A few outlets today picked up a report by Muneeza Naqvi of the AP on the imminent departure for Liberia of a contingent of 105 Indian women police officers (Thanks, tipster kit-and-kumari!). This is the first-ever United Nations all-female peacekeeping contingent, another achievement in the lengthy record of service that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have contributed to UN peacekeeping missions for decades.

Liberia has already benefited from a strong woman’s touch: the democratically elected president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, is Africa’s first female elected head of state, and is considered to be doing quite a good job thus far dealing with some pretty intractable problems, like mass unemployment, a completely collapsed national infrastructure, and widespread trauma from the civil war. Now, some strong Indian sisters are going to be lending a hand as well:

There, they will likely be called on to train Liberia’s national police, help conduct local elections or assist with prison security as the West African country struggles to recover from years of civil war. ..

However, this is the first all-female peacekeeping team, and participants have said it would have unique advantages in conflict zones.

“Women police are seen to be much less threatening, although they can be just as tough as men. But in a conflict situation, they are more approachable and it makes women and children feel safer,” Seema Dhundia, a unit commander, said recently.

This news deserves more coverage. Here in the US though, aside from a few papers running the wire report, all we have is some ignorant and vulgar comments from… Rush Limbaugh. Here’s what America heard on talk radio today:

Well, it was on this program, if you listen to this program, by the way, you are on the cutting edge. It was a long time ago, it had to be the early nineties, during the discussions of women in combat in the military, that we came up with the unique idea of the All-American First Cavalry Amazon Battalion, a bunch of combat ready females on PMS, way to go, great tactic. … Well, the United Nations has ripped me off.

After reading part of the wire story, he continued:

Okay, well, interesting theory, keep an eye. Make a note. Keep an eye on Liberia. Let’s just see if women as peacekeepers are more approachable by women and children. You know, a lot of UN peacekeeping forces engage in rape and child rape, particularly in Africa. WeÂ’ll see if there’s any change in that behavior here with the all-babe police force.

I’m in the mood for a lathi-charge right about now. Continue reading →

Many of you have probably received the email. Flying around the internet, it describes a horrible attack on Ashwani Nagpal, the respected owner of Leela Lounge. I actually thought it was a hoax at first, but called the Lounge to verify and was informed that yes, it was true.

Early December 23, 2006, individuals who were present at a holiday party at Leela Lounge attacked both Mr. Nagpal and his friend and co-worker, Asheesh Mathur. Thankfully, both Mr. Nagpal and Mr. Mathur escaped the incident alive; however, Mr. Nagpal suffered injuries to the head and Mr. Mathur, a fractured nose and cracked jaw. During the course of these assaults, racial and ethnic slurs were directed to at least one of the victims. It is chilling to realize that members of the South Asian and Greenwich Village community could suffer this sort of violent crime by patrons at their own establishment.

Please see the full press release here.

So what exactly happened? Was it a private party? If yes, then how did these men get in? If it was a desi party, then who were these people hurling racial insults? Rumors and speculation have fueled this already tragic story, so in the hope of understanding what happened, I met Mr. Nagpal last Wednesday at a meeting held to discuss possible paths of action.

Continue reading →