MOB KILLS RAPE SUSPECT IN INDIA

MOB IN INDIA BREAKS INTO
JAIL, LYNCHES RAPE SUSPECT

Reuters - Guwahati, India. A mob of several thousand people broke into a high-security prison in India, dragged out a rape suspect and killed him, officials said on Friday, adding that police had to impose a curfew to restore order. Rape has been a particularly emotive crime in India since 2012, when a student was raped and tortured on a bus in New Delhi and later died. The government has banned a documentary about that attack, re-igniting debate about gender inequality. 
The mob attacked the prison late on Thursday in the northeastern state of Nagaland. The man, a 35-year-old Muslim businessman accused of raping a woman, was dragged out and hauled naked through the streets and beaten to death.

"Security personnel at the jail were overpowered by the mob," said the state's chief minister, T.R.Zeliang. One person was killed and several injured when police fired on the mob. A curfew was imposed in the district late on Thursday and remained in force on Friday as the situation was "still tense", district police chief Meren Jamir told Reuters. Most people in Nagaland are Christian. Violence against women is widespread in India where a rape is reported on average every 21 minutes. 
Acid attacks, domestic violence and molestation are also common. There were 309,546 crimes against women reported to police in 2013, up from 244,270 the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. These include rape, kidnapping, sexual harassment and molestation.

This article, written by Biswajyoti Das for Reuters news agency, tells how a multitude lynches a rape suspect in India. A mob, consisting of thousands of people, stormed a prison compound in India's far northeast, dragging out a rape suspect before beating him to death on the streets. Police initially used tear gas and bamboo canes to rescue the inmate, but were not successful. The suspect died while being dragged four miles through the streets as people beat and pelted him with stones. The incident, which sparked outrage both in India and around the world, highlighted the frightening level of violence against women in this country. Despite the horrific and public nature of the attack, the violent mob is an embodiment of the country's increasingly tough stance and disgust towards for sexual violence. As Kali Yuga progresses, we witness how every society seems ready to explode into ghastly acts. There is anger and rage inside of some people at never before seen levels. The tendency to commit abuse, rape and other kinds of violence against others is born of illusion. One factor which fuels the bad actions is lust, the all-devouring enemy of this world. As Lord Sri Krishna tells in the Bhagavad-gita 16.21, one of the gates which leads to the hell and the degradation of the soul is lust. And it is also lust the root cause which made descending the living entities into this material world. (Editor's note).

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Material lust is like a blazing fire, never leaving a person with any peace. Such desires always force people to attempt to satisfy their cravings. The flames of such desires consume all hope for peace in such individuals. When society is made of many such individuals, whose primary interest is to simply satisfy their own desires and gratify their senses, this disorder prevents peace in human society. [...] The more you try to satisfy your senses, the more you will come under the control of lust, greed and anger. Lust is there when you want to satisfy your material desires. Greed is there when you want more than you need.  Anger will always be there in some form when you fail to achieve what you want, or when you attain it but then lose it. The unmerciful masters of lust, greed and anger will never leave you alone.

Dr. Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
"Toward World Peace: Seeing the Unity Between Us All"
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/toward_world_peace_ebook.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/

Published by dasavatara das - “Vedic Views on World News”
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/

SYRIAN WOMAN STONED TO DEATH OVER ADULTERY CHARGES

JIHADISTS STONE SYRIA WOMAN
TO DEATH FOR 'ADULTERY' CHARGES

www.standardmedia.co.ke - Jihadists in the northern Syrian province of Raqa have accused a woman of adultery and stoned her to death, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday. It was the first "execution" of its kind by the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, which has proclaimed the establishment of an Islamic "caliphate" straddling Syria and Iraq. "The Islamic State carried out its first sentence of death by stoning against a woman in Tabaqa, accusing her of adultery," said the Britain-based Observatory, referring to a town in Raqa province, most of which is under IS control.
An activist in the province confirmed the report, and said the stoning took place in a public square in the Tabaqa market area on Thursday evening. "This is the first time that this has happened here," added Abu Ibrahim.

"The situation is unbearable. Stoning is the worst punishment history has known. A quick death is more merciful," Salameh told AFP via the Internet, using a pseudonym for security reasons. "The woman's family did not know the sentence was going to be carried out at this time," said Salameh. He said residents are "terrified" of IS, but fear the consequences of reacting to its harsh methods. The IS first emerged in the Syrian conflict in late spring last year. 
Some Syrian rebels initially welcomed the jihadists, seeing them as potential allies in their war to topple President Bashar al-Assad's regime. But the group's systematic abuses and quest for domination swiftly turned the mainstream opposition against it, and rebels have been battling IS fighters since January.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) executed another woman who was accused of adultery by stoning her to death in the northern Syrian province of Raqa. The stoning of the second woman was carried out "in a square near the Municipal Stadium, where the IS fighters threw her by stones to death after bringing a pickup full of stones because people refused to participate of stoning." ISIS first emerged in the Syrian conflict in late spring last year. The group has reportedly executed around 270 people after they seized a gas filed in Homs province on Thursday. "Every day we receive accounts of a terrible litany of human rights violations being committed in Iraq against ordinary Iraqi children, women and men, who have been deprived of their security, their livelihoods, their homes, education, healthcare and other basic services," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. According to Amnesty International, death by stoning takes place with the convicted buried up to the chest, and stones are thrown at the head. The stones are large enough to cause enough pain, but not too large to kill right away. Actually, one can not understand how so wild method of capital punishment can still exist today. In some societies running away from an abusive husband or a forced marriage is considered a ‘moral crime,’ for which many women are now imprisoned.  Violence against women is a sign of something is very wrong in the society.  When in a society one loses respect, tenderness and gratitude for the mothers, society is condemned to degradation. All women are mothers; ill-treatment to them is great disrespect to the Consort and Shakti or Potency of the Lord. (Editor's note).

