legal and social reforms rather legislating draconian laws making guys vulnerable to its misuse. We cannot end the problem of violence against women unless we eradicate the social problems that haunt the Indian society -- illiteracy, poverty and other social evils plaguing society. Biased and draconian laws that lead to false convictions of innocent men are not only unfair to men, but also to true rape victims and the society in general. 

                                       Advocating for equal rights for men and opposing women biased laws is the need of hour and shouldn't be construed as misogynist rather society should awake from slumber and in all fairness provide equal rights to men for securing the social fabric from deteriorating into chaos. Our legal system shouldn't be a mute spectator of ordeal to innocent men and his family while such vicious women after committing perjury go scot-free.

Honor And Sacrifice

Napoleon Of India

                                One of the greatest military geniuses a successful General yet least known warrior in Indian history was General Zorawar Singh. A true legend ,a fiercest warrior a great planner and executioner whose legacy of conquests in the Himalayas shaped Indian frontiers for posterity. For his incredibly stunning victories in  Ladakh, Tibet, Baltistan and Skardu General Zorawar Singh  has been refereed to by historians as "Conqueror of Ladakh" and the "Napoleon of India". It's because of General Zorawar's conquest of Ladakh India's international border extends till Ladakh to this day.

                              Zorawar Singh a Dogra Rajput was born in Kahlur in Bilaspur in erstwhile undivided state of Punjab in 1786. As a young boy joined the army of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Jammu . His sincerity and valor impressed Maharaja and with successive conquests was made general. After conquering the hilly region of Kishtwar he was appointed Governor(wazir) of Kishtwar by Maharaja Gulab Singh.Traditionally Dogra Rajputs excelled in mountain warfare negotiating mountain ranges with comfort and the warrior clan formed the bulk of General Zorawar  expeditionary force.

                                                         Zorawar Singh’s fort, Ladakh

                         General Zorawar Singh impressive conquests started in 1834 with expansionary military expeditions to Ladakh. During the course of time Leh,Kargil and eventually Ladakh was annexed to the Kingdom of Jammu. In 1840 General Zorawar Singh invaded Baltistan (in modern Pakistan) and after fierce fighting merged the state with Jammu Kingdom. With the conquest of Balti kingdom the central district of Skardu also came under Dogra domain of Jammu. The victory over Baltistan is significant as it is one of the most rugged terrain,situated in the Karakoram range to the south of K2, the world’s second highest mountain.

                             General Zorawar Singh’s next and the last military expedition was the invasion of western Tibetan region. Sweeping all resistance before them the General captured Gartok in August 1841 and with victory of Taklakot in September 1841 and  construction of a fort at a place called Cohi-t’ang, Zorawar’s conquest of western Tibet was  complete. It was further observed that it was the interference of the British, in a bid to protect their self-interest that weakened the General's position during his expedition to Lama's territory and ultimately led to his death.On 12th December, 1841 General Zorawar Singh was hit by a bullet on his left shoulder and died at Taklakot .In an operation lasting three and a half months, some 550 miles of Tibetan territory was captured by General Zorawar Singh.

                            The Tibetans however recognized the valor of General Zorawar Singh and built a memorial at Taklakot in his memory. Tibetans call it “Singh-ba-Chorten” at To-Yo.  Postal Department had published a brief biographical note on General Zorawar Singh in the information brochure that was published along with the commemorative postage stamp released on 31.12.2000 to honor a valiant Son of the soil.

Swastika

                         Swastika is one of the most sacred symbol in the world, perhaps one of the most misunderstood religious symbol too. It's origin dates back to neolithic period (new stone age).Swastika symbol have existed long before the name was given to it and is recognized worldwide. One of the earliest object excavated with Swastika inscribed symbol is on carving of ivory tusk (bird artifact) dated back 10,000 BCE in Mezine, Ukraine. Archaeological evidence of swastika shaped ornaments, artifacts, stone carvings, pottery, weavings , buildings, monuments, bridges, postcards and in temples and other items inscribed with Swastika is found around the world.

     

                   Swastika is considered to be a sacred and auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Odinism. The word "Swastika" comes from the sanskrit word svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix meaning "it is good" or  “being fortunate”. Swastika is a symmetrical cross with its arms bend usually at right angles, four arms each represent a key point the seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn), the phases of life (birth, life, death and re-birth), the phases of the day (night, morning, day and evening), the elements (air, fire, water and earth), the phases of the Moon (lunar eclipse, waxing, full and waning, the cardinal points (North, East, South, West), etc. Swastika symbol is depicted in many cultures with different meaning attributed synonymous of good.  In Buddhism Swastika represents eternity and it appears on the chest of some statues of Buddha. In Hinduism it represents Sun’s rays, in Christianity swastika is used as a hooked version of a Christian Cross and appears in many ornaments and church decoration.

Ancient Swastikas: A-Rhodes (585 BC) B, C – Greek (500 BC) D – Greek (615 BC) E – Peru (300 CE) F – Woodland Indian (1000 CE) G – Greek (300 BC)

                          In the summer of 1920, National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP or the Nazi Party) adopted the symbol Swastika which he was accustomed to during his school days at Benedictine monastery school in Lambach, Austria. The ancient monastery was decorated with carved stones and woodwork that included several swastikas.  It was during the Second World War Swastika one of the most powerful recognized symbol unfortunately was denigrated due to Nazi deeds. From the universal genuine sign symbolizing good it suddenly became a racist ‘Aryan’ emblem, a symbol of the Nazis and their atrocities, a symbol of hate,evil ,racism etc.

                            Swastika engraved in Lambach Monastery that inspired Hitler 

                          Another interesting feature that i stumbled upon is Swastika is a symbol of motion. The clockwise motion spinning of Swastika (using this orientation 卐) symbolises decomposition, death, destruction while an anti-clockwise motion signifies creation, evolution, and the fertility-giving properties. By varying its directions people justify  the clockwise, Nazi version of the swastika mean hate and death while the counter-clockwise version would hold the ancient meaning of the symbol, life and good-luck.

                                            Swastika on a Greek silver stater coin from Corinth, 6th century BC

                        In my opinion it is one of the holiest symbol, auspicious and reverend around the globe by disciples of different religion. It's true meaning and ancestry(origin) might never be deciphered but its safe to assume disciples will reclaim it as auspicious and divine and far from the Nazi ideology of hate and supremacy for which Adolf Hitler used the symbol..