So, there is this push in Saudi Arabia to do away with the stone-age rule of women not being allowed to drive on their own. BBC News presents four viewpoints from a cross-section of Saudi society. Three of them present pretty valid point of views. Now, read what Ibrahim Hussain, an immigrant from India has to say on the issue (emphasis mine):

I am from India, but I have been living in Saudi Arabia for 20 years.

I am married and I have daughters. We don’t have a driver – I drive them about myself. This works fine and the women in my family do not want to drive.

Women should not be allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. If this happens, there will be more crime, accidents and disorder.

There will be more accidents because of the increase in traffic. However, the government is preparing for more traffic by building new roads and new overhead bridges.

If Saudi Arabia allows women to drive, there will have to be more law-enforcement officers in and around the cities.

There would also have to be more night patrols throughout the kingdom. There would also have to be women-only garages and service centres.

It will mean more social problems in the future.

Maybe a few women do want to drive, but this is not really a big issue.

In the interests of safety and security – I don’t want women driving in Saudi Arabia. [BBC News]

I am speechless.

WTF indeed.

Teachers of a primary school in Bhandara district of Maharshtra sprinkled cow’s urine in the school premises and on students

They did this because the previous headmistress was a Dalit and they wanted to purify the school and the children of the lower castes.

NY Times has this interesting article.

Ms. Laalaa is a Muslim and has voluntarily worn the burqa, the traditional head-to-toe covering for Muslim women, since she was 14. It is hard to swim, she said, if your body is swathed in cotton, which is very heavy when wet.

Now, her clothing quandary solved by a novel fashion, the burqini, Ms. Laalaa, a vivacious 20-yearold, has become a Surf Life Saver, as volunteer lifeguards here are known, lured to the beach by a new outreach program for Australia’s Muslims.

Good stuff.

Another blog I am associated with recently commemorated the fifth anniversary of the Gujarat violence of 2002. Here are the links of the posts that were written on the issue:

• Open Thread: Gujarat Violence, Five Years Later
• The Destruction of Our Share Cultural Heritage
• Remebering Gujarat and the Lessons for Congress
• Gujarat: Thoughts on the Threat from Hindutva and Islam

Also, Sharique has a great four part series on the issue, Part One, Two, Three and Four.

BBC News has this article written by a young Indian soldier stationed in Kashmir where he talks about a system that has gone horribly wrong. A must read.

And then something like this happens, and there are villagers and more villagers protesting on the street, asking for freedom from this kind of oppression.

Obviously they will protest. Anybody would.

Even if there is no solution in sight one cannot just go and pick up people from the street and kill them. And if they do this there will be never be any solution.

On a related note, please check out these stunning images of everyday life in Kashmir by a young photoblogger, Akshay Mahajan.

Eye Bank Association of India has in the past produced great campaigns featuring Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachhan and Zakir Hussain. I saw their latest campaign based on Holi and was truly inspired. A subtle but effective way to get your message across to so many people.

Awesome!

Picture this scenario:

On realizing that she has lost her bag of diamonds worth $500,000, an agitated woman called NYPD (New York Police Department) to inform them about the same. She thinks that the bag was most probably left in the cab she took on her way back home. After getting description of the driver as a middle-aged South Asian man, the police was finally able to track him down with the diamonds. The driver denies any wrong-doing and claims innocence. In a related development, a right-wing radio talk show host lambasted the driver in particular and reiterated his support for tougher immigrations laws.

Now read this:

A Bangladeshi immigrant taxi driver in New York is the toast of the Big Apple after returning a $500,000 lost bag of diamond rings to their rightful owner.

Osman Chowdhury’s honesty has made him an instant celebrity, propelling him onto the city’s airwaves to receive the plaudits of the great and the good.

He says that he is proud of what he did, because cab drivers are honest.

Forty-one-year-old Mr Chowdhury – a Bangladeshi green card holder – was plying his trade as usual in Manhattan on Monday evening, when a female passenger boarded his cab at a midtown Hotel.

The passenger got off at an apartment building on 35th street.

She paid $11 for the $10.70 fare. But she left a bag full of diamonds in the boot of the vehicle.

When the next set of passengers tried to put their luggage in the boot, Mr Chowdhury found the bag.

But with the help of the New York City Taxi Workers’ Alliance, a cabbies’ advocacy group, the bag was opened to reveal around 30 diamond rings, neatly tucked into cases.

and this:

For the last two days he has also been interviewed by scores of news organisations in the US and across the globe.

In addition, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has honoured him with an Achievement Award for 2007. Even the City Council of New York City has joined in, by given him a citation praising his honesty.

Life is beautiful.

More here.