incredible india and the truth about real india

[manofwar]

Please spread the word.

This is important to fight for the rights of our Tamil brethren. We must look beyond national interest and not be self-interested like India.

We should care about human rights, dignity, and the right to self-determination by all communities.

Having a free Tamil Eelam without TN is like saying you have a free Kosovo with an occupied Albania or a free Northern Ireland with an occupied Ireland.

வாழ்க தமிழ்​

You do realise that it was under pressure from "your" Tamil Brethren that India voted against Sri Lanka???That the Indian govt was very nearly thrown into utter chaos due to this event??

We must look beyond national interest and not be self-interested like India.

We should care about human rights, dignity, and the right to self-determination by all communities.

It is easy to talk about human rights and right to self determination while sitting comfortably in your home, but you know what's the difficult part??Finding a solution to the problems.............Anyone can make a banner and go out shouting on the streets that we want a solution, but to actually find a solution is a far more difficult task, and from the little I understand of Indian politics, due to a variety of opinions it is even more difficult in getting it implemented.
Don't get me wrong, I too participated in the December protests in Delhi, I am just saying that instead of continous criticism maybe you and all other people protesting against injustice should look at things from others points of view too.

 

[EzioAltaïr]

In case of sweden women can get on with their lives with a bit of therapy but same cant be said when it comes to south asian countries. In countries such as india women after getting raped are looked down even in their own families. It is a pity that rather than comforting them we drive them to the brink of suicide. I am not generalizing india as this is a problem faced in all the south asian counries.

Ok, that is a good point. Raped women are looked down upon, as though it's their fault. The sad part is that we can't solve it through laws, conservatism can only be solved by the people themselves.

 

[Pandora]

Ok, that is a good point. Raped women are looked down upon, as though it's their fault. The sad part is that we can't solve it through laws, conservatism can only be solved by the people themselves.

Exactly laws will be of no use if there is no will to implement them. People need to be educated slowly on how to digest such things.

 

[EzioAltaïr]

Without a doubt, the number is higher in India. But if no one report the crime, there is no statistics. So the number for India is probably the number of times its world renown media has reported rape cases instead of actual police statistics.

Very funny. So according to you, about 80,000 cases go unreported per year? Nice try.

Great!!!!!! India is really shining. Keep living in denial.

Says the guy who thinks a smaller population magically increases rapes?

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Not being a troll - but A few cohorts in my MBA program (including one American born guy of indian origin) had once told me to that overall they enjoyed the people of india and some of the sites but that the infrastructure, cleanliness and visual poverty not to mention the hurdles/red tape in doing business leaves much to be desired. Not the india they had been "told" about constantly

 

[Brahmos_2]

Here is another one,by a Canadian

What’s the story? Is travel in India safe?

A series of much-publicized rapes in India has many people wondering if India is safe for travellers. A female British tourist just jumped out of a hotel window in Agra to escape an assertive employee knocking on her door. Was she justified; was the threat real? Or is the increasing fear volume in India making people overly anxious? It is my opinion that media bias and sensationalizing is making India sound unsafer than it actually is; but having said that, I also strongly encourage using common sense and practising “safe travel.” Media sensationalizing is having another negative effect, too: it is distracting from the real story, which is the worldwide problem of violence against women and the worldwide rape crisis. Please read on to find out real rape statistics around the world and why you need to practice safe travel wherever you go.

The gang rape of a student, who later died, aboard a private bus in Delhi in December 2012 caused mass outrage in India and received worldwide media attention. The lid was blow off the systematic sexism in Indian culture, and rape began receiving the serious attention it deserves.

Earlier this month, a Swiss tourist was gang raped in front of her husband while they were camping in a remote region in Madhya Pradesh, and this terrible event also received worldwide media attention. In blog comments and on social media networks, many were expressing understandable anger and concern over these events.

I agree that India needs to address gender inequality on many fronts, and especially at the most basic, intrinsic level: The attitudes toward women and rape need complete transformation. Women should be treated with respect, and be allowed to live free from fear, harm or oppression. That’s the ideal, and India should strive to meet it in every way.

