Manas attempts to craft an antidote for extremism, a crisis that has plagued our country;
Hinduism as it is, is a diverse range of cultures and ways of living. That, unless forced into one single mold, will not lend itself to a common identity. We need to solve this identity crisis from a wholly different angle. [...]
Archive for the 'Secularism' Category
An Antidote for Extremism
Published by April 13th, 2008 in Democracy, Politics, Religion and Secularism. 0 CommentsThe Man that Hindutva Forgot
Published by April 5th, 2008 in History, Politics and Secularism. 0 CommentsMuch before I became a Marxist and an ideological opponent of Hindutva, I had read an article about England being actually a corruption of “Angulistan” (thus called because of its shape). I did not know that P.N. Oak was from Indore and that he has passed way on the eve of the demolition of the [...]
‘Saala ek machhar aadmi ko hijra bana deta hai’
Published by March 23rd, 2008 in Art, Books, Democracy, Feminism, Government, Human Rights, Literature, Patriarchy, Personal, Politics, Religion, Secularism, South Asia and public space. 2 CommentsThat line from a Nana Patekar film, says, Aman Kumar, captures his ‘rage and frustration’ over the Taslima Nasreen episode:
So has mine! Sadly, I no longer consider India a secular country after watching and analyzing the political developments in last 15-20 years. Right from Shah Bano case to Babri demolition, and from Gujrat massacre to [...]
Shariah in the West
Published by March 21st, 2008 in Human Rights, Justice, Patriarchy, Policy, Religion, Secularism and Women. 0 CommentsAsghar Ali Engineer foresees conflict between conservative ‘ulama and progressive Muslims if Shariah laws are applied in the West:
I have met many ‘ulama in UK. They are as conservative as in Islamic countries, perhaps even more in the alien environment of UK and other Western countries. If any attempt is made to apply Islamic [...]
In search of Ramrajya - Part III
Published by March 17th, 2008 in India, Politics, Religion, Secularism and Spotlight Series. 0 Comments[ This is Essay # 26 in our Spotlight Series. Click here for the archives.]
In search of Ramrajya [Continued from here - First part, Second part]
———
V Ramaswamy
(7)
A tolerant society must be built through large-scale, effective public action by citizens and civic organizations. This must build upon past and existing initiatives. A peace / conflict-resolution [...]
In search of Ramrajya - Part II
Published by March 14th, 2008 in India, Politics, Religion, Secularism, Society and Spotlight Series. 1 Comment[ This is Essay # 26 in our Spotlight Series. Click here for the archives.]
In search of Ramrajya [Continued from here]
———
V Ramaswamy
(4)
In his poem Yahaan Sey Sheher Ko Dekho, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the great Urdu poet of the subcontinent, talks about the ugly underbelly of the city, of exploitation, suffering, injustice. He says that once [...]
In search of Ramrajya - Part I
Published by March 12th, 2008 in India, Politics, Religion, Secularism and Spotlight Series. 1 Comment[ This is Essay # 26 in our Spotlight Series. Click here for the archives.]
In search of Ramrajya
———
V Ramaswamy
“Let no one commit the mistake of thinking that Ramrajya means a rule of the Hindus. My Ram is another name for Khuda or God. I want Khuda Raj, which is the same thing as the Kingdom [...]
Letter to a Young American Hindu
Published by March 5th, 2008 in Caste, Culture, Democracy, Indiaspora, Politics, Religion and Secularism. 2 CommentsYou might find this letter on other blogs and sites. As I am not sure about where it was orginally published I am linking to the blog where I first found it. One of the more memorable arguments Vijay Prashad, Professor and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, makes in the letter is [...]
The lonely Mr.Paswan
Published by March 2nd, 2008 in Caste, Dalit, Politics, Religion and Secularism. 0 CommentsAdnan remembers Ram Vilas Paswan’s more assertive days:
In the 80s when anti-Muslim rhetoric was at its peak, Paswan was the only politician who countered rustic rabble-rousers like Uma Bharti, Mahant Awaidyanath, Kalyan Singh and their comparatively more ’suave’ hate-preachers like Lal Kishenchand Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, both on ground-level and in the parliament [...]
‘When it hits somewhere near home…’
Published by March 2nd, 2008 in Culture, Democracy, Economy, India, Language, Politics, Religion, Secularism and Society. 0 CommentsBVN muses on diversity, language, religion and politics:
…in Mumbai we are comfortably silent when the Shiv Sainiks take on the valentines or muslims or the touring Pakistan cricket team or M.F Hussein. They are like that, we know they are crazy. But when the Sena turns to North Indians, there is news value, and perceivable [...]
Why is a distinct Indian Muslim identity unacceptable?
Published by February 5th, 2008 in India, Politics, Religion and Secularism. 0 CommentsKaleem Kawaja asks: where do Indian Muslims go from here?
After waiting for sixty years to have political parties and others lobby for them and help resolve their problems, today the future of the Muslim community lies in taking a bold lead and seeking the active help of the majority Hindu community and the power structure. [...]
Dr.John Dayal posts the report of a fact-finding committee that visited Kandhamala, Orissa, in the wake of the communal violence there:
1.3 It is beyond doubt that the violence was premeditated, pre-planned and the work of a well disciplined group to ensure simultaneous eruption across the Kandhamala district within hours of the first incident, and to [...]
Hindu-Muslim mythology from Aryavarta
Published by January 19th, 2008 in Caste, Dalit, India, Policy, Politics, Religion and Secularism. 7 CommentsThis is the best post I’ve read this year, and, perhaps, in a long time. For the first time, someone from the so-called left, secular intelligentsia in the country has chosen to handle these sacred ideas called ‘Hindu majority’ and ‘Muslim minority’ (and not observe them from a liberal distance), hold them upto the light [...]
