NEW DELHI — There was a bit of a street brawl outside a pub, nothing too unusual on the face of it, except for what happened next. After pushing a few men out of the way, the 40 or so attackers revealed what they were really after: young women at the bar, whom they slapped, pummeled and yanked by the hair, in what they later justified as a bid to safeguard traditional Indian culture.
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Attack on women at a bar in India raises fears of 'Hindu Taliban'
The attack by Hindu extremists who say they are protecting traditional Indian culture shows a disconnect as some classes rapidly Westernize. But some observers see a political ploy as elections near.
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Video of the smashed-up pub, Amnesia: The Lounge, and of several women being assaulted, with at least two being pushed to the ground, has topped news broadcasts for days. One Indian minister described the incident Saturday in the southwest city of Mangalore as a bid by Hindu fundamentalists to "Talibanize" India; others suspect a political ploy.
The Mangalore attack, captured by a TV crew, has been condemned by police, civic groups and the central government, but it follows several other actions by conservative Hindus who believe that women should not wear Western clothes, drink alcohol or have an independent lifestyle.
It also underscores the growing gap, social observers say, between an India that has rushed headlong into the 21st century -- as seen in the shiny world of call centers and slick urban skylines -- and a more traditional world that, while also changing, still has a good deal in common with the 19th century world of ox carts, closeted village women and deep-rooted patriarchal values.
"You have Muslim Taliban and this Hindu Taliban," said Kuldip Nayar, a New Delhi-based journalist and political analyst. "Tradition has not been jettisoned as quickly as people in the West think. This class of people going to pubs, dancing, is still very small."
The group that took responsibility for the attack on the young women, Shri Ram Sena, is a radical wing of the Hindu nationalist movement whose most mainstream element is the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP.
We "are not a group of mad men, we are a patriotic group," said Pramod Muthalik, Shri Ram's head, in an interview in the local media. "We are the citizens of this nation, and I feel it is our duty to discipline indecent behavior. It is out of this sense of duty that we feel the need to safeguard our culture."
The Mangalore attack is the latest high-profile attempt by various Hindu fundamentalist groups to "safeguard Indian morality" and fight "polluting" Western influence.
