Forced ‘virginity verify’ on underage ladies to defame monks of Lord Nataraja Temple, faux toddler marriage situations and additional: Explosive revelations by Governor of Tamil Nadu

The governor of Tamil Nadu, Ravindra Narayana Ravi, uncovered the beautiful truth about how minor ladies have been compelled to bear the two-finger verify, usually generally known as the virginity verify, by the state administration in an effort to defame the podhu dikshithars, in an explosive interview with the Times of India. Pothu dikshithars are the hereditary monks and custodians of Sri Sabanayagar Temple, popularly usually referred to as Lord Nataraja Temple.

“Out of vengeance, government officers of the social welfare department lodged eight complaints of child marriage against the podhu dikshithars, that they were marrying their children underage, whereas there were no such marriages,” Governor Ravi acknowledged.

“Parents were arrested and put behind prisons. And the girls, sixth and seventh standard students, were forcibly taken from home to the hospitals and made to undergo ‘two-finger tests,’ virginity tests. Some of them tried to commit suicide,” he revealed and mentioned that he wrote a letter to the chief minister questioning the horrific ordeal.

Two-finger verify and why it is problematic

In this course of, two fingers are inserted into the rape sufferer’s vagina by a medical expert in an effort to ‘test the laxity of the vagina’ and determine if the hymen is ruptured. The verify is repeatedly used to label rape victims as being habituated to intercourse.

The medical proof of prior sexual encounters is used to refute the rape allegation, each to recommend that the sufferer lied regarding the rape, to advocate that the rape was not harmful, or to argue that the sufferer is morally odious and subsequently not entitled to justice.

The problematic verify has been criticised world broad for its use.

In Egypt, the military acknowledged that they’d subjected female protestors to virginity assessments in the midst of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. They gave way more startling explanations for his or her conduct. An Egyptian regular declared, “The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine.”

“These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tehrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs). We didn’t want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren’t virgins in the first place. None of them were (virgins),” he gloated.

When it was discovered that officers have been making immigrant women bear virginity assessments at Heathrow Airport in 1979, there was an infinite uproar. This was carried out to verify their claims that they’ve been throughout the nation to get married.

In reality, Evan Luard, then Under-Secretary on the Foreign Office, had acquired a sturdy protest on the time from the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, Pascal Alan Nazareth, expressing that the Indian authorities was upset and wanted the observe outlawed.

Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has condemned this verify. “The WHO handbook upholds the widely accepted medical view that ‘virginity tests’ are worthless. Health authorities worldwide should end the practice of ‘virginity testing’ in all cases and prohibit health workers from perpetuating this discriminatory and degrading practice,” pronounced Liesl Gerntholtz, women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch.

“Despite the lack of evidence of medical utility and the potential harms, health professionals in multiple settings continue to practice virginity testing, including when assessing for sexual assault. health professionals must be better informed and medical and other textbooks updated to reflect current medical knowledge. Countries should review their policies and move towards banning of virginity testing,” a medical journal revealed throughout the USA concluded from their look at.

“Guidelines and Protocols, Medico-legal care for survivors/victims of sexual violence” revealed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has categorically prohibited this verify. Furthermore, it unambiguously emphasises that the hymen’s scenario is simply not a sign of sexual assault. Rape can nonetheless have occurred if the hymen is undamaged, and it will not have occurred even when the hymen is simply not intact.

According to the Supreme Court, such assessments are cruel and must be abolished. Two finger assessments are like one different assault on the sufferer, and the method have to be discontinued, Justice Verma Committee advised after the Delhi gang-rape case in December 2013. In its ideas, the Delhi Government admitted the necessity to eliminate the verify in circumstances of sexual assault and actually useful that victims be counselled by medical medical doctors as a substitute.

The uncertain conduct of the Tamil Nadu authorities

The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) wanted the governor to reward the federal authorities for the great administration of temples. “The reason they cited was that they have recovered 3,000 plus acres of encroached land. That’s a good one. We know that more than 50,000 acres of land have been encroached and recovery is too small. Look at what happened in 2022 at the Chidambaram Nataraja temple, which is not under the HR and CE.”

