Her father hired a hit man …

Caste

"They were young, glamorous and dreamily in love.

Pranay Perumalla strode into the wedding hall in a midnight blue suit, his face lit by a grin as he clasped the hand of his bride, Amrutha Varshini. The couple draped huge garlands of flowers around one another’s necks and relatives threw grains of yellow rice that caught in their dark hair. 

But even as they celebrated, they were already in danger. 

One bright afternoon less than a month later, the couple left a doctor’s appointment in the small southern Indian city where they grew up. A man came up behind them carrying a large butcher knife in his right hand. He hacked Pranay twice on the head and neck, killing him instantly.

Pranay, 23, was a Dalit, a term used to describe those formerly known as “untouchables.” Amrutha, 21, belongs to an upper caste. Her rich and powerful family viewed the couple’s union as an unacceptable humiliation. Her father, T. Maruthi Rao, was so enraged that he hired killers to murder his son-in-law, court documents say."  Washpost

—————-

As a board member at a major foundation I voted for many years on decisions to award grants to social scientists for post graduate research.

The underlying mind set of my colleagues on the board as well as the hired staff of the foundation was such that "culture" (the accumulated customs and folkways of a people) are not real and that they only mask the true causes of behavior which are in the end always revealed as economic.

I do not exclude economic factors from the assembled causes of behavior but my colleagues at this foundation certainly disdained "culture,"  "the culture thing,"

In the end I resigned from the board.

Here, pilgrims we have the case of a father in law who hires an assassin and instructs him to kill his daughter's beloved for the sole apparent reason of the husband's lack of status as a member of a recognized caste.  There is no apparent economic reason for the father's action unless one wishes to think of the waves of foreign invasions and establishment thereby of new social systems in India as being essentially economic re-structuring.

pl

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/a-young-indian-couple-married-for-love-then-the-brides-father-hired-assassins/2019/08/19/3d1ce9a0-a1d0-11e9-a767-d7ab84aef3e9_story.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India

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43 Responses to Her father hired a hit man …

  1. Vegetius says:

    These are the kind of people who anti-American tech companies use to censor their platforms are import to steal work from native-born Americans.

  2. Barbara Ann says:

    Which kind – the murderer, the father, the victim, the loving bride, millions of other Indian Deplorables just trying to earn a rupee, most of whom would most likely condemn this despicable act?
    The Indian caste system is the cause of many injustices, but I do not think we can lay the blame for Globalist offshoring at its feet. The proprietor of WaPo and his ilk would be a more appropriate target.

  3. Barbara Ann says:

    O/T but did Trump just have a minor “basket of deplorables” moment? Splitting the Democrats is one thing, insulting Jewish Democrat voters is quite another. Trump of all people should know the difference.

  4. Babak Makkinejad says:

    I do not think that you know anything at all about Dalit Life in India.
    US Deplorables are living lives of utter dignity and security compared to those poor souls.
    Dalit women are often raped and the orphan girls would become temple whores.
    And then there is that little matter of honor killing among Muslims, Shia, Sunni, zEbadi, Salafi….
    Ask any of the Indians in your acquaintance.

  5. Babak Makkinejad says:

    I would add the honor killing of women in Muslim countries as an aspect of Muslim culture.

  6. Fred says:

    “They change their stars, not their hearts, who cross the sea.”
    H1b visa holders don’t become different people by taking an expat job here or anywhere else.

  7. Terence Gore says:

    What those who want to override the existing culture may be thinking is that the importance of the new ideal outweighs a few personal tragedies. (as long as they are not affected)

  8. VietnamVet says:

    Colonel,
    I agree. Cultures are different. Borders and militias to defend them are a necessary human evil. The East Indian caste system is powerful. I was half-way down the totem pole just because I attended a public American university. Boston elite are called Brahmins for good reason. Blindness about this is overwhelming. Democrats can’t blame the Russians anymore for their faults so it is now White Racists who are the scapegoats. The West is on a fast track splitting apart into a myriad of ethnic tribes so the elite can get richer. The only way to avoid a civil war is to restore democracy and the rule of law for everyone and govern with equality and fraternity.

  9. doug says:

    Did Trump just go brain dead. “Great disloyalty” will drive away a significant fraction of the Jewish neocons in spite of his relationship with Bibi. And it’s going to put Bibi in an awkward spot as well.

  10. Jack says:

    Sir
    I don’t claim any expertise in Indian culture. However two decades ago I traveled frequently in India as we invested in many businesses. My exposure was to the educated upper middle class managers and wealthy business owners. While most were educated in the West and had good understanding of western mores and management principles when it came to their personal lives they were deeply imbued with their cultural predilections. Caste and social status as well as the behavior of their children particularly daughters were definitely guided by the traditions of their culture. Weddings of their children were a particularly momentous occasion and no money was spared in how ostentatious it would be as it reflected on their social status. Marriages were arranged by parents and brought together prominent families of equivalent status and most importantly required the two sides were of similar religion, language and sect.
    From my limited exposure to Indians in India I completely concur with your point that culture plays a huge role in their behavior. This story is not unusual.