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Persons who are attached to sinful activities generally become envious and violent toward other living entities. Committing violence is a heinous sin. It is everyone's duty to give up violence. Violence toward human beings is the gravest sin. ... Violence toward other living entities is the root of all sinful activities. ... There are three kinds of violence: violence toward human beings, violence toward animals, and violence toward demigods. Violence is born from hate. ... There are two types of cruelty, cruelty toward humans and cruelty toward animals. Cruelty toward men and women causes great disturbances in the world. When people practice cruelty toward one another, compassion leaves the world and irreligiousness in the form of cruelty become prominent. (Caitanya-siksamrta 2/5).

Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thākura :
‘Violence Toward the Living Entities’
“Śrī Bhaktivinoda Vānī Vaibhava” - Vol 2. “Abhidheya”
Compiled by Śrīpad Sundarānanda Vidyāvinoda.

Published by dasavatara das - “Vedic Views on World News”
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY!

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
DON’T FORGET TO CELEBRATE!

http://edition.cnn.com - The calendar is overflowing with occasions to mark. It seems like there's a special day for almost everything. For example, September 19 is celebrated by some as International Talk Like a Pirate Day. But the surplus of observances shouldn't detract from the really important ones, like Friday, March 8, International Women's Day. The first International Women's Day was held in 1911, but it was international only in the technical sense that women in four European nations marched. 
These activists were ahead of their time in thinking about women's economic and political equality; they may not have been so far ahead of their time that they envisioned what it has come to mean for many of us today. Now, International Women's Day represents a movement that is for every woman and girl, no matter where they live.

This year, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize nominee in history by risking her life for the cause of universal girls' education. Her courage has inspired women across the world. Some of the bravest, most revolutionary voices about empowerment are coming from women and girls like Malala who are calling the world's attention to social norms that prevent women from realizing their full potential. Here is the reality we must confront on International Women's Day: The decisions women make about their families are the key to improving life for many of the poorest communities in the world. 
The evidence shows that in the developing world, women play a different role than men and are more likely to take care of their family's health care and nutrition, things that children need to become productive adults and contribute to the economic and social development of societies. In fact, research has shown that a child's chances of survival increase by 20% when the mother controls the household budget.

Today we celebrate International Women's Day by highlighting favorite quotes from famous women and recognizing their rights in many countries, however, in several places sexual violence is still used as a weapon of war, forcing tens of thousands of women to flee the war-torn countries. Zillah Eisenstein, a feminist theory writer, says "Although many women have more choices today than their mothers did, there are also greater economic inequalities and therefore greater burdens to bear." Despite all the supposed "equality among sexes", the world needs to recognize that the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women is still an outstanding debt. The body of man or woman is external, temporary and it doesn’t touch the real self. We must understand that we are all spiritual sparks, parts and parcels of God. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Who is a woman here may not be a woman there in that higher realm; who is a man here may not be a man there. The body is only a dress. The soul has its mental dress, and according to that, we wear this physical dress, the flesh dress. Sexual identity means the flesh and the mind. In the soul, who will represent which type of sexual identity there, is uncertain at present here in this plane. But women there in the higher realm have a higher prospect, a brighter prospect in the spiritual world. 
In the spiritual realm, those souls that are female - who have attained that formation of the soul's realization - hold a better and higher position than men. Here in the plane of exploitation, men hold the better position. But there, in the plane of submission and surrender, the female form of mind is more rewarding than the male's form of mind. 

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja : 

“Subjective Evolution of Consciousness”

Chapter Nine: ‘Spiritual Evolution’

http://bvml.org/SBRSM/books/index.html

Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/

BREASTFEEDING AWARENESS MONTH

WORLD CELEBRATES BREASTFEEDING 
MONTH TO SAVE CHILDREN’S LIVES

NJ Today - Today several events around the world are carrying out to celebrate the closing of the Breastfeeding Month.  August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month in many parts and from Aug. 1 to 7 was World Breastfeeding Week (WBW). Research suggests that breastfeeding is a key modifiable factor for disease for both mother and infants. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention report that Ohio’s 2010 breastfeeding initiation rate of 64.8 percent ranks 42nd in the nation-we can do better. This year’s WBW theme is Breastfeeding- Takin’ it to the streets! and the motto is Breastfeeding Rocks! Both the theme and motto focus on the need to use all available communication strategies to educate and inform citizens and institutions about their role in promoting and supporting breastfeeding. While the choice to breastfeeding is a personal one, communities should inform and support mothers’ decision to breastfeed her baby.

