Don’t be Loose

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India’s religious right has been taking a public relations beating this past week. The newly formed Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women (which, by the way, is the greatest name for a group since the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice) has organized the Pink Chaddis Campaign to oppose the Sri Ram Sena’s despicable actions last month and their impending Valentine’s Day protests:

The group says it will give the pink underwear to Sri Ram Sena (Army of Lord Ram) on Valentine’s Day on Saturday.

[SRS] was blamed for the bar attack in the southern city of Mangalore last month.

Pramod Mutalik, who heads the little known Ram Sena and is now on bail after he was held following the attack, has said it is “not acceptable” for women to go to bars in India.

He has also said his men will protest against Valentine’s Day on Saturday. [Link]

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p>Let’s just hope that the SRS leaders don’t have a fetish for women’s underwear or this campaign will not have its intended effect.

In other news (perhaps not entirely unrelated) the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s Hindu nationalist group, has decided to start marketing a soft drink that contains cow urine. They see it as a refreshing alternative to Coke or Pepsi. I am sure they would rather young women kick back with a six pack of these instead of be loose at a bar with a beer:

Om Prakash, the head of the department, said the drink – called “gau jal”, or “cow water” – in Sanskrit was undergoing laboratory tests and would be launched “very soon, maybe by the end of this year”.

“Don’t worry, it won’t smell like urine and will be tasty too,” he told The Times from his headquarters in Hardwar, one of four holy cities on the River Ganges. “Its USP will be that it’s going to be very healthy. It won’t be like carbonated drinks and would be devoid of any toxins.”

The drink is the latest attempt by the RSS – which was founded in 1925 and now claims eight million members – to cleanse India of foreign influence and promote its ideology of Hindutva, or Hindu-ness. [Link]

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I am curious, does anyone know how the cow urine aftershave splash has been doing in sales?

159 thoughts on “Don’t be Loose”

  1. Abhi: Your Mom and I were wondering (in Ahmedabad – India) what you are up to for last few weeks. For last three weeks we have been exposed to cowurine before-after splash all over the town. With 12 laks crores MOU at the “Vibrant Gujarat”, among all the 80 international countries – not one of them was bidding to get rid of the holy smell from the city. Yes there may be 88 story building along the River Sabarmati Front, but that rotten smell typical to India will never go away. We plan to be back soon in Obamaland.

  2. this campaign will not have its intended effect.

    what is its intended effect? apart from preaching to the choir, that is?

  3. Pramod Mutalik, who heads the little known Ram Sena and is now on bail after he was held following the attack, has said it is “not acceptable” for women to go to bars in India.

    btw, this is not the first such instance by the hindu right, nor is this a recent phenom. it is just that the vivid film of this incident with goons kicking, trampling, and beating up defenseless women that has struck a chord this time around. but muthalik apparently has much bigger things up his sleeve.

  4. a refreshing alternative to Pepsi.

    I believe they have trademarked the name Pispee for their product.

  5. does anyone know how the cow urine aftershave splash has been doing in sales?

    It’s considered number one.

  6. In addition to this, there is a peaceful demonstration this Saturday, February 14, in New Delhi protesting the rampant disregard of the constitution and the moral policing prevalent in India. Please be there to express solidarity with the cause if you can.

  7. 5 · since you mentioned it on February 11, 2009 08:55 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?)

    a refreshing alternative to Pepsi. I believe they have trademarked the name Pispee for their product. 6 · since you mentioned it on February 11, 2009 08:58 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?) does anyone know how the cow urine aftershave splash has been doing in sales? It’s considered number one.

    Ha! 🙂 Winners, both of these. Keep ’em coming!

  8. I would send them DVD’s of Sunny Leone getting nailed by a gigantic wang with a note that says.

    “She does this for a living and makes more in a week than you do in a year”

    I really do think this underwear thing is great. It shows a “Im not sitting here and waiting for some lazy man politician to rescue me.” attitude.

  9. This “Sri Ram Sena” and the his nutty leader attacking people in public places is horrible but Isnt it curious that this nut Mutalik started caring about “Indian culture” (whatever that means) just 4 months before Lok Sabha elections?? Nobody had heard about this stupid group called the “Ram Sena” until their little stunt.

    I am not sure which political party is behind this as I am not very familiar with Karnataka politics, but from casual observation looks like that some BJP related outfits might be using this guy. But then as comment #3 claims that “Mutalik” is a Cong. man, so I dont know. I think we will find out by elections.

    What is sad is that the political parties are so bankrupt of thought that they have to do this type of thing.

