24-04-2005 07:52									#1
	Mass murderer becomes parliamentarist in India Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

quote: Phoolan Devi (20+) Known as India's infamous Bandit Queen, Phoolan Devi, 36, is accused of massacring 20 upper-caste men in 1981 in the village of Behmai in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Now a lawmaker, Phoolan had previously been held prisoner and raped by the citizens of Behmai. Indian police was ordered to arrest Phoolan before February 4, 1997, on a petition filed by Raja Ram, a resident of Behmai village, who claimed that the parole granted to Devi had ended in December. The ruling came seven weeks after the Supreme Court rejected Devi's pleas to throw out 54 charges of murder, robbery, extortion and kidnapping still pending against her. Devi won a seat in the federal Parliament in 1996 -- after serving 11 years in prison -- by championing the cause of low-caste Hindus. She portrayed her criminal career as part of a struggle between low-caste Hindus like herself and the upper castes in one of India's most backward regions.

http://www.mayhem.net/Crime/serial2.html

It was by the way of a thread at Civfanatics forums that I've found this nice story.

	24-04-2005 07:55									#2
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umm, sometimes the only response is revolution

at other times, democratic means can provide a valid response

when things change so that democratic responses become valid, you will have situations like this

it is similiar to Mandela becoming president of South Africa (but not exactly the same)

I don't see a problem with this...

Jon Miller

	24-04-2005 08:21									#3
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The "upper-caste" are not people, calling her a murderer is a stretch.

	24-04-2005 10:09									#4
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She looks like a common thief who murdered and robbed then tried to justify it by saying it was class warfare.

	24-04-2005 10:20									#5
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India is the home country of Ghandi, she should have known better than pull the violent-revolution-as-necessity card to frame her actions.

	24-04-2005 11:37									#6
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Criminal conduct is criminal conduct. Sounds like there was plenty of it on both sides. Two wrongs don't make a right, jail the lot of them. If not then justice has no meaning over there.

	24-04-2005 12:37									#7
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Justice is good in moderation, as it is addictive and leads to cycles of revenge. In situations like this, it's fine to let the law bend and give peace a chance.

	24-04-2005 12:41									#8
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I'm flabbergasted that people are playing this down as its no big deal or its ok... jeeez... you people need to get your heads examined.

	24-04-2005 12:53									#9
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I agree with Imran.

	24-04-2005 12:55									#10
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The only thing I see wrong is that she only spent 11 years in prison for committing multiple murders. Wtf is that all about?

Otherwise, I suppose if someone has done their time, paid their debt, etc., I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to hold an office.

EDIT: Or maybe I'm reading things wrong...what did she spend the prison time for?

	24-04-2005 13:01									#11
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Okay, I got a detailed account here:

http://www.goodbyemag.com/jul01/devi.html

This woman died years ago. Why the hell are you bringing this up now as if it is news?

	24-04-2005 13:28									#12
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I feel cheated and betrayed

	24-04-2005 18:14									#13
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quote: Originally posted by Smiley Justice is good in moderation, as it is addictive and leads to cycles of revenge. In situations like this, it's fine to let the law bend and give peace a chance.

There wasn't a war. Instead you had common bandits who robbed and murdered people. Latter on she claimed it was all class warfare in order to help the oppressed masses.

	24-04-2005 18:20									#14
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin There wasn't a war. Instead you had common bandits who robbed and murdered people.

I'm having a really hard time figuring out which side you are refering to when you say this.

	24-04-2005 18:24									#15
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I sure you wouldn't if you just used your noggin.

	24-04-2005 20:50									#16
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What's the big deal? it says she spent 11 years in jail.

	24-04-2005 20:54									#17
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Nothing is wrong. In fact, it is perfect. We should get old Charlie Manson to run for office in India; they'd love him.

	24-04-2005 20:55									#18
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Ok, here's the Cliff's Notes:

Lower caste woman gets kidnapped and repeatedly raped and beaten by some upper caste men.

After escaping, woman gets a bunch of thugs together, goes back to the village and demands her kidnappers be brought to her for justice. But the men are nowhere to be found, so the thugs line up 21 men who didn't have anything to do with it and shoot them.

The people involved get captured, and prison terms are handed out. Devi claims all along she never shot anyone and that she didn't mean for the men to get killed, it was her out-of-control thugs who did it all. Nonetheless, she serves the longest jail term (11 years) for being the "mastermind." In the meantime, her reputation grows to mythical proportions among the lower castes.

So, paroled from prison in 1996, she uses her reputation to run for parliament and wins. She loses her seat in the next election, however, but then wins it again. By this time, her "revenge for rape" story has turned into "I was defending the people."

In 2001, she gets whacked. The assassin supposedly claimed to be seeking revenge for the massacre, but in actuality it appears he was put up to it by Devi's estranged husband.

	24-04-2005 20:56									#19
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Well, in this case, nothing seriously out of order here, except the fact we discuss it after she's been whacked.

	24-04-2005 21:03									#20
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Her death was reported a few years back. How exactly did she come back from the grave to win a seat in government?

	24-04-2005 21:08									#21
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Read the whole thread, che.

	24-04-2005 21:11									#22
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I did, just not at first.

I saw the movie Bandit Queen, btw. She's something of a hero in India.

	24-04-2005 21:51									#23
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This is why it's a good idea to prohibit felons from voting and having many of the usual priviledges of citizenship.

	25-04-2005 01:34									#24
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Then again, the fact that she's a hero to a lot of lower caste types might just be an indicator that "law and order" and "justice" might be relative things, available in relative doses, depending on the status of one's birth. Perhaps centuries of being treated like a bunch of kaffirs to be dealt with at the will of the high-caste citizenry has a bit of an influence on the lower caste types relative tolerance for Devi's solution to the problem.

	25-04-2005 01:40									#25
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So reactionaries here are trying to say that convicted felons should not be allowed to run for office. Why?

	25-04-2005 01:42									#26
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Maybe because it is a position of special trust and known felons can't be trusted.

	25-04-2005 01:46									#27
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and corporate whores can be trusted? let the people decide who they trust.

	25-04-2005 02:47									#28
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quote: Originally posted by Boris Godunov Okay, I got a detailed account here: http://www.goodbyemag.com/jul01/devi.html This woman died years ago. Why the hell are you bringing this up now as if it is news?

I do not. Read my post. I've found an interesting story and wanted to share it.

	25-04-2005 02:59									#29
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"Mass murderer becomes parliamentarist in India" implies it happened recently and she's still around. It's deceptive.

Should have been "Mass murderer once became parliamentarist in India, but she's dead now, so who the **** cares?"

	25-04-2005 03:04									#30
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You're right, it should be in past tense, but it is an interesting story no matter if it's happened 10 years ago or today.