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Indian Express
6 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
‘Himachal Pradesh polyandry': This is not a news. It is Savarna gaze
John B Bogart, an American journalist, while defining news, famously said, 'When a dog bites a man, that is not news. However, if a man bites a dog, that is news'. The idea of news has transformed over time, but what has remained constant is its emphasis on 'unusual'— its earnest desire to identify anything that deflects from the 'norm'. This norm is shaped by the dominant, hegemonic gaze. And any aberration becomes 'news'. When the marriage of a tribal woman to two brothers in Himachal Pradesh hit the headlines last week and was discussed threadbare across social media, it was a departure from the monolithic understanding of heteronormative marriage. It represented three things: First, the Savarna gaze that exoticises tribal practices; second, the lack of knowledge about diverse tribal cultures and histories; and third, the lack of vocabulary and assimilationist worldview – an indomitable desire to define everything through the existing epistemological framework, without understanding specific cultural context. Two schools of thought have historically dominated the Savarna perception of tribals – Verrier Elwin's exclusion theory, which recommends isolation of tribals, and G S Ghurye's assimilationist approach that considers tribals as 'backward Hindus' and bats for their assimilation into the larger Hindu society. Though many scholars, including Virginius Xaxa, Alpa Shah, read tribal cultures beyond this binary, the popular perception hasn't changed. When the marriage of two brothers with one woman from the Hatti tribe 'broke' the internet, the limitation of these dominant approaches became evident. First, it was considered 'unusual' and 'newsworthy' because it represents a hole in the assimilationist and Sanskritised template. Second, it also brings a practice prevalent among the 'excluded' others into the mainstream, adding 'oddity'— one of the 'news' elements taught in media schools. Unlike caste society, different tribal groups practice multiple forms of marriage, and they are often connected to preserving natural resources, either for the clan or for the family. The tradition of a woman married to two brothers comes from the concern of land. If the brothers marry different women and start separate families, their ancestral land would be divided. Given the limited cultivable land in the hilly areas, this tradition worked as a safeguard against such divisions. J P Singh Rana, in his book Marriage and Customs of Tribes in India, mentions that in such families, 'all sons are considered entitled to equal shares of their father's holding, although in practice they hardly divide but live with wife, land, house and cattle in common'. This practice is also found among many tribal communities – Tiyan, Toda, Kota, Khasha, Ladakhi Bota – who live across the Himalayan tracts, from Himachal Pradesh to Assam. The Lahulis of Chamba, however, follow an additional ritual where the younger bridegroom gives a rupee to the mother of the bride, claiming his status as the second husband. This tradition of giving a price to claim the status of husband is also connected to another predominant tribal custom: Bride price. This is mostly understood as a payment made by the husband to the family from whom he takes away the daughter, a crucial labour who participates in every cultivation work, except ploughing. Notably, the bride price is determined by the bride herself. Anthropologist B K Roy Burman, in his research, notes that 'It is not uncommon for a girl to wait till her mid-30s before she can find someone who can pay the bride price and become her partner in life.' Notably, in all of these cases, tribal women enjoy social dignity and high status. Anthropologist Furer-Haimendorf, in reference to Naga tribes, wrote in 1933, 'Many women in most civilised parts of India may well envy the women of the Naga Hills, their high status and their free, happy life.' Another anthropologist, J H Hutton, noted that Sema Naga women were free to choose their grooms; no girl was married against their will. The women in tribal society have had much better social status than their caste Hindu counterparts for centuries. Against this backdrop, when reports try to find out the 'will' of the bride in what is apparently known as the 'Himachal Pradesh polyandry case', it represents nothing but our intrinsic desire to find a 'victim' in tribal women. Moreover, the focus on the word 'polyandry' – among the Hatti community, it is known as 'jajda' – shows the lack of vocabulary to translate an indigenous practice into the prevalent lingual framework. 'Jajda' doesn't happen without the context of 'preserving natural resources'. Similarly, among the Garasia tribe, who mostly live in Rajasthan, unmarried couples follow a social arrangement called 'dopa'. They elope with their chosen partners, and when they come back, they pay a good amount to the woman's family and stay together without getting married. They also give birth to children, without fearing the social stigma that is prevalent in caste society. Sometimes, this arrangement is called a 'live-in' relationship, which also doesn't portray the actual reality. Here, the couple doesn't stay together to find compatibility; rather, that is their form of togetherness. From gaze to vocabulary, our understanding is marred by presumptive notions. We need to think beyond binaries and find ways to understand diverse customs in their own essence. Otherwise, it is not news, it is simply Savarna gaze.
