31 December, 2007
Decoding Modi's Victory And Secular Politics
By Manish Chand
Narendra Modi's repeat landslide victory in Gujarat against the spectacular odds stacked against him - anti-incumbency, the odious hangover of the 2002 riots, an unforgiving Muslim minority, BJP spoilers and a hostile media - has exposed the fragility and speciousness of secular politics practised in the country by those who are quick to seize on the secularism mantra as the sole rallying point
29 November, 2007
Taslima Controversy: No To Appeasement Politics
By Kashif ul-Huda
By shipping Nasreen out, the West Bengal government seems to be giving into the demands of Muslims, but it has chosen to act on an issue that has no socio-economic relevance to a majority of them. This appeases known anti-Muslim parties more than the average Muslim individual, as it gives them more ammunition to target Muslims with. It might also please those Muslim leaders and organizations that have been campaigning against Nasreen for their own ulterior motives. These Muslim leaders can now claim victory and be on the lookout for another symbolic issue to add another feather in their cap
Taslima Nasrin vs MF Hussein
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
The other hypocrisy that comes out very clearly from this episode is while the Sangh Privar and others welcome Taslima Nasrin, a foreigner with open arms to live any where in India, they have booted out MF Hussein, the living Picasso of India from his own country. It seems the ninety-year- old living legend is heading to become another Bahadur Shah Zafar who may bemoan for not getting two meters of land for his burial in his own motherland
The Paradox Of Taslima Nasreen
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Is Taslima treading a dangerous path in India by courting the Hindu fundamentalists?
12 October, 2007
Hindutva —Terrorism's New Signature
By Subhash Gatade
While nobody can deny the role of jihadi terrorists belonging to the likes of Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad in many such bloody and inhuman incidents, one feels pertrubed over the mono-chromatic presentation of such a complex phenomenon where green tends to dominate the rest. The conspiracy of silence over the phenomenon of what is known in popular parlance as 'Hindutva terrorism' needs to be questioned and confronted. ...The fanatics who spread violence in the name of religion are worse than terrorists and more dangerous than an alien enemy
01 October, 2007
Saffron Terror
By Subhash Gatade
Militant Hindutva is on the rise, but there is a conspiracy of silence that seeks to hide this reality
29 September, 2007
More Teeth To Police, Not Victims
By Colin Gonsalves
In a critique of "The Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005", Colin Gonsalves opines that the Act simply relegates victims to a footnote. For instance, when it comes to sexual violence, it does not recognise the fact that the nature of atrocities committed against women during riots is radically different from those committed during 'normal' times
22 August, 2007
Taslima, Hussein And Liberal Ethos
By Ram Puniyani
The reaction to the attack on Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad, where she came for release of Telugu version of her book Lajja, (9th August 2007), led by three MLAs of MIM party of Owaisi came as a jolt to the liberal human values, to the values which Koran preaches and to the democratic liberal values which we cherish
08 August, 2007
Do Not Cry For The Bombay Riot Victims!
By Subhash Gatade
The conspiracy of silence over the Bombay riot victims is nothing surprising
05 August, 2007
Double Standards: Punishing The Culprits Of Violence
By Ram Puniyani
We seem to be heading for two sets of justice system as a whole. The ones belonging to minority community, suffer maximum in the communal carnage. They get killed, their properties are destroyed. The guilty in these cases are generally not punished. Those aiding and abetting these crimes get away with it and sometimes even promoted
15 June, 2007
Political Hindutva : The Countdown Has Begun?
