Religious belief kills a 13 year old girl by imposed fasting

All religious rituals are useless but some are very dangerous. A child brought up under Jainism was killed by such a ritual.

 A 13-year-old Jain girl died in the Hyderabad,India  after observing a 68-day fast.
The girl, Aradhana, observed the ‘Chaturmas’ fast to bring good luck to her family. Her father, Laxmichand Sansadiya, had recently suffered huge loss in his jewellery business.
A Chennai-based priest had advised the girl’s parents to ask their daughter to observe the ‘Chaturmas’ fast in order to recover from the loss in business and earn huge profits.

Image Credit - NDTV

Image Credit – NDTV

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Hundreds of civilians killed in deadly bombing by Saudis

You may hear a lot about atrocities by Syrian government forces and Russians in Aleppo.  Both the American and Sunni Islamist media will highlight events there but they are less vocal about high civilian death toll in attacks by Saudis in Yemen.

Recently USA backed Saudi coalition is accused of killing hundreds of mourners in Yemeni city of Sanaa who were attending a cremation function.

Saudi-led warplanes struck a funeral at a community hall in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the country’s Houthi-run administration said on Saturday, but the coalition denied any role in the attack. More than 140 mourners were killed, according to local health officials cited by the United Nations, in an attack that prompted a strong rebuke from Washington, a key Saudi ally.

Jamie McGoldrick, a UN official in charge of humanitarian efforts in the country, said more than 525 were injured.

People stand at the site of an airstrike which witnesses said was by Saudi-led coalition aircraft on mourners at a hall where a wake for the father of Jalal al-Roweishan, the interior minister in the Houthi-dominated Yemeni government, was being held, in Sanaa, Yemen October 8, 2016. REUTERS photo

People stand at the site of an airstrike which witnesses said was by Saudi-led coalition aircraft on mourners at a hall where a wake for the father of Jalal al-Roweishan, the interior minister in the Houthi-dominated Yemeni government, was being held, in Sanaa, Yemen October 8, 2016. REUTERS photo

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Haiti needs aid urgently

Hurricane Matthew was very destructive in Haiti. But expectedly the media including the International media is focusing more on damage in USA than in Haiti. Around 900 people were killed by the hurricane in Haiti compared to ten in USA.

Haiti has begun three days of national mourning for those killed by Hurricane Matthew, which devastated the south of the country.
At least 900 people are believed to have died. Tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed and some 350,000 people need aid, the government says.
Cholera is a major fear, with several deaths reported, as are food supplies, given the destruction of crops.

People wade across a flooded street while Hurricane Matthew passes through Port-au-Prince, Haiti. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

People wade across a flooded street while Hurricane Matthew passes through Port-au-Prince, Haiti. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

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A patriarchal judgment

It is not a common practice or desirable culture for a Hindu son in India to get separated from the parents upon getting married at the instance of the wife, especially when the son is the only earning member in the family. A son, brought up and given education by his parents, has a moral and legal obligation to take care and maintain the parents, when they become old and when they have either no income or have a meagre income. In India, generally people do not subscribe to the western thought, where, upon getting married or attaining majority, the son gets separated from the family. In normal circumstances, a wife is expected to be with the family of the husband after the marriage. She becomes integral to and forms part of the family of the husband and normally without any justifiable strong reason, she would never insist that her husband should get separated from the family and live only with her.

In a Hindu society, it is a pious obligation of the son to maintain the parents. If a wife makes an attempt to deviate from the normal practice and normal custom of the society, she must have some justifiable reason for that. In our opinion, normally, no husband would tolerate this and no son would like to be separated from his old parents and other family members, who are also dependent upon his income.

Image credit -http://www.burnsinstitute.org

Image credit -http://www.burnsinstitute.org

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“We want doctors , not missionaries” call jolts Polish Government

We want doctors, not missionaries !

More than 30,000 Polish women, many dressed in black, chanted “We want doctors, not missionaries!” and carried placards bearing messages like “My Uterus, My Opinion”, and “Women Just Want to Have FUN-damental Rights” at Warsaw’s  Castle square on Monday. They were taking part in a massive nation wide strike against the newly proposed abortion ban in this largely Catholic country.