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu manages and controls the temple administration contained in the state.

Regarding the speech that the state prepares, he seen that it often discusses the insurance coverage insurance policies and initiatives of the chief division. “But the speech given to me was full of materials where it was neither policies nor programmes, but propaganda. They were inaccurate, they were lies. They said Tamil Nadu is a ‘haven of peace’ in terms of law and order.”

“I quoted some instances. In Tamil Nadu, from the very next day after the ban on PFI (Popular Front of India), a terrorist organisation, for five days, terror attacks continued, more than 50 bomb attacks on houses and vehicles and no action was taken,” he remarked.

On 28 September 2022, the Government of India declared PFI an illegal affiliation and banned the organisation for five years beneath the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The authorities reasoned that the organisation was prejudicial to the integrity, sovereignty and security of the nation and pointed to PFI’s reference to terror organisations like Students Islamic Movement of India, Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

DMK’s ideology is parochial and lifeless

The former bureaucrat slammed DMK and its governance model. “They wanted me to praise and endorse the Dravidian model of governance. First of all, there is no such model of governance.”

“It is only a political slogan, a desperate bid to sustain an expired ideology, an ideology that does not relish the idea of ‘Oru Bharatham, One India.’ An ideology that underplays the national freedom movement, seeks to erase from history and memory, the hundreds and thousands of freedom fighters from Tamil Nadu, those who gave their lives and everything and instead glorifies those who collaborated with the British,” he well-known.

He attacked their ideology and asserted, “It is an ideology that rabidly enforces linguistic apartheid on the whole of the nation. No other Indian language is allowed entry into Tamil Nadu. So much so that if you read the recent Budget speech, the government is going to set up a central Kalaignar library with 3.”

“25 lakh books only in Tamil and English, no other language. It is an ideology that has created an ecosystem that fosters separatist sentiment. I don’t think anyone can expect me to endorse that. No, I will not, and I said I will not,” he pressured.

Secularism and Sanatan Dharma

He proclaimed that the interpretation of Indian secularism is misleading and has been carried out by vested curiosity groups. “When the Constitution was being drafted, nobody thought there was a need for secularism to be introduced in the Constitution. But one member K T Shah raised the issue. The entire constituent assembly unanimously said secularism is a European concept where it was born out of the hostility between the Church and the State.”

He added, “Our secularism is equal respect to all. So, to say that our governors should not talk about religion, should not talk about dharma, is a wrong notion. And when we talk about equal respect for all, this is what Sanatana Dharma is. Why interpret it in terms of caste, or creed? These are mischievous distortions.”

DMK Files

“Since it was formally brought to my notice, due cognisance is being taken,” he responded when inquired regarding the BJP delegation’s attraction for a probe into DMK data. Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tamil Nadu chief Okay Annamalai has launched DMK data, a group on corruption inside the current state authorities. He has accused that DMK leaders’ property have been worth Rs 1.34 lakh crore as per his valuations and estimations.

He requested questions of the ruling social gathering and laid out allegations of corruption in opposition to DMK leaders and their shut kin. The BJP chief charged DMK leaders Jagatratchagan, E V Velu, Okay N Nehru, Kanimozhi, Kalanidhi Maran, T R Baalu, Kalanithi Veerasamy, Duraimurugan, Kathir Anand, Arcot Veersamy, Kalanidhi Veersamy, and Okay Ponmudy amongst others of irregularities and discrepancies in property.

He moreover complimented the residents of the southern state.”From my experience with Tamil people, they’re extraordinarily cultured, deeply spiritual, and exceedingly hospitable. When it entails Tamil literature, I’ve restricted knowledge. I started learning fundamental literature, Sangam literature, largely through English translations. I was astounded by the depth of thought and richness of the literature,” he commented whereas lauding their literature.