Stags not allowed! Delhi men have a hard time getting into pubs and clubs unless they're accompanied by women or foreigners. This was our experience over the past few weeks as we explored the nightlife of the city.
Now that the 'Let's catch a drink after work' culture is picking up pace, nightclubs are trying to outdo each other with special nights and packages. These include expat nights and ladies nights, which have become the talk of town. What has not changed, however, is the reluctance of many clubs to let unaccompanied men in.

Going solo
HT City photo coordinator Zabeeh Afaque found he wasn't allowed in at most watering holes for a drink. Afaque was part of the HT City team that went to investigate a problem men in this city are familiar with - most clubs and pubs in the city have a 'no entry' for single men.
We checked out 18 nightspots in the NCR and found at least five that discriminated by letting in single expat men but denied entry to Indian stags.
The city is throbbing with 'nights' that are hosted at places like Urban Pind, Ivy and Kuki.
Urban Pind and Kuki both have popular expat nights on Thursdays with the following special offers Urban Pind: Thirst-day nights have an unlimited IMFL drinks offer at Rs 550 (plus taxes) and Kuki has free drinks through the evening for all expat women and the fIrst 50 Indian women who enter.

Strict policy
Kashif Farooq, co-owner, Urban Pind, the Urban Bar, while talking about the strict couple-only policy says, "These days stags take entry one by one and then form a big
group inside. We think that's unsafe for the women who are new to the country. Honestly, foreigners understand each other better and know how to talk to or approach women. Rules are for everyone. We've often been told to soften our stand on entry but we'd rather lose business than risk an unpleasant event."
Rummy Sharma of Kuki however feels that these nights pull in the crowds on a dull day and the special tag ups the excitement level. But
he's quite clear about who's most important

Sanjay Nirupam ousted from Big Boss 2 for showing 'disrespect' to item girl on media

23rd August, 2008, 2.30pm

Just now, on one of the TV channels, they were showing a 'news' iten about how Sanjay Nirupam -- the famous politician -- was ousted from a Realty show, Big Boss 2, because he had made a comment on an item girl, Sambhawna Seth (who does heterosexually obscene dances in movies, etc.)... that he had been warned not to go on a show where an item girl like her was coming...
Now, in the present heterosexualised society (and especially on the media controlled by the forces of heterosexualisation) which gives moral and all kind of other support to (hetero)sexually aggressive women (who were earlier known as 'whores' by the men's spaces), such girls feel extremely empowered and naturally, she made it a point to conspire to throw him out of the show..... i am not sure, but probably she took the support of other 'heterosexual/ heterosexualised' westernised Indian men in this.

She was crying in the show and trying to garner lots of support for herself, while the media painted Sanjay Nirupam as a 'villain'.

Why did Sanjay Nirupam participate in such a stupid programme anyways?

US national 'molested' by spa masseur

Times of India
New Delhi

14 May 2008, TNN

NEW DELHI: A 38-year-old foreign national was allegedly molested inside a spa at a five-star hotel in upscale Vasant Vihar area of south-west Delhi. The police have registered a case of molestation and arrested the accused person.
The victim, who is a US national, stays with her husband at Vasant Vihar. On Monday, she had a booking at the hotel for a spa treatment. As a senior police officer says: "The woman had gone for a head massage at the spa and claims she was molested by a massaeur there."
This year, 200 cases of molestation have already been reported in the Capital. The figure was as high as 850 last year. That a woman was molested inside a spa at an upscale neighbourhood has only reinforced the city’s unsafe image.
The victim has said in her complaint: "While the masseur was giving me a head massage, he started molesting me. As I was in semi-conscious state, he continued his act. After a while, another person entered the room, on which he threw a towel on me. The other person went outside, but I woke up."
"The masseur began massaging my head again, and once more, he molested me. But this time, I caught him and screamed at him. I also informed the staff at the spa centre about the incident," the woman claims. The accused, identified as Amir (22), allegedly also abused the victim when she protested. According to police, Amir has been working at the spa for the past one year. He stays with his family in Gurgaon.
The police later arrested Amir and lodged a case against him under sections 354 (molestation) and 509 (for outraging the modesty of a woman using foul words). He was later granted bail by a city court.
The woman refused to undergo any medical test, said the police. She has been staying in India for the past few years and runs a business here along with her husband.

