Korean Job Discussion Forums

[madoka]

Koreans have some stupid customs, but they can't touch the Indians in the stupid tradition department:

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.

Local officials told television news stations Friday that there had been no reports of injuries.

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.

With high child mortality rates, especially in India's rural areas, many people resort to rituals which they believe can ensure their children's health.

Child rights activists expressed outrage after the Headlines Today television channel showed the babies being dropped.

"This shows the complete failure of the local administration to prevent this practice and to create awareness about children's health," said Ranjana Kumari, a civil rights activist in New Delhi.

"It is also a reflection of the lack of access to health services, that forces people to behave in this irrational manner," Kumari told the AP.

India's National Commission for Protection of Child's Rights issued a notice Thursday to the local administration in Sholapur and has begun investigations into the practice."

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=14849462&ch=4226714&src=news

[Ilsanman]

The title says it all. India Sparkling!!

[flakfizer]

Do they sing as they drop them: One little, two little, three little Indians...?

[itaewonguy]

do they still pour sand down the throats of their new borns when they find out its a girl?

[okokokok]

Having lived in both countries, India is surprising similar to Korea in many ways.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[The evil penguin]

[E_athlete]

I don't see how this is any stupider than cutting off the foreskin off boys when they are babies for superstitious reasons.

[Ilsanman]

How about for cleanliness?

[Young FRANKenstein]

[LaffertyDaniel]