Left ecosystem links Islamophobia to NDA’s crackdown on PFI. This is a profound disservice to India’s Muslims
The Popular Front of India (PFI) has been banned for the next 5 years. The only surprise is that the Modi government took as long as it did to take the decision. From its very inception in 2006, the Popular Front of India has worn its “intolerance” on its sleeve. Most of its founding members […]
Read MoreRein-in the ‘sar tan’ brigade. The future of democracy is at stake.
In street after street of old Hyderabad, politicians linked to Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM have been leading mobs chanting an illegal slogan invoked to avenge blasphemy in Islamic republics like Pakistan. Tragically, in thistheatre of obscurantism, children too have been co-opted to chant “gustakh-e-rasool ki ek hi saza, sar tan se juda, sar tan se juda”. It […]
Read MoreIndia’s I-Day celebration is too boringly sarkari: We should learn from Americans how to make it a fun party instead – of the people and by the people
When we turned on the TV first thing yesterday morning, we witnessed Prime Minister Modi unfurling the Tricolour from the ageless ramparts of the Red Fort. Right under the lectern from where he addressed the nation sat the usual array of VVIPs. Protocol officers would have taken extra care to ensure that each dignitary would […]
Read MoreThe Left is wrong. Zubair does not serve the cause of free speech but has imperiled it
ALT NEWS co-founder and self-proclaimed “fact-checker” Mohammed Zubair has been arrested by the Delhi police. Zubair has been charged with hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity in a tweet that drew the ire of a Hanuman bhakt. Zubair’s arrest has greatly exercised the anti-Modi space. Opposition parties and several known Modi critics have slammed the […]
Read MoreWhere BJP went wrong in the Nupur-Naveen case: Why did GoI speak for party, why bow to Gulf rulers & why try to convince liberals
Now that some time has passed after BJP penalised Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, we can do a calm-headed analysis. * First, BJP’s actions didn’t convince agitators who protested, in some cases aggressively, the duo’s remarks and asked for more. It was always going to take an act of exceptional atonement to win over a […]
Read MoreNupur Sharma case: Decoding the disturbing message behind the furies unleashed on Friday
Cities across at least 10 states in India burned on June 10. Outraged Muslims after Friday prayers took to the streets demanding death for Nupur Sharma. Some sought to behead her others wanted to burn her at the stake. They chillingly enacted what they would do if they had their way by stringing up her […]
Read MoreDon’t believe lies, case for reclaiming desecrated Hindu temples passes test of secularism and Constitutionality: Here are three reasons
Some Hindu groups have been petitioning courts seeking the re-instatement of their right to offer prayers daily at the controversial Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. This right was arbitrarily snatched from them in 1992. It is an undeniable fact of history that the Gyanvapi mosque sits astride the remains of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple that was […]
Read MorePluralism is both ancient & enduring in India: Why the US report on religious intolerance in this country fails the smell test
For the third consecutive year, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has designated India as a “Country of Particular Concern”. It is listed along with 14 dysfunctional states including China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The panel believes that the Indian government has “increasingly emboldened Hindu-nationalist groups … enforced sectarian policies” with the […]
Read MorePluralism is both ancient & enduring in India: Why the US report on religious intolerance in this country fails the smell test
For the third consecutive year, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has designated India as a “Country of Particular Concern”. It is listed along with 14 dysfunctional states including China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The panel believes that the Indian government has “increasingly emboldened Hindu-nationalist groups … enforced sectarian policies” with the […]
Read MoreRamnavami clashes: Selectively blaming Hindus for the violence provides moral cover for reactionary violence
The disquieting, but by no means unprecedented, low-intensity clashes during Ram Navami Shobha yatras across several states have sparked furious debate. Even subsequent police action, undertaken to disincentivise disorder, has evoked a strong reaction, though understandably so when it has come with a representative of the state astride a bulldozer. Rights activists, politicians and journalists […]
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