Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | India’s culture wars: A clash of ignorant armies
2 years, 2 months ago

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | India’s culture wars: A clash of ignorant armies

Deccan Chronicle  

The term “culture wars” is a common phrase in the American political discourse. There is then no worthy clash of ideas between the Hindu liberals and the Hindu right-wingers, and it dissolves into the proverbial heat and dust sans light. So, the two Hindu groups fighting with each other over Hindu identity – the liberals believe that Hindu culture is inclusive, which is a half-truth and there is a hint of self-righteousness and arrogance in the assumption; and the right-wingers too believe that the Hindu identity is universal and therefore absorbs into itself all the other identities, in a way superseding other belief systems and cultures – are, to use the popular and vulgar phrase, pseudo-Hindus. The Hindu right-wingers believe that Sanskrit has not changed over the centuries while the Sanskrit grammarians, Panini and Patanjali, are aware that the language has changed. The Hindu liberals will find the study of Sanskrit useful because they will notice that the language has changed over the centuries and the writers within the Sanskrit tradition were aware of this.

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History of this topic

The BJP’s Women Warriors: How Hindu Nationalism Shapes Female Political Identity
3 months ago

The BJP’s Women Warriors: How Hindu Nationalism Shapes Female Political Identity

The Hindu  

Published : Dec 11, 2024 10:40 IST - 8 MINS READ The one political party in India that has grasped the importance of working in constituencies between elections, sustained a dedicated cadre, and established like-minded “service” organisations is the BJP. Highlights The loyalty of women to the BJP can be traced to Hindutva indoctrination, which makes them internalise a set …

India, liberalism and its crisis of legitimacy
9 months, 2 weeks ago

India, liberalism and its crisis of legitimacy

The Hindu  

Amid the heated rhetoric that is already consuming most of the space for ideas in this acrimonious and protracted general election, there seems little space for engaging in a more serious discussion about political values. Tagore’s was an authentically Indian liberal voice of freedom, insisting that every individual be free to pursue his destiny: “Give me the strength never to…bend …

Whose Ram? Nationalists vs Conservatives
1 year ago

Whose Ram? Nationalists vs Conservatives

The Diplomat  

In late January, a temple devoted to the Hindu god Ram was consecrated with great fanfare in India. Finally, after many court proceedings, considering communal harmony more than historical accuracy, the Indian Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the disputed ground should be split into three zones, and a mosque should be built in one spot while a Hindu temple …

'Nothing Hindu' about what the BJP does: Rahul Gandhi
1 year, 6 months ago

'Nothing Hindu' about what the BJP does: Rahul Gandhi

Deccan Chronicle  

London: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has hit out at the BJP during an interaction with students and academics in Paris, saying that the governing party is out to get power at any cost and that there is "nothing Hindu" about their actions. During the interaction on Saturday at the Sciences PO University in Paris, a leading social sciences institution in …

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Bharat vs India: Don't create new fault lines
1 year, 6 months ago

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Bharat vs India: Don't create new fault lines

Deccan Chronicle  

Turkiye is the old/new name for Turkey that Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had adopted for his country. President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent out invitations in the name of Bharat, Ms Murmu as President of Bharat and Mr Modi as Prime Minister of Bharat, instead of the customary President of India and Prime Minister of India …

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Karnataka poses challenge to BJP's Hindutva strategy
1 year, 10 months ago

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Karnataka poses challenge to BJP's Hindutva strategy

Deccan Chronicle  

The Narendra Modi-Amit Shah domination of the BJP seems to have taken a beating in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly elections next month, with the inner party turbulence revealing that the Hindutva party cannot enjoy the meek obedience that it is used to in the Hindi-speaking states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, and of course in Gujarat. …

On a knife’s edge: Liberal Muslims left with little elbow room to raise genuine concerns within community
2 years ago

On a knife’s edge: Liberal Muslims left with little elbow room to raise genuine concerns within community

The Hindu  

Published : Feb 23, 2023 10:50 IST Let us begin by defining who is actually a liberal, irrespective of faith. A liberal Muslim is sandwiched between two groups of extremists, one from her own community and the other, and more visibly vocal one today, the hydra-headed Hindutva’s foot soldiers and ideologues. The Muslim liberal today is faced with the highly …

The role of liberal Muslims in India today
2 years ago

The role of liberal Muslims in India today

The Hindu  

Published : Feb 23, 2023 10:50 IST Any discussion on the predicament of liberal Muslims in contemporary India will remain meaningless if the term “liberal Muslims” is not adequately analysed. Second, liberal Muslims’ adherence to secularism and liberal values empowers them to speak on behalf of all “concerned citizens” irrespective of their class, region or religion. The “liberalism” of liberal …