    I read somewhere that RSS is a completely broken institution and its rank and file are dwindling fast and those who remain are at a rock bottom morale. Cow-urine-cola idea confirms that reading 🙂

  11. 11 · Jef Costello said

    Why hasn’t all that struck a chord with the Indian, especially the Indian shehri?

    A quote from a local photographer expressing similar incredulity:

    Local media in Mangalore had covered the incident extensively but the police and the government did not react. For the local journalists, the attacks were nothing out of the ordinary. Several had received phone calls from Sene members 30 minutes before the attack. They were promised exclusive footage of the action if they turned up at the pub. “For most of us in the local media, this is just another incident, given the frequency of such incidents here. Who knew there would be so much outrage?” says Ramakrishna Bhat, a local photographer. There are enough incidents from the last month alone to vindicate Bhat’s blasé words. Days before the January 24 attack, yet another incident had taken place at an event in a huge superstore in Mangalore. On December 26, 2008, a bus carrying students from a tutorial centre in Mangalore was attacked. Both Hindu and Muslim students were travelling together — reason enough for the Bajrang Dal to stop the bus and beat students as “punishment for travelling in a mixed group.” On December 20, activists from the Sri Rama Sene interrupted a fashion show underway in Mangalore, claiming that young people were being led astray — that “Muslim boys were enjoying the vulgar displays of the bodies of Hindu girls”. All in all, a deadly cocktail of communal agendas, morality and violence.

  14. I suppose the cow cola will have to be approved by the equivalent of the FDA, or some such body, before it can be deemed fit for human consumption. I wonder if that approval will be granted. Piss and fit for human consumption just don’t go together, do they (notwithstanding Morarji Desai et al). And if the approval is not granted will BJP say that the government is acting against Hindu culture!!! Guys, this is going to be a lot of fun. I can’t wait for the next step in the story.

  15. Hey, how come they have a typo in their poster? (i.e., Valentine’s, not “Valentines”) I’m not sure why “kick the backward Hindus” is so much fun, given the seemingly more real threat of “That Which Must Not Be Named,” but–whatever. I cert. can’t support the illiberalism of this Sri Ram Sena outfit.

  17. 18 · Manju on February 11, 2009 10:49 PM · Direct link · “Quote”(?) Edit · Check IP · Check name · Ban user · Delete Abhi: Your Mom and I were wondering (in Ahmedabad – India) what you are up to for last few weeks

    Umm, not quite Manju. But close.

  18. Don’t be Loose

    i knew the rss liked baithaks, but didn’t know they were a fan of kegels too.

  19. A lot of religious rituals and practices are designed as hard-to-fake methods for identifying people who are “in.” Since you probably wouldn’t be drinking the cow-cola unless you had a damn good reason for doing so, walking into a store and seeing it on sale would give you a little signal as to the owner’s politics.

    It’s kind of like walking into a neighborhood bar and checking to see whether the TV is playing ESPN, Fox News, or MSNBC. Or if the patrons are drinking Coors Light vs. Harp vs. Mixed drinks.

    As for

    an impassioned article which talks among other things, about what hindutva has dragged hinduism down to.

    Are you really going to say it’s just a Hindu thing and conveniently ignore the stories about people getting beaten up, arrested, or deported for having Koranic verses written somewhere that someone found offensive? Or the ridiculous rioting in the streets to have Salman Rushdie’s books banned or to have The DaVinci Code prohibited? You had a chance to decry competitive intolerance and illiberalism in general. Why did you choose instead to bang on the Hindutva drum?

  20. Also. Does anyone know why they celebrate V-Day in India at all? Did Hallmark manage to sink its marketing dollars into them too? Have the Indians been too busy arguing over “freedom” vs. “Hindu culture” to notice that they’re being hoodwinked into rampant consumerism?

  21. Maybe this is why I’m just an ABCD, but this is the sort of thing that makes me lose touch w/ Hindutva, as much as I am inclined to support it–how can these guys be on the same page? Of course, some support is done in a constructive way.

  22. 21 · NV said

    Are you really going to say it’s just a Hindu thing

    i never said any such thing – there’s no need to get pink , saffron or any other chuddies in a bunch, and specifically linked to an article which equates the hindu fanatics to the crazies of other religions . i only highlighted the hindutva aspect because the post was talking about muthalik and his ilk, and there is far too often a tendency to think of hindutva inclinations as somehow more benign due to inherent cultural gifts bestowed upon bharat.

    i have no difficulty admitting that hindutva fanatics – and the leading indicator of where this is going, are just as bad as the islamist crazies.