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Image credit – AP

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A government that fools its citizens by peddling in pseudo science

Doctor, can I use the new Ayurvedic medicine for Diabetes ?

A patient was  asking me.

Which one ?

The one lauded by our Prime minster .

Oh , you mean BGR 34 ?

Yes.

Then better not.

Anticipating such questions, I had studied the molecule using resources at my disposal.

It is a mixture of four herbs. Individually these herbs had undergone small lab and clinical studies with mixed results. In February the Indian government’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has come out with a mixture of these four herbs in a single tablet amidst great fanfare with backing of just one unpublished study on 48 patients.

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Historic women’s strike in Poland on Monday

Women in Poland is going on a nationwide strike on Monday to protest the proposed draconian ban on abortions. Poland, a Catholic country has a very restrictive law on abortion even now.

Poland already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, with terminations legally permitted only when the life of the foetus is under threat, when there is a grave threat to the health of the mother, and in the instance that the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.

Were the proposed ban to be enacted, all terminations would be criminalised, with women punishable with up to five years in prison. Doctors found to have assisted with a termination would also be liable for prosecution and a prison term.

Critics say that would mean that even a woman who suffers a miscarriage could be under criminal suspicion, and that doctors might be put off conducting even routine procedures on pregnant women for fear of being accused of facilitating a termination.

Although a ban has received public support from elements of the Catholic church and Poland’s ruling rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS), neither initiated the proposals. They were drafted by hardline conservative advocacy group Ordo Iuris and submitted by the Stop Abortion coalition as a “citizens’ initiative” – a petition considered by parliament once it has received more than 100,000 signatures.

Credit - Getty

Credit – Getty

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Ancient Vedic literature have a mantra for marital rape

Many in India and abroad believe that ancient Vedic literature is full of wisdom and high philosophy. Here is how Vedas are described by the website run by Indian ministry of Culture

The Vedas are the source of integral wisdom, science, tradition and culture of a remarkable civilization. They are Oral compilations of distilled wisdom of cosmic knowledge survived from the time immemorial. They are not only identified as scriptures, but also as the fountain head of Indian culture and human civilization….

The Veda in the form of prose and poetry in Sanskrit language, has been regarded as authoritative knowledge. Its authority seems to have remained unquestioned for several millennia, and it has been considered the last tribunal in matters of dispute whether in religion or philosophy or social customs. ….

The religion and culture of the Hindus are rooted in the Veda. Till date, their worship, sacrifice, rites and attitudes are influenced by the Veda.

The Veda contains the highest spiritual knowledge (Para vidya) as well as the knowledge of the world (Apara vidya). Thus, apart from philosophy, we find here descriptions of various aspects of the different subjects such as sciences, medicine, political science, psychology, agriculture, poetry, art, music etc.
The Veda is unique in its purity and sanctity. The text of the Veda is preserved in its pure and original form without any alteration or interpolation even after thousands of years. The Veda is the only unadulterated treasure house of true knowledge.

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Atheist meetings on women’s issues in Kochi and DC

This weekend there are two atheist meetings dealing with women’s issues in places thousands of miles apart.  One is a small one day event in Kochi, Kerala in India on Sunday while the other is the more star studded three day 4th Women in Secularism conference in Arlington, VA near Washington DC.

Here is the schedule of Women in Secularism Conference.

SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 ▾
Registration opens at 11:00am.

1:00pm – 1:15pm
Opening Remarks

1:15pm – 2:00pm
Melanie Brewster
Why There Are Fewer Atheist Women (And Other Fun Gender-Based Speculation from Folks in Ivory Towers)

2:00pm – 2:45pm
Ashley F. Miller
Class and the Secular Movement: Why Class Matters

2:45pm – 3:00pm
Break

3:00pm – 3:45pm
Linda LaScola
When Women Are “Caught in the Pulpit”

3:45pm – 4:30pm
Maryam Namazie
Women’s Resistance to Islamism in the Age of ISIS

4:30pm – 5:00pm
Break

5:00pm – 6:30pm
Women in Secular Leadership
Moderator: Debbie Goddard, Panel: Robyn Blumner, Sarah Haider, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Rebecca Hale, Hypatia Alexandria

6:30pm – 7:30pm
Break

7:30pm – 9:30pm
Reception

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