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat backs LGBTQ rights, says 'they too should have their own private space'
2 years, 2 months ago

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat backs LGBTQ rights, says 'they too should have their own private space'

India TV News  

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat backs LGBTQ rights, says 'they too should have their own private space' The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief said India has been undivided from the earliest times of recorded history, but was divided whenever the core Hindu sense was forgotten. Muslims have nothing to fear in India, but they must abandon their "boisterous rhetoric of supremacy", RSS …

Hindu Rishi Sunak becomes UK's PM: Liberals ask if Hindus can accept a Muslim PM. Here is why their question is wrong
2 years, 4 months ago

Hindu Rishi Sunak becomes UK's PM: Liberals ask if Hindus can accept a Muslim PM. Here is why their question is wrong

Op India  

Rishi Sunak, an Indian-origin British lawmaker is now the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Further, several Muslims have served in high offices in India – APJ Abdul Kalam being one of the foremost examples of a Muslim leader who was adored by Indians beyond his religious identity. In fact, the very Arfa Khanum Sherwani, who is today wondering when …

From Babri Masjid to Gyanvyapi mosque: Why liberals fail to learn any lesson
2 years, 9 months ago

From Babri Masjid to Gyanvyapi mosque: Why liberals fail to learn any lesson

Firstpost  

Liberals in India need to understand that denial does not obliterate fault lines; it only deepens them With a ‘Shivlinga’ at the Gyanvyapi mosque in Varanasi and the Eidgah at the Krishna Janmabhoomi site being talked about, many commentators have weighed in on how Kashi and Mathura seem set to follow the path of Ayodhya, where the Babri Masjid not …

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | BJP a political beneficiary of Hindu-Muslim clashes
2 years, 10 months ago

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | BJP a political beneficiary of Hindu-Muslim clashes

Deccan Chronicle  

There was a clash between groups of Hindus and Muslims near a mosque in Jahangirpuri in northwest Delhi on the evening of Sunday, April 17, as a Hanuman Jayanti procession called Shobha Yatra was passing by the mosque. A determined BJP government at the Centre — the municipal corporations come under the jurisdiction of the Union home ministry in the …

Why It is Wrong to Equate Legitimate Hindu Concerns With a Political Party’s Agenda
3 years, 1 month ago

Why It is Wrong to Equate Legitimate Hindu Concerns With a Political Party’s Agenda

News 18  

Last week, I was on a TV news debate on the ongoing Hijab row in Karnataka. The dismissive attitude of this Nehruvian Marxist ecosystem and its false Eurocentric characterisation of Hindu concerns as “majoritarianism” or “Hindu Nationalism” are attributable to the existence of a colonialised mindset. It is a fact that at least in seven states, Hindus are in the …

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Backward UP’s alarm bells for India’s divisive politics
3 years, 1 month ago

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Backward UP’s alarm bells for India’s divisive politics

Deccan Chronicle  

The first of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in which voting begins Thursday, February 10, allows the people of the state to express their view through the ballot now that they have heard everyone on all sides, from the Hindutva-driven BJP; the anti-BJP Samajwadi Party, driven by the anger among the people; the Congress, fighting for its place in …

Rahul’s ‘Rule of Hindus’ Comment: Why Cong Needs Its Own Vocabulary
3 years, 3 months ago

Rahul’s ‘Rule of Hindus’ Comment: Why Cong Needs Its Own Vocabulary

The Quint  

Last week, in a bid to target the Bharatiya Janata Party and its many Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh affiliates, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi erred grievously. At a well-attended rally in Jaipur on 12 December, he said, “This is a country of Hindus, not Hindutvawadis … Hindutvawadis have to be ousted, and the rule of Hindus brought about in the country." In …

Hindu vs Hindutva? Rahul Gandhi’s 5 conceptual and political blunders
3 years, 3 months ago

Hindu vs Hindutva? Rahul Gandhi’s 5 conceptual and political blunders

Firstpost  

There are several reasons why Rahul Gandhi’s recent attacks on Hindutva are ill-advised and problematic Every time Congress dynast Rahul Gandhi stabs his metaphorical knife at Hindutva, he drives it into the very concept of Hindu. There are several reasons why Rahul Gandhi’s recent attacks on Hindutva are ill-advised and problematic. His party colleagues like Salman Khurshid have gone on …

Congress Needs to Reclaim the Hindu Mind, But Not BJP-Style
3 years, 3 months ago