So, on the one hand, I think all this publicity is great; I am hoping it will accelerate the rate of change and pressure politicians, lawmakers and the police, etc., to act. On the other hand, it is adding a lot of fuel to the very derogatory worldwide media image of India.

But my biggest concern is that the sensationalizing of these crimes against women in India is skewing perception; and missing the big picture. I think it is making India seem more dangerous for travellers than it actually is, compared to other countries (in my opinion); and it is taking the spotlight away from the worldwide problem of violence against women.

A woman is raped in South Africa every 17 seconds…

India is not, in fact, the “rape capital” of the world. There are many countries with worse rape statistics. In fact, India was not on any of the lists I found via Google. The USA, New Zealand, Sweden are all in the top 10, though; and South Africa seems to be almost in a class by itself. Here are some lists and you are welcome to Google “worldwide rape statistics” and see for yourself.

There is a worldwide rape crisis, and it is not confined to the east, or to developing nations, or to “over there.” And that is what we should be focusing on.

Putting perception into perspective

While India certainly has its share of social problems and gender inequality, I think it’s important to put media sensationalizing into perspective; and also take into regard biases in the media. While foreign travellers in India are often uncomfortable, and usually suffer from Delhi-belly and overpaying for souvenirs and autorickshaw rides, etc., I don’t think they are more at risk for violence and/or rape than other countries. And USA Today agrees with me.

I did a quick search of articles about what countries are considered “the safest to travel in.” Some of the countries on these lists have, in fact high rape rates; and some score quite low on the happiness index.

For example, Sweden is on many lists of safe places to travel — and Sweden has a higher rate of rape, and a lower rate on the happiness index, than India:

Happiness Index
In other words … there is reality, statistics, perception and media bias. All of these things need to be weighed and assessed; don’t believe everything you read.

I am not trying to defend India: I was horrified by the Delhi Gang Rape, and it played into my reasons for cutting my recent trip to India short. And my heart aches for the Swiss tourist who was recently raped while on what should have been an amazing adventure. India needs to address safety issues and attitudes toward women, among other things.

But in my experience, India is not the barbaric place the western media makes it out to be. I have travelled safely there for a total of 17 months over the past seven years. I was groped once in Old Delhi, and I have felt uncomfortable by some unwanted attention and especially staring. I had my telephone stolen from my purse by a group of women, who surrounded me at a temple in Mumbai. But I have never felt seriously threatened or really unsafe.

However, I am also cautious, I use common sense and I take a lot of preventative measures — and I encourage other women (and men) travellers to do the same.

Helping people travel safely

There has been some very active discussions on this subject on the Breathedreamgo Facebook page; and after some thought, I made this statement:

“I have mistakenly given the world the impression that I think India is a safe country for women to travel in — and I have to take responsibility for that. It’s true that I have felt mostly safe in India over the 17 months I have travelled there; and have only minor incidents to report in all that time. But what I REALLY feel is that India is no different than anywhere else. It is certainly getting a lot of publicity, and I’m glad these things are coming out in the open. The truth is; the world is not safe for women anywhere. Rape stats in the USA, in South Africa and many other places are alarming and appalling. And as far as stats are concerned, it is much more unsafe for married women than women travellers. Look at the stats. A huge proportion of VAW is domestic. I am not trying to change anyone’s mind: you definitely should NOT go somewhere that makes you feel uncomfortable. But it is a good idea to separate media sensationalizing and perception from statistics, in my opinion.”

A few weeks I ago, I helped start an online movement called WeGoSolo to support women who travel alone. Check out the blog I wrote about that movement: it lists more than 60 blogs by other women travellers and writers. Many of them argue very intelligently and persuasively that travel is a much less dangerous occupation for women than marriage: A very large percentage of violence against women is perpetrated by their domestic partners. Many of the WeGoSolo blogs also offer safety tips for women (and men) travellers; and so does the hashtag #WeGoSolo on Twitter.

The U.K. just issued a travel alert for female travellers to India, and I agree with the common sense guidelines. “If you are a woman travelling in India, you should respect local dress codes and customs and avoid isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day,” the advisory issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) states.

