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The Supreme Court has upheld the Guruvayoor temple’s decision to allow entry of women wearing churidar, the Hindu has reported. A bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justices RV Raveendran and JM Panchal Monday dismissed a special leave petition challenging the August 23 Kerala High Court order, which upheld the temple’s decision. [ Link] Manoj V. George, counsel for a devotee K. Mohandas, argued that the change in the 5,000-year-old practice of allowing only women wearing the...

These days MF Husain doesn't have to be around for Hindu rightwingers to be muscling havoc. An exhibition of his almost ran into rough weather in the national capital on December 22 after organisers received a threat from the Bajrang Dal. The India International Centre, where Hussain's 'India in the Era of Mughals' painting series was on display, suspended the exhibition for a day. IIC, the Times of India says, received the threats from Dal activists who threatened it with "serious consequences"...

If you think chastity and virginity are things of the past, keep such notions to yourself. Or, do whatever you want. Just don't say it aloud, or you will land in a spot. At least, that's what Sushmita Sen has learnt. Her comment, "No Indian has chastity or virginity any more" has upset the culture cops of Tamil Nadu, and the Madurai branch of the Madras High Court has issued a notice against her. A notice has also been issued to the Tamil newspaper Dina Thanthi which issued the transcripts of...

Painter Jatin Das had a couple of unexpected visitors to his exhibition Body & Line at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai. These visitors were two policemen who "assessed" the 101 figurative art works, several of them nudes. They had something to say too. No, they did not quite appreciate art. They wanted Das to put up a notice barring those under 18 from entering, to avoid trouble. Joint police commissioner KL Prasad said it was just a suggestion, says Hindustan Times. The painter, actress...

Now, an Islamic militant outfit in Manipur has asked Muslim girl students to refrain from wearing frock and skirt or any western dress in educational institutions in the state from next year. The 'information and publicity' secretary of the People's United Liberation Front (PULF), Belal Khan wants that all Muslim girl students should wear the dress accepted by Islamic law. Huh. The statement issued by the militant said that anyone violating the diktat of the outfit would be punished. [ Link]...

A bunch of cultural hawks in Jammu & Kashmir want a halt to all cultural activities in the state's schools. They have a point, you see. It is a different thing that you might not see it (I mean, their point) at all. They feel girls and being exploited, obsceneity is being promoted. The Daily News & Analysis has some details: [ Link] After lying low for some time, Dukhataran-e-Milat (DeM) chief Syeda Aisiya Andrabi has suddenly sprung back to action and has threatened to launch an agitation...

This article from the Times of India is being reproduced here in full: [ Link] The bikini has never had it easy in these parts. When the Miss World contest was held in Bangalore in 1996, the city erupted in protests. Women’s groups objected to the commodification of women’s bodies, fundamentalist groups raged that it was against Indian culture while Left groups accused the Karnataka government of selling out. To avoid further conflict, the organisers shifted what they suspected to be the root of...

The Left cannot be far behind. The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) on Friday last staged a demonstration in front of a cinema theatre in the Khammam town of Andhra Pradesh protesting against the use of obscene posters, says a siasat.com report. [ Link] They removed the posters and set them ablaze. The protesters objected to screening of movies replete with obscenity. They attributed the increasing atrocities on girl students in educational institutions to the movies without any...

Guruvayoor temple authorities are reconsidering their decision to change the old dress code that allowed only saree-clad women to come to pray, says a Daily News & Analysis (DNA) report. On July 26 this year, the temple authorities decided to allow women dressed in salwar-kameez also to pray at the temple. Thsi volte face would be because preists say the deity is real, real angry at non-sari clad women. [ Link] However, during the eight-day ashtamangalaya devaprasanam (astrological consultations...

India should not see Ranbir Kapoor dropping his towel in Saawariya. The Censor Board Film Certification (CBFC) RO Vinayak Azad has this to say according to indiantelevision.com, "I think the issue is being blown out of proportion. It was a voluntary decision by the director Sanjay Leela Bhansali when we explained to him that the scene would not be appropriate for a U-certificate film. He opted to chop it." Yeah, sure, the towel has been blown away, Mr Azad. He has more to say: [ Link] "Being...