Congress Needs to Reclaim the Hindu Mind, But Not BJP-Style

The Quint  

Such a campaign, to be effective, also has to make a more nuanced criticism of Hindutva. What this means is that there is scope as well as a need for a dialogue between the Congress and right-thinking people in the RSS on a host of issues related to the ‘Hinduism vs. Hindutva’ debate. Similarly, the Sangh is also wrong in …

Indian Americans: liberal in the US, conservative in India
4 years, 1 month ago

Indian Americans: liberal in the US, conservative in India

Live Mint  

Ever since he’s been elected, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached out to the Indian diaspora, a cornerstone of the Bharatiya Janata Party -government's foreign policy. Excerpts from an email interview: The survey suggests an interesting contrast: Indian Americans have relatively liberal views on US politics but rather conservative on the Indian issues. Modi seems to have a larger support …

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Congress drifts as real issues are left ignored
4 years, 2 months ago

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr | Congress drifts as real issues are left ignored

Deccan Chronicle  

The faction-ridden, intrigues-infested Congress Party, even in its decrepit state, remains more interesting for political observer than the regimented Bharatiya Janata Party, with the monotonous hectoring of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the few chosen leaders who are licensed to speak. The meeting convened by party president Sonia Gandhi, which included Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the 23 …

How Indian ‘liberals’ decided to embrace Hindutva!
4 years, 4 months ago

How Indian ‘liberals’ decided to embrace Hindutva!

Op India  

Indian liberals want people to learn Hindutva from RSS. One must take lessons in Hindutva from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. The “Hindutva” of the RSS is the same as the Hindutva of the Late Balasaheb Thackeray, he explained. Article by Times of India Where are those who always cry for ‘idea of India’ whenever the topic of Babri Masjid comes …

RSS' Bhaiyyaji Joshi says Hindu community 'not synonymous' with BJP, political fight should not be linked to religion
5 years, 1 month ago

RSS' Bhaiyyaji Joshi says Hindu community 'not synonymous' with BJP, political fight should not be linked to religion

Firstpost  

Invoking history, the RSS leader said Hindus never invaded other countries. RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi on Saturday said the Hindu community is not synonymous with the BJP and opposing the saffron party does not amount to opposing Hindus, ANI reported.“Political fight will continue but it should not be linked to Hindus,” he further said, as per ANI. Addressing …

Cultural Marxism: Liberals oppose the CAB because of Hinduphobia which dictates that Hindus must never be recognized as Victims
5 years, 3 months ago

Cultural Marxism: Liberals oppose the CAB because of Hinduphobia which dictates that Hindus must never be recognized as Victims

Op India  

The Liberal Meltdown over the Citizenship Amendment Bill has been one for the ages. Read: From Nehru-Liaquat Pact to Rohingyas: Here are the most important takeaways from Amit Shah’s reply on CAB Even as Pakistan continues to function as an Islamic state which sponsors terrorism against India, ‘liberals’ chastize India for making efforts to provide citizenship to the religious minorities …

Opinion | A truly fair form of liberalism must survive and thrive in India
5 years, 9 months ago

Opinion | A truly fair form of liberalism must survive and thrive in India

Live Mint  

A day after the election results were announced, I wrote that many Indian liberals were in fact illiberal, elitist, and unwilling to listen to the other side of the debate. A lone voice wrote: “Just because a Swarajya founder wrote a piece doesn’t mean that you won’t apply your intelligence to assess the intellectual quality of the article?” I left …

Being Muslim in New India is an inherently existential struggle, subsumed as community is under an emergent Hindu nation
5 years, 9 months ago

Being Muslim in New India is an inherently existential struggle, subsumed as community is under an emergent Hindu nation

Firstpost  

With Narendra Modi’s phenomenal victory in the 2019 elections, theories, everyday conversations, stories and celebrations speak of a significant notion: the “Hinduisation” of society. Be it docile Hindus, who believe Muslims will be safe in a Hindu nation, or ardent Hindutva ideologues, who claim there is no difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, one message is clear — a New India …

India: Liberal Democracy and the Extreme Right
5 years, 9 months ago

India: Liberal Democracy and the Extreme Right

The Hindu  

Indian liberalism makes a formidable claim: that the Republic is grounded in such a structurally elaborate and ideologically hegemonic liberal-democratic institutional framework that political forces of all hues are forced to consent to this framework, stake their claims and test out their fortunes within it, go in and out of the corridors of power through procedures of electoral democracy, and …

Patel statue and pillage of history
6 years, 3 months ago

Patel statue and pillage of history

The Hindu  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Hence, borrowing from Ernesto Laclau, the political theorist, it would not be wrong to characterise the terms “Hindu” and “Indian” as competing empty signifiers that could seek to produce nationalist ideology and the attendant populism. Hence, “Hindu” is more of a demographic locative appellate than a substantial attribute to a …

