Hindu nationalism…is a self-description used in the post-Independence period by the main political embodiments of Hindu revivalism, the Hindu Mahasabha…the Jana Singh…and the BJP…in India, “nationalism” doesn’t have the negative connotations which it has in Western intellectual circles. On the contrary, the term is hallowed by its assocation with the freedom movement. It is also [...]

This was published in the Pioneer today about the USCIRF India chapter report released last week. Comments and criticism welcome as always.

Surpassing Goebbels
Sandeep B
US uses fiction to slam freedom in India
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s India Chapter report on the extent of religious freedom in India released last week was an unwelcome [...]

Soon after, I wrote Jalapaata (Waterfall) and Tabbaliyu Neenaade Magane (You have been orphaned, my Son). A singular experience inspired both these works. A revolution of sorts was brewing in the cooperative sector in the Kaira district, which not just bettered the lives of the farmers there but supplied plentiful milk to far-off places like [...]

A good way to take a break from sickening news, never ending political crap and even mundane life, and recover sanity is to turn the mind towards the more refined appeals. The kinds that we’ve lost the time and solitude to enjoy at will: music, painting, sculpture, plays, and literature. More specifically, the classical variety [...]

When I landed in Delhi sometime in the January of 1967, Indira Gandhi was already ensconced in power…almost every other day witnessed hordes of “associations”–the Footpath Vendors Association, the Autorickshaw Drivers’ Association, the Slum Dwellers’ Association, the Onion Sellers’ Association and so on– parading on the streets of Delhi, petitioning her with a list of [...]

We have several specimens of people who call themselves Hindus:

Tearing-my-chest-Hindus: Firebrand Hindus whose commitment to, and faith in Hinduism is unquestionable but usually lack the intellectual rigour to defend attacks on Sanatana Dharma.
Intellectual Hindus: Scholarly types who are up for a good debate anytime, and are willing to defend Sanatana Dharma on the strength of [...]

The August 2009 edition of Pragati is out. One of my favourite bloggers, Atanu Dey has an incisive piece on the shameless practice of subsidizing Haj pilgrimages at taxpayers’ expense. The focus of this issue though is on reforms. A must-read issue. Download the PDF.
 
Tags: Columns, Indian National Interest, Perspectives, Pragati