The atrophy of the neo-Buddhist movement in India
2 years, 3 months ago

The atrophy of the neo-Buddhist movement in India

The Hindu  

Every year in October, thousands of people assemble at Nagpur’s Deekshabhoomi to pay homage to B.R. Today, the Buddhist population in India is one of the smallest minorities, its ideological challenge against the Hindu social order has not been taken seriously, and even within the Dalit community, conversion to Buddhism is not perceived as a suitable path to achieve social emancipation. In Uttar Pradesh, during the Bahujan Samaj Party ’s regime, cultural symbols related to Buddhism, such as the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Garden, were erected in public spaces, but there was still hesitation in suggesting religious conversion as an alternative to fight the battle for social justice. Interestingly, within the Hindutva discourse, Buddhism has been appropriated as an integral part of greater ‘Indic Civilization’ and the Buddhist conversion movement has not been seen as antithetical to the Hindu cultural pantheon. Further, Hindutva forces, using assertive cultural strategies, overtly appropriate crucial Dalit-Bahujan icons and underplay the fierce ideological antagonism that the early Dalit movement had against the Hindu social order.

India Buddhism Social Dalit Maharashtra Cultural Hindu Modi Movement Buddhist Challenge Hindutva  social  buddhist  dalit  buddhism  conversion  neobuddhist  cultural  india  atrophy  movement  challenge  strategies  hindu

History of this topic

Two Dalit narratives in Kharge heartland
8 months ago

Two Dalit narratives in Kharge heartland

Hindustan Times  

Among the politicians with the highest stakes in the constituencies that go to the polls today is one who is not contesting. Irrespective of the specific type of Dalit identity that was being highlighted, identity politics eroded Kharge’s Dalit-led inclusive politics. His son, Priyank Kharge, has used his position as minister in the Karnataka government to present a much more …

The Role of Spiritual Forces in Shaping India’s History - News18
1 year, 4 months ago

The Role of Spiritual Forces in Shaping India’s History - News18

News 18  

Long back in the Nehruvian era, as the anecdote goes, a Soviet delegation with their atheistic beliefs loaded with dialectical materialism, made a trip to India. Sanatana Dharma: Spiritual Forces and India’s Civilisational Journey If there is any one factor that has the most powerful influence on India’s history across the spectrum of society, politics, art, business and culture, it …

How androgyny and ambivalence outdid other methods of resistance in India - Frontline
1 year, 4 months ago

How androgyny and ambivalence outdid other methods of resistance in India - Frontline

The Hindu  

One gets the optics of union between the feminine and the masculine very many times throughout India’s cultural history. The “salt” Satyagraha, seen from a Freudian perspective; mauna ; and non-cooperation were, in Nandy’s view, typically feminine methods of resistance. Highlights One gets the optics of union between the feminine and the masculine very many times throughout India’s cultural history. …

The main chapter of how Hindutva sees the past
1 year, 6 months ago

The main chapter of how Hindutva sees the past

The Hindu  

The revived contestations over history — from the Gyanvapi mosque case to the renewed demonisation of Aurangzeb — confirm that Hindutva conflates its ideas of religion and culture with those of nation and state. For the Hindutvavadis, India’s national culture is Hindu religious culture, and cultural nationalism cloaks plural India in a mantle of Hindu identity. But one cannot underestimate …

The goal of building a popular Dalit agenda
1 year, 8 months ago

The goal of building a popular Dalit agenda

The Hindu  

It is to the credit of modern liberal ideas, capitalist development and democratic churning that Dalits are now a well-recognised social and political force — a transformation made possible under the maverick leadership of B.R. A vision for social justice Ambedkar realised that the colonial regime opened the doors of modern institutions to various marginalised social groups, welcoming them to …

A very different conception of ‘Ram Rajya’
1 year, 9 months ago

A very different conception of ‘Ram Rajya’

The Hindu  

April 07, 2023 12:16 am | Updated March 04, 2024 12:02 pm IST It was the longest-serving Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sarsangchalak, M.S. Instead of Mahatma Gandhi’s moral lessons in favour of peace, Savarkar advocated the “political virility” of Hindutva, an idea which seems to have found full flower in today’s foot-soldiers of that doctrine. Hindutva ideologue Savarkar, whom Mr. Modi …

