Dead Man Walking / Association of the Dead

Another SKAR classic. The Mritak Sangh (Association of the Dead) founded by people in India who have incorrectly been registered as dead.

Forget the "Carlos the Jackal" loophole in British documentation, this one is too bizarre to be anything but true. From a Time Magazine Article in 1999:


"I'm here. I'm alive," Lal Bihari told revenue officials after discovering he was listed as deceased in 1976. "That may be so," an unruffled clerk replied, "but according to my books you're dead." It took Lal Bihari 18 years to get his life and his land back. During that time, he added the word Mritak, or Dead, to his name and to prove that he was living sought arrest, tried to run for parliament, kidnapped the son of the uncle who had stolen his property, threatened murder, insulted judges, threw leaflets listing his complaints at legislators in the state assembly and demanded a widow's pension for his wife.


Wow. now that's what you call a Dead Man Walking.

Lal Bihari (born. 1961, dead. 1976-94, reborn 1994-date) founded the Mritak Sangh for other like him, who have been dispossessed by the Indian land registry records. The organization supposedly has over 400 members today, and has managed to declare 4 of them "alive"

His story has served as inspiration for the movies, and in 2003 Lal Bihari was the recipient of the IgNobel Peace Prize "for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared legally dead; second, for waging a lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; and third, for creating the Association of Dead People."

Lal Bihari overcame the handicap of being dead, and managed to obtain a passport from the Indian government so that he could travel to Harvard to accept his Prize. However, the U.S. government refused to allow him into the country. Spoilsports.

The opening scene of the movie Barah Anna is based on Lal Bihari's life.

Long Live Sri Lal Bihari!

The Internet is NOT for Porn

...says the Indian Government, as they ban a popular porn website in India called Savita Bhabhi




ContentSutra has the story. I quote (with emphasis added):


N. Vijayaditya, of the CCA, confirmed the development. “There were several complaints against the site. We have taken action under the relevant sections of the IT Act and blocked the site,” he said. When asked if the agency will give a chance to the owners of the site to defend themselves, he said nobody has come forward so far with such a request. He said he could not say if the agency will pursue legal action against the operators of the website.

....

Savitabhabhi is the 82nd-most-visited Indian website, attracting more visitors than Bseindia.com, the website of the Bombay Stock Exchange.

.....

The portrayal of a married Indian woman as wildly promiscuous raised the hackles of many in a largely conservative nation. One of them, Bangalore-based N. Vijayashankar, who describes himself as a “techno-legal information security consultant”, waged a sustained campaign against Savitabhabhi, complaining to the government’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) as well as the Director General of Police in Karnataka in October last year. “Cartoons are a more participative medium. Videos don’t do as much damage. When a child is watching a cartoon, he imagines himself as the character. This has a deeply corrupting influence on our youngsters. This, apart from the fact that an Indian name was being used in such an obscene cartoon, is what led me to make the complaint,” Vijayashankar said. “A child will see a Savitabhabhi among his relatives.” When asked if there was any scientific basis to his thesis that pornographic cartoons did more damage to young people than pornographic videos, he said that was his own psychological interpretation. (Vijayashankar has no training in psychology.)

......

In an email interview with contentSutra, the main brain behind the site, who goes by the handle Deshmukh, said they were exploring legal options. “We are talking to our lawyers and trying to figure out our options. The initial reaction is since the site does not pose any threat to India’s national security and is not illegal, it must be against some international treaty to block it. However, we are still working on the legal angle.”

Currently it seems safe to say:
1. SavitaBhabhi can't do much about the power of the Indian govt over Indian ISPs. In fact, it appears that they still haven't understood the reality of regulatory control in India. The government has fairly broad rights under Section 67 of the Indian IT Act 2000.

2. The Indian govt can't do much more about SavitaBhabhi registered in the US. However, what kind of due process bans a website first and provides review upon request afterwards? The cart appears to be before the horse.

3. N. Vijayashankar really doesn't quite get the Internet. Or psychology. Or adolescent children. Poor guy.

4. There will be more back-and-forth here. For instance, check out www.savesavita.com

As a freedom-of-speech issue, it will be interesting to see if anybody in India picks up the cause. Crates of comics to Mr. N. Vijayashankar, our favorite “techno-legal information security consultant”? I doubt it.

Toon porn doesn't have the same zing as a Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women



Meanwhile, Avenue Q explains:



Lyrics | - The Internet Is For Porn lyrics

ps. Section 67 of Indian IT Act quoted below. Young Deshmukh will do well not to announce his real name in India.


67. Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form.

Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees.

Yankee Yoga Shanghai = Montessori Nuclear Winter?

An American advertising Yoga Lessons in Shanghai.

David Swenson made his first visit to Mysore in 1977 and learned the full Ashtanga system as it was originally taught by K. Pattabhi Jois.

Yoga, once the cultural property of India, is about as Indian now as U2 & Bono are Irish.


In time, Yoga could become as ubiquitous as the word 'Montessori' or 'kindergarten'... and who cares now about Maria Montessori or Friedrich Frobel?

Like Herr Frobel, it appears K. Pattabhi Jois made a strategic error in 1977 by not trademarking the phrase "Ashtanga".

A mistake that today's Bikram Chowdhury appears determined not to make, much to the chagrin of ..umm.. the Indian government.

Very stupidly, the Indian government thinks things like 'yoga' or 'ayurveda' that draw on thousands of years of culture cannot be trademarked.

Well, they better watch out. Bikram says he has balls like atom bombs, two of them, 201 megatons each, and the Indian government, at last report, was still fiddling with 4-60 kiloton low-yield devices.



Just when you think you are out from a nuclear winter, they pull you back in...