Also, please read My top tips for women travelling in India.

In other words: practice safe travel. When it comes to India, I always encourage first-timers to join a group or go with a knowledgeable friend. There is a learning curve to being in India, no doubt about it. I am always the first to admit, a bit of hand holding goes a long way.

Attitude is (almost) everything

Finally, I think our attitude and level of confidence plays a big part in our experience of travel — and this is a big topic for another day (read Travel is an Experience in Perception). But if you are seriously afraid to visit a country, it’s probably not a good idea to go. Pushing your comfort zone is okay, if you know you are up for it; but if you are really fearful, you may find yourself having scary experiences. That’s how life seems to work, from my experience. Not always, of course, but a significant percentage of the time.

I have always maintained that India is not for everyone. Travel in India really is for a certain type of traveller — those who are willing to forego comfort for experience; and who are willing to say yes to life, all of life, including what is mirrored back about oneself. It takes a certain kind of travel adventurer to open his or her heart to India — and find it amply rewarded. In the end, perhaps it as Rumer Godden said: that once you have felt the Indian dust, you will never be free of it.

What's the story? Is travel in India safe?Breathedreamgo

 

[Windjammer]

India’s shame: Travel rape advisories are now real!


If you think that responsible countries should formally warn their women travelers of the high risk of rape they face in India, especially in the wake of the gangrape of a Swiss tourist in Madhya Pradesh, don’t be surprised.

Western countries have already issued travel advisories to their women travelers clearly telling them they are not safe in India; that they are at risk of being raped.

What a great image make-over for a super-power aspirant and the Incredible India campaigners. It’s incredibly shameful that in the whole of South Asia, it’s only India that has been singled out for this rape travel advisory! That too in a country that gets more than USD 120 billion every year from tourists.

Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka don’t have the size and money to come anywhere close to India. On paper, they may be more lawless and crisis-ridden too, but the men in those countries do not pounce on women the way we do in India, and the rest of the world are more relaxed in advising their women while they travel there.

But guess what? 85 percent of South Asia is India and therefore, India’s taint besmirches the whole of the region. The rest of South Asia, for once, should be ashamed of India!

There are only very few countries in the world that carry such an ignominy. Even Papua New Guinea, which appears to be India’s cousin in its pastime of raping women, carries a less severe advisory.

This is what the UK tells its citizens of the rape-risks in India:
“Women should use caution if travelling alone in India. Reported cases of sexual assault against women and young girls are increasing; recent sexual attacks against female visitors in tourist areas and cities show that foreign women are also at risk. British women have been the victims of sexual assault in Goa, Delhi, Bangalore and Rajasthan and women travellers often receive unwanted attention in the form of verbal and physical harassment by individuals or groups of men.”

And what does America tell its women travellers?
“While India is generally safe for foreign visitors, according to the latest figures by Indian authorities, rape is the fastest growing crime in India. Among large cities, Delhi experienced the highest number of crimes against women. Although most victims have been local residents, recent sexual attacks against female visitors in tourist areas underline the fact that foreign women are at risk and should exercise vigilance.”

The advisory goes on to add that women can be “Eve-teased”, subjected to sexual harassment that can be frightening, and there could be “sexually suggestive lewd comments to catcalls to outright groping.”

“Women should observe stringent security precautions, including avoiding use of public transport after dark without the company of known and trustworthy companions, restricting evening entertainment to well-known venues, and avoiding isolated areas when alone at any time of day.”

Why the heck should any woman travel to India in such scary conditions? Just to be shut up in their hotel rooms or eat, pray and love? It’s better, perhaps, to go to the Central African Republic.

Last month, even Switzerland had advised its women to be careful in India, but perhaps the tourist in Madhya Pradesh fell for the romantic allure of India’s lawlessness and hopelessness, which some philosophise as mystic chaos. Almost exactly how we are adept in reconciling with our abject poverty as part of our spiritual being, some have even started philosophising on rapes.

