Vishwa Hindu Parishad General Secretary Milind Parande recently (Sept 2021, TOI) stated that “The very idea of Ganga Jamuni Tehjeeb (term used for confluence of Hindu and Muslim cultures in the country) is irrelevant, what exists is one culture, and the rest can simply merge into it. The Hindu cause has to be prime.” Many notions are being circulated that[Read More...]
As communal harmony has come under stress in recent years due to propagation of myths about excessive faith based hostility in historical times, it is important to get rid of these myths so that the foundation of social harmony and inter-faith harmony in our country can be strengthened. The long battle between Rana Pratap and Akbar is well[Read More...]
Complex society India is a diverse country. It has geo-climatic diversity and people who live in different geo-climatic regions have different ways of living and doing, with different cultures. India has been a socio-cultural entity with a civilizational identity for millennia. At Independence, India was a country of amazing complexity of cultures, languages, customs, religions, ethnicities, and an ancient caste[Read More...]
Remembering victims of targeted violence against Christian Adivasis and Dalits, expressing solidarity with all victims of hate cand violence in India. NSF announces Kandhamal Human Rights awards for Activists and Groups The National Solidarity Forum has instituted two annual awards in honour of the victims and survivors of the mass violence against Adivasi and Dalit Christians of Kandhamal and several[Read More...]
Mohan Bhagawat, the Sarsanghchalak of RSS, made the statement about Islam not being in danger in India, that discord does not work and there is a need for Hindu Muslim dialogue to achieve peace in the country. His statement that ‘a person is not a Hindu if he says that Muslims should not live in India…those involved in mob lynching[Read More...]
One Hindu woman in Kanpur, UP lodged a complaint against her Muslim husband on the charge that he forcibly converted her. As it turned out she was forced to sign the FIR by Hindutva groups and she went to the police station, turned hostile and stated that the aggressive Hindu nationalist groups had forced her to file the complaint. Betwa[Read More...]
The genome of the oppressor lies in the oppressed. Once the oppressed gets the power and privilege he too becomes the oppressor. The bitter experience of oppression and the memory it leaves in the subconscious mind serve as fertile ground for the oppressed to turn oppressor when the equations change. In the absence of reforms and education, the origin of oppression remain[Read More...]
Written by Bharat Dogra and Madhu Dogra Hindi film songs have often played an important role in articulating important social messages and taking them to a very large number of people. This may be a particularly opportune time for recalling those songs which have challenged communal forces in bold and effective ways. In this context perhaps the most popular song[Read More...]
This first May (2021), was also the day of 400th Anniversary of birth of the Ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadurji. Guruji has a very important place in the consolidation of Sikhism; he was also the one who sacrificed his life for the sake of principles. As such Sikhism, the religion founded by Sant Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji has been a[Read More...]
Are we losing the “in-built” measures of modernity in the religious minorities’ struggle for reclaiming equal and free space in India? The answer rests in the response of India’s religious minorities to the state of its shrinking democracy. Four Christian women including two nuns were travelling together in a group by Utkal Express from Delhi to Odisha on 19 March,[Read More...]
