To respect God and to pretend to do that for votes are two different things: Vipin Kumar Tripathi Sameer Yasir One recent morning, Roop Rekha Verma, an 80-year-old peace activist and former university leader, walked through a north Indian neighborhood prone to sectarian strife and parked herself near a tea shop. From her sling bag,… Read More Leaflet by leaflet, a few aging activists fight India’s tide of bigotry
by Rakesh Shukla Raja bola raat haiMantri bola raat haiSantri bola raat haiYe subah subah subah ki baat hai : – Gorakh Pandey (King said its nightMinister said it is nightSentry said it was nightThis happening in the morning) It is universally recognized that plastic surgery and organ replacement were first performed in India. The evidence… Read More ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ – The Grandiose Self
Can an iron structure stand tall for 1,600 years without rusting, despite being exposed to the elements? By Poonam Binayak, CNN It seems implausible, considering the supposed lack of technology at the time of its construction. Yet, inside New Delhi’s UNESCO-listed Qutb Minar complex – a collection of historic monuments and buildings built in the early 13th century… Read More This mysterious iron pillar in India has been exposed to the elements for over 1,600 years. So why hasn’t it ever rusted?
A sudden wave of protest meetings held in Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut by leaders of the dominant, landed community has forced the BJP to address their question and try to gloss over the divisions in its electoral caste rainbow by ramping up the Hindutva card and sentiments of nationalism. Omar Rashid With just a week… Read More Rajput Anger in Western UP Puts BJP in Firefighting Mode Days Before Polling
Bechan Baba has dedicated his life to Varanasi’s Anarwali mosque, where Hindus and Muslims come to pray – despite the historical disputes raging outside Jyoti Thakur and Hanan Zaffar in Varanasi In the heart of Varanasi, where the sacred Ganges meanders by and incense smoke mingles with the faint echoes of prayers from a myriad… Read More The Hindu caretaker and his mosque: symbol of harmony amid India’s religious discord
First posted July 17, 2013 A Brief History of the Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan (1984-1993) NB – This history has been prepared by some activist participants, and may be liable to correction, revision and improvement over time. It is presented here after having been placed on Facebook about a year ago as a Note on my… Read More A Brief History of the Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan; Movement Against Communalism (1984-1993)
NB: Allahabad was my father’s birthplace and hometown; and that of his two sisters. It was the place where they went to school and college. My father’s closest friendships dated back to his childhood and youth in Allahabad. My grandparent’s home was located on 9, Kamala Nehru Road (once City Road); and I have fond… Read More Allahabad that is Prayagraj: The Politics of Erasure
In this weird India, bizarre scenes are witnessed daily. Words of wisdom come from a villager in Haryana. He says what a scholar could have said: “Modi ji, Hinduism continued to survive centuries of foreign rule because religion was not associated with the ruler. If it were associated with a Prime Minister or President or King,… Read More Modi’s Strange India of Celebrations and Superstition
Raghu Karnad According to the Mahabharata, the legendary city of Indraprastha was founded by the five Pandava brothers for their queen, Draupadi. Its wide streets and orchards surrounded a palatial hall, built by the demon-architect Maya, which appeared ‘like a mass of new clouds conspicuous in the sky’. The hall was ‘so rich and well built’… Read More Looking for Indraprastha
January 22 has been projected as Victory Day. It is, of course, a victory, but not of the vibrant Hindu religious tradition, but of a majoritarian, exclusionist project that is deadly opposed to an inclusive, modern, and dynamic idea of India. The hurried consecration signifies not any vindication of Hinduism, but its appropriation by a… Read More The idea of Ram and the idea of India
After the truth-shower 