11/24/2020 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) A few years ago, a local Telugu newspaper called Andhra Jyothi published a story about my churchs pastor. I was shocked to see how the storys facts, which I was aware of first-hand, were twisted by the newspaper to fit an anti-Christian narrative. However, what is more, disturbing is the ongoing consequences my pastor and others continue to face as a result of that article.

According to Andhra Jyothi, my pastor was caught red-handed and punished for converting Hindus to the Christian faith. In reality, my pastor merely attended a birthday celebration with a member of my church.

The church member was having a birthday celebration in his village and invited my pastor and several other Christians to join him. After they gathered, a mob of more than 100 radical Hindu nationalists attacked. To justify their assault, they falsely accusing my pastor of being involved in converting Hindus to Christianity.

Instead of reporting what happened, Andhra Jyothi published the nationalists narrative as fact. On its face, this narrative is easily disproven. Christians only were invited to the birthday celebration. How then was the pastor involved in any conversion activity?

Unfortunately, the police based much of their investigation on the article in Andhra Jyothi. As a consequence, my pastor was banned from entering the village where the attack took place. Local Christians have also reported enduring increased pressure from nationalists who were emboldened by the entire incident. The host of the birthday party was eventually forced to relocate.

In India, biased media reports, particularly targeting Christians and other religious minorities, are common and have real-world consequences. Biased reports reinforce false narratives used by nationalists to promote hate, justify physical violence, and pass policies that curtail Christians and other minorities rights.

Recently, Pastor Vinod Nayak, a pastor from the Shivmoga district of Karnataka, reported an incident in which an anti-Christian media report led to an attack.

On November 4, radical nationalists attacked Pastor Nayak and falsely accused him of committing blasphemy against Hinduism. After the attack, Pastor Nayak fled the village, leaving behind his wife and children. He did this because he feared being arrested by police acting upon the false blasphemy allegation.

On November 3, the day before the attack, a local daily publication in Kannada published an article that blatantly called for people to punish individuals who convert Hindus to other religions. Pastor Nayak believes there is a direct connection between the article and the November 4 attack.

This has been the pattern of the radicals, another pastor from Karnataka explained. There have been numerous media reports regarding religious conversions across the country. These reports have pushed Christians into a more vulnerable situation.

These false narratives, reinforced by biased media reports, have also been used to justify legislation that would curtail Christians religious freedom rights.

Last year, a legal panel in Uttar Pradesh submitted a draft bill for the state government to regulate religious conversions and criminalize fraudulent religious conversions. These laws are commonly referred to as anti-conversion laws and have a history of being overwhelmingly used to target and persecute Indias Christian community.

While addressing the media, Sapna Tripathi said, There is no data as such to say how many forced conversions have taken place. However, in 2014, CM Yogi Adityanath himself raised the matter, and we gave him a set of news clippings of the past six months to prove our point.

As can be seen, by this statement, news clippings, not data, were used to justify the curtailment of religious freedom in Indias most populated state. Although Uttar Pradeshs Legislative Assembly has not passed the proposed anti-conversion law, the legal panel report did incite more anti-Christian violence.

Across India, media reports, particularly regarding religious freedom, continue to be published with a distinctly anti-minority narrative. This has empowered the agenda of Indias nationalists. It has also led to bitter consequences for the countrys Christians and other religious minorities.

Go here to see the original:

Biased Media Reporting in India Helps Fuel the Persecution of Christians - International Christian Concern

Magazine November 2020 The State of Democracy in Asia The Pulse|Environment|Politics|Society|South Asia

What looks like an eminently sensible decision, given the extremely polluting effects of fireworks, has become a politically contentious issue.

Diwali is among the most important Hindu festivals in India. In the last four years or so, however, celebrations have become politically contentious. The National Green Tribunal (NGT), a body empowered to fast-track cases concerning environmental issues, has announced a mix of bans and restrictions on the use of fireworks in cities deemed to have poor air quality. Fireworks are a staple in Diwali celebrations.

Each year, burning fireworks contribute a small fraction of air pollution. However, millions are set off during festivities. This can spike pollution levels just a day later. In New Delhi, for instance, the Air Quality Index (AQI) shot up to 454 on November 14 this year well past the measure for severe pollution. While the health and environmental effects are fairly evident, the politics of fireworks are volatile. The annual episode offers a peek into the quagmire of Hindu nationalism, business interests, and regionalism in India.