Cultural acceptance of breastfeeding as the normal way to feed a baby ensures that social policy supports mothers who make that choice. Returning our communities back into a breastfeeding-supportive culture will take efforts by educational institutions, hospitals, businesses, and even legal support. “The more our society accepts breastfeeding as the normal, natural way to feed a baby the healthier and better off we will be as a nation, state, and community,” said Kathy Boersma, RN, Community Action Health Services Director. “In light of the monetary and life saving benefits of breastfeeding, all elements of the community, must cooperate and support breastfeeding. Ultimately, our whole society benefits from having healthier mothers, babies and children when breastfeeding is promoted, protected and supported.”

Research shows that increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates can result in reduced risk of pediatric overweight, decreased incidence of infectious diseases and protection against obesity and other chronic diseases.  Hospitals have opportunities to implement practices in labor, delivery, postpartum care and discharge planning that can protect, promote and support breastfeeding and improve the success rate among women who want to breastfeed.  The topic of Breastfeeding remembers us when Krishna had just learned how to walk and was playing the pastime of being hungry.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

In Krishna lila we find that, one day, there were no servants in Nanda Maharaja’s house. So mother Yasoda went herself to churn butter from the milk. While she was churning the milk, the young child Krishna came to her. He said, “O mother, stop churning, I am hungry. Give me milk!” ... Yasoda was charmed and put the child on her lap to breastfeed Him, but at that very instant, the milk on the stove started to boil over. So, Yasoda said to Gopala, “Get down, the milk is boiling.” But Krishna’s appetite had not been appeased and He did not want to get down. He said, “Give me more milk.” Yasoda thrust Krishna down and ran to the stove.  Krishna became very angry because of this and wanted to break the pot containing the yogurt, but He was at the same time afraid of His mother. So, with a small stone, He silently struck the pot until the pot broke and all the curd spilled onto the floor. Then, seeing other pots hanging from the ceiling, He climbed onto the mortar and broke all the pots.

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāja :
“Suddha Bhakti, the Path of Pure Devotion”
Part 3: “Prayojana - The Fulfillment of Devotion”
Mandala Publishing Group 2000.
San Francisco, CA 94103 USA
Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math - www.sreecgmath.org

FORBES’ MOST POWERFUL WOMEN: 2011

THE WOMEN WHO MATTER MOST: 
FORBES’ 10 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel topped the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful women, which is dominated by politicians, businesswomen and leaders in media and entertainment.  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who came close to defeating President Obama when he sought the Democratic nomination in 2008, was second, followed by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.  “Our list reflects the diverse and dynamic paths to power for women today, whether leading a nation or setting the agenda on critical issues of our time,” said Moira Forbes, president & publisher of ForbesWoman, said in a statement.  Eight heads of state and 29 CEOs made Forbes’ roster of the 100 most powerful women released on Wednesday. They have an average age of 54 and collectively control $30 trillion. Twenty two are single.  U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama, who last year held the top spot, dropped to No. 8 in the current ranking.

“Across their multiple spheres of influence, these women have achieved power through connectivity, the ability to build a community around the organizations they oversee, the countries they lead, the causes they champion and their personal brands,” Forbes added.  Merkel was cited as the head of the one real global economy in Europe. Clinton was lauded for deftly dealing with Middle East revolutions and WikiLeaks revelations in her second year on the job, while Rousseff made history as the first woman to lead Latin America’s largest economic power.  Rounding out the top five were the CEO of PepsiCo U.S. Indra Nooyi, who oversees the $60 billion food and beverage empire, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who was credited with preparing the booming social network’s IPO that could bring in as much as $100 billion.  Lady Gaga and The New York Times’ recently appointed executive editor, Jill Abramson, came in at No. 11 and 12.

Every year, Forbes releases a list of the world’s most powerful woman, influential in everything from politics to technology to culture.  Forbes said women on the list achieved power not only through money and might, but, thanks to social media, through reach and influence.  These women bring a fresh look at power and they are politicians, CEOs, bankers, cultural icons, billionaires and entrepreneurs.  Among the many societies in the world, ancient Vedic culture is one that has most revered and protected women.   There is a Vedic saying, “Where the women are happy, there will be prosperity.”

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

There are many civilizations in the world where respect for women and their role in society are prominent, and others where regard for them and their status should be improved. Yet the level of civility along with moral and spiritual standards in a society can often be perceived by the respect and regard it gives for its women. Not that it glorifies them for their sexuality and then gives them all the freedom men want so they can be exploited and taken advantage of, but that they are regarded in a way that allows them to live in honor for their importance in society with respect and protection, and given the opportunity to reach their real potential in life. … The Vedic tradition has held a high regard for the qualities of women, and has retained the greatest respect within its tradition as seen in the honor it gives for the Goddess, who is portrayed as the feminine embodiment of important qualities and powers.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Women in Vedic Culture”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/women_in_vedic_culture.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/