The western countries have now realised that the risks of rape in India are real. Rape of women appears to be a national pastime. The Delhi gangrape had provoked an unprecedented citizens’ response in the national capital and the states, but that didn’t make any impact on the situation.

Delhi alone reported at least two rapes every day in the two months following the gangrape. There were equally horrendous incidents of rapes from different parts of the country, which are still continuing. Going by the number so far, perhaps we might surpass last year’s rape-tally of 24,000.

In the case of Madhya Pradesh, the Swiss national will be just a speck because it anyway accounts of 14 per cent of the country’s rapes.

Right now, we are in the middle of legislating a tough law to protect women against sexual violence. Will this law make any difference to the safety of women in India?

Mostly unlikely, because, as we argued earlier, the sexual violence against women has to be looked at in the context of the overall lawlessness and gender-inequality that prevails in India. No law will be able to address this. It will require a fundamental social transformation, wherein rule of law and equal rights to women is a reality.

But, this will be bad news for our politicians and hence is unlikely to happen.

The new law might scare some people, but as post-Delhi evidence shows, nothing is likely to change in terms of the risk of women to sexual violence and rapes because majority of our rapists or potential rapists won’t even know the gravity of their criminality and its consequences.

A Haus Khas student didn’t think twice before spiking an overseas girl’s drink and raping her last month even as the national media was abuzz with post-Delhi outrage. Neither was a resort manager in Bhopal deterred from raping a south Korean girl in the same month.

Even from a narrow perspective of making the new law work, the state and central governments should undertake an extraordinary nationwide campaign against this phenomenon just as it took on polio or AIDS. It should tell people from every possible outlet and street-corner that they will be in jail if they aggress women. The government needs to spend at least a couple of billion dollars for a few years at a stretch on this because it is an extraordinary epidemic that needs an extraordinary response.

http://www.firstpost.com/india/indias-shame-travel-rape-advisories-are-now-real-665215.html

 

[Green Angel]

RAPE INDIA INCREDIBLY.......Should be the Title of this thread....

 

[EzioAltaïr]

Not being a troll - but A few cohorts in my MBA program (including one American born guy of indian origin) had once told me to that overall they enjoyed the people of india and some of the sites but that the infrastructure, cleanliness and visual poverty not to mention the hurdles/red tape in doing business leaves much to be desired. Not the india they had been "told" about constantly

Yeah, hurdles in doing business. We rank quite low on the Ease of doing business index (not good at all).

 

[Shatterpoint]

Also in Sweden the law is so strict that even having sex without a condom is considered rape, so the rates a skewed for that country, I traveled to India and I saw how men behaved with my wife, and even how sexually harassed Indian women are. India police are corrupt to the core and you just have to read the reports of how rape victims are treated by the Indian police to know why not many more rapes are reported.

 

[HongWu]

Also in Sweden the law is so strict that even having sex without a condom is considered rape, so the rates a skewed for that country, I traveled to India and I saw how men behaved with my wife, and even how sexually harassed Indian women are. India police are corrupt to the core and you just have to read the reports of how rape victims are treated by the Indian police to know why not many more rapes are reported.

So you came to PDF, thought Indians were great people because they support your political agenda and then went to India yourself with your family and found they are a primitive society that hates outsiders. Congratulations on learning a lesson. You may consider yourself lucky the men's bad behavior went no further. Hope your belly gets better soon.

 

[scorpionx]

Also in Sweden the law is so strict that even having sex without a condom is considered rape, so the rates a skewed for that country, I traveled to India and I saw how men behaved with my wife, and even how sexually harassed Indian women are. India police are corrupt to the core and you just have to read the reports of how rape victims are treated by the Indian police to know why not many more rapes are reported.

You were very enthusiastic about your trip to India.What went wrong?

 

[HongWu]

You were very enthusiastic about your trip to India.What went wrong?

His illusion was "shattered"

 

[scorpionx]

His illusion was "shattered"

Don't poke me

 

[Shatterpoint]

I still love India, what do you mean what went wrong? I seen first hand how women are treated in India and not in some rural village, I was in Delhi, Mumbai and it's terrible how Indian men behave.