Jun 7, 2007

God's own country, Devil's own people, And these are a few among them



Some people just refuse to change

Link1 :- 5 HIV+ students shown door from a school .

When will people change ? I feel very bad reading this report.. The stigma associated with HIV casting its shadow upon kids less than 11 years old.. And that too the ostracization coming from educated people from a state supposed to be among the most literate
ones in India...

Link 2:- Guruvayoor Purification

You can play the devotional songs of Yesudas in a temple.. but you cannot allow him inside the temple.. If a child's grand-mother happens to be a Christian, the temple should be purified after the Child's entry to the temple...These are some of the 'rules' @ Guruvayoor. Disgusting to hear such news really.. Though I'm no communist in a classical sense, I'm a great admirer of A.K Gopalan and K . Kelappan for their struggle to throw open the temple gates to people from all stratas of society... Thats something which was left in between.. In this 21st century, its high time that Hinduism throws open the gates of temples to all religions..

Inspite of having a population acutely conscious of their rights and forgetful of their duties,
incidents like this are very common in Kerala..

Two questions to the non-keralite readers..

1) How much is the intra and inter-religious intolerance in your state ? Is it because of the fact that media is very much active in Kerala that these incidents are reported more from Kerala than from outside ?

2) And have you come across any such incidents mentioned in Link 1 ( HIV story ) .. ?


Ajith

21 comments:

Flyaway Mind said...

the society is so hypocritic where social stigmas are concerned..denying hiv students just shows twisted hypocritic notions about morality.. but atleast it's heartening that majority of pujari's in guruvayur are supporting the entry of non-hindus...wonder why the issue took such a long time to stir up..

Bullshee said...

No boss!the first link was shocking!this is bad!

second link:i am not going to comment on what goes on at guruvayoor as that might hurt some sentiments-but its definitely not IN favour of!

Dainty Damsel said...

It is highly disheartening to see HIV+ patients stigmatized. I read the article and what depressed me was that though media is creating so much awareness as to it is not contagious, parents of other children don't give a heed.
Who will spew light on them?

Coming to the temple issue well I would like to see the temple being open to everyone independent of their religion. It is high time the authorities give a proper judgement.

Kryptonite said...

the case is so sad.. i think it might be due to ignorance..if it is not,they are just prejudiced .. very disheartening

Sarah said...

I saw my first HIV patient in 1994. As soon as the diagnosis was made, hospital admin asked the pateint to leave.
Reason given was we don;t have any specialist who deals with AIDS..
the true reason was the fear of scaring the rest of the patients away..
I guess a decade and half later.. nothing has changed..

Ajith Prasad Balakrishnan said...

@flyaway mind -- Yeah, at times society is very much hypocratic..

@ bullshee -- Yes man..too shocking.. More links on those have come up in NDTV , BBC etc .

@crescent -- Yeah..Media isnt effective sometimes in such cases.

@anna -- Most ppl know HIV can't be spread thru sitting next to each other...But then, putting theory into practice, thats were they resist..Especially when children are involved.

@Sarah -- Yeah, Society is more or less the same.. :)

Deepak said...

Swami Vivekananda didn't call Kerala a lunatic asylum for nothing!

vineet said...

this hiv stigma is very much prevalent.. was reading in the paper about a woman being beaten up by her in-laws because they think her presence can make them infected as well. i hope atleast the educated folks dont behave this way.

as for guruvayur -- i dont think it should be open to all religions. maybe u could say 'believers'(which i agree is a thin line)... at the end of the day you dont want it to become a tourist spot or sthing.

Serendipity said...

1. It is insane to be so closed. If these people are really interested in spreading hinduism then it would be more sensible to open the temple doors.

In Kerala itself - in the varkala temple , non hindus are allowed.

Generally I found kerala's temple rules stricter than those in TN esp dress code and all.

The state can get more cash inflows from tourism if it opens the temple doors to non hindus too.

2. It is hard to change some attitudes.And in India it is harder coz we are still hypocritical when it comes to issues like aids, divorce, widow remarriage etc.

Kandarp said...

From what I have seen, Kerala is the best example of religious tolerance in the country. So, you might be a little harsh there...