  11. Amir says:

    This type of “honor killing”, a crime that is regularly seen in South-Asia (not only India), is as much a cultural expression of those people as pederasty is for the ancient Greeks and pedophilia in the Catholic church. The “honor killing” is a deterrent to ensure “tribal cohesion”. In this case the patriarchy of the richer upper caste, want to delineate their dominion. Similar to some Islamic villagers or Jewish fundamentalists or even Christians ( http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-christian-honour-killing-kerala-kevin-p-joseph-southern-dalit-a8375891.html ) Reproductive rights of a women are seen as a family possession and not an individual right for the women. Surely even in US, some upper class men think that women can not make decision about their own reproductive rights. The difference being that there are more technologies around in US to achieve the end result.

  12. Mathias Alexander says:

    How far is culture determined by economics?

  13. Amir says:

    How can a president suppress the provision of healthcare, in this particular case women- & reproductive health services and how does that compare to India’s Government? https://twitter.com/repwexton/status/1163853445213896704?s=21

  14. turcopolier says:

    Terence Gore
    People awarding post grad study purses are not supposed to be using them to foster their hopes for the future.

  15. turcopolier says:

    Amir you are about 40 or 50 years behind the times in the US. You are describing mid 20th century America.

  16. turcopolier says:

    That depends on what you consider to be “economics.”

  17. turcopolier says:

    Amir
    US government contributions to Planned Parenthood are just that. Contributions.

  18. BABAK MAKKINEJAD says:

    Tribes have been extinct in Iran for a very long time – as well as in much of India and Pakistan – yet the honor killings have been going on.
    The Catholic Church cannot hold a candle to the Muslim world when it comes to pederasty; which had been going on for centuries.
    In India and in China, millions of females fetuses are aborted and the only thing standing between a similar practice in Iran is the old Fatwa of Ayatollah Khomeini against abortion.

  19. BABAK MAKKINEJAD says:

    I once read that among the Germanic tribes of Northern Europe, who clearly had a marginal economy, it was customary for women to attend the tribal councils. In some tribes, women could speak and be heard, in some women could vote on the topic of discussion.
    However, a cursory reading of The Book of Kings, or various fables of Muslim world, makes it quite clear that women were treated as property – among the ruling strata.

  20. John Minehan says:

    Hard to make that distinction at times.
    How much was the father-in-law in your example’s action predicated on his peers who excluded him from economic activity because he had a Dalit son-in-law?
    How much was his objection based on his perception that his son-in-law was either a “gold digger” at his daughter’s expense or an arriviste who would damage the family’s social standing (and economic prospects).
    Economic’s and culture are intertwined.
    For another example think of the PRC’s OBOR, it makes no western economic sense but might promote social stability in the PRC, which might be essential to keeping their economy afloat (or not).

  21. Fred says:

    Amir,
    Perhaps Representative Wexton could let us all know many live births have there been in the maternity wards of Planned Parenthood in VA-10.

  22. Barbara Ann says:

    Babak
    Thanks for your comment, it is great to see you back on SST.
    Your knowledge of the wretchedness of Dalit life may well be superior to my own, however, I do not see how this observation derives from my comment. This did not concern Dalits and it was certainly not my intention to compare them to US Deplorables.
    My experience of Indians has been primarily via working with them in the offshoring/outsourcing industries. I never heard one voice support for honor killings. My point was simply that there are many kinds of people in India, as everywhere else and that objection to offshoring or the use of immigrant (in place of domestic) labor does not need to be rooted in national or cultural stereotyping. There are far more sound objections to these practices, oft discussed here.
    To your other point, I think we can expect much wailing and gnashing of teeth in WaPo and elsewhere over Afghanistan in the not too distant future. M K Bhadrakumar, whose views on South Asian geopolitics are often prescient, has been arguing for some time that a final deal between the US and the Taliban now looks highly likely. A return to a Taliban dominated government and Sharia law looks inevitable soon thereafter. Trump will doubtless be harangued for abandoning the womenfolk of Afghanistan as it returns to its cultural norms. Will this affect 2020? I think not.

  23. MP98 says:

    We can’t be judgemental.
    All cultures and societies are equally important:
    “Diversity is our strength.”
    Actually, I don’t care what other people in other societies do.
    If the Afghans want to live in the 12 century, let them.
    What I do care about is not turning my society (USA) into a third world toilet under the guise of “diversity.”

  24. Offtrail says:

    Colonel,
    Thanks for making an effort to point out this obvious truth. As a person with religious beliefs I certainly agree that “the culture thing is real”, and that money doesn’t underlie all decisions. At the same time, not sure I would go so far as Mr Rao in this situation.

  25. turcopolier says:

    john Minehan
    Sophistry. i hope you enjoy it.

  26. turcopolier says:

    offtrail
    you don’t think you would go so far as to hire a killer to dispose of a lower class son in law? Irony I hope.

  27. Babak Makkinejad says:

    Thank you for your response.
    I wished to make clear that nothing like the day-to-day violence of the cast in India exists in the United States, indeed anywhere else.