It seems Richard Gere has already done the damage. Forces of Heterosexualisation is not busy further strengthening their position by making public kisses between man and woman more and more "normal" and thus "acceptable". Preity Zinta has sought the occasion of the win of her team to do something no Indian girl would have dreamt of doing a few years ago. And this means further narrowing of men's spaces.

THE GUYS DON'T WANT IT: Just notice how shy and uncomfortable the guys are at Preity's unwanted show of affection/ enthusiasm. Perhaps, she is using the occasion to get physically close to the guys. And also trying to make the act of such physical/ sexual closeness between men and women acceptable in India.

But just notice how the guys hate it. They're literally blushing. They don't want any of it. But what can they do/ say? Men don't have the voices to say anything to resist this.

The Times of India
May 13, 2008

THIS OWNER HAS NO PROBLEMS: Preity Zinta hugs team Mohali captain Yuvraj Singh before Monday's match against Bangalore Royal Challengers......

Changing rules of manhood

It is no longer considered high of a man to not show sexual interest in women, like in traditional India. Men just don't have that space any longer.

And this is eventually harmful for all men, whether or not they have a sexual need for women or not. Because, this is the most important factor that robs men of their space, which is needed by all men, lest they become oppressed, second class citizens.

'Organisers to face action for cheerleaders indecency'

25 Apr 2008, PTI

MUMBAI: In the midst of controversy over the presence of cheerleaders at IPL matches, police on Friday said they could perform at the stadium in Navi Mumbai on April 27 but action will be taken against organisers if their act is found to be "vulgar" or "indecent". ( Watch )
"The girls are merely artistes who perform as per the instructions of organisers," Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Ramrao Wagh said, adding that a performance license has been granted to the organisers of the match between Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers to be held at Nerul's D Y Patil stadium.
In the event of the cheerleaders indulging in obscenity, Wagh said, the "license holders" (the organisers) will be prosecuted under various provisions of the Bombay Police Act for indecency in a public place and breach of license terms.
Wagh, however said they had not received any directions from the state government on the issue yet.
Maharashtra's Minister of State for Home, Siddhram Mhetre had on Thursday told reporters that the government will not allow the cheerleaders to perform as their acts are "absolutely obscene" and wondered why the organisers required "semi nude" women at cricket matches.
The minister had said strict action will be taken if the cheerleaders violated the norms of decency in their attire.
However, he had not specified if action will be taken against the artistes or the organisers.

Singapore succeeds at managing everything - except dating

By Seth Mydans Published: April 29, 2008

Students at Singapore Polytechnic during a class intended by the government to help set off romance among young people. (Charles Pertwee for The International Herald Tribune)

SINGAPORE: It was like a college mixer, a classroom full of young men and women seeking a recipe for romance.
They had assembled for the first class of "Love Relations for Life: A Journey of Romance, Love and Sexuality."
There was giggling and banter among the students, but that was all part of the course material as their teacher, Suki Tong, led them into the basics of dating, falling in love and staying together.

The course, which is in its second year at two polytechnic institutes, is the latest of many, mostly futile, campaigns by the government to get its citizens to mate and multiply. Its popularity last year has led to talk of expansion through the higher education system.

"We want to tell students: Don't wait until you have built up your career," Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, minister of state for community development, youth and sports, said at a news conference last month. "Sometimes, it is too late, especially for girls."

The courses are an extension of government matchmaking programs that try to address the twin challenges embodied in a falling birthrate: Too few people are having babies and too few of those who are belong to what Singapore considers the genetically desirable educated elite.

For 25 years, the mating rituals organized by the government - tea dances, wine tasting, cooking classes, cruises, screenings of romantic movies - have been among the country's least-successful social engineering programs.
Last year Singapore's fertility rate fell to a record low of 1.24 children per woman of childbearing age, one of the lowest in the world and the 28th year in a row it has stayed below the rate of 2.5 children needed to maintain the population.

