Communalism Watch

New push to Hindutva

2013-06-19T11:50:00.004+02:00

Kashmir Times By Kuldip Nayar Politics in India may not be the same again. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has charged the agenda. It has introduced pure communalism to the soft Hindutava that prevailed so far. By appointing the hardliner Narendra Modi, Gujarat chief minister, the panel chief for the 2014 Parliament election, the party has dropped every bit of ambiguity over secularism. It is

Behind the Advani drama

2013-06-19T11:48:00.004+02:00

Kashmir Times Behind the Advani drama A politician's need to stay relevant By Praful Bidwai So what did BJP veteran LK Advani achieve by dramatically resigning from three party positions - only to withdraw his resignation equally dramatically? On the face of it, nothing, not even assurances. It's tempting to view his retreat as the ignominious defeat of an old man who remains unreconciled to

India: on BJP's outreach strategy in Delhi

2013-06-19T09:18:00.001+02:00

The Indian Express Start joining kitty parties, bhajan mandalis to widen our base: BJP chief to partymen Pragya Kaushika : New Delhi, Wed Jun 19 2013, 02:48 hrs Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel has asked the party's state executive members to target bhajan mandalis, religious organisations, senior citizens' morning meetings, kitty parties and community functions to reach out to voters and increase

Modi backs out of planned trip to Ayodhya

2013-06-18T10:29:00.000+02:00

The Telegraph, June 18 , 2013 Modi backs off Ayodhya trip OUR BUREAU June 17: Narendra Modi has cried off a planned visit to Ayodhya to attend an event organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, prompting suggestions that he does not want his “pro-development” image to be diluted by the so-called Hindutva fixtures. Sources said Modi backed out probably because such a trip so soon after the BJP’

India: Muslims that 'minority politics' left behind

2013-06-17T11:45:00.001+02:00

by Khalid Anis Ansari http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/muslims-that-minority-politics-left-behind/article4820565.ece

India: Beyond Narendra Modi’s oratory is a vapid message

2013-06-17T09:45:00.001+02:00

from: livemint.com Modi is aching to bring with him his social vision, which is aligned with that of the RSS, to the rest of India from Gujarat by Aakar Patel First Published: Sat, Jun 15 2013. 12 01 AM IST Narendra Modi is a man before his time. A couple of decades along, too late for him, there will be a bigger constituency in India for the anti-Muslim demagogue. This may seem a

Hindutva terrorism in Karnataka: Malleswaram or Hubli 2 ?

2013-06-17T06:47:00.002+02:00

by Subhash Gatade The Karnataka police arrested nine persons with Sangh Parivar links for allegedly setting off a bomb in the court of the junior first class magistrate in Hubli May 2008. They were also accused of planting a live bomb on the Dharwad-Belgaum road. This points to the presence of Hindutva terror suspects in the state. http://www.sacw.net/article4750.html

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in Delhi and its move to create a helpline or Delhi university admission seekers in 2013

2013-06-16T09:03:00.003+02:00

BJP youth wing seeks a strong identity in city Pragya Kaushika : New Delhi, Sun Jun 16 2013, 01:23 hrs In a bid to create a distinct identity in the city, like that of the Indian Youth Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) has convened a youth conference in Delhi on Sunday. To make itself a relevant and an effective body, and not just complementary to the main unit, BJYM will test

"Ghar Wapsi" [Homecoming] and the Not-so-veiled Threat of the Sangh Parivar (John Dayal)

2013-06-15T21:19:00.000+02:00

[. . .] I have had occasion to document Ghar Wapsi events in various villages of Orissa, and not just in Kandhamal, where the process has involved shaving off the head of men and women, their purification through a mixture of cowdung and cow urine, the chanting of mantras around the fire and, wherever possible, the burning of “alien” books such as the Bible. Colleagues, who have documented the

Ishrat Jahan Case - Was Modi involved ?

2013-06-15T18:59:00.001+02:00

Name of book: Ishrat Jahan, the girl sacrificed at the altar of a Hindutva Moloch Mustafa Khan [Like my other four books this book is evolving through my blog and is meant for net free loading] Chapter 4 Finally it is out Modi was behind the fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan Calling IB as Intelligence Bureau of rogues and thugs and Modi playing in their hands may not go down well with the

The Pakistanisation of Indonesia

2013-06-15T17:54:00.000+02:00

From: The Hindu, June 15 2013 The Pakistanisation of Indonesia by Pallavi Aiyar Over the last few years, Jakarta has laid down legal infrastructure that discriminates against religious minorities, allowing Islamists to take the law into their own hands The marble minaret of Jakarta’s largest mosque, the Istiqlal, and the cast iron steeples of the city’s Catholic Cathedral, jointly punctuate

Disturbing to see appeal of socio-biology among social science circles in India. We can pretty much do a credible critique of Modi with out this.