    23 · rob said

    how can these guys be on the same page?

    because these fundamentalists are cut from the same cloth.

  23. because these fundamentalists are cut from the same cloth.

    In some ways, yes. But can we be adults? I don’t think any Hindu fundamentalists have ever rolled up on the Oberoi and slaughtered its guests. Or bombed a major nightclub. Or destroyed a major office-complex. Or–well, whatever, you’ll never acknowledge the distinction anyway.

  24. 25 · rob said

    I don’t think any Hindu fundamentalists have ever rolled up on the Oberoi and slaughtered its guests. Or bombed a major nightclub. Or destroyed a major office-complex.

    Well, not in large numbers yet. But there is no reason to believe that this will lead anywhere else. the night is still young.

  26. Union Minister Renuka Chowdhury’s daughter has started a Pub Bharo Andolan on Jan 14, and has a facebook group too.

    Meanwhile, in response to the Pink Chaddi Campaign, we also have a Pink Condom Campaign.

    Muthalik & Co are either a lunatic fringe or opportunists who may/may not have been used by Congress to discredit the BJP.One never knows the truth, but the simple question is: who is benefiting from this?

    Another question: NDTV does not really have a crew in place in Mangalore.How could they get there even before the Police arrived? The Channel should have atleast alerted the Police, instead of gleefully filming young women being beaten by anti-social elements such as the Sene? (Btw, its Sene and not Sena).

    There is a battle raging in India for the LS elections in April/May.It is known that Congress is trying a young vs old plank, to eventually place Prince Rahul on the throne.And events such as these help mobilise the youth opinion against a particular political formation. In the words of Nish Susan, the originator of the Pink Chaddi Campaign, they are doing this because they feel the Sene is a franchise of RSS.

    In another incident in Mangalore, CPM activists ‘kidnap’the daughter of a Kerala CPM MLA along with her boyfriend (who happens to be a Muslim), and harass them for an hour before releasing them.The CPM MLA immediately blames the Bajrang Dal for this, and the national media went to town alleging Talibanisation of Karnataka.But when the truth came out, there has been a deathly silence.

    Two more incidents in the last 1 week that have gone unnoticed by the Pink Chaddi brigade.

    • 3 girls committed suicide in Kerala, unable to tolerate eve teasing.Some local muslim youth have been arrested.

    • And in Mangalore, 16 year old Ashwini Kulal committed suicide after being raped by 26 year old Abdul Salaam.

    And speaking of ‘freedom’, there is no mention of this in the Indian media.

    I am not even close to mentioning half of such news items in the last 3 days.We are seeing corruption scams against CPM Ministers, against Mulayam and Amar, fights breaking out in UP and AP assemblies over accusations that could disgust any normal citizen.

    Bottomline: People like Muthalik need to be given exemplary punishment so that it acts as a deterrent.But Pink Chaddis aint gonna solve the larger problem.Our only hope lies in being fair, and trying to understand the other side of the coin. But NO, we are happy to find the latest shennaigan from one set of lunatics and use it to political advantage.Protest is a must, but it can be dignified too.

  27. Well, not in large numbers yet. But there is no reason to believe that this will lead anywhere else. the night is still young.

    OK, well, on that theory, I’m going to give equal weight to my possibility of being killed by the Finns and by the Pakistanis, b/c, you know, who can really predict the future. . . .

  28. 29 · rob said

    OK, well, on that theory, I’m going to give equal weight to my possibility of being killed by the Finns and by the Pakistanis, b/c, you know, who can really predict the future. . . .

    yes, i agree. that does sound like your kinda logical deduction process.

  29. “NDTV does not really have a crew in place in Mangalore.How could they get there even before the Police arrived? The Channel should have atleast alerted the Police, instead of gleefully filming young women being beaten by anti-social elements such as the Sene?” – well if you done some more research you would have come to know that local news media took those videos, ndtv and others just used it. If Muthalik is wrong then what’s the problem with chaddi campaign. The only people who don’t like the chaddi campaign would be people who support Muthalik.

  30. Let’s just hope that the SRS leaders don’t have a fetish for women’s underwear..

    Maybe that is the intended effect. Rum Senes mistakenly think that the pub crawlers are getting some. Frustration and tension soon follow. What can release all that stress more peacefully than pink underwear?

  31. I all-to-typically find myself agreeing with the oft-put forward view (around the club) that the (contemporaneous) Muslim world is backward b/c of its (utter) lack of liberals (e.g., “we had to vote for Hamas b/c Fatah was corrupt”–what?? Why is there no liberal party to vote for in Egypt, Palestine, Pakistan, etc., etc.??!!) So, I’m all for this totally classical liberal protest. . . . This is why the smart $$ is going to India rather than to China or Dubai.