Live | India: Issues and Opportunities: Shashi Tharoor in conversation with Gopalkrishna Gandhi
6 years, 5 months ago

Live | India: Issues and Opportunities: Shashi Tharoor in conversation with Gopalkrishna Gandhi

The Hindu  

The LFL lecture series is a precursor to The Hindu Lit for Life, which takes place every year in January. Mr. Tharoor says "No Hindu would want a Ram temple built after demolishing another religion's place of worship." Mr. Tharoor says to another question "The new law regarding triple talaq criminalises a civil offence." Mr. Tharoor further adds "Democracy has …

Don't confuse Right' with Hindutva
6 years, 8 months ago

Don't confuse Right' with Hindutva

Deccan Chronicle  

I had a small part in a very interesting discussion this week, which included Aruna Roy, the Carnatic singer and writer T.M. Ms Roy and Mr Dey are part of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, a movement whose struggle gave India the Right to Information Act. What also interested me is the fact that there have emerged in India in …

Caste factor resurfaces, but has limitations too
7 years, 2 months ago

Caste factor resurfaces, but has limitations too

Deccan Chronicle  

Not many are interested in the real historical significance of the Bhima-Koregaon battle where the Mahar contingent of the East India Company forces defeated the Peshwa’s army in 1818. For the last three years, the Congress, the Communists, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal have almost despaired of countering Prime Minister Narendra …

A hardline Hindutva line will not work for the BJP in Kerala, they need a Narayana Guru: Rajdeep Sardesai
7 years, 5 months ago

A hardline Hindutva line will not work for the BJP in Kerala, they need a Narayana Guru: Rajdeep Sardesai

Hindustan Times  

Last Tuesday, the government of India seemed to temporarily shift its base to the BJP headquarters at Delhi’s Ashoka Road. Forget economic slowdown, jobs, GST, Rohingyas or Kashmir: for a few hours at least, the BJP’s high-decibel Jan Raksha Yatra across Kerala took precedence, as the lines between party and government were blurred. BJP president Amit Shah goes through a …

Presidential poll : Liberals are fighting on the wrong side of history
7 years, 8 months ago

Presidential poll : Liberals are fighting on the wrong side of history

Op India  

The BJP fielded Bihar Governor Ramnath Kovind as its candidate for the President of India. The BJP’s continued Dalit outreach unnerved the Congress, which decided to field Babu Jagjivan Ram’s daughter Meira Kumar. On the other hand, it is quite laughable that the Congress thinks elevating a political princess who just happens to belong to the Dalit caste, is somehow …

Liberals, It’s Do or Die in an Increasingly Conservative India
7 years, 11 months ago

Liberals, It’s Do or Die in an Increasingly Conservative India

The Quint  

Three years after the regime change at the Centre, contemporary liberalism in India is under political siege. Even liberals have appeared uncertain about what they stand for. Not just liberals, leaders of some mainline opposition parties have been reluctant to articulate a compelling public philosophy that would appeal to the people at a time when large sections of the electorate …

Yoga opponents should go to Pakistan: Sadhvi Prachi-IndiaTV News
9 years, 8 months ago

Yoga opponents should go to Pakistan: Sadhvi Prachi-IndiaTV News

India TV News  

New Delhi: VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi today kicked up another controversy with her remarks that those who are opposed to Yoga should go to Pakistan and that they have “no right” to stay in the country. The Sadhvi also did not spare Vice President Hamid Ansari, saying the main celebrations in Rajpath here on the occasion of the World's First …

‘Liberals’ jumping the gun with falsehood: a rebuttal to an article on Firstpost
9 years, 9 months ago

‘Liberals’ jumping the gun with falsehood: a rebuttal to an article on Firstpost

Op India  

The online portal First Post recently carried a piece by one of their senior editors, G. Pramod Kumar, suggesting that the BJP is only promoting Hindu icons and this is an attempt at imposing a monochromatic narrative of Indian history. If someone argues that G. Pramod Kumar’s reference was only in the context of the celebrations being planned by the …

The backdoor engagement
10 years, 6 months ago

The backdoor engagement

The Hindu  

I am currently reading a manuscript by an Indian academic which reads like a fairy tale of Hindu-Muslim relations, except that it is not a fairy tale but an important — albeit forgotten — slice of Indian history. Interestingly, barely some days later, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, while addressing party activists, reportedly “cautioned’’ them against using “offensive” language while referring …

Hindu nationalists are gaining power in India - and silencing enemies along the way
11 years ago

Hindu nationalists are gaining power in India - and silencing enemies along the way

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. "Hindu nationalism is built on …

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