But even a replacement-level rate would not be enough for today's planners. The government recently announced that it was aiming to increase the population by 40 percent over the next half century, to 6.5 million from the current 4.5 million.

"Teaching our youth in school how to fall in love" is a good solution, wrote Andy Ho, a senior writer at The Straits Times, a government-friendly newspaper that does its best to help out in Singapore's many campaigns.
In 1991, for example, when the government began offering cash bonuses to couples with more than two children, the newspaper printed tips for having sex in the back seat of a car, including directions to some of the "darkest, most secluded and most romantic spots" for parking.

It suggested covering the windows with newspapers for privacy.

Singapore is a topiary nation, constantly trimming and pruning itself into shapes that it believes improve on nature.
As the modern world weakens traditional family ties, for example, families are given financial incentives to care for their elderly parents - or taken to court for neglecting them.

Singapore is known for its campaigns to get residents to be polite, to smile, to be tidy, to speak proper English and not to chew gum.

In 1984, the country's master planner, then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, declared that too few of the country's most eligible women - the ones with college degrees - were marrying and having children.

He set up the Social Development Unit to address the problem and since then the government has been Singapore's principal matchmaker.

In addition to its tea dances and moonlight cruises, the agency also acts as a lonely hearts adviser, with an online counselor named Dr. Love and a menu of boy-meets-girl suggestions on its Web site, www.lovebyte.org.sg.
"Guys, girls notice everything!" the Web site offers in one of its dating tips. "Comb your hair differently and they notice. Change your watch and they notice! Skipped your morning shower and sprayed on deodorant to cover the smell - they notice! What does this mean? Well, bathe regularly, change something about yourself, be observant and compliment the lady."

Lee himself acknowledged how silly some of this may seem.

"Never mind the hullabaloo in the press - all the foreign correspondents writing that a crackpot government is trying to interfere in people's lives," he said when he inaugurated the Social Development Unit.

"If we continue to reproduce ourselves in this lopsided way we will be unable to maintain our present standards," he said.

In other words, said Annie Chan, director of a matchmaking agency, "Our government wants smart ladies to meet smart guys to get smart children."

But in Singapore it is impossible to get very far from thoughts of money and the workplace. These guys may have other things on their minds besides romance and babies.

Cheerleaders cause controversy in India

25/04/2008 11:36:00 AM.

Cheerleaders are taking Indian cricket by storm, but some are wondering if this conservative South Asian nation is ready for dancers with bulging breasts and gyrating bellies parading in packed stadia.

Many foreign cheerleaders have been imported to India with this month's inauguration of the India Premier League (IPL), a shortened form of traditional cricket that transforms the game into a more glitzy US-style sponsored sport event.

But some outraged politicians say it is an affront to Indian culture while a few of the cheerleaders themselves complain lewd comments and insults from spectators is making their job a misery.

"It's been horrendous," Tabitha, a cheerleader from Uzbekistan, told the Hindustan Times. "

"Wherever we go we do expect people to pass lewd, snide remarks but I'm shocked by the nature and magnitude of the comments people pass here."

The IPL has caught the imagination of India, a nation of 1.1 billion and the world's biggest cricket audience. TV rights sold for more than $US900 million ($A949.57 million) and players for eight teams, many imported from abroad, were auctioned for millions.

In contrast to the cliched cricket image of genteel spectators sipping tea while politely applauding their team, now scantily-clad dancers gyrate to Bollywood or Western-style dance music blaring out from loudspeakers in stadia.

Even well-known cheerleaders from the Washington Redskins flew to India to perform for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Photos of the dancers graced the front pages of most newspapers.

"What the cheerleaders are doing during cricket matches is ten times more vulgar than what used to happen in dance bars of Mumbai," Nitin Gadkari, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra state, home to the Mumbai Indians.

This news shows how things that are copied blindly from the west and imposed upon India can harm us tremendously

Experts for chary planning in future

By Mohlt Shanna

In New Deihl

BUS Rapid Transit (BRT) experts reckon that before going ahead on the remain­ing corridors, the authori­ties here should conduct an independent review of the Ambedkar Nagar-Moolc­hand stretch that has made for nothing short of a bumpy ride for commuters.

