Hindu "Taliban" Drags Women from Bars

Radical Hindus stormed a bar last Saturday in Mangalore, in south-west India, and dragged out young women by kicking and slapping them. The attack was carried out by the Sri Ram Sena (Lord Ram’s Army), a religious fundamentalist group whose goal is to preserve Indian culture by targeting interfaith relationships, religious conversions and other “western deviations” such as Valentine’s Day. The incident has reignited the debate over “pub culture” and what is morally acceptable for women in modern India. “We definitely condemn the incident where women were attacked, but the pub culture must stop,” says Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss. Concerning the group that carried out the attack, local daily Hindustan Times describes them as “closer to the misogynistic, liberty-hating Taliban than it thinks.”