India Uncut

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Monday, October 30, 2006

Terrorism of the state

I don't know what else to call this:
Women who sought medical help after a botched abortion have been handcuffed to their hospital beds. And some women with late-term abortions have been given 30-year prison terms.
This is monstrous, absolutely monstrous. (I don't mean that in the good Lovecraftesque way.) That we can deny people the rights to their own bodies is a travesty, and one that I hope will be considered as bizarre 100 years later as slavery seems today, or women not being allowed to vote. Yes, we have progressed a lot in the last couple of centuries, but routinely, across the world, people are still denied individual freedoms, both in social and economic spheres. We talk with pride and respect about the freedom struggles of nations, but what of the individuals within them? When will we all be truly free?

A related piece on freedom in India: Transforming India's Mental Landscape.

(NY Times link via email from Gautam John.)
amit varma, 7:35 PM| write to me | permalink | homepage

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