How new Ambedkarites are busy undermining Ambedkar and his legacy
2 years ago

How new Ambedkarites are busy undermining Ambedkar and his legacy

Firstpost  

New Ambedkarites’ alignment with the new American camp of Wokeism makes them an ally of global Islam and evangelical Christianity — both of which BR Ambedkar vehemently opposed It is well known that BR Ambedkar turned to Buddhism for the upliftment of Dalits. Unfortunately, Ambedkar didn’t live long enough to fully implement his modified version of Buddhism and be able …

‘Embracing Buddhism is not conversion,’ says VHP, calls AAP’s Rajendra Pal Gautam ‘anti-Dalit jihad supporter’
2 years, 3 months ago

‘Embracing Buddhism is not conversion,’ says VHP, calls AAP’s Rajendra Pal Gautam ‘anti-Dalit jihad supporter’

Firstpost  

While the Bharatiya Janata Party took strong exception to the event and called Gautam, AAP and Arvind Kejriwal ‘anti-Hindu’, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad said it did not have a problem with event and people having embraced Buddhism New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party MLA and Delhi Cabinet minister Rajendra Pal Gautam stirred a hornet’s nest last Wednesday when he attended a …

Dharma Files | Some limitations of Marxism in an Indian context
2 years, 3 months ago

Dharma Files | Some limitations of Marxism in an Indian context

Firstpost  

Marxist historians apply a paradigm, which had been developed in the West in its own historical situation, to India. Even a cursory look at the works of VD Savarkar, MS Golwalkar, and Balraj Madhok will reveal the startling fact that the Hindu Right had paid very little attention to the state, and that most of its attention has been reserved …

Key Indian symbols are undergoing a major revision: Shruti Kapila
2 years, 5 months ago

Key Indian symbols are undergoing a major revision: Shruti Kapila

The Hindu  

As the title, Violent Fraternity: Indian Political Thought in the Global Age, suggests, Shruti Kapila’s latest book deals with fraternity, violence and sovereignty. Zeroing in on the ‘power of ideas’ in instituting the political foundations of modern India, Kapila also looks at the role of Buddhism. Savarkar’s point is that in India — this is a strange story of disconnection …

From beheading over Prophet remarks to ‘Kaali’ FIRs, religious hypersensitivity is the latest threat to India
2 years, 5 months ago

From beheading over Prophet remarks to ‘Kaali’ FIRs, religious hypersensitivity is the latest threat to India

Firstpost  

With the documentary Kaali evoking sharp reactions and police complaints close on the heels of death threats to suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, India faces the challenge of striking out a balance between freedom of expression and religious sensibilities. And an increasing section among Hindus now believe that while Hinduism was attacked for decades in the name of both academic …

Re-evaluating the neo-Buddhist movement
3 years, 2 months ago

Re-evaluating the neo-Buddhist movement

The Hindu  

Till October 14, 1956, the followers of Buddhism in India were an insignificant mass. Ambedkar’s impact A few days ago, on October 20, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kushinagar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh, which will help connect important Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Here, Buddhism was resurrected not only as a part of India’s cultural and civilisational heritage but also …

The fine print in Hindutva
3 years, 9 months ago

The fine print in Hindutva

The Hindu  

Modern democracies are erected upon the twin pillars of rights and representation. In the post-Independence era, while the JP movement presented an ideological critique of the excesses of the state and foregrounded the safeguarding of the rights of citizens, the parties born out of the movement gradually embraced the politics of ‘impoverished representation’, wherein who was being represented became the …

The crisis in Dalit-Bahujan politics
5 years, 2 months ago

The crisis in Dalit-Bahujan politics

The Hindu  

The political mobilisation of Dalit-Bahujans in India is in the midst of an epistemic crisis. Given the extremely skewed social power between dominant castes on the one hand and internal divisions of sub-castes within the Dalits and the Other Backward Classes on the other, identity politics, demanding more representation without an accompanying social and economic development agenda, seems to have …

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