Alan Morinis In February, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, had expressed his great joy at the revival of the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage in the locality of Tribeni in Hooghly district, West Bengal. At the time, Modi said, “[D]o you know why it is so special? It is special, since this practice has been revived after… Read More Toxic agenda
Turkey’s general election on Sunday, May 14 will see voters cast their ballots for 600 members of its parliament and the country’s powerful presidency. This election has become intensely competitive in a country which has undergone severe democratic erosion over the past decade, but may now be looking for change. Turkish president, and previously prime minister, Recep… Read More Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu: Turkey’s opposition leader is leading in the polls
By Faisal Mohammed Ali Ash, soot-stained walls, burnt furniture and charred pages: that’s all that remains of a 113-year-old madrassa library in India that once housed more than 4,500 books, including ancient manuscripts and sacred Islamic texts written in beautiful calligraphy. The library was part of the Madrassa Azizia – a well-known religious school in… Read More Bihar Sharif: The 113-year-old India library torched in a riot
IF even the Chinese are not safe here in Pakistan, who is? Because of CPEC and Pakistan’s national interest, the Chinese are the most privileged and protected of all foreigners. Multiple layers of police and specially created army units keep them from harm’s way. Also, they are advised to keep a low profile and minimise… Read More Pervez Hoodbhoy on Islamist radicalism in Pakistan
James Baldwin, who grew up in the church and was briefly a preacher, said he abandoned the pulpit to preach the Gospel. The Gospel, he knew, was not heard most Sundays in Christian houses of worship. And today with ministers wary of offending their aging and dwindling flocks — who are counted on to pay the clergy… Read More Chris Hedges: The Hypocrisy of the Christian Church. Talk at Princeton Theological Seminary
A new film on a Muslim woman from the southern Indian state of Kerala who raised three Hindu children has brought attention to the family’s unusual story. BBC Hindi’s Imran Qureshi spoke to the siblings who inspired the film. When Jafferkhan first watched Ennu Swantham Sreedharan (Yours Truly, Sreedharan), he says he was moved to… Read More Kerala: Muslim woman’s Hindu children inspire an Indian film
Mallika Soni As more and more women continue to defy Iran’s compulsory dress code, the country’s judiciary chief threatened to prosecute women who appear in public without hijab “without mercy”, news agency Reuters reported quoting Iranian media. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said, “Unveiling is tantamount to enmity with (our) values. Those “who commit such anomalous acts… Read More Women without hijab to be prosecuted ‘without mercy’: Iran’s judiciary chief
Amara Thiha and Marte Nilsen The political implications of ultra-nationalist Buddhist monks and ideologies in Myanmar received much attention in the years before the 2021 military takeover. As Myanmar has turned more violent since the coup, ultra-nationalist monks have been radicalised further. What role are these monks playing in the political landscape of Myanmar today?… Read More Monks and militias in Myanmar
Stalin presented Orthodox leaders with a proposal: the Soviet state that had destroyed their Church would bring it back In September 1943, as the tide of the Second World War was turning in the Soviet Union’s favour, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin called a meeting at the Kremlin. Alongside the foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and… Read More At the Kremlin in 1943
World heritage monuments in Córdoba and Istanbul stand at the centre of a reductionist bid to rewrite the past In these two remarkable buildings at opposite ends of Europe, in their stones and slates and marble and gold, in their pillars and arches and windows and mosaics, can be glimpsed the complexities of European history,… Read More Mezquita and Hagia Sophia: two sacred symbols and the culture wars that belie their complex history
After the truth-shower 