  28. Babak Makkinejad says:

    Not “low class”, but more like “heathen” or “heretical savage”. The only analogue of Dalits that I know of are the Burakumin in Japan.

  29. Babak Makkinejad says:

    What would Jesus have done if faced with the situation of the Dalits? Judge not etc.

  30. Diana C says:

    Again I am listening to reports on the homeless camps in California–in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles.
    It seems to me we are developing a caste system, especially in largely progressive cities.
    It seems to some degree to have an economic component to this developing problem as well as a cultural problem. Very wealthy people don’t want to feel prejudiced (culture?), so they look the other way and don’t want to spend time and effort to pass laws and provide clean buildings and facilities so the poor can find a clean and sanitary place to live where agencies can also provide help in mental health and employment advice, etc (economic concerns).
    Where is a Mother Teresa for the U.S.?

  31. Jack says:

    IMO, economics played no role. It had to do with his perception of “honor” and what his other extended family members would say. In my experience when it comes to economics Indians are quite happy to trade among different castes and social classes as well as regions. When it came to marriage of their children it’s not only caste but also region, language and religion. A Christian would frown if their child married a Hindu or Muslim and a Punjabi family would oppose their child marrying a Tamilian.

  32. optimax says:

    The indigenous cultural roots of violence in the US are according to the media grounded in white supremacy–even black mob violence. Cops in the hood see it differently. This video, narrated by a cop, shows what cops in the hood go through frequently and how the media talking heads minimize the danger.
    https://www.minds.com/media/1008205322718437376

  33. Amir says:

    Exactly as you say, more than half a century ago the contraceptive pill was introduced & after a few decades the social mores adapted themselves to this new technological phenomenon. But the basic fact remains that GOP senators and the mostly male clergy (by definition mostly upper or upper-middle class) want to determine women’s reproductive lives, similar to India but have a much bigger civic society to counter.

  34. Babak Makkinejad says:

    No way!
    You closed publicly funded state institutions for the mentally ill, lowered taxes, and turned them loose.
    Like Barbara, you are clueless about the caste system, it is a form of social corporation.

  35. Mike C says:

    A slightly different take on the issue of culture: Not long after seeing this post I found an article describing the illegal wild bird trade around Miami.
    https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/07/songbirds-are-being-snatched-from-miamis-forests/
    I have been a bird watcher my whole life, and had pet birds. It never occurred to me to try to abduct wild ones.

  36. Horace says:

    That is one of my favorite quotes and why I use the ‘Horace’ handle. The Roman ruling class knew 2000 years ago that magic dirt theory was complete nonsense. Alas, it did not stop them from invading the world, inviting the world, and vanishing from the world. ‘Our’ ruling elites are a pack of diseased hyenas by comparison, which is probably a good thing because they won’t be able to keep the empire racket going long enough to finish us off for good.

  37. Horace says:

    The man knows exactly what he is doing. Few goyim, especially of his rank and capability, understand the social and political fabric of Jewish civilization better than DJT. He is trying to split those who love their children more than they hate us from those who hate us more than they love their own (often non-existent) children and absorb the former along with those who do not hate us at all into his coalition. Just like Pres. Trump said about his confrontation with China, this is a hard thing that needed doing a LONG time ago.
    Why would he do this? Jews are the dominant albeit diminishing faction among those vying for possession of the control nodes of our civilization (coinage, courts, media, education). He is coalition building. It reminds of the now old joke “What is the difference between Donald John Trump and the typical Jewish communist? DJT has Jewish grandchildren.” skin in the game

  38. Babak Makkinejad says:

    You cannot be serious.
    Bigotry, Prejudice, Malice,Anger, Hatred, Fear, Envy; the usual suspects.

  39. John Minehan says:

    Culture and economics are deeply entwined.
    Look at OBOR. By Western economic measures it makes no sense, However, China, over the centuries, has prospered by luring able and loyal people out to the peripheries to create stability, which was seen as under-girding prosperity.
    Where does the culture stop and the economics begin?

  40. turcopolier says:

    John Minehan
    More sophism. the economics of life influence the culture. Any foo knows that.

  41. John Minehan says:

    The interplay is interesting. See, e.g., Meinhard v. Salmon, 249 NY 458, 463-4 (1928) (“Joint adventurers, like copartners, owe to one another, while the enterprise continues, the duty of the finest loyalty. Many forms of conduct permissible in a workaday world for those acting at arm’s length, are forbidden to those bound by fiduciary ties. A trustee is held to something stricter than the morals of the market place. Not honesty alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive, is then the standard of behavior. As to this there has developed a tradition that is unbending and inveterate. Uncompromising rigidity has been the attitude of courts of equity when petitioned to undermine the rule of undivided loyalty by the “disintegrating erosion” of particular exceptions. Only thus has the level of conduct for fiduciaries been kept at a level higher than that trodden by the crowd. It will not consciously be lowered by any judgment of this court.”) (citations omitted).
    Is that still the case? Probably not, for reasons BOTH cultural and economic. and such “disintegrating erosion” was not unheard of in 1928, obviously.

  42. Offtrail says:

    Yes, I was joking.

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