‘Anything can happen anytime’
Published by January 15th, 2008 in Religion, Secularism and Women. 2 Comments“Madam, aap mahammedan ho?” (Madam, you are a Muslim?)
“Haan”, I said, “Aapko keise pata chala?” (Yes, how do you know?)
I was more scared than surprised.
“Aapke naam ki chithi aati he 2047 par.” (You get letters at the address 2047.)
So they have already registered my identity in their private memories. In case there is a riot…………
I [...]
Islam’s fault line?
Published by December 29th, 2007 in Democracy, History, Politics, Poverty, Religion, Secularism and South Asia. 0 CommentsAtoorva wonders why?
This morning I read two old articles written by Benazir Bhutto remembering her father’s execution and the Shimla Conference . The first was very moving. It was saying more about a personal tragedy of losing a ‘papa’ than a national loss of a leader. In the same news paper I saw picture of [...]
Sonia to blame?
Published by December 17th, 2007 in Development, Politics, Religion and Secularism. 2 CommentsOne Point Oh feels the Congress needs to introspect on what went wrong in Gujarat:
Given the fact that the entire reversal of the agenda for these elections was because of that fateful speech by Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party will find conducting a post-mortem finger pointing exercise a trifle tough. Will anybody in the Congress [...]
Two reasons…er..actually, only one
Published by December 16th, 2007 in Caste, Justice, Politics, Religion and Secularism. 1 CommentReason says there are only two reasons why voters could vote out Modi:
A) Nothing, other than caste combinations exploited by fourth-rated regional politicians, has decimated congress so far in India’s 60 year history (except in West Bengal where congress walked away from the fight a long time ago). Examples where congress has been decimated are [...]
Identify Yourself Gujarat!
Published by December 11th, 2007 in Activism, Announcement, Appeal, Community, Democracy, Government, Human Rights, India, Justice, Prejudice, Secularism and White Ribbon Campaign. 2 Comments
During this Gujarat Assembly Election 2007, we all need to ask ourselves some very important questions.
[click on the ballot box]
Clash of civilizations?
Published by November 11th, 2007 in Culture, Geopolitics, History, India, Religion and Secularism. 0 CommentsRama links to the transcript of an interview with Wafia Sultan, Arab American psychologist, on Al Jazeera:
Wafia Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world, is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilisations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that [...]
Not a child’s birthday party
Published by November 7th, 2007 in Democracy, Human Rights, India, Justice, Media, Politics, Prejudice, Religion, Secularism and Society. 2 CommentsHari Potter thinks ‘Watergate is a report on a child’s birthday party’ compared to Tehelka’s expose:
I did. I wept because I was a Hindu and knew this wasn’t what Hinduism is all about, just like Terrorism isn’t Islam or Christianity isn’t the KKK. I wept as a thinking Indian. I wept as a human being. [...]
Ban the RSS
Published by November 6th, 2007 in Culture, Democracy, Government, Human Rights, India, Justice, Media, Politics, Religion, Secularism and Society. 1 Comment Mirza Akhtar Beg believes delayed justice encourages culprits:
The appointments of judicial inquiry commissions are used as sop. The retired judges do a meticulous job. T he inquiry takes a few years to complete. In time passions cool and the national memories fade. The government ignores the recommendations. The guilty not only go free, but also [...]
‘If Christians and Muslims chose to..’
Published by November 3rd, 2007 in Culture, Democracy, Development, Economy, Government, History, Human Rights, India, Justice, Media, Politics, Prejudice, Religion, Secularism, Society and Women. 0 CommentsSalman analyses the difference between Thackeray and Modi- while Thackeray, according to him, hates Muslims for just being Muslims, Modi hates them for being a hindrance to progress:
Gujaratis are more concerned about making money rather than anything else, Muslims spoil the show by clamouring about reservations.What was the result of this drama? Modi won and [...]
Each howl remembered
Published by November 1st, 2007 in Culture, Democracy, Government, Human Rights, India, Justice, Media, Patriarchy, Politics, Prejudice, Religion, Secularism, Society and Women. 0 CommentsSujai criticizes the attempts to shift focus from the message to the messenger:
In India you can wriggle out of any entanglement, escape any conviction, overturn any evidence, and falsify any logical argument, stultify any rational theory, pooh-pooh any expose, win any argument, calling it ‘politically motivated’.
Gagan expresses similar concerns:
Meanwhile the spin cycle has already begun, [...]
Why should we move on, Mr.Dasgupta?
Published by October 30th, 2007 in Appeal, Culture, Democracy, Development, Government, Human Rights, India, Justice, Language, Media, Politics, Prejudice, Religion, Secularism, Society, Women and public space. 1 CommentWhat do you call someone who says- Clinton has outgrown Lewinsky therefore Gujarat has outgrown the pogrom? A ‘half-crazed killer’ or a ‘braggart’?
In a hardhitting post, Amrit asks all the apologists for the BJP in the media- Why should we move on?
The problem with the right-wing media in India is that it is always trying [...]
And death looks on with a casual eye
Published by October 29th, 2007 in Caste, Culture, Dalit, Democracy, Government, Human Rights, India, Justice, Media, Poetry, Prejudice, Religion, Secularism, Society and Women. 2 CommentsSunny deplores the coverage (or lack of it) in the mainstream media in the U.K., and calls it ‘horrendously lame’:
There’s two points to make here. Firstly, that for progressives in Britain, India’s continual denial of justice to Sikhs and Muslims over politically-motivated riots in 1984 and 2002 should constantly feature in any discussion, to the [...]
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