  34. And speaking of ‘freedom’, there is no mention of this in the Indian media.

    I thought of mentioning this, which is much more dangerous than some nutcases indulging in hooliganism. An editor of a magazine was arrested for publishing an article by the “secular left” government in West Bengal . In this case, the government is invoking laws to curtail “freedom of expression”.

    Pair held for ‘offending Islam’

    The Statesman’s editor Ravindra Kumar and publisher Anand Sinha were detained in Calcutta after complaints. Muslims said they were upset with the Statesman for reproducing an article from the UK’s Independent daily in its 5 February edition. The article was entitled: “Why should I respect these oppressive religions?” It concerns the erosion of the right to criticise religions. In it, the author, Johann Hari, writes: “I don’t respect the idea that we should follow a ‘Prophet’ who at the age of 53 had sex with a nine-year old girl, and ordered the murder of whole villages of Jews because they wouldn’t follow him.”

    It is not as if the article was lying. But then I saw this. It is even more funnier http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7882953.stm

    Dutch MP banned from entering UK

    A Dutch MP who called the Koran a “fascist book” says he still plans to travel to the UK despite being banned on public security grounds. Freedom Party MP Geert Wilders was invited to show his controversial film – which links the Islamic holy book to terrorism – in the UK’s House of Lords. But Mr Wilders, who faces trial in his own country for inciting hatred, has been denied entry by the Home Office. He plans to fly into Heathrow later, saying: “Let’s see what happens.”

    Looks like “Indian brand of secularism” has travelled to Britain, don’t know how much time it would take to reach US. 🙂

  36. And speaking of ‘freedom’, there is no mention of this in the Indian media. I thought of mentioning this, which is much more dangerous than some nutcases indulging in hooliganism. An editor of a magazine was arrested for publishing an article by the “secular left” government in West Bengal . In this case, the government is invoking laws to curtail “freedom of expression”.

    really?

    A disclosure first, I used to work in Statesman earlier. As far as I understand this one is more politically motivated, rather than merely a religious protest. Statesman had always been stridently anti-left front government. In recent times, it had pretty much backed Trinamul Congress’ stance on Nandigram, which I am sure did not create any good will among Left cadres.

  37. Also, just to be clear, I think these so-called protests in Kolkata were as disgusting as any efforst by the saffron moral brigade. And I will be going to Jantar Mantar on Saturday for the anti-moral brigade rally.

  38. As far as I understand this one is more politically motivated, rather than merely a religious protest. Statesman had always been stridently anti-left front government. In recent times, it had pretty much backed Trinamul Congress’ stance on Nandigram, which I am sure did not create any good will among Left cadres.

    Hmm.. Do you offer the same benefit of doubt to the Mangalore incident ?. This outfit Rama Sena is practically unknown to the rest of India, and its leader has problems with the local Sangh Parivar and 4 months before the Loksabha elections, suddenly they got angry at the pub going women and they have also informed the TV crews well in advance so that they were actually waiting to film the attack. 🙂

    Do you think Mangalore attacks could have been politically motivated to tarnish the BJP government in the state like you think the arrest of Statesman editor is?.

  39. Ponniyin Selvan and others, please stay on topic. I won’t let this thread devolve in to a “but Muslims do it too…” thread. Thanks.

  40. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiya_Andrabi. Does anyone wonder or is even puzzled why V-Day isn’t a big issue in Hyderabad, Lucknow, Srinagar or Aligarh? Or in Triplicane, Chennai? Yeah may be Salahuddin Owaisi the punk who beat up Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad has imposed a reign of terror and Chennai’s Nawab – the Prince of Arcot – the fake icon of secularism who vandalized a poster exhibition on Aurangazeb in Chennai last year get a free pass. I say send pink chaddis to Asiya Andrabi, the Prince of Arcot, the chiefs of Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Kazhagam, and Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Party (both of whom thretened to lynch Khushboo a few years back for her statements on marriage). Just a gentle reminder to all pub crawlers, take on something biig if you want to make an impact.

  41. After ponniyin’s reply, I realised that probably I should not have talked about the political part – for the reason that I have no proof. It was good of you to rap me on my knuckles. 🙂 That was merely conjecture.

    And yes, I have heard about the so-called Congress-SRS links, but that’s what they are, speculation and kite-flying. Maybe there is a link, but there is no evidence or smoking gun that I have seen so far, so I will take SRS on their face value of just merely being the sole guardians of Indian womanhood and culture.

