Communalism Watch

Secular academics stand up for the Delhi Court ruling against section 377

2009-07-19T10:43:00.001+02:00

sacw.net, 19 July 2009http://www.sacw.net/article1026.htmlINDIA: STATEMENT BY TEACHERS, RESEARCHERS AND ACADEMICS WELCOMES THE DELHI HIGH COURT JUDGEMENT READING DOWN SECTION 377We, teachers, researchers and academics from all over India, welcome the Delhi High Court judgement reading down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to decriminalize consensual sex among adults in private. The judgement

Deresrving Past: Reserving Future

2009-07-19T09:53:00.000+02:00

Reserved Past: De-reserving FutureRam PuniyaniReservation has been a big bone of contention in our society. Since last two decades the issue has been expressed in subtle, direct and indirect, forms. In popular psyche while some reservations are desirable and good others are the one which are regarded as an obstacle to social progress and some others are regarded as an obstacle to national

Not So Fascinating World of Dalit-Hindutva Engagement

2009-07-18T16:31:00.000+02:00

Kerala: Latent Communalism and the Police Narrative - Reflections on Beemapalli

2009-07-18T14:21:00.002+02:00

Sitting Ducks - A Beemapalli reflectionby Bobby Kunhu (http://community.eldis.org/myshkin/Blog/)It is with the utmost hesitation that I write this. Hesitation because I think I have not understood, nor have many others who have written about the May police firing in Beemapalli. Not that there is any ambiguity in anybody’s (who has visited the place) mind about the specific incidents that took

violence in Mysore indicates a hardening of Hindu right-wing attitudes

2009-07-18T13:11:00.002+02:00

FrontlineJul. 18-31, 2009COMMUNALISMDisturbed cityVIKHAR AHMED SAYEEDThe violence in Mysore indicates a hardening of Hindu right-wing attitudes in a situation where Muslims face a leadership deficit.PTIA boy injured in the clashes in Mysore on July 2.“What is it?”“Look towards the steps, at the entrance of the mosque.”“Something blackish, like a bundle, seems to be lying there.”“It is the carcass

Madhya Pradesh: ABVP gets away with Murder

2009-07-17T00:28:00.004+02:00

This political cartoon in Mail Today, 16 July 2009o o oDeccan Herald17 July 2009EditorialTravesty of justice''The judge’s comments indict the MP government.''The acquittal of six activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) by a Nagpur court in the Prof H S Sabharwal murder case shows how justice can be subverted even in open-and-shut cases. Prof Sabharwal, a professor in a college

Durga Vahini's Lethal Ladies of Hindutva in Action

2009-07-16T18:55:00.006+02:00

Dawn.comLethal ladiesThe Durga Vahini (Army of Durga) is the women's wing of the nationalist Hindu group Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) in India. It was established in 1991 and its founding chairperson is Sadhvi Rithambara. The Vishva Hindu Parishad states the purpose of the Durga Vahini is to encourage more women to participate in prayer meetings and in cultural activities. Kalpana Vyash, a senior

Karnataka - Hindutva: Vedic studies, Sanskrit vs Kannada

2009-07-16T18:14:00.003+02:00

Outlook Magazine, July 14, 2009BANGALORE BYTEAn Ideological AceOn the one hand the Karnataka government is battling the High Court order that disallows it from imposing Kannada as the medium of instruction in primary schools across the state, and on the other, it is actively pursuing the setting up of a varsity for Vedic studies and the Sanskrit language. ......by Sugata SrinivasarajuInstead of

Long Live Obfuscation! The debate over how best to hide the ideology of BJP

2009-07-16T18:10:00.001+02:00

The Daily Times, June 26, 2009How to hide an ideology by J Sri RamanIt was a Sunday sermon on Hindutva. Addressing the national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party, agonising for over five weeks since its election reverses, on June 22, Lal Krishna Advani warned against “any narrow or bigoted anti-Muslim interpretation of Hindutva”.He was reported as backing this clarification of the party’s “

VHP has annual budget of Rs 100 crores ? Where does it come from?

2009-07-16T18:07:00.002+02:00

The Times of IndiaVHP mulling plan for welfare of neglected sectionsTNN 14 July 2009, 12:44am IST | PUNE: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) general secretary Pravin Togadia on Sunday said the organisation was considering a three-point action planaimed at bringing more sections of the society into the mainstream.Togadia said the action plan was based on three principles no poor will die of starvation,

The Connection Between Hindutva's 'Voice of India' Outfit and the European New Right

2009-07-15T01:53:00.005+02:00

The Economic and Political WeeklyVol. 44, No.28, July 11 - July 17, 2009 Hindu Triumphalism and the Clash of Civilisationsby Meera NandaThis essay examines the emergence of Hindu triumphalism which openly and unapologetically celebrates its conception of “superiority of Hinduism over the alleged depravity of Semitic monotheistic religions”, namely, Islam and Christianity. It focuses on the

Book Review: Genocide, Reconciliation and Justice in Gujarat

2009-07-15T01:47:00.003+02:00

The Economic and Political Weekly, July 11, 2009Genocide, Reconciliation and Justice in Gujaratby Britta OhmReconciliation in Post Godhra Gujarat: The Role of Civil Societyby TK Ommen (Delhi: Pearson Education) 2008, 288pp. Rs 625Full text of the review is available at: http://www.epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/13702.pdf

Table the Liberhan report in Parliament

2009-07-15T01:32:00.001+02:00

The Tribune, 15 July 2009Call the BJP’s bluffCentre must table the Liberhan report in Parliamentby Rajindar SacharSo mercifully at last after 17 years (probably a record) Justice M.S. Liberhan has given his report after a gruelling and according to him non-co-operative attitude of officials and stay orders by courts. The validity of this explanation will naturally have to be tested after the

Why no representation of sexual minorities in the 'Minorities Commission'?

