CHENNAI, India — Even in the best of times, politically, it is difficult to interpret Indian culture, which encompasses an ocean of thoughts and ideas and a river of traditions and beliefs. Yet, some rightwing political organizations have prepared their own treatises, or just about, on what the nation's culture really is or, better still, what it ought to be.
Recently, the rabidly Hindu Sri Ram Sene sent its goons to a pub in Mangalore in the southern State of Karnataka on a Saturday afternoon to beat up college girls who were out enjoying a drink, strip them and molest them.
In court, the Sri Ram Sene alleged that it was un-Indian for women to imbibe alcohol, claiming it was a religious sin and a criminal offense. The state, administered by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, made little effort to hide where its sympathy lay.