By Subhash Gatade
A report prepared by one of the national secretaries of the BJP Mr Prabhat Jha analysing the election results to UP, provide enough proof of the pathetic situation in which the party itself finds today. This report would be presented before the national executive meeting of the BJP to be held in last week of June and much fireworks are expected there
08 June, 2007
Sangh Spreads Its Cloak In American Campus
By Girish Agrawal
Hindutva forces are systematically spreading their ideology in American universities, reports Girish Agrawal from New York
04 June, 2007
Gujarat: Symptoms Of Hindu Nation
By Ram Puniyani
As far as the gross violations and that too the one's related to minority community are concerned, Gujarat is the worst state without any shadow of doubt. In other BJP ruled states like MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarhg also, the violations are of severe degree, still they do not match with the ones in Gujarat
31 May, 2007
Misdirected Hyderabad Bomb Blast Investigations
By Adv. Irfan Engineer
For the truth to be unraveled, there needs to be a thorough and impartial CBI Inquiry which examines all possible theories and marshals thorough evidence to prove the guilt of the accused. For we must know the truth to be able to stop bomb blasts
30 May, 2007
Christians: A Faith Under Assault
In Secular India
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
A review of John Dayal's book "A matter of Equity: Freedom of Faith in Secular India"
24 May, 2007
Violence Against The Cross
By Ram Puniyani
The scattered attacks on the Christian missionaries working in remote places of India speaks a lot about the nature of the political formation carrying out these attacks, their agenda of regarding Muslims and Christians as internal threat to Nation explains the current politics which is far from the one which should be seen in a civil society!
21 May, 2007
'Where One Burns Books,
One Will Soon Burn People'
By Jawed Naqvi
Cultural censorship is rapidly gathering steam in India. A drawing student was recently picked up from an arts college in Baroda and thrown into prison because religious zealots raided the campus and objected to his painting of Hindu gods and goddesses
19 April, 2007
Should BJP Be Derecognized?
By Ram Puniyani
In a democracy it is a difficult choice to ban/derecognize parties or organizations. What does one do with the organizations which pay lip service to democracy but are tied to apron strings of those organizations which stand opposed to democracy and Indian constitution? It is no secret that RSS chief just six years ago called for scrapping of Indian constitution and bringing in one based in India holy books. It is no secret that RSS combine is working for Hindu Nation. By implication though BJP takes oath for preserving Indian constitution, it has no qualms in violating the same when the time comes
18 April, 2007
BJP's Hate Campaign
By The Hindu
What the BJP's election campaign CD `Bharat ki Pukar' presents — excerpts from the transcript
11 April, 2007
Election Commission Must Derecognize BJP
By Shamsul Islam
It is high time that the Election Commission of India should take serious note of the anti-national utterances of the BJP president and initiate proceedings for the de-recognition of the BJP. It is unfortunate that none of the organs of the Indian Democratic-Secular State has so far bothered to challenge BJP and its president on this account
Defining Minorities
By Ram Puniyani
Allahabad High Court ruling (April 2007) that Muslims have ceased to be a minority in UP as their percentage in population is 18.5% totally defies the logic of Indian Constitution, the legislatures understanding and the pronouncements of the Supreme court on the issue
10 April, 2007
Goa : Communal Tinderbox Waiting To Explode?
By Subhash Gatade
It does not need lot of wisdom to comprehend how things may unfold in the near future. A ascendant Hindutva brigade, a lacklustre Congress and the absence of a strong people's movement to unite people cutting across communities and castes, it would not come as a surprise if the situation deteriorates further
27 March, 2007
Revisiting Babri
By Ram Puniyani
Ram temple issue became the symbol of assertion of affluent Hindutva politics in opposition to the democratic values. Identity, especially religious one, came up in a big way and waylaid the real issues of the poor and struggling majority of Hindus as well as other sections of society
15 March, 2007
Yogi In 'tears', But Can The Drama
Whitewash His Black Deeds ?
By Subhash Gatade
There are very few moments in the house where one comes across instances where a tragicomedy unfolds itself. The zero hour in the Parliament on Monday (12 th March 2007) witnessed one such occasion when a MP of the BJP Yogi Adityanath broke down, and MPs from either side of the ruling dispensation rushed to console him and asked the chair to look at his 'grievances'
03 March, 2007
Terrorism: Biased Investigation
By Ram Puniyani
Its time Central government intervenes, and inquiry of all the terror incidents in Maharashtra is handed over to CBI or preferably to the committee headed by a judge of impeccable credentials. Are Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh listening?