An international engineer, the experts say, should be hired for the remaining stretches instead of letting rookie local officials call the shots.

According to government sources, the BRT officials must -have realised by now that "blindly copying" any interna­tional model, specifically in a country like India where traffic behaviour is different, will not work. For the remaining stret­ches, the Delhi government should again review all condi­tions - weather, people, roads and nature of traffic before going ahead with it.

"The officials should also keep in mind that bus stops on the side of the roads usu­ally suit Indian cities. If they plan accordingly, they can avoid the mayhem that is plaguing the existing stretch," the sources said.

S. Gangopadhyaya, head of the transport wing, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) said, "I cannot com­ment on projects that are in the pipeline as I have not seen the designs. Generally speaking, the BRT is a good concept. What we have to see is the correct appli­cability of the system according to the Indian situation."

Quizzed on ongoing works on proposed stretches, transport commissioner-cum-secretary R.K. Verma said, "It's too early to comment. We are examining every possibility and working on controversial issues and areas."

Urban designer K. T. Ravin­dran said, "Though there are lacunae in the management on this first stretch, awareness among the masses to adapt to public transport systems is a must. The solution to the traf­fic congestion problem is to shift more and more people to public transports by de-moti­vating them to use their own personal vehicles to commute."

mohit.sharma@mailtoday.in

scaring parents off with 'gay' fear to make way for heterosexualisation

Of course, this whole scaring parents off from stopping their kids from dating, lest they turn 'gay' is a 'trend' can be seen from the fact that nowadays they are playing an advertisement on TV that shows a worried parent allowing their daughter to go on dating with a nepalese guy, because, she pretends to be a lesbian, and they're just happy that she's at least not lesbian.

It's pathetic. The same people who talk about sexual freedom, suddenly talk about suppressing man-to-man sexuality, as a noble deed, and blatantly espouse working to stop its progression. while, on one hand it castigates the society and parents for not being accepting towards casual male-female sex, of all hues and cries, at the same time, it goes all out, even putting words into their mouth, to prod them into stopping their children from getting into same-sex bonds.

Are Indian parents becoming open to Dating by their sons/ daughters?

It's really amazing how the forces of heterosexualisation which day and night rant about sexual freedom for man and woman, do everything in their hand to deny this freedom to relationships between two men.

But, it is a fact that if you open up the society, men are going to take up to sexual bonds with other men in a big way. But the forces of heterosexualisation don't want that. And since there already exists a traditional public opinion against man-man sexual bonds and it is considered o.k. to rant against and deny freedom to man-man bonds (which in the past, in all fairness, also applied to male-female sex outside of marriage or its public display) the media gets away with it.

So, this article about parents getting accepting about their sons and daughters dating, which seeks to misinforms the public in order to change public opinion, also goes on to instill a fear amongst parents who may be tempted to turn up their nose upon this permisiveness, and that is: If your son or daughter is not dating, he/ she is likely to be 'gay', which means he/ she won't marry...... it is thus trying to play upon the conservative need of Indian parents to get their children married off. They are generating a fear amongst the public: either let your children date or they'd end up 'gay'. This is hypocrisy and oppression at its worst. And carried on by people who swear by the words "freedom" and "women rights".

So, with the power institutions like the media and science, actively involved in changing public mores in this way, who will care about men and their liberty.

INDIAN PARENTS GETTING OPEN ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN DATING?

Today's Brunch (the daily mag section of Hindustan Times in Delhi) has a cover story which boldly says, "Not so long ago, it was impossible for young people to admite to their parents that they had a girlfriend or boyfriend. Today, parents in big cities get nervous if their children aren't dating".

This is known as engineering public opinion towards a set of values, even without any ground, and is in real bad taste.

The article has a big set-up picture of an aged couple and a young couple hand in hand (the first couple are parents and the other their son/ daughter with date. It sites unbelievable anecdotes about conservative parents suddenly turning liberal about their daughters dating within a span of five years. They are just as set-up as the pictures. So much for misleading public and forcing a change in values.