On Guruvayoor, my personal take is that , if people of other religions conduct themselves in a manner that is expected when you are in a place of worship , then , I don't see why they should not be allowed.

Movie Mazaa said...

the one similar story that i hv come across is in gods own country again, where two siblings in the 5th standars were ostracized for being HIV +ve. that was in kollam, a couple of years back.

sad, but true nevertheless.

Ajith Prasad Balakrishnan said...

@deepak -- U said it man..thats very much true even now.

@vineet -- yeah man.. stories like that come every now and then..
Guruvayoor , I agree with ur view on non-commercialising the temple..But closing it to non-Hindus for that..tough to agree :)

@serendipity -- Yeah, temple rules are stricter here.. Generating tourism through temples..well, I don't quite agree with that..I've seen temples in Andhra where they demand payment just for the entry..
I hope none of the temples in Kerala go that way.. :)

U r spot on over ur view on society on subjects like aids, divorce, widow remarriage.. More openness have to come to Indian society..

@kandy -- " From what I have seen, Kerala is the best example of religious tolerance in the country " -- I really doubt man.. Anyway, lets hope things will turn out better in the future

@velu Nair -- Yeah thats also there..Benson and Bensy ..Those were just 5 yr old kids..

Paro said...

The first case is really sad. Dunno when everyone will realise the truth.Guess will have to wait and see...

Anonymous said...

You have rightly pointed out some crucial issues thats plaguing our society today. In Bengal, another communist ruled state I can say these practices by far less till now.

Ajith Prasad Balakrishnan said...

@paro --yeah true..lets see if we get better.

@kalyan -- yeah man..In certain aspects , Bengal is better I believe.

Naresh said...

In our country, Religious Tolerance persists unless someone provokes one of the sections. I have seen many places in AP whr ppl of various religions dwell happily together, but when politicians or any bad forces incite them, they fight wid each other. I believe this is the situation everywhere in the country!

And as for the HIV case, it is a pity that sex education is nt started at the right age and hence a taboo agnst such topics is fostered in the society! This is why such things happen and ppl dont voice thr opinion against such issues!

Ajith Prasad Balakrishnan said...

@Naresh -- Yeah..politics plays the spoilsport sometimes..

About sex education, this is not the problem becoz of lack of knowledge..Most parents know that aids doesnt spread by sitting next to each other..this is just the unwillingness to put theory into practice.

wanderlust said...

Link 1 - Have wondered what my stand would be if something like this happens in my son's school. Well, it is very difficult to be objective when it comes to your own children. As a matter of principle I may fight for the infected kids, while at the back of my mind I would always be worried -what if....

Link 2 - The less said about these fanatics, so much the better. Reminded me of an article I read sometime back (it was by KM Roy , I think)
The Palayam mosque at Trivandrum is right next door to a temple. One morning, the pujari finds chappals flying from the mosque towards the "Sreekovil". He kept his cool and hid it behind some bushes. As soon as the morning pujas got over he rushed across to the mosque only to find the mullah coming towards him hurriedly. Actually it was the work of a mentally deranged person. Just beacuse of the pujari's cool headedness and absolute trust in his neighbour a major riot was avoided.
If only we had more of such spiritual leaders...

Ajith Prasad Balakrishnan said...

@wanderlust -- Thats frank opinion from a mother..However, your 'what if' doesnt have a basis on a scientific perspective :)

Reveler said...

" Devils own country "says it all ...
Swami Vivekananda said it right ....
Cheers !!!!!

Unknown said...

HI Ajith I hav read ur comments,i feel u r just exaggerate nd swearing things for sme thing purpose fully.HVI is a disaster which the world facing for sme years,by birth sme of them r infected by HIV.That is beyond evry ones controll nd kerala is far better than other places around world.so dont curse ur holy place whr u used to live.

2nd link states abt a religious thing.Evry religion has thr own custom nd hindus r vry much liberal for that.Its a property by family nd that temple thy follow traditions.Thr r mosque here in middle east non Islams cant enter.Thr r lot of things around world that u dont aware nd cursing ur own place posing a comment saying its devil own people,hw much it damage our reputation....Pls dont write any comment which is damage a communities good will with out proper knowledge