Hans India
15-07-2025
- Hans India
The Man Who Defies Silence: How Nikhil Chandwani Is Rescuing Pakistan's Forgotten Hindus, One Family at a Time
In a world that moves on from tragedy with a swipe, Nikhil Chandwani chose to stay. Not to sympathize from a distance, not to tweet his outrage, but to fight. Quietly, relentlessly, and often alone. He's not a politician. He doesn't run an NGO. And he has never begged for headlines. Yet, since 2017, he's rescued over 2,000 Hindu and Sikh families from the religious hellscape that Pakistan has become for minorities. It began with one desperate message—from a Hindu shopkeeper in Sindh, Pakistan. His daughter was being stalked by local extremists. A forced conversion was imminent. When he went to the police, they laughed. His village turned its back. But Nikhil didn't. He arranged shelter. Paid for passports. Helped them legally cross borders. And in that moment, a movement was born. 'Pakistan Is a Graveyard for Hindus' For the past decade, Chandwani has built a rescue network that runs without press releases or photo ops. And it operates in places most governments wouldn't even acknowledge. 'Pakistan is not a country. For Hindus and Sikhs, it's a rogue land,' he says. 'Girls as young as nine are kidnapped, raped, forcibly converted, and married off to men four times their age. Parents are left with nothing but grief—and silence.' In Sindh's interiors, Hindu children are denied education. Temples are desecrated. Police officers participate in abductions. Those who speak out disappear. This is not a dystopian script. This is daily life for Hindus in Pakistan. And yet, international bodies stay mute. Global newsrooms don't blink. They wait for buzzwords like 'Israel' or 'Gaza' to appear in the headline before they care. A Parallel System of Hope What Nikhil has done in response is extraordinary. He's created a quiet resistance—a parallel support system made up of doctors, lawyers, landlords, and teachers who work on trust, not contracts. They've helped girls heal from rape trauma, guided children back to school, secured Long-Term Visas for families, and found homes where none existed. Every life he rescues is a civilizational victory against erasure. In one case, a father in Sindh had to bury his daughters underground at night to protect them from abductors. That family now lives safely in Punjab, India. The girls chant the Hanuman Chalisa every Saturday—something they were never allowed to do in Pakistan. Funded by Firewood and Dharma Unlike big-budget charities, this movement runs on grit. Almost 90% of the rescue funds come from Chandwani's own business—a biomass pellet factory in Nagpur. The rest comes from small, quiet contributions. No corporate grants. No government subsidies. Just raw belief. His company, Santerra Industries, converts agricultural waste into clean-burning bio coal. The profits? Used to rescue Hindus from across the border. 'We turn farm waste into energy. I use that energy to bring our people back from hell,' Nikhil says. A Dream of a Home, Not a Shelter The rescues are just the beginning. Nikhil's long-term vision is a dedicated settlement for rescued Hindu families—complete with homes, schools, clinics, community halls, and temples. 'A safe place where no one knocks on your door in the middle of the night to take your daughter away. Where your children aren't punished for praying to Ram. That's the dream.' He's already in talks to acquire land for this project. Until then, he continues—one girl, one boy, one family at a time. No Medals, No Megaphones. Just Action. He's faced threats, online hate campaigns, and even fatwas. Pakistan-based accounts often try to discredit his work. Some Indian liberals call it 'politically motivated.' But he doesn't care. 'I don't need awards. I need more people. A teacher for one child. A lawyer for one case. A landlord for one month. Just one. That's all I ever ask.' Look Away, and You Become the Problem What's happening to Hindus in Pakistan is not just persecution. It's cultural annihilation—slow, systematic, and ignored by the same international institutions that scream for every other cause. And yet, in the middle of that silence stands a man—unfunded, uncelebrated, unstoppable. In the end, Nikhil Chandwani's story is not about heroism. It's about responsibility. Because when governments fail, it is people like him who carry civilization forward—with empty pockets, heavy hearts, and an unbreakable spine.