I am a social worker and a keen observer of society, and all around me, I see young people trying to hide their relationships not only from parents, but also from colleagues, neighbours and what not -- although there is more openness between peers. And, I live in a big city, Delhi.

The funny part is, that, inspite of all the brouhaha and social engineering indulged in by the media and other forces of heterosexualisation, in my hep office (which is a publication taking out several English publications in a month) there are several young boys and girls. But only one pair of boy and girl have a relationship with each other, and its extremely candid. They don't even share it with peers, but we know that there's something on. Another boy has a started a relatioship with a girl he meets on the bus daily, and chats with on orkut, but only I and a girl have the honour to know it in my office. The others just don't know.

So, who are all these parents worried about their children not going on dates? Apart from a few over-westernised couples, over eager to prove their 'sophistication' and 'status' in the society?

THE MEDIA SUPPORTS SEXUALLY AGGRESSIVE ABUSIVE WOMEN

ON APRIL 13, 2008, there is another news which shows that the media is unmindfully supportive of sexually aggressive and abusive women, by camouflaging their misdeeds under the traditional "innocent" image of women, and exhorting to the traditional protective instincts of the society towards this "innocent" image.

A sales girl spoke rudely to a girl on phone who wanted to get a certain video CD home delivered. when the girl went up to the store, she was slapped and manhandled there by the sales girl. Upon this the girl called her father, a senior citizen (65 yrs old). An altercation followed, and the sales girl grabbed a knife and stabbed the aged man, injuring him seriously.

The sales girl, true to the ways of such girls, accused the man and the girl of having slapped her and tore her clothes and "threatened to strip her naked and parade her", and that she stabbed the man in self-defense.

It is unimaginable for a brother, sister and father trio in Delhi to go and threaten a sales girl to strip and parade naked in public.


The TV media took the side of the salesgirl and reported the matter as if she was assaulted and she acted in self-defense. Again, one look at her, and her body movement, and you know that she is no "damsel in distress". The forces of heterosexualisation are giving extreme powers and dangerous protection to such abusive women.

The newspaper news, which at least presents both the perspectives is here:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=ee36a048-76e9-4c1a-a02a-d8d0b87e4491&MatchID1=4680&TeamID1=6&TeamID2=3&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1179&PrimaryID=4680&Headline=They+slapped+me+and+tore+my+clothes%3a+Salesgirl

MEDIA PROMOTES SEXUALLY AGGRESSIVE AND EXPLOITATIVE WOMEN

On 11th April, 2008, news channels showed the story of how a "victim of rape" was beaten by chappals by female neighbours in east Delhi's Mandawali area. The media was crying foul and totally supported the woman. It was yet another moment for the powerful forces of heterosexualisation to advance itself in the name of "heterosexualisation".

Noone care to ask why the female neighbourers "enmob" were beating an "innocent woman". Are Indians unsympathetic to victims of rape? At one time, the society considered it better to keep such things under wraps, but more for the woman and her honour (something westerners will never understand), than for saving the man. If so many women were against a woman, who was playing a "victim of rape", there must be more to it.

In fact, as far as I can tell, the woman looked and behaved quite like one who would not only use men sexually but would use her position as a woman to exploit men. there have been thousands of such cases all over India, eversince the society has been forced by the media to give such powers to women. She was the typical Heterosexual woman that the media wants to promote -- the sexually aggressive, dominant kind. And they make the man absolutely helpless to defend himself against anykind of exploitation at the hands of these women -- whether its sexual exploitation or false cases of sexual exploitation.

Why was the media not highlighting what the neighbours were saying -- that she was a 'bad character' woman and that she had lodged a false complaint against her landlord. Why did the media choose to stick to one woman's account over scores of others?

The woman claimed to be attacked with knives, but then women like her will put just any blame. The police themselves said that she was in an inebriated state. What kind of an 'innocent' girl lives alone in a lower-middle class locality and drinks alcohol? It is now being enforced by the forces of heterosexualisation upon upper-middle class societies which have been westernised, but not in traditional Indian spaces. A man does all these things too, but then he faces the harsh world out there. If he is beaten by people for coming home drunk, he is not protected by the media. The media will in fact lash out at the man. And, a man does not have the empowerment to complain even if he is genuinely exploited sexually by women. He has to take it all without complaining. If he were to complain, he would only get jeers. How can Western partial notions of 'feminism' be enforced upon Indian cultures without even discussing them first?



