India's made impressive feats of human progress in the past. They built exquisite palaces and shrines like the Taj Mahal, Amber Fort Jaipur... the Buddhist philosophy came from India - Buddha was actually an Indian (which would probably shock a lot of asian aunties), etc... but admittedly they also came up with a lot of crazy stuff - like wife burning, the bride dowry system, the Caste/ untouchable system, fatalism, and dropping babies from roofs in the belief that it would "ensure good health and prosperity for their families. Woohoo!!!Anyways here the news item...
NEW DELHI -- Rights activists lashed out at local officials who allowed hundreds of infants to be dropped from the roof of a mosque in western India in the belief that the fall -- which ends when the babies are caught in a bedsheet -- would ensure good health and prosperity for their families.
The ritual at the Baba Umer Durga, a Muslim shrine, is believed to have been followed for nearly 700 years, and each year hundreds of people, both Hindus and Muslims, take part in the ritual.
The ritual at the Baba Umer Durga, a Muslim shrine, is believed to have been followed for nearly 700 years, and each year hundreds of people, both Hindus and Muslims, take part in the ritual.
The infants, mostly under two years old, were dangled Thursday from the roof of the shrine near Sholapur, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) south of Mumbai, before being dropped about 50 feet (15 meters) onto a bedsheet held aloft by parents and other believers.
Television channels showed the babies screaming as they were shaken in the air before being dropped.
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Wow, Shaken, hurled, but not stirred?
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