This is Nothing But Cultural Genocide

The Hindu nationalist movements central contention is that, for far too long, the countrys billion or so Hindus have been suffering from religious inequality. The Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJPs) majoritarian impulses have contributed to formidable back-to-back election wins in 2014 and 2019. While Hindu nationalism was a growing feature of Indian politics for decades, it has entrenched itself in the political mainstream over the last six years. Among the more revolutionary characteristics of the BJP and the broader Hindu nationalist movement has been their ability to dominate political discourse online.

Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific.

In the lead up to this years Diwali, popular social media profiles and blogs linked to the Hindu right-wing proliferated claims against restrictions placed on the sale and use of fireworks. Twitter handles such as True Indology drew on Hindu nationalist interpretations of religious texts to argue that Hindus have used fireworks for millennia.

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

Hindu nationalism is wired toward literalism. While gunpowder was invented in the 9th century CE or so, the movement believes that fireworks were used to celebrate the victorious return of the God-King Ram to Ayodhya in the ancient Hindu epic, the Ramayana. To them, it therefore stands to reason that fireworks have always been essential to the cultural practice of Diwali.

Adding to their fury is their belief that the NGT has come down hard against Hinduism but not Islamic or Christian practices deemed to be environmentally problematic. For this reason, they consider the NGT to be run by secular anti-Hindu liberals. This is why cyber-Hindu nationalists have claimed that the double-standard is a conspiracy against Hinduism quite literally a cultural genocide.

Business Meets Politics

Roughly 90 percent of Indias fireworks are manufactured in Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu. Most manufacturers are based out of Sivakasi, a town in that district. Before the restrictions, estimates put the industrys annual value at 50 billion Indian rupees. Roughly 800,000 people are either directly or indirectly employed by the industry. Diwalis synonymity with fireworks has rendered the festival critical to the industry. Unsurprisingly, lobby groups representing the interests of manufacturers, such as the Tamil Nadu Fireworks and Amorces Manufacturers Association (TANFAMA), have petitioned courts across the country to overturn the bans. These have generally failed.

However, the industry appears to have found a useful ally in Hindu nationalists. They have been fairly successful at galvanizing Hindus to create a groundswell of pressure. For instance, on November 8 the BJP-run Karnataka state government backed away from an initial ban to then say that people could use green fireworks a reference to crackers that are 30 percent or so less polluting, but still toxic. The BJP-led Haryana state government similarly eased off strict restrictions it had initially announced. The BJP Madhya Pradesh state government distanced itself from restrictions altogether and instead encouraged residents to celebrate with fervor.

Relatedly, it is also notable that the firebrand BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Yogi Adithyanath, ordered the release of a trader who sold fireworks even though he had imposed a ban across much of UP. A video of the traders arrest had gone viral and there was considerable backlash against the UP police. Evidently, Adityanath found it imperative to play to his base and undermine the legitimacy of his own governments restrictions.

To be clear, this has hardly been utopian for manufacturers. The reality is that sales have come down considerably generally by 30 to 35 percent. Yet, the episode indicates that Hindu nationalist pressure can compel governments to ease off industries considered foundational to Hinduism.

#NorthIndiaBanCrackers

In the last 70 years, Sivakasi has become a cultural landmark for fireworks. Its importance to the local economy forced political parties in Tamil Nadu to the industrys defense. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, member of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), sent letters to his counterparts in Odisha and Rajasthan urging them to reconsider their bans on fireworks. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president, M.K. Stalin, similarly urged Rajasthan to ease restrictions. On the one hand, the statements by the AIADMK and the DMK appear to be little more than a hard-nosed response to economic, employment, and big business considerations. Yet, it is just as important to appreciate how regionalism and Tamil nationalism underpinned their actions.

Perhaps the one cleavage with priceless political value in Tamil Nadu is the divide between Tamil identity and Northern Indian identity. The fact that restrictions on fireworks in many parts of North India had a palpable impact on Tamil Nadu gave the issue an ideological flavor. It was seen as a North Indian assault on the economy of Tamil Nadu. Even though states such as Odisha, Karnataka, and Telangana had various permutations of restrictions, the enemy in the North became the discourse of choice for parties competing to defend the industry. Indeed, all states north of Tamil Nadu were equated with North India. This was perhaps best personified by how Jaya TV, a popular news network in Tamil Nadu, covered the issue. Clips of the bans impact on Sivakasi were frequently accompanied with the hashtag: #NorthIndiaBanCrackers.