I agree, that it is not right to take law into one's own hands. But, what are ordinary, illiterate people to do when they find themselves helpless against oppressive laws, against powerful forces of Westernisation/ heterosexualisation that often hides itself behind distorted ideas of female 'liberty', and a powerful media bent on creating space for the sexually aggressive woman, at all costs, in all circumstances.

The media would have been right to raise the issue of her being beaten, because, all said and done, people have no right to take law into their hands. However, to completely side with her shows that media has unwarranted motives.

Here's the news (the newspaper version is slightly more balanced than the TV news):

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=1c689bff-31ee-44a0-91c5-83e4552b63d6&MatchID1=4680&TeamID1=6&TeamID2=3&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1179&PrimaryID=4680&Headline=Mob+attacks+rape+victim+in+east+Delhi

Note that the paper assumes that she is a rape victim, even when nothing has been proved, and it is only based on the complaint of the woman, and women have been given absolute powers by the heterosexual society to implicate any man without evidence.

Wanted: Abuse shield for male docs

Hindustan Times

Soumyajit Pattnaik
Bhubaneswar, December 10, 2005

A gynaecologist in Orissa's Bhadrak town was arrested earlier this week for allegedly raping a patient. The doctor denied the charge.

A government doctor in Khurda was suspended a couple of months ago for allegedly molesting a female patient. The doctor alleged frame-up.

Healing has its pitfalls in Orissa. At least for men. Male doctors are crying for safety nets so that they can treat women without risking allegations of sexual harassment. A spate of arrests and suspensions of doctors in government hospitals has forced male doctors to demand written undertakings from the husbands and parents of women patients for treatment of "sensitive body parts".

In Bhubaneswar's Capital Hospital, doctors are referring women to lady doctors. Madhusudan Mishra, president of the Orissa Medical Service Association (OSMA), said, "Under the circumstances, the only solution is that either the lady doctors treat women or the government put checks in place to prevent allegations of sexual abuse."

Echoes Hadibandhu Rautray, secretary of the OMSA branch in Bhubaneswar's Capital Hospital, "Either the government posts adequate lady doctors or relatives sign bonds that if the treatment requires detailed examination, they would not object or women trust the doctors completely."

But trust is a scarce commodity. On Saturday, a woman came to the hospital for breast treatment. The male physician on duty tried to bundle her off to a lady doctor, but none was to be found. The harried doctor insisted that her husband and daughter be present during the check-up.

Rattled by the reports, health minister Bijoushree Rautray plans to convene a meeting of senior officials to look into the problem.

No rape charges against man for eloping with girl

Wednesday, October 12, 2005, Chandigarh, India
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 11
A youth, who had eloped with a 16-year-old girl and married her, has been acquitted of rape charges by a Delhi court accepting the victim’s statement that whatever had happened was with her consent.

Though the prosecution claimed she was just 11-and-a-half-year old at the time of the incident, Additional Sessions Judge Swarn Kanta Mehra set free Ram Balak after it was proved through a calcification test that she was 16 years old, the age at which her consent is valid as per law.

Ram Balak, who was in love with the sixth standard girl, had picked her up from her residence in Anand Parbat here on July 15, 2003.

He took her away to Sitamarhi in Bihar where they got married and spent eight months together before they were nabbed.

Denying the prosecution’s kidnap and rape story, the girl told the court that she was in love with the accused and got married as per her own will.

However, finding him guilty under Section 363 (kidnapping a minor) of IPC, the court convicted the accused of taking the girl, who had not attained the age of 18, out of her legal guardianship and thereby “affecting her studies”.

He was awarded a one-and-a-half year sentence which he has already undergone in custody and directed to pay a fine of Rs 5,000.

