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from Mark Leonard:
Protests in France are more than a battle over culture
In many of the same French squares and streets that were occupied in the general strikes of 1968, a new generation has been re-inventing the art of protest for the age of Twitter. Their focus has been opposing a law that would legalize gay marriage, which is expected to pass a final legislative hurdle on Tuesday. Although the protests may be misdirected, they are a symptom of the crisis this generation faces in influencing its government and economy in France.
For a generation that is staring at a "lost decade" of economic stagnation and joblessness, this protest seems like a form of escapism to observers. With economic and political spheres surrendered to global markets and German politicians, the protesters may be trying to reclaim ownership of the cultural sphere by seizing on the gay marriage proposal. This desire for individuality within the euro zone was, in fact, the same effort that led the French government to introduce the proposal in the first place.
This predominantly Catholic revolution without leaders has spawned a new organization – le Printemps Français, or the French Spring – that compares the fight against gay marriage to the Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2010.
The majority of the troops in this culture war are the children of the 1968 generation in France. Le Monde has pointed to a new generation of right-wing activists taking to the streets of Paris and other French towns to declare war on their parents’ sexual permissiveness.
from India Insight:
Delhi Art Gallery’s nude portrait exhibition draws protesters
Modern Indian artists have celebrated the body on the canvas for more than a hundred years. Amrita Sher-Gil, known as India's Frida Kahlo, may have been the earliest Indian artist in modern times to paint nudes, including a self-portrait. The Delhi Art Gallery’s latest show – "The Naked and the Nude" – presents a retrospective journey of the representation of the body in modern Indian art, mostly from the dawn of the 20th century to the present.
It's also generating anger among groups that object to art involving nudes. When I visited the gallery, the front office operator received a call from a regional political group, demanding that the show be closed. That is not an option, said Kishore Singh, project editor and head of exhibition and publication at the Delhi Art Gallery. "We cannot and will not take seriously people’s right to be offended, and demand that we take something down."
from India Insight:
“Vishwaroopam” touches yet another Indian nerve
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily of Reuters)
Actor and filmmaker Kamal Haasan’s film "Vishwaroopam" was supposed to open in cinemas last Friday, but that's not happening in Tamil Nadu after Muslim groups protested against scenes that they consider offensive.
from India Insight:
Delhi gang rape: Fast-track courts, juvenile laws don’t guarantee justice
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily of Thomson Reuters)
During the anti-rape protests across India in December, two slogans stood out among all the placards and banners -- “Hang the rapists” and “We want justice”.
It was a case that stirred national debate and forced the state government in New Delhi to set up five fast-track courts to try sexual offences against women.
It’s nothing new. The Indian government set up 1,734 fast-track courts in the country a decade ago. The purpose was to quickly clear pending cases. But some legal experts say that the courts are not always a good thing, and many of these courts disbanded after the government stopped funding them.
from India Insight:
Yo Yo Honey Singh: A vulgar obsession or our own creation?
(WARNING: Post contains graphic language. Reader discretion is advised. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily of Thomson Reuters)
The gang rape and death of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi this month has sparked debates on many things from an Indian society centered on the well being of men to the tendency of Bollywood films to portray women largely as mothers or sex objects. Now, some of that criticism is sticking to Punjabi rap star Honey Singh.
from India Insight:
Delhi gang rape victim dies: elsewhere on the web
The 23-year-old woman whose gang rape sparked protests and a national debate about violence against women in India died of her injuries on Saturday, prompting a security lockdown in New Delhi and an acknowledgement from the prime minister that social change is needed.
Bracing for a new wave of protests, authorities deployed thousands of policemen, closed 10 metro stations and banned vehicles from some main roads in the heart of New Delhi, where demonstrators have converged since the attack to demand improved women's rights. Hundreds of people staged peaceful protests at two locations on Saturday morning.
from India Insight:
Abhijit Mukherjee’s foot-in-mukh moment steals spotlight from rape cases
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily of Thomson Reuters)
India is angry. India is protesting. Rallies continue in New Delhi after the gang rape of a 23-year-old girl on Dec. 16. The rapes continue too. On Wednesday night, three men reportedly raped a 42-year-old woman and dumped her in South Delhi. There are more cases being reported every day.
from India Insight:
Delhi rape: what it says about us Indians
(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Thomson Reuters)
We Indians are an angry people now. Thousands of people have poured into the streets, indignant and outraged over the savage case of rape and assault on a young woman in New Delhi.
from India Insight:
Delhi gang rape: protests for women’s rights attract politicking instead
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily of Thomson Reuters)
The perfect recipe of a bad curry is to do everything right, then add one wrong ingredient, or add the right ingredient in the wrong amount. In this case, the ingredient is the mango, or as they call it in Hindi, "aam."
from Unstructured Finance:
Becoming comfortably numb to income inequality
By Matthew Goldstein and Jennifer Ablan
About a year ago, Nobel Prize-winning liberal economist Joseph Stiglitz made a surprise appearance at the Occupy Wall Street camp site in Zuccotti Park, giving a speech to rally the protestors and support their causes of bringing attention to the economic divide between the 1 percent and everyone else in the U.S.
Today, the protestors in lower Manhattan have all but disappeared with the attention on Occupy Wall Street gone along with it.