    By the way, I am totally willing to join a rally protesting the Muslim demonstrations against Statesman. Just that, I am too lazy to start it on my own. Am a perfect follower, waiting for a leader. But, if there is an initiative, I am jumping on it.

    At the same time, I don’t think that it’s an excuse that because nobody had raised a voice earlier, therefore this one, I mean, the events planned for valentine’s day, is unjustified.

    I think this campaign is a result of a new willingness among the younger lot here to be more active in civil society in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.

    I wish they had also targetted the others that jyotsana mentioned, but at least its’s a start.

    Also, the pink chaddi campaign may not be for everybody. I know some friends who could not find the humour behind it (I like it!) and find it too ludicrous, but still agree with the motivation – so they may be going for the jantar mantar rally.

    Of course, there is a small part in me which is quite bemused at how valentine’s day (the silliest day of the calendar) has become a political tool.

  42. Ponniyin Selvan and others, please stay on topic. I won’t let this thread devolve in to a “but Muslims do it too…” thread. Thanks.

    Actually, I was talking about the left government in Bengal.

    Anyways, I’ll stick to the topic. Looks like the two orgs. you mentioned are not in good terms. RSS wants Ram Sena to be banned.

    http://www.sanghparivar.org/blog/rkm/ban-sri-ram-sena-rss Disassociating itself from the Sri Ram Sena, whose acts of moral policing in Mangalore evoked nationwide indignation, the RSS on Monday called for stringent action against it and said it had no objection if the Government decided to ban the outfit. “RSS considers attacks on humans as heinous crime. We do not have any objection if the Government decides to ban Ram Sens,” RSS South-Central Zonal Secretary K Narahari told a press conference here.

  43. In reference to the comments about whether this is a Congress backed thing….. don’t know about this specific guy but the Congress has had a history of supporting fringe lunatic elements in order to either discredit the “non fringe” lunatic element or to divide the political space of lunatic votes….. for example, it supported Bhindranwale in Punjab partly to take away attention/votes from Akalis and mainstream Sikh parties….. and there is also talk that Raj Thackeray has Congress backing to divide the Maratha vote which usually goes to the Shiv Sena.

  44. 44 · Ponniyin Selvan said

    Ponniyin Selvan and others, please stay on topic. I won’t let this thread devolve in to a “but Muslims do it too…” thread. Thanks. Actually, I was talking about the left government in Bengal. Anyways, I’ll stick to the topic. Looks like the two orgs. you mentioned are not in good terms. RSS wants Ram Sena to be banned. http://www.sanghparivar.org/blog/rkm/ban-sri-ram-sena-rss Disassociating itself from the Sri Ram Sena, whose acts of moral policing in Mangalore evoked nationwide indignation, the RSS on Monday called for stringent action against it and said it had no objection if the Government decided to ban the outfit.

    Ponniyin Selvan,

    Don’t let this thread devolve into a “But the RSS demanded that the government ban SRS…” Just kidding!!

  47. 49 · Jef Costello said

    I suppose sending bangles wouldn’t make good copy.

    I think that sending bangles to men to indicate that they are as bad as women is more demeaning to women than men.

    How about protesting that instead of collecting underwear to defend the right to party?

    I am glad your priorities are in the right place, sitting on your heinie while expressing outrage at what these people choose to protest – and implying that their right to party is not worth it, rather than at Muthalik. (fwiw, I am not a fan of pink chaddi because I think it is counterproductive – it probably makes the average Indian far more squeamish because of its in-your-face nature – and my limited random sampling (through a friend) of average lower middle class Indians attests to this. It is like a Dawkins/Hitchens screed on atheism – convincing only to the already convinced, and potentially making enemies in the unopinionated middle.)

  48. as an aside, i thought tehelka’s cover story on that featured the desi gallery of rogues very educational. i think it places muthalik in a larger context among contemporary extremists. i know pink chaddi has been divisive, but it has accomplished a lot in involving the apolitical — especially younger women in the metro cities. glad to see non-laloo humor in recent indian public life. perhaps this will convert to long-term political engagement; perhaps it won’t. i’m sorry to see this being constructed as/ reduced to the ‘right to party.’

  50. 50 · Jef Costello said

    Eight of a family got lynched in Bihar a few days back because two eloped. How about protesting that instead of collecting underwear to defend the right to party?

    Good idea. I look forward to seeing your blogs /photos from the frontlines in Bihar. BTW could you post the Public interest litigation you filed for it. (Since others could use the process that you used to effectively protest for our pet causes in the future)