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Tisca Chopra #sexist hindustantimes.com

A no means no? Not to Tisca Chopra it doesn’t.

The actor landed herself in the soup after penning her thoughts on sexual harassment for The Print. The actor wrote women who get assaulted by men are just as much to blame as their attackers.

The publication reached out to actors, film critics and other people from Bollywood to know their views on the currently trending #metoo movement on social media.

#Metoo was started as a reaction to 40 women (including several actors) in Hollywood who revealed they were sexually harassed by producer Harvey Weinstein. Women all over the world began sharing their own stories of harassment and abuse to bring to light the sheer number of people who have gone through it.

A tentative ‘no’, a polite ‘no’, a ‘no’ that means ‘maybe’ and worst of a ‘no’ that means ‘yes.. just push me more and I will relent’..? https://t.co/7mm4FZUBeT
— Tisca Chopra (@tiscatime) October 18, 2017

While Swara Bhaskar, Kalki Koechlin asked for more conversations on sexual harassment, Tisca had a completely different stance on the matter. “I’m going to be very categorical when I say that women are just as much to blame, because they put themselves in those vulnerable positions. Why do these women go to hotel rooms? Do they not fear for their personal safety? Have they not heard of people’s reputations, and why do they engage with those men?,” she wrote.

“Being a woman, I would say that first of all, protect yourself. Don’t put yourself in that position. The more women start saying flat-out “no”s, the more these men will understand that this is not the way, this is not going to work,” she said. “What is happening in Hollywood is largely 30 years of somebody becoming a blatant predator. People, by and large, say “chance maaro, how can it hurt to ask”. Unless somebody says “no”, and the kind of “no” you say, and the manner in which you say it should convey that it is completely unacceptable to even ask this question,” she added.

She even advises women to not take short-cuts, “Don’t let your career hang in the balance. Work hard on your acting, take a little longer to build your career, don’t take any shortcuts,” she said.

Suraj Village #fundie hindustantimes.com

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be promoting his Digital India drive across the world but a village in his native district of Mehsana in Gujarat has banned mobile phones for unmarried women.

In a Khap panchayat-like diktat, Suraj village –100 km from the state’s financial capital of Ahmedabad – decided to fine women Rs 2,100 for using or possessing a mobile phone. The informer gets Rs 200 as reward.

“Why do girls need cell phone? Internet is a waste of time and money for a middle-class community like us. Girls should better utilise their time for study and other works,” said Suraj village sarpnach Devshi Vankar.

The only exception to the rule is if a relative wants to talk to a girl, her parents can pass on their phones for conversation.

Vankar said the “entire population of 2,500”, comprising various castes, “welcomed the decision”.
Suraj village imposed the ban on February 12 but it may spread to other parts of north Gujarat as the politically influential Thakor community initiated a drive to extend the restriction, with support of other OBC communities such as the Rabari and Vankar.

The motivation of the mobile phone ban for women can be traced to an alcohol de-addiction drive by the Thakors mainly aimed at men.

As the drive progressed, the community came out with rules and regulations for women’s lifestyle.

Community leaders felt just like liquor, the use of cell phones by unmarried women created a nuisance in society.

In January, Ludar in Banaskantha district was the first village to implement such a ban. The community vowed to intensify the drive against alcohol de-addiction as well as cell phones by passing resolutions during meetings being organised in rural parts of the state’s northern belt.’

“Alcohol consumption by men and cell phone use by women create a lot of disturbance in society. Young girls get misguided. It can break families and ruin relationship,” said Raikarnji Thakor, a community leader from north Gujarat.

“It (the ban) is the villagers’ idea only,” he added.

Abu Azmi #fundie hindustantimes.com

Samajwadi Party's leaders are trying to outdo each other by making one shocking statement after the other. After his boss Mulayam Singh Yadav's comment that death penalty for rape is unfair, Maharashtra unit chief Abu Azmi has now said women, including rape victims, who have sex outside marriage should be hanged.


On Thursday, Mulayam had said it was unfair to award death penalty to rapists for their 'mistakes' at a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad.

Handing death sentence for rape is not fair... boys make mistakes... there will be changes in the law if we come to power," an ANI tweet quoted Mulayam as saying.

Azmi, told Mid-day when asked for a solution to the problem of rapes: "Any woman if, whether married or unmarried, goes along with a man, with or without her consent, should be hanged.

Both should be hanged. It shouldn't be allowed even if a woman goes by consent."

"Rape is punishable by hanging in Islam. But here, nothing happens to women, only to men. Even the woman is guilty. Girls complain when someone touches them, and even when someone doesn't touch them. It becomes a problem then... If rape happens with or without consent, it should be punished as prescribed in Islam."

He went on to say that the solution to rape was hanging both the man and woman.

He also defended his party chief by saying Mulayam respects women.