Australian harassed in Bengaluru over tattoo

[Raj Guru]

The local politician attached to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who took objection to an Australian law student sporting a tattoo, R.V. Ramesh Yadav, spoke to The Hindu on Monday. Excerpts:

Were you at the hotel when the incident happened? The Australian law student has alleged you abused him for the tattoo. Why?

Yes, I was at the Konark Hotel with three other people and saw this youth sporting a tattoo of a Hindu goddess on his leg. We went up to him and asked him what was the tattoo and he said it was Yellamma, a Hindu Goddess. So he was aware that it was a goddess and still he was insulting it. We asked him to remove the tattoo or we would protest.

But he started abusing us with foul language. He also called up his friend, a localite who turned up soon. The friend also used foul language and others at the hotel joined in to condemn this. You can check the CC TV footage at the hotel.

One of us called up Ashok Nagar police. They came and whisked the couple away to the police station. There also he was arguing. Later he gave an apology letter to the police after which my I intervened and my friend withdrew the complaint he had lodged. It was amicably settled.

Many sport tattoos on the shin, calf muscles as well. What is wrong with it?

It is insulting the Hindu goddess and also provocative. When we came to know that it was a permanent tattoo, we only asked him to wear a pair of trousers and cover it, for his own safety.

We noticed it fine. But if he was roaming on the streets of Austin Town and other areas in Shantinagar, when most of these areas are celebrating Durga Puja putting up pandals, his safety itself is at stake if some mob notices and takes objection to it. It is for his own good that we told him and convinced him about this.

Was there a need to make the Australian national write an apology letter? What wrong did he do to warrant seeking an apology from him?

We did not force him to write an apology letter. He voluntarily gave that letter. We asked him to apologise for the foul language which he used, in which we are justified. We and the police only educated him about the Hindu values and that sporting that tattoo on the leg would be taken as an insult to the religion.

Moreover, I agree that we as Hindus have not educated others enough. How would he know? He would have got a tattoo in India itself. When one of us, could put that tattoo on his leg, there is no point in objecting him. So we let him go, after asking him to wear a pair of trousers and not sport the tattoo.

Abusing an Indian in India..... salo tumhare baap ka raaj hain kya ?

 

[Iggy]

What justification ?

..... since when did politicians of ANY party act within legal rights ? ....an since when did India provide a working judiciary to Indians ?

Your defence of that Australian.

Since when threatening a person og skinning become with in the legal rights?

 

[Bombermanx1]

You know that he could easily have been killed and dissolved in acid, never to be found again? Or do you think Hindus are incapable of doing that?

or drop his body in lake and let the catfish eat the body and then grind up the skeleton and spay bone powder as fertilizer in the same fish pond.

 

[gau8av]

Gods pic, poster, artefacts, tattoos, below the navel is disrespect. All these guys did was educate them. It is good if we get tourists educated in cultural sensitivity to come to India. After all, we are not in the business of making money for sadomasochism.

ever been to one of those hippy digs ? much sex, drugs and rock n roll, all in the presence of hindu/buddhist gods in incense (and pot) filled rooms littered with natraja and ganesh figurines.

none of it is offensive per say, but probably not a place for the morally upstanding faithful either.

 

[siddharth shankar]

 

[prima99]

They are 2012 ranks.
And in the same list where India is 78th, Indonesia is 63rd. And higher ranks means?
I pity on your fruitless trolling

Here, if you can read - Failed States Index 2012 | The Fund for Peace

LOL so you want a 2015 list? check it out!

List of countries by Fragile States Index - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

go eat some Holy Cow. it'll make you smarter

now they will creat one blog can start badmouthing us for their mistakes. we should never trust White man. you know why....

explain why we should trust Black Man with curry?

 

[Bombermanx1]

Stop being delusional. Thats what religious fundoos do. Its the economy which dictates who comes to power. Once you realize that, you have matured to understand the politics.

You do realize the Economy is run by Hindus,Yes i mean Hindus not Indians as you want and they are the biggest supporterS of BJP if their wishes are not fulfilled, nobody will win.
Stop being delusional by denying Hindutva Vote bank,Till now Secular parties pandered to Minorities.This time every party is now taking a soft Hindutva approach because they now realise the Hindu votebank.

 

[Dragon4]

LOL so you want a 2015 list? check it out!