India Gazette
13-07-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
"Hindus of Bengal are uniting to remove pro-Pakistan government": Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar slams TMC
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], July 13 (ANI): Union Minister and BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar on Sunday slammed West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee over her claims of exploitation of the Bengali community under the BJP-ruled states stating that the 'Hindus' of West Bengal are uniting to remove the 'pro Pakistan' government in the state. Speaking to ANI, Sukanta Majumdar mentioned that whenever Mamata Banerjee faces a dilemma, she 'resorts' to chanting the 'Bengali' mantra. 'Whenever Mamata Banerjee faces a dilemma, she resorts to chanting the Bengali mantra... The Hindus of Bengal are uniting to vote against Mamata Banerjee and remove the pro-Pakistani government to bring a pro-Hindu government', Sukanta Majumdar told ANI. The BJP leader asked if Mamata Banerjee truly cared about the Bengali people, then should would have sent so many 'non-Bengali' people to become MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. 'If Mamata Banerjee truly cared about the interests of Bengal's people, she would not have sent so many non-Bengali people from West Bengal to become MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha... Mamata Banerjee has kicked Bengalis in the stomach by making these non-Bengali people MPs and reducing the number of Bengali MPs in Delhi', Majumdar told ANI. Majumdar alleged that Mamata Banerjee and her party want to 'forcibly' grant citizenship to Bangladeshi people so that TMC remains in power in the state. 'Mamata Banerjee and her party's effort is to forcibly grant citizenship to Bangladeshi people, thereby altering Bengal's demographics to keep the TMC government in power in Bengal... Mamata Banerjee and her party are trying to ensure that a Muslim becomes Bengal CM in the coming years', Majumdar said. Meanwhile, on July 12, the Trinamool Congress took out a protest march against the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It condemned the alleged harassment of migrant Bengali-speaking individuals from several BJP-ruled states and branding them as 'Bangladeshis.' (ANI)
India Today
07-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Maharashtra minister compares attacks on Hindi speakers to Pahalgam terror
Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Ashish Shelar on Sunday compared recent attacks on Hindi-speaking individuals in the state to the Pahalgam terror attack while condemning the a parallel between the two incidents, Shelar said, 'In the Pahalgam terror attack, people were asked their religion before being shot. Here, people are being attacked based on their language. It is disappointing.'advertisementHis remarks came days after a video went viral showing workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) assaulting a shopkeeper in the Bhayandar area for allegedly refusing to speak in Marathi. The incident sparked political and social outrage. Police later detained seven MNS workers involved in the assault and released them after serving notices. Shelar said that the BJP, as the largest party in Maharashtra, would defend both Marathi pride and the safety of non-Marathi residents. 'Marathi is not a political issue for us,' he said, adding that the state was closely watching how some leaders were 'enjoying' attacks on fellow Hindus without naming anyone BJP minister Nitesh Rane had also criticized the targeting of 'Hindus' for not speaking Marathi, while Pratap Sarnaik of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena stated that the MNS had no monopoly over the Marathi language.- EndsMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Maharashtra
The Hindu
04-07-2025
- The Hindu
Police book suo motu case against Sharan Pumpwell for alleged hate speech
The Udupi Town Police on Thursday (July 3, 2025) booked Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sharan Pumpwell for hate speech in the town earlier in the day. In his complaint, Udupi Town Police Sub-Inspector Bharatesh Kankanawadi said that when he was surfing social media on Thursday evening, he came across a video clip of Mr. Pumpwell's address to the media. In it, the accused stated that the Kunjalu cow butchering issue in Brahmavara taluk was a 'conspiracy by Islamist forces using Hindus' to create unrest in the country. 'Just as two Hindu youth were used by Islamist forces in the murder of Suhas Shetty in Bajpe on May 1, they might have used the six Hindus, who were arrested by the police later, to create unrest in society,' Mr. Pumpwell said in the video. He had also said 'Islamist forces' were attempting to create unrest in society using Hindus. The video clip in question was circulated widely on different social media platforms and had the potential to create unrest in society by fomenting enmity between groups on the ground of religion, the PSI said in his complaint. The statement, given when the investigation was in progress at a press conference, was aimed at creating unrest in society, he said. Accordingly, police booked a case under Section 353 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita against Mr. Pumpwell for issuing statements conducing to mischief. Mr. Pumpwell's statements were made at a press conference in Udupi on Thursday.