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

The fact is fireworks are extremely hazardous. Studies suggest that emissions from fireworks are the equivalent of smoking 34 to 464 cigarettes at a go. The detrimental effect they have on the environment is clear as well. However, the politics of fireworks in India is a complex web of interests and ideologies. All groups opposing the restrictions insist that fireworks have been conveniently scapegoated. These have created conditions in which restrictions are routinely ignored. Coming to a consensus between different interest groups is going to be a herculean task. The #RightToBreathe movement has been extremely partisan, while attempts to transition the industry to green crackers looks unlikely to be the panacea. But unless regulators can figure a way to address different sets of concerns adequately, Diwali may well continue to be a politically contentious affair for years to come.

Prashant Waikar is a senior analyst in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

More:

Banning Fireworks on Diwali: A Window Into Money and Politics in India - The Diplomat

New Delhi (ILNS):A letter has been sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a request to add Section 493A in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to stop Conversion and Love Jihad.

The letter has been written by Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. He wrote: Many Individuals and Organizations have started mass conversions of SC-STs in rural areas and situation is very alarming. The mass religious conversion of the socially and economically downtrodden men, women and children, and, in particular, from the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe community, is on the rise in past 20 years, though India is a victim of the religious conversions for many centuries. The Organizations operate very smoothly, targeting socially economically downtrodden men, women and children, and in particular, from Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe community, with fraudulent tricks such as mass prayers of miracle healing and marketing campaigns of black magic.

The letter further states: The evidence of the deceitful religious conversion is available in social media. Foreign funded individuals and NGOs are given a road map and monthly target of religious conversion. It is necessary to state that as per 2011 census, Hindus are 79 percent, down from 86 percent in 2001, (millions converted continue to record as Hindus to get reservation in Jobs and other benefits). Presently, Christians are majority in Mizoram (88 percent), Nagaland (88 percent) and Meghalaya (75 percent) and there is significant population in Manipur (42 percent), Arunachal (31 percent), Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal. Muslims are majority in Lakshadweep (96.20 percent), Kashmir (95 percent) Laddakh (46 percent) and there is significant population in Assam (34.20 percent), West Bengal (27.5 percent), Kerala (26.60percent), UP (19.30 percent), Bihar (18 percent). At this rate, if no action will be taken, Hindus will become minority in 2050 throughout the India, which was once a complete Hindu majority country.

Upadhyay, has suggested that Government can maintain discipline and reduce forceful conversion by amending Section 493 IPC and adding Section 493A, whereby a convict found guilty would serve imprisonment of 5-10 years with fine of Rs 50,000 to 5,00,000. The letter further says that the Centre can empower the National Human Rights Commission to deal with the affairs of religious groups and analyze religious discrimination among them.

The letter addressed to PM Modi also demands enactment of a law which strictly bans or scrutinizes foreign funds which many a times operate under the hide of an NGO. The letter also says: It is necessary to state with dismay that the Government has done little or nothing to stop religious conversions by force and luring gifts/money.

Read Also: Amravati land scam: Supreme Court stays high court gag order, but case remains with HC

Original post:

Lawyer writes to PM, urging the addition of Section 493A in IPC to stop conversion and love jihad - India Legal

While brown-skinned characters from India and its neighbors have been featured in English films for a long time, they often fall prey to stereotypes.

Hollywood productions (and English films in general) have to go a long way in terms of representation of identities like the so-called 'brown identity'. While brown-skinned characters from India and its neighbors have been featured in English films for a long time, they often fall prey to stereotypes or appropriation. Even though portraying an Indian character and their struggles might seem like 'Oscar bait', some of the elements in these stories hardly feel relatable to local Indians as well as the Indian-American diaspora.

RELATED: The Simpsons: Apu's 5 Worst Scenes (& 5 Fans Actually Loved)

Actors and filmmakers like Aziz Ansari, Gurinder Chadha, Hasan Minhaj, and Dev Patel are changing the perspective to an extent, portraying characters and writing stories beyond the 'curry-eating', 'mystical and exotic' narratives. Otherwise, with popular shows and movies, some stereotypes can, unfortunately, be formed in the heads of non-Indian viewers.

In many depictions, Indians are equated to being Hindus. Surely, Hinduism is a major religion in the country but its diverse landscape also harbors Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism, and other faiths. Hence, showing all American-Indians as worshippers of the