Secularists must support rights of Muslims in an increasingly Islamophobic world, but they should be wary of strengthening the Muslim right in the process. To make sense of the contradictory voices within the community of secular-minded Indians on the raging hijab controversy, we would do well to recall a decades-old remark, in another context, of… Read More Javed Anand: What is at stake in the hijab issue
This is the twentieth anniversary of the making of Narendra Modi and the Gujarat Model. It was this month twenty years ago that triggered the marinade of horror, hatred and gore that has served up this sizzled nation called New India where it is possible for zealotry to hound a young girl for her choice… Read More Sankarshan Thakur: Splintered vision
Our board member Sravya Tadepalli moderated the briefing and opened with the words, “As a Hindu and part of a religious tradition that believes all human beings are inherently divine, I believe it is my religious duty to speak out when oppressed people face atrocities. As an Indian American, I feel a special obligation to… Read More Sunita Viswanath: Why is the Indian Media Erasing 'Hindus for Human Rights' from the Republic Day Story?
If you’re wondering how deep the rot has set into our society, and how autonomous the radicalisation of even the educated sections has become, you have to look no further than the open letter written by 32 assorted retired IFS officers on the 5th of this month in response to an appeal by more than… Read More Avay Shukla: A LETTER THAT DIMINISHES THE INDIAN FOREIGN SERVICE
Five former chiefs of the armed forces and a number of other prominent citizens including bureaucrats have written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the recent incidents of hate speeches and urged them to take appropriate measures. In a letter, the group of over 100 people also referred to the communal comments made at… Read More Citizens, armed forces veterans write to President, PM Modi on hate speech / Aditi Mittal: Deafening silence in a year of hate speech
Festive celebrations were disrupted, Jesus statues were smashed and effigies of Santa Claus were burned in a spate of attacks on India’s Christian community over Christmas.Amid growing intolerance and violence against India’s Christian minority, who make up about 2% of India’s population, several Christmas events were targeted by Hindu right wing groups, who alleged Christians… Read More Hannah Ellis-Petersen: Statue smashed in spate of attacks on India’s Christian community / Sunita Viswanath: How do we break the cycle of religious violence in South Asia? / Mukul Kesavan – Magic and mayhem: The death cult at Haridwar
SHILLONG, Dec 5: Following the concerted attacks on churches, nuns and priests and the forcible entry of Hindu right wing activists into places of worship in different parts of the country, the Archbishop of Shillong, Rev. Victor Lyngdoh on Sunday strongly condemned the attacks against Christians as unwarranted. It may be mentioned that recently a… Read More Church leaders condemn attacks on Christians in Karnataka / A Week Since Attack On Karnataka Church, No Arrests, Vigilantes Roam Freely / Catholic school in Madhya Pradesh vandalised
My recent book, Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times, is over 300 pages long. Throughout the book, I have sought to support and endorse the Ayodhya judgment, despite many of my legal colleagues having doubted its legal correctness, acknowledged and praised the philosophy of Hinduism, underscored the humanist dimensions of Sanatan Dharma. The thrust… Read More Salman Khurshid: Standing against those who divide
NB: I have just one comment to make on this issue, communalism of every hue thrives on state support whether open or covert. This is the ideology of choice for the ruling classes of South Asia. It has led to the criminalisation of state structures and the near-complete erosion of justice. It remains to be… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Bangladesh's dysfunctional secularism
The violence against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh is an ominous development. But it is also a reminder of one cardinal truth: All of South Asia is “tied together in a single garment of destiny,” to borrow Martin Luther King’s phrase from a different context. Violence in one place will spill over to another; freedom… Read More P. B. Mehta – Violence and communalism: South Asia’s disturbing commonality