2009-07-14T00:41:00.003+02:00

Express Buzz14 July 2009Homophobia just cannot have constitutional sanctionby A Surya PrakashThe Delhi High Court’s path-breaking judgment reading down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code insofar as it criminalises consensual sex among same sex adults in private has raised the hackles of religious leaders and conservative heterosexuals across the country. Those troubled by this judgment say it

Will those reponsible for Babri Mosque demolition and the following riots be brought to book?

2009-07-11T22:40:00.003+02:00

Indian Express11 July, 2009Murder he wroteby Jyoti Punwani Ibrahim Rahimtulla has a direct interest in the findings of the Justice M.S. Liberhan Commission. This cattle-shed owner’s home was burnt on the night of January 10, 1993, by people he identified as his neighbours, by name and as Shiv Sainiks, before the Srikrishna Commission, and again in court where they are being tried. The trial began

Liberhan Report: Painful Wait for Justice

2009-07-11T12:31:00.000+02:00

Liberhan Commission; Painful wait for JusticeRam PuniyaniLiberhan commission submitted its four volume report to the Government on 30 of June 2009. It might have been one of the longest times taken by any commission. Liberhan’s claim that the report got delayed due to non cooperation of leaders involved may have some truth as one knows Kalyan Singh avoided appearing before the commission for long

After the long awaited Liberhan report set things right now

2009-07-10T23:36:00.002+02:00

The Island11 July 2009Damage can still be undoneBetween the linesby Kuldip NayarINDIA has lived with the Babri Masjid topic for more than 50 years, first as an issue in the shape of controversy whether the Ram temple stood there once and then in the aftermath of the Masjid’s demolition by some Hindu extremists. It was a dastardly blow to secularism which the country has claimed as its ethos even

Breaking the Kabrastan Impasse

2009-07-10T07:59:00.001+02:00

Herald, 10 July 2009The denial of a kabrastan to the Muslim community in Salcete is a violation of the right to die with dignity, says VIDYADHAR GADGILThe kabrastan issue has once again come to the forefront of public debate in Goa. Hanging fire for almost 30 years now, the lack of a resolution to this vexed problem has led to a mounting sense of frustration in the Muslim community over the

Gay but not quite happy - India's sexually repressed society

2009-07-09T06:11:00.005+02:00

by Jawed Naqvi(Dawn, 09 Jul, 2009) AN apocryphal story told by the late Prof A.M. Khusro when he was vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University goes thus: in 1603 James VI of Scotland became England’s first Stuart monarch.Within 10 days of arriving in London, he demanded that Shakespeare’s troupe come under his own patronage. So they were granted a royal patent and changed their names to the

Yogi says it’s a disease, astrologer brings in animals: 377 goes to SC

2009-07-09T04:36:00.001+02:00

Indian Express, July 9, 2009Six days after the Delhi High Court ruled that gay sex between consenting adults was not a crime, yoga guru Baba Ramdev today challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court, contending that homosexuality is “a disease” which “can be cured” and that “right to privacy as a facet of right to life cannot include the right to enjoy deviant sexual preferences and sexual

New Delhi's Akshardham Temple: Disney-Divinity and Moral Middle Classes

2009-07-09T04:30:00.000+02:00

The Economic and Political Weekly, 27 June 2009Urban Spaces, Disney-Divinity and Moral Middle Classes in Delhiby Sanjay SrivastavaA presentation of an ethnography of the relationship between urban spaces, new cultures of consumption, the state, and the making of middle class identities in India. Firstly, the discussion explores the making of new urban spaces by focusing upon the Akshardham Temple

Gay sex Ruling challenged in India's supreme court

2009-07-08T19:22:00.001+02:00

Decriminalising gay sex: Verdict challenged in apex courtJuly 8th, 2009 - 9:29 pm by IANS New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) The Delhi High Court’s verdict decriminalising homosexual sex, which has invited sharp reactions, had been challenged in the Supreme Court.The lawsuit was filed by advocate Suresh Kumar Kaushal, who urged the apex court to review the high court’s July 2 ruling, which struck down

Gujarat appoints "Commission of Inquiry" to target Minorities

2009-07-07T07:10:00.001+02:00

PRASHANT (A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace)Street Address : Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052, Gujarat, IndiaPostal Address : P B 4050, Navrangpura PO, Ahmedabad - 380 009, Gujarat, IndiaPhone : 91 79 27455913, 66522333Fax : 91 79 27489018Email: sjprashant@gmail.com www.humanrightsindia.in GUJARAT GOVERNMENT CONTINUES WITH COMMUNAL AGENDAIn

Indian business students snap up copies of Mein Kampf

2009-07-07T00:56:00.001+02:00

Sales of Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler's autobiography and apologia for his anti-semitism, are soaring in India where business students regard the dictator as a management guru. By Monty MunfordThe Daily Telegraph, London (20 April 2009)NEW DELHI - Booksellers told The Daily Telegraph that while it is regarded in most countries as a 'Nazi Bible', in India it is considered a management guide in the

BJP, Narasimha Rao and Babri Mosque Demolition: What will the Liberhan report reveal and what action will be taken?

2009-07-06T23:45:00.003+02:00

Did Rao fiddle as masjid fell?by Pankaj Vohra (Hindustan Times, July 06, 2009)Now that the M.S. Liberhan commission has submitted its report on the Ayodhya issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party has developed cold feet. The party has gone on the defensive. The manner in which the BJP spokespersons appear to be expressing regret over what happened on December 6,1992 clearly indicates that the party’s