“At that age she was not able to appreciate what was good or bad for her. It was not the time for her to get married but concentrate on her education. The act resulted in loss of studies and it can be attributed to the accused,” the court said.
(Source: The Tribune)

THE HINDU

Tuesday, Sep 28, 2004

Letters to the Editor

LAUDABLE

Sir, — The Defence Ministry's decision to appoint more women doctors in the Army is laudable. Equally welcome is its decision to give Surya Moudgil another chance to appear before an all-women Army medical board. Those who criticised the aggrieved Ms. Moudgil and the All India Democratic Women's Association ought to think again. Let us hope that these developments will serve as eye-openers and sensitise the Army towards women.

C. Selvamani,
Bangalore

Sir, — Ms. Moudgil's case has come to light because of her boldness. The question is not whether it is right or wrong for women candidates to be examined by male doctors. Medical test is not an emergency; she could have been allowed to exercise her option. The conviction with which she braved all odds and the fact that she even risked a career for a principle are praiseworthy.

She stands out among those who suffer in silence due to social pressure or lack of confidence.

Chhavi Rana,
Rohtak, Haryana

Sir, — I congratulate AIDWA and Ms. Moudgil for remaining steadfast and taking up the issue courageously.

Pathamadai Mani Sundaram,
Chennai

(Source: The Hindu)

AIDWA to move court against Army recruitment procedure

THE HINDU

Thursday, Sep 23, 2004

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 22. The All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) has decided to move the Supreme Court to protest against the Army's recruitment procedure that involves "intimate" physical examination of women candidates by male doctors.

Talking to presspersons here today, the AIDWA general secretary, Brinda Karat, said she had written to the Chief of the Army Staff, N.C. Vij, on September 15 but had got no response. "We will wait for another three days before filing a petition in the court for changing the rules that are embarrassing and humiliating for young girls, most of whom come from a rural background," she said. The procedure was "insensitive and callous" towards women, she added.

Also present at the press meet was Surya Moudgil from Haryana, who lost the opportunity to get a job as a Lieutenant (non-field posting) after she refused to undergo physical examination by male doctors as the surgical and gynaecological test involved "intimate" physical examination. Worse, she was "ridiculed" for being "ancient" and told that she needed to "grow up."

`In vogue for years'

Ms. Moudgil said that doctors in Allahabad, where she went for the test, made it clear that the rules could not be changed for her. The practice was being followed for the past 10 years and no woman recruit had protested.

Ms. Moudgil, who holds a post-graduate degree in Mathematics, had applied through the Service Selection Board and reached the medical examination stage after four rounds of tests. This was her fourth attempt and the second time she reached the medical examination stage.

The first time, in Bangalore, a woman doctor examined her. "I knew from experience that the gynaecological examination involved taking off my clothes and an intimate procedure. The second time, in Allahabad, I asked for a woman doctor when I realised that the examination was being carried out by male doctors."

An officer told her blankly that "the doctors only see and don't touch" and that she should not have applied if she had objections to the procedures.

`Ridicule and humiliation'

Braving "ridicule and humiliation," Ms. Moudgil came to the Army Base Hospital in Delhi for examination. She was told that only the Head of the Department was authorised to conduct the tests, and he was a male. Before seeking the medical test, she was asked to show the "application of refusal" given to her in Allahabad, which made things difficult for her.

"The fact remains that the aspirants are unaware of this until they reach the medical examination centres, and the experience is traumatising," Ms Karat said. Almost all the woman recruits who underwent the medical examination by male doctors felt "embarrassed and humiliated," Ms. Moudgil said.

"Some threw up after the examination, others went pale and many others were depressed for days, though not many found the courage to protest as they feared losing the job or bringing disrepute to their families," she added.

Nurse present: Army

An Army spokesperson, Col. S.K. Sakhuja, said that whenever a male surgeon conducts an examination, a woman nurse or attendant is present keeping in mind the sensitivities of the women aspirants.

The Army had its own constraints but whenever possible lady gynaecologists were asked to carry out examinations of women candidates.

In this particular case, according to Col. Sakhuja, the three girls who had reservations on being examined by male surgeons were asked to report in Delhi for medical examination. There, the tests were conducted on two girls in the presence of a woman nurse, while Ms. Moudgil refused even that.

