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Mona Eltahawy @monaeltahawy
, 7 tweets, 4 min read Read on Twitter
What happens when women defy patriarchy: Violent protests have paralysed southern Indian state of #Kerala after 2 women made history by entering a prominent Hindu temple.
One person was killed in clashes. Schools are closed & public transport suspended. bbc.com/news/world-asi…
The #Sabarimala temple was historically closed to women of "menstruating age" - defined as between 10 and 50.
The Supreme Court revoked the ban in September. On Wednesday, Bindu Ammini, 40, and Kanaka Durga, 39, entered the shrine around dawn and became the first women to do so.
The day before the two women made history by entering #Sabarimala temple, #Kerala had a historic protest for gender equality and against right-wing groups who oppose the Supreme Court’s lifting of the ban on women
Right-wing groups, supported by India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demanded a state-wide shutdown. #Kerala govt, which supports the Supreme Court ruling, fearing violence, shut schools and shops. Buses did not run as protesters blocked highways & roads
More than 700 people were arrested in protests against the women’s entrance to the temple on Wednesday and Thursday. Sixty police officers were injured, more than 80 public buses were damaged and at least a dozen police vehicles were attacked. #Sabrimala
The ruling Hindu nationalist BJP has argued that Supreme Court ruling lifting the ban on women is an attack on Hindu values. Critics have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pursuing a religiously divisive agenda to court the BJP's mostly-Hindu support base ahead of elections
The protests have turned into an ideological battle between the right and the left - most of the protesters belong to right-wing groups affiliated to the BJP; and those who support the court ruling are affiliated to #Kerala's left-wing coalition government. #SabarimalaProtest
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“#Thai authorities will allow 18-year-old Rahaf Alqunun into the country while the UNHCR processes her case after agency representatives were allowed to meet with her late Monday afternoon, according to Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, immigration bureau chief” khaosodenglish.com/featured/2019/…
“After being allowed to meet #RahafAlqunun, UNHCR on Monday agreed to place her under its care & process her for travel to another country, during which #Thailand will allow her entry, Lt. Gen. Surachate Hakparn,immigration bureau chief. told reporters just after 8pm.“ #SaveRahaf Rahaf Alqunun, at center, is escorted by immigration chief Surachate Hakparn, at right, Monday at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“She has left the airport with the UN,” he said. “She’s not being held by the immigration any longer.”

He said that UNHCR had taken #RahafAlqunun from the airport to other accommodations in #Bangkok and it will take about five days to find a country to accept her.“ #SaveRahaf
Read 3 tweets
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Translation of tweets from the #Saudi woman trying to flee into asylum who said she is being held at #Bangkok airport: “I am the girl who escaped #Kuwait to #Thailand. My life is in real danger if I am forced to return to #Saudi Arabia.”
“My name is Rahaf Mohamed. I will publish my full name publicly if my family and the #Saudi embassy and the #Kuwaiti embassy man don’t stop chasing me”
“I am 20 years old and I should be able to live alone, freely, independent of anyone who does not respect my dignity and who doesn’t respect me as a woman.”
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“And when your son looks at you and says ‘Mama look you won. Bullies don’t win.’ And I said ‘Baby, they don’t. Because we’re gonna go in there, we’re gonna impeach the motherfucker.’” - Rep. Rashida Tlaib
#WhyIsayFuck #116thCongress
“People are like, ‘Rashida, maybe you should put the bullhorn away.’ No! ‘Maybe you shouldn’t wear those gym shoes everywhere.’...I say fuck that.” h/t @rerutled #WhyIsayFuck
“I didn’t change or try to run away from being Arabeyya,Muslimah, Falestenyya &...it’s such an addition on top of that to being a badass organizer.Don’t ever let anyone take away your roots,culture,who you are bec when you(don’t change) people love you & you win” @RashidaTlaib
Read 22 tweets

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Why Sabarimala has nothing to do with Menstruation. A thread-
Lord Ayyapa is worshipped by Hindus all over the world. He's one of the most important deity in the southern part of the Indian Subcontinent. There are thousands of temples where Lord is worshipped in diff forms.
Located in the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Indian state of Kerala is one such temple- Sabarimala. It is a temple where lord is worshipped in his celibate form. Millions of devotees visit this temple every year, but only after days of strictly abstaining from lifely pleasures.
Legend says that this is the place where lord took refuge in order to save his vow of celibacy. Lord liberated a girl from a curse who immediately fell in love with him. She insisted him to marry her which wasn't possible as lord was a celibate.
Read 8 tweets
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OK, Twitter. Pour the tea. It’s time to talk about #ToxicMasculinity and the #myth of the #AlphaMale . You ready? I got my tea right here. It’s green tea spiked with whiskey, honey, garlic, mint, and wasabi because it’s going to be that kind of thread. Here we go.
First off, let’s deal with this #AlphaMale nonsense. Take a quick look in the mirror. Are you a wolf, a chimpanzee, a gorilla, or a bonobo? Are you a chicken? Are you a large herd animal, like a horse or a bighorn sheep? No? OK, then you’re probably not an alpha anything.
Alpha males, which distinguish themselves based on physically dominating behaviors DO exist in gorilla and chimpanzee societies. But guess what doesn’t exist in those societies? Higher-order organizational structures such as governments, militaries, or police forces...
Read 26 tweets
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I sometimes feel @georgialibs don't get enough high quality, academic press #history & #sociology books. Using the GA Pines automated system, people who are members of participating libraries can get a number of very good books which have recently come to my attention.
"The oldest living things in the world" by Rachel Sussman gapines.org/eg/opac/record…. This photo essay book is a beautiful, mind-expanding paean to our biosphere. (I realize this is a #science #ecology book)
"Talking to my daughter about the economy, or, how capitalism works-- and how it fails" by Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis gapines.org/eg/opac/record…
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#Kerala architects stood out in their mastery over wood sculpting. If you ask, why most of the temples in Kerala are not so architecturally minute in their making, the answer is: wood. Cheras largely worked with wood. This is the koothambalam of #haripad Subramanian temple.
Because the entire structure was made of wood most of the grand temples succumbed to fire accidents. It was easy for invaders to raze it too. But remnants of it exist only in a handful of temples. See this video. #haripadsubramanian temple.
The ceiling of the koothambalam ( theatre) at #haripadsubramanian temple.
Read 16 tweets
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Depiction of a temple having a dome and entrance framed within a 'pointed arch'
Dated: ~1-3rd century CE
Entrance is likely derived from arched torana with concentric arches, space between them is beautifully decorated with scrollwork and floral patterns. #Gandhara
Dome of the temple was capped by Kalasha.

Fortunately there are various temples same features which survived the wrath of Islamic invaders. See the one in below link

Link: m.facebook.com/story.php?stor…

In the above temple, we can see the space for similar projected door frame.
Head of Skanda, Peshawar

Dated: ~2-3rd century CE
Read 35 tweets
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Today actually makes it over two decades since the sad killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa by the Nigerian State under Abacha alongside 8 others: Felix Nuate, Baronem Kobel, Saturday Dobee, Daniel Gbooko, Nordu Eawu, Baribor Bera, Paul Levura and John Kpuinee.

I think it’s worth a Thread.
This thread captures history from various perspectives all blended together to reveal a fuller picture.

It shows that Saro-Wiwa was also human like any of us but he was exceptionally courageous and dogged in spite of his human flaws.
Saro-Wiwa was a diminutive man who invariably always smoked a pipe and was considered quite brilliant.

He wrote a popular play which was adapted for TV when we were younger “Basi and Company”.

He was from Ogoni - an oil-producing area in Rivers State which has several villages.
Read 50 tweets

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