Philobiblon

… and lots of other places: advocate the advancement of women. The president-nominee of India (a much less powerful post than it sounds), Pratabha Patil, said:

“Women have always been respected in the Indian culture. The purdah system was introduced to protect them from the Muslim invaders. However, times have changed. India is now independent and hence, the systems should also change,” she said.
“Now that women are progressing in every field, we should morally support and encourage them by leaving such practices behind.”

Now her history might be a bit ropey (if entirely traditional), but not a lot there, you would have thought, to cause a huge row. But it has.