Mass murderer becomes parliamentarist in India

[Heresson]

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.

[Jon Miller]

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

[General Ludd]

The "upper-caste" are not people, calling her a murderer is a stretch.

[Dinner]

She looks like a common thief who murdered and robbed then tried to justify it by saying it was class warfare.

[Admiral]

India is the home country of Ghandi, she should have known better than pull the violent-revolution-as-necessity card to frame her actions.

[Vince278]

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.

[:) 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.

[Imran Siddiqui]

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.

[Az]

I agree with Imran.

[Boris Godunov]

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?

[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?

[Az]

I feel cheated and betrayed

[Dinner]

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.

[General Ludd]

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.

[Dinner]

I sure you wouldn't if you just used your noggin.