2013-06-15T17:46:00.000+02:00

Psychoprofile: Narendra Modi Manwatching Mister Modi What does the speech and body language of the man who would be king really say? Psycho-biology tells us a few things. Rukmini Bhaya Nair http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?286143

The contest between secular and communal India (Seema Mustafa)

2013-06-15T17:39:00.000+02:00

By Seema Mustafa The writer is a consulting editor with The Statesman and writes widely for several newspapers in India The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has finally subsumed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). By installing Gujarat Chief Minister Mr Narendra Modi as the symbol of Hindutva, the RSS has done to death whatever little pretensions the BJP might have had of wooing the minorities,

Whither Justice-Fabricated cases and the State: Ram Puniyani

2013-06-15T01:52:00.003+02:00

Whither Justice: Fabricated Cases and State Ram Puniyani Rihai Manch, a forum for getting justice to the falsely implicated youth in the cases of acts of terror has currently (June 2013), a protest Dharna (sit in) to demand the arrest of police and IB officials responsible for the death of Maulana Khalid Mujahid, to implement the R.D. Nimesh Commission report and to release the innocent Muslim

Why Advani is the lesser evil (Mukul Kesavan)

2013-06-14T21:24:00.002+02:00

The Telegraph - 14 June 2013 ALIEN VERSUS PREDATOR - Why Advani is the lesser evil Mukul Kesavan Nitish Kumar and the leaders of the Janata Dal (United) were so exercised by the nomination of Narendra Modi to the chairmanship of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election campaign committee, that they threatened to quit the National Democratic Alliance. They declared that only a BJP led by a secular

Bangladesh: Use of religion by some Islamist parties and organisations in electioneering for city level elections

2013-06-13T23:41:00.001+02:00

The Daily Star, June 12, 2013 City Corporation Elections 2013 Religion card used against AL favourites Jamaat, Hefajat flout code of conduct for BNP-backed candidates Wasim Bin Habib Use of religion by some Islamist parties and organisations in electioneering for BNP- backed mayoral candidates in the June 15 polls to four city corporations has taken a turn for the worse. They have been carrying

India: It's high time the RSS dropped the fiction of being apolitical and distant from BJP matters

2013-06-13T08:07:00.001+02:00

Editorial, The Indian Express, June 13 2013 Coming out It's high time the RSS dropped the fiction of being apolitical and distant from BJP matters The spectacular revolt by the BJP's founding father, L.K. Advani, the day after Narendra Modi's elevation as chairman of the party's campaign committee, was brought to an early end by an afternoon phone call from Nagpur. In withdrawing his

India: If Modi takes power, it will be absolute (Bharat Bhushan)

2013-06-13T07:56:00.003+02:00

The Asian Age. June 13, 2013 If Modi takes power, it will be absolute Bharat Bhushan Despite taking back his resignation, the veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani has managed to rain on Narendra Modi’s parade. His resignation drama has flagged to the nation that Mr Modi’s elevation to the chairman of the BJP’s campaign committee – seen by his supporters as a half-way house to his

On Narendra Modi’s PR agency : APCO Worldwide - A report by Shelley Kasli

2013-06-12T22:13:00.002+02:00

Mechanics of Narendra Modi’s PR agency : APCO Worldwide – Orchestrating our Future 16 Tuesday Apr 2013 by Shelley Kasli http://greatgameindia.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/mechanics-of-narendra-modis-pr-agency-apco-worldwide-orchestrating-our-future/

H-Net Review: Nechtman on Carson, 'The East India Company and Religion, 1698-1858'

2013-06-12T22:05:00.002+02:00

Penelope Carson. The East India Company and Religion, 1698-1858. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2012. xi + 277 pp. $115.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-84383-732-9. Reviewed by Tillman W. Nechtman (Skidmore College) Published on H-Albion (June, 2013) Commissioned by Jeffrey R. Wigelsworth The gates to the temple of Somnath may just serve as the best possible heuristic to summarize the central

Saffron uniform for Gujarat govt school in walled city

2013-06-12T21:59:00.003+02:00

Saffron uniform for Gujarat govt school in walled city RituSharma Posted online: Fri Jun 07 2013, 03:21 hrs Ahmedabad : When Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s first English-medium school formally opened on Thursday in walled city’s Shahpur with 65 students, the school uniform stood out for its colour: saffron. The children who enrolled — for two kindergarten classes and Class I — wore dark

India: Media, police ducking the question of Hindutva terror

2013-06-12T21:55:00.001+02:00

From: The Hindu, June 10, 2013 Accusing sections of the media and the police of deliberately ignoring the issue of Hindutva extremism, journalist and author Subhash Gatade said in cases such as the Malegaon blast, which was attributed to the Hindutva outfit Abhinav Bharat, the police never tried to get to the masterminds. Addressing a gathering of journalists and activists at the Alternative Law

India: MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi again barred from addressing meetings in Maharashtra

2013-06-12T20:37:00.002+02:00

From: The Hindu HYDERABAD, June 12, 2013 MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi barred from entering Malegaon and Dhule Special Correspondent AIMIM president and MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, is barred yet again from addressing meetings in Maharashtra. He is barred from entering Dhule till June 26 and Malegaon in Nashik district till July 12. A Police Inspector of Maharashtra served the notices on Mr. Owaisi at

India: HLRN Report seeks full compensation for victims of Kandhamal riots

2013-06-11T21:57:00.000+02:00

The Hindu BHUBANESWAR, June 8, 2013 Report seeks full compensation for victims of Kandhamal riots Special Correspondent A report titled 'Unjust Compensation' prepared by Housing and Land Rights Network highlighting property losses of private individuals during the Kandhamal riots, in Bhubaneswar on Friday.—Photos: Lingaraj Panda Centre for Sustainable Use of Social and Natural Resources (CSNR

BJP takes a big risk on Modi says Arati Jerath

2013-06-11T21:40:00.001+02:00

The Times of India BJP takes a big risk on Modi Arati R Jerath 10 June 2013, 09:47 PM IST The ascendance of Narendra Modi in the BJP marks a fundamental shift in a party that has always put the principle of collective leadership above the sycophancy of personality cult politics. As they emerged from a dramatic three-day conclave in Goa after anointing Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as