2016.3.4 6：46
印度比哈尔邦新闻A lawyer in the Indian state of Bihar recently filed a complaint against Lord Rama for mistreating women, namely his wife Sita. The case was filed at the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Sitamarhi district, where Thakur Chandan Kumar Singh asserted that the deity’s conduct through the Sanskrit epic Ramayana proves how he was wanting in the treatment of women. Singh cited Rama’s banishment of Sita to a life of exile in a forest without any logical reasoning to substantiate his claim.
“The Devi was exiled (given ‘vanvasa’) for no fault of hers. It was a hypocritical order from king Rama. How can a man become so cruel to his wife that he sends her off to live in a forest?” Singh said in his complaint.
According to Singh, this incident ought to be considered as a non-cognizable offence committed by Rama, who unnecessarily inconvenienced his wife several times through her life, as documented in the Ramayana.
“Lord Rama did not think for a single moment how a woman could live alone amid wild animals, including reptiles and mammals, in the forest,” said Singh.
As the complainant stressed that he did not intend to hurt any person’s religious sentiment, the CJM, Ram Bihari, decided to hear the matter on February 1, eventually quashing Singh’s complaint. Describing the petition as ‘beyond logic and facts’, Bihari ruled that Singh’s claims were both pointless and unsustainable.
“The court observed that the matter was far from logic and not maintainable for initiating a case. Even no evidence was produced by the complainant before the bench,” court sources said.
In the meantime, three separate cases were registered against Singh for defaming Lord Rama. After admitting charges against Singh under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Bihari transferred the matter to another court the following day.
Singh, 31, condemned Bihari’s ruling, saying Sita was beyond all doubt a victim of domestic violence.
“All I wanted from the court was justice for Goddess Sita who spent 14 years with Lord Rama in the forest during the period of vanvas. It was Rama who was asked to go on vanvas by his father Dashratha yet Sita agreed to join him. Still Ram treated her so shabbily, and this hurts me a lot. Sita hailed from Mithila and I, too, am from Mithila. It is natural that I have a soft corner for her,” said Singh.
Singh said that his petition should not have been quashed as the issue merits a raging debate concerning the rights of women in India.
“Had Sita been delivered justice, the cases of domestic violence would have drastically come down in the country as nobody would have dared to maltreat his wife. … Justice to Sita would have meant justice to the entire women class, and not only this particular epic character.”
Singh elucidated that the persecution of women can be traced back to Treta Yuga, which was the same time during which Lord Rama is believed to have reigned over Ayodhya. According to Hindu mythology, women in Kal Yuga (the current phase) would be assured social justice only if they ensured the same for their predecessors from Treta Yuga.

2016.3.4 08：36
印度尼西亚关闭变性学生学校Authorities in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta recently shut down the Islamic Al Fatah School for transgender students after residents allegedly lodged complaints
“We decided to close down the transgender Islamic school considering security, order and public comfort issues,” said Banguntapan chief Jati Bayu Broto.
Security officers, local representatives, officials at Al Fatah and Yogyakarta Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) met on February 24 before reaching the decision, which was reportedly based on the school being located in a very crowded residential area.
“Whenever there are activities, motorcycles are parked on the street and disturb the public,” said Broto.
Public attorney Aditia Arief Firmanto, representing Al Fatah’s head Sinta Ratri, claimed that locals had used the meeting to cause psychological abuse to the region’s transgender community
“There was no clarification in the meeting. Our clients could not defend against the accusations of alcohol, karaoke and other activities at the Islamic School,” he retorted.
Hardliners visited Al Fatah last month after the school promised not to shut down due to intimidation. At the time of the visit, FJI leader Abu Hamdan said they wanted to ensure that no transgender student was committing any deviant act inside the school. He reportedly threatened students to “return to the right path.
Ratri immediately sought protection from the police, who guaranteed that the school would receive all the support it required
“It’s my area; I will give a security guarantee,” said Banguntapan Police Chief Commissioner Suharno.
The Al Fatah School was founded in 2008 by an Indonesian waria or transgender, named Maryani, to receive other transgender Muslims and offer them a comfortable space to be themselves. She hit the headlines in 2013, after attempting a pilgrimage to Mecca that was called off due to “documentation problems.”
She followed through with her pilgrimage in 2015 however, visiting Mecca from April 26 to May 5 and performing all the pillars of umrah veiled from head to toe as a woman.
“They come to Yogyakarta just because they know about this school,” said Italian photographer Fulvio Bugani. “They know that there they can pray and live like a woman in a good atmosphere.”
The school was shut down in 2015 after Maryani’s death but it was opened once again at a property owned by Ratri. According to local administrators, no resident had complained about the school’s location or practices until this recent development.
“But I have never heard any negative reports on the transgender Islamic school. We would know if there were because village officials hold regular meetings,” said former Jagalan village chief Sholehudin.