28 February, 2007
Hindutva's Uncivil Society In Eastern UP
By Subhashini Ali
The Hindu Mahasabha-BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, makes no attempt to mask his intentions with civilities and double-talk. He calls upon the majority community to recognize Muslims as the enemy and to utilize every opportunity to attack them. He has created his own organization, the Hindu Yuva Vahini, which has branches in almost every village, small town and district headquarter of Eastern UP
17 February, 2007
Golwalkar Guruji: Superhuman Or Less Than Human?
By Subhash Gatade
Whatever may be the ideas of every justice loving person about the anti-human core of Golwalkar, his continued valorization in the Sangh circles reminds one of a Sanskrit proverb : Nirastapadapedeshe Erandopi Drumayate! (In a treeless country even castor counts for a big tree!)
16 February, 2007
Contemporary Times-Role Of Religions
By Ram Puniyani
Religions have to raise the issues of human rights of all people of the World. It is this alliance which will ensure that the focus of world policies has to be brought back to the issue of Human rights of weaker sections of society. Nothing short of a genuine dialogue amongst people of different faiths can overcome the obstacles created by the political forces misusing the religious identity for their political goals
13 February, 2007
An Open Letter To Indian Cricket
Team Captain Rahul Dravid
By Shamsul Islam
I am sorry to write that by participating in the birth centenary programme of M. S. Golwalkar (Guruji), the ideologue of the RSS, in Nagpur on January 20, 2007, you have not only violated the trust which this country has put in you but also saddened large sections of your fans who love and adore you because you and your team represent a Secular-Democratic India
Hate As A Weapon To Gain Power
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
BJP's manifesto for Uttarakhand reflects the bankruptcy of its ideology. That Sanskrit will be the state language and the government would pass anti conversion laws shows that BJP has not learnt the methods of governance at all. It also shows how the saffron party does not talk of governance but only hate formula to win an election
10 February, 2007
Civil Liberties In India
By Teesta Setalvad
Nani A Palkhivala Award 2006 Acceptance Speech
08 February, 2007
Ferreting Out The Bible Of Hindu Fascism (Hindutwa)
By I.K.Shukla
Golwalkar's We or Our Nationhood Defined: A Critique by Shamsul Islam
07 February, 2007
A short Film On RSS
By Ian Mcdonald
02 February, 2007
Gohana Nay Gujarat
By Subhsash Gatade
If Congress Party and its leaders would never be able to absolve themselves from their complicity in the carnage of Sikhs in 1984, the name of RSS and its affiliated organizations would ever remain itched in the public psyche for the crimes, which were committed against innocent citizenry in the year 2002 in Gujarat
08 January, 2007
How Yogi Adityanath Wants To Do A Modi?
By Subhash Gatade
A key feature of the Hindutva experiment furthered by Yogi Adityanath is to always keep Muslims in focus and win over the dalits and backwards to his side. In order to organise the Dalits against the Muslims he has made it a policy to interfere in all small or big quarrels between them and endeavour to paint it in communal black
05 January, 2007
Communal Riots 2006
By Asghar Ali Engineer
This was comparatively an year with few riots. In fact post-Gujarat India has witnessed fewer riots. Gujarat was indeed another watershed like the one after post-Babri riots. It has been witnessed that after some major riot, subsequent years witness smaller and fewer riots
Blasts Galore: Communalism 2006
By Ram Puniyani
The optimism for the future of democratic values lies in the rising resistance to the assertions of sectarianism, amongst a section of people who are becoming more aware of the threat posed by the communal fascism. Various secular action groups, peace activists and minority rights groups are making their presence felt through their campaigns and deliberations
