Cow Protection, Hindu Revivalism, and Constitutional Politics in India and Nepal
November 16, 2015
Written by Mara Malagodi. India and Nepal are the only two countries in the world where the overwhelming majority of the population are followers of Hinduism. In India, according to the 2011 Census, 79.8 per cent of the total population is Hindu, while in Nepal the 2011 Census records 81.3 per cent. Both countries, however, present …
Hindu nationalism is rising under the BJP and Modi
November 13, 2015
Written by Sajeda Momin. When I returned to India at the beginning of October after my last visit to London, two very dear friends asked me why I had come back when I had the option to live abroad. “If I could live anywhere but here, like you, I would leave right away,” said one …
The Burden of Majoritarianism
November 12, 2015
Written by Gurpreet Mahajan. India has never been a completely neutral state. So what has changed in the last 18 months? The BJP led NDA government insists that nothing has changed. However, neither its supporters nor its detractors accept this. The opposition, and sections of the intelligentsia, maintain that a culture of intolerance is growing; others, …
Selling India, Imagining Bharat
November 11, 2015
Written by James Chiriyankandath. As Narendra Modi completes an year and a half as India’s prime minister with more globetrotting (this time to the UK and then on to Turkey, Malaysia and France for the G20, ASEAN and Global Climate Change summits), one wonders if behind the bravado and public relations glitz, doubts are beginning …
The Modi enigma
November 10, 2015
Written by Andrew Whitehead. In his eighteen months in office, Narendra Modi has spent a great deal of time travelling. He’s been to the United States twice, to France, Germany, China, Australia, Canada, Japan, Ireland – twenty-eight foreign visits in all. This week he’s making his first visit as prime minister to Britain, at a …
Why Indians abroad succumb to ‘Modimania’
Honorary Professor Andrew Whitehead writes: “Of all the world leaders who have visited Britain, only Nelson Mandela and the Pope have addressed bigger public gatherings than Narendra Modi’s rally at Wembley,” boasts a spokeswoman for the UK Welcomes Modi organisation. It is billed as a grand community reception, and 60,000 Modi supporters – almost all …
