Indian doctors castrating boys to sell as hijra?

[SplitDik (imported)]

See http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.as ... 004_pg7_20

Petition asks for castration investigation

LAHORE: Advocate MD Tahir on Tuesday filed a petition to the Lahore High Court asking it to order an inquiry into reports that a group of doctors in Sheikhupura district was castrating young boys.

Mr Tahir said in his petition up to 5,000 boys in Jandiala Sher Khan, Karrryaland Tatley Aali, may have been made eunuchs by the doctors. Relying on a press report, the petitioner said the doctors were selling the eunuch to professionals in the business of arranging dance parties for rich people. The petitioner said even the local Family Planning Department could be involved in the practice. He asked the court to direct higher authorities to hold an inquiry into the reports. —Staff Report

[JesusA (imported)]

The most interesting part of this news article is that it is NOT from India. The Daily Times is published in Lahore, Pakistan – in an almost universally Moslem country. The Hijra of India are followers of a particular Hindu diety, the Mother Goddess, who goes by different names in the various languages of India. The few Hijra who began life as Moslems in India seem to convert to Hinduism in their new lives.

An interesting extension of this charge that Moslem boys in Pakistan are being castrated to become performers for the wealthy is that Pakistan is a major source of supply for slaves in the Gulf States where the practice continues (though it is “illegal” everywhere). Both Anti-Slavery International and the American Anti-Slavery Group have documented the sale of children into the area within the past year or two. A couple of years ago, the Asian edition of Time Magazine had an article on the sale of Afghan children in Pakistan, many of them destined for the Gulf States. One of the photographs showed children, both boys and girls, as young as 8 or 9 being marketed.

While none of the anti-slavery groups to which I belong has clearly documented any production of eunuchs for several years, this news article does raise the question as to whether or not some of these boys (if the charge is true) are to be used as slaves or household servants.

The most recent clearly documented case of slave castration of which I am aware was about ten years ago, when two Sudanese boys of about 10 and 12 were castrated. Contemporary chattel slavery is well documented in Sudan and slave raids against the Black inhabitants of the southern region of the country continue.

[SplitDik (imported)]

Good catch -- being in Pakistan makes this news even more interesting.

I believe that anywhere there is a demand, there will be people that attempt to use underhanded means of fulfilling it. I'm sure in any society there are enough people desiring eunuchs that there would be a market for them. And if you live in a place where there are a lot of extremely poor, untraceable young men, I believe they will be taken advantage of. Even getting them to "consent" to castration is likely a form of coercion when it is done for the promise of money.

[Uncle Flo (imported)]

I have been deeply thinking about this news report for a few days. I have developed an increasingly strong suspicion that this has a high probability of being an attempt to socialy or politicaly discredit a particular group or nationality. Keep in mind that while castration isn't specificaly forbidden by the Koran, the act of castration is strongly condemmed. FLO

[FianceeUvBigGuy (imported)]

I have been deeply thinking about this news report for a few days. I have developed an increasingly strong suspicion that this has a high probability of being an attempt to socialy or politicaly discredit a particular group or nationality. Keep in mind that while castration isn't specificaly forbidden by the Koran, the act of castration is strongly condemmed. FLO

Yoli here,

Dear Uncle Flo,

As I understand it, the Koran forbids a Muslim performing a castration, but does not forbid hiring a "hit man" to do it nor does it forbid the employment of eunuchs for various purposes.

Anyway, if certain doctors , real or otherwise, have been castrating boys for illicit purpose, then there is only one fitting punishment...guess what it is..LOL.

India is not a Muslim country. Pakistan is. That's what the partition after independence and the attendant (and ongoing) strife has been about, basically.

General question: When I log in to EA on this browser (nUtscape, giggle) I can automatically log in and have no problem accessing the Message Boards. BUT, it doesn't display the Stories menu at all. So, in order to read the stories, I have to log in via MSN Explorer. There, however, using the Message Boards is a total hassle. I've lost innumerable posts I labored over because, when I hit "Submit" I got a "Page Expired" or "Not logged in" (after I HAD logged in!).

I guess this matter should have been addressed in a seperate post, but office duties call.

Love to all,

Y(olanda)oli

Your Loving Little Girl Puppy in San Antonio

[Uncle Flo (imported)]

Hi, yoli. My conclusion was partialy based on the report coming from Pakistan and accusing Indian doctors of commiting what could be viewed as an affront to humanity (Muslim and other). There is an extreme movement in Pakistan devoted to blaming the ills of the world on the "godless" countries of India and the U.S. The more extreme voices in Pakistan have been gaining influence rapidly since the Pakistani government has been backing the U.S. government in its military adventures in the area. Your comment on the Koranic stance about castration is well taken, but more divergant interpretations are coming into favor. Castration, as we know all too well is almost always a subject that produces unreasoned responses. This makes it a nearly perfect medium for manipulating opinions. NOW, for those of us that read this and think that I should post it on the political forum I say this: A discussion of castration in the news always has a political element to it. Comments? FLO

[An Onymus (imported)]

For the record, there are something like 80 million Moslems in India, and some areas (like Kashmir) have Moslem majorities. There are probably more Moslems in India, than in any country in the Middle East. Indonesia, to my knowledge, has the largest Moslem population of any country in the world.

[SplitDik (imported)]

I think, like most debates, there is truth to both sides. I do think that there are poor runaway boys being taken advantage of in large numbers in countries like India and Pakistan. I also agree that being against forced castration is a pretty easy thing to rally around from a political standpoint.

Also, regarding whether or not castration is "allowed" by the Koran, I think good Muslims would assume that any such thing is against God whether they do it themselves or hire a "hit man" or purchase someone who is already a eunuch. I don't think the Bible really says anything about hiring hit men either, but I think most would interpret "Thou shalt not kill" to cover anything you do that leads or enables killing or even tolerates killing of other people.

The only difference I really see between Christians and Muslims in the world today is that Christian societies for the most part have moved beyond fundamentalism where most Muslim societies have not. Fundamentalists believe that everyone should share their beliefs. This is a dangerous attitude in any religion.

[Uncle Flo (imported)]

Excelent points , one and all! To show how elusive the truth can be in this part of the world I'd like to point out that after searching for several hours for firm population figures regarding Muslims in India I have no good numbers to offer. The latest all India census showed officialy 101 million muslims and 1.03 billion non-muslims. Don't rest on those numbers though, the states of Jammu and Kashmir (both largely muslim) were not counted because of an unco-operative public and an ongoing "state of war and rebellion". After all that the Indian government revised the figures for Muslims downward to (tentatively) 86 million and suggested it might be even lower! The Muslim leadership claims a figure of 123 to 129 million and in addition claims that the Hindu population is falling! And I had the nerve to think that the U.S. census had problems. FLO