List of countries by Fragile States Index - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

go eat some Holy Cow. it'll make you smarter

Looks like i paved way for some enlightenment so you could use some of your brains.
Btw, why JB's album banned in Indonesia? why so touchy about Hindutwa?
Height of trolling : Thread of issue with Aussie in India and Indonesian smart@ss giving his expert opinion on "tattoo" which resulted a total ban on an album in his own country.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Updated: October 19, 2015 11:59 IST
Australian harassed in Bengaluru over tattoo - The Hindu

The city police detained the Australian and forced the man to apologise to the harassers for “hurting their religious sentiments”.
A group of people harassed an Australian couple at a restaurant here on Saturday, even threatening to skin the young man’s leg, for sporting the tattoo of Hindu goddess Yellamma on his shin.

Their ordeal did not end there as the city police not only detained them but also forced the man to apologise to the group for ‘hurting their religious sentiments.’

The incident happened around 2 p.m. when Matthew Gordon (21) and his girl friend Emily Kassianou (20) from Melbourne were spotted by the group. “One of them came to me and confronted me about my tattoo. Soon, they surrounded us and threatened to skin my leg and remove the tattoo,” a shaken Gordon, a law student, told The Hindu on Sunday.

The group soon called in more people and over 25 men gathered outside the eatery, not allowing the couple to leave. “A policeman arrived and said this is India and one couldn’t sport such a tattoo on the leg,” Mr. Gordon recalled.

Mr. Gordon, the Australian who was confronted by a group of local people at a restaurant here on Saturday for sporting a goddess tattoo on his shin, his girl friend, Emily Kassianou (20), both from Melbourne and their local friend Abishek were taken to the Ashok Nagar police station.

The Australian couple were allegedly given a “dressing-down” and a “lesson on Hindu values” by the police personnel in front of the protesting group.

“Policemen forced Matthew to write an apology and we were made to wait for three hours till he did so,” said Ms. Kassianou.

“The policemen advised me on Hindu religion and insisted I give a written apology for not covering my goddess tattoo, even as the group just watched. I tried taking law points, but had to finally give in as my girlfriend was in tears as the cops wouldn’t let us go,” Mr. Gordon said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sandeep Patil, termed the matter “trivial.” “Both parties have reached a compromise and there is nothing serious about it,” he said.

Utter ret@rds. India is meant to be a land of tolerance not some backwards state forcing you to cover up like some kingdom in the ME.



The police, luckily, stepped in and cooled down the situation but this is not going to help India's image on the global stage.

 

[gubbi]

You do realize the Economy is run by Hindus, if their wishes are not fulfilled, nobody will win.
Stop being delusional by denying Hindutva Vote bank,Till now Secular parties pandered to Minorities.This time every party is now taking a soft Hindutva approach because they now realise the Hindu votebank.

One of the idiotic comments I have read. Fine, believe what you want to. Shows how much you know.
Oh, and I aint voting for any party which supports or condones such idiocy. Will influence friends and relatives too not to vote for them and will tell/ask them to spread it around. Lets see how long your dadagiri survives.

 

[darksider]

what makes you think I was ok with that ?

when you was writing about certain religion and people you forget you hindus are not angels also.
your hindus fanatics kill few days ago for suspected cow meat but you gave example of muslim,s wrong doing.
what a Hippocracy.

 

[Bombermanx1]

One of the idiotic comments I have read. Fine, believe what you want to. Shows how much you know.
Oh, and I aint voting for the any party which supports such idiocy. Will influence friends and relatives too. Will tell them to spread it around. Lets see how long your dadagiri survives.

Please try and do that, no harm for us, our ideology is spreading by leaps and bounds every day in Social media and person to person contact like never before. Your Secular appeasement mindset will only bring more Hindus into Hindutva fold.The more you Hate us,the more we grow
Do us a favor spread the word please.
You have another 4 years to spread the word around,let's see how good you will fare.

 

[Ragnarok connection]

News article that may better explain the 'harassment'
Australian couple were not harassed, facts twisted to create a negative image, say eyewitnesses-INews - IBNLive Mobile

 

[Samudra Manthan]

BJP was not voted by the urban youth (their support notwithstanding). The cow belt, the conservatives, etc voted them to power. And they shall keep them there. It will be clear to you in time.

How is your second sentence relevant?

He thinks since you are an Indian living in India you may not be able to afford breakfast and he can show off that he afforded a bacon and an egg and coffee. My my, you have to be amazed at how rich this guy is.

 

[gau8av]

when you was writing about certain religion and people you forget you hindus are not angels also.
your hindus fanatics kill few days ago for suspected cow meat but you gave example of muslim,s wrong doing.
what a Hippocracy.

are you an idiot ? I've been ranting on about "hindu" zealots on this thread from the start.

and it's hypocrisy, this is hippocracy: