Archives: Religion

You may not agree with the school of though that the Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) propounds. But you will agree that it has some semblance of a civilised way of protesting. The party on April 19 sent a parcel containing sarees to South Indian film actress Nayanthara to protest against her visit to the Killikavu Amman temple near Ottapalam in Kerala wearing salwar kameez, the Indian Express reports. [Link] Nayanthara who went to the temple on Wednesday was reportedly prevented from entering the temple by the authorities and devotees for violating the dress code as women...

It becomes slightly trying for a blog that stands for freedom of expression to defend religion in any way or on any count. Given the backdrop that most attacks on freedom of expression both in India (primarily from the Hindu right) and cross the world (primarily from the Islamic right) come from those steeped in religion. And, of course, it is ironical that an unrepentant atheist has to write all about it. The other day there was a report in the Hindustan Times about the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) advocating the restriction of religious and spiritual...

Harbhajan Singh has apologised over the Colors channel dance reality show, and vowed “never to do anything that could hurt religious sentiments of any community”. "I apologise if my actions have hurt anybody. It was not my intention to hurt sentiments of anyone which includes members of my own community," the off-spinner told reporters in Chandigarh. "It will be my sincere endeavour not to repeat such things in future," said Singh, currently playing in the first Test match against Australia at Mohali. Well, taking on hardliners from two communities is not exactly like spinning...

The youth wing of the Congress in Maharashtra has registered a case against entertainment channel Colors and production house Endemol for "hurting religious sentiments" in their dance show 'Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena'. [Link] In an episode of the reality dance show, cricketer Harbhajan Singh dressed up as Lord Ravana and danced with TV actress Mona Singh, who was dressed as Sita. The Mumbai Youth Congress have claimed that this dance has hurt the religious sentiments of the viewers, Deputy Commissioner of Police, K M M Prasanna said. Quite a touchy lot, that. ...

Now human rights bodies have to intervene in temple matters. The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has asked the Travancore Devaswom Board to allow male employees at Lord Ayyappa temple to wear underwear while counting currency notes and coins offered by devotees. All these days, the staff at the hill shrine of Sabarimala had to strip themselves of all clothing, except their dhotis, before entering the counting chamber. The temple authorities enforced this practice after they found that money was being smuggled out, concealed in the undergarments. Some details from the Asia News...

The Supreme Court has upheld the Guruvayoor temple’s decision to allow entry of women wearing churidar, the Hindu has reported. A bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justices RV Raveendran and JM Panchal Monday dismissed a special leave petition challenging the August 23 Kerala High Court order, which upheld the temple’s decision. [Link] Manoj V. George, counsel for a devotee K. Mohandas, argued that the change in the 5,000-year-old practice of allowing only women wearing the traditional sari hurt the sentiments of a section of worshippers. He said the Guruvayur...

Now, an Islamic militant outfit in Manipur has asked Muslim girl students to refrain from wearing frock and skirt or any western dress in educational institutions in the state from next year. The 'information and publicity' secretary of the People's United Liberation Front (PULF), Belal Khan wants that all Muslim girl students should wear the dress accepted by Islamic law. Huh. The statement issued by the militant said that anyone violating the diktat of the outfit would be punished. [Link] Wait, there's more. Khan said that civil society, school authorities, and students should not...

Guruvayoor temple authorities are reconsidering their decision to change the old dress code that allowed only saree-clad women to come to pray, says a Daily News & Analysis (DNA) report. On July 26 this year, the temple authorities decided to allow women dressed in salwar-kameez also to pray at the temple. Thsi volte face would be because preists say the deity is real, real angry at non-sari clad women. [Link] ...

The Kerala High Court has dismissed a public interest petition, challenging the decision of the Guruvayur Devaswom Management Committee to permit women to enter the renowned Sree Krishna Temple in 'churidar' instead of the traditional saree. [Link] A Division Bench, comprising Justices KS Radhakrishnan and VK Mohanan, in August-end observed that wearing churidar by a devotee could not be said to be objectionable since it was a popular dress worn by women in the country. The court said, ''We are not prepared to say that the order, dated July 26, 2007, issued by the Guruvayur Devaswom...

The president of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, has the cheek to defend his party MLAs for attacking Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. “When the Bangladesh government has shunted Taslima out of the country, why is the Indian government protecting her?” he asked. Well, Nasreen has been living in Kolkata for the last two years. What was Owaisi doing all this while? Sleeping in the House? And come to think of it, this Owaisi's party is an ally of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. With such progressive allies, Manmohan Singh's......