(Source: The Tribune(

Pranab to direct Army to provide female gynaecologists

The Tribune, 24 sep, 2004
New Delhi, September 23

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today he would direct the Army to make available female gynaecologists for medical examination of women candidates in the wake of an aspirant’s complaint that she was rejected because she refused to undergo tests by a male gynaecologist.

“We will tell them to make female gynaecologists available,” he told reporters here when asked about the claims made by the complainant Surya Moudgil that she could not clear the medical tests as she refused to be examined by a gynaecologist and a surgical specialist, both men.

Meanwhile, the CPI (M)-affiliated All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) today said it would slap a suit on the Army against its “insensitivity” to women recruits, who are put through intimate medical tests by male doctors.

The AIDWA, which will move the Supreme Court, said it had documentary evidence to back its claim that women candidates for army recruitment were medically examined by male doctors.

“Since the Army has not recognised the legitimacy and validity of the complaint and continues to be gender-insensitive, we have no alternative but to go to court. We will be moving the Supreme Court,” AIDWA general secretary Brinda Karat said.

The AIDWA was incensed that the Army did not make arrangements for women surgeons and gynaecologists when it called women candidates for the medical tests.

According to the AIDWA, which presented Ms Surya Moudgil, one of the women candidates for the Short Service Commission, at a news conference here, no female surgeon or gynaecologist was present when she was put to medical tests.

Ms Moudgil refused to be examined by the male surgeon and gynaecologist at the Delhi Base Hospital, said Ms Karat, a CPI (M) central committee member.

“It’s a question of a woman’s physical integrity. And for the Army to do it sends a very bad message to the rest of the society showing insensitivity to the working women,” she said.

In its clarification, the Army said a female gynaecologist was present along with a male surgeon during the tests for women candidates.

Three women, including Ms Moudgil, were taken to Delhi from Allahabad after they wanted to be examined by female doctors, an Army spokesman said.

Two of the women candidates “understood the arrangements” in Delhi where a female gynaecologist and a male surgeon were present, he said.

Ms Moudgul, however, wanted a female surgeon and refused to be examined, he added.

Ms Karat dismissed the Army clarification as “a lie”. “The Army is spreading misinformation. There was no female gynaecologist.

“When you have women candidates, why didn’t it make arrangements for the presence of female doctors?” she asked.

The Army has 12 women gynaecologists in Delhi, but it does not have any female surgeon. The medical tests took place on August 27 and again on September 2 in Delhi.

A female attendant was present for tests with male doctors at Allahabad, but the women candidates had reservation, the spokesman said. — PTI, UNI

(Source: The Tribune)

Army gets women recruits examined by male docs

The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Normally it's up to a woman whether she wishes to go to a female or a male gynaecologist. In fact, most prefer female practitioners. But it seems the Indian Army doesn't give women the choice — if only a male doc is available, so be it. Take it or lump it.

This is what Surya Moudgil discovered to her horror. She had applied for a lieutenant's post in the army through the services selection board. When it came to the medical, including gynaecological examinations, she found it was to be done by male doctors.

Surya recalls the trauma that she and other girls underwent at the thought of having to strip, and get examined, by a male doctor. She, however, was the only one who spoke up.

In her medical examination in Allahabad on July 8, Surya raised an objection and requested for a woman gynaecologist. "The president, special medical board, Lt Colonel Turlapati told me, ‘Doctors only see, they don't touch'. He also told me that if I had a problem I shouldn't have applied and that I was the only one with a problem."

The events were revealed at a press conference here on Wednesday, held under the aegis of the All-India Democratic Women's Association, which plans to take up the issue in the Supreme Court.

Surya said her objection only invited ridicule by other Army doctors. "While the ENT specialist told me that I need to grow up, the eye doctor told me that for an eye examination he'd have to come very close to my face." She was finally advised by one doctor to go to the base hospital in Delhi for the examination since it would have female doctors.

So, she arrived in Delhi for the examination on July 29. But it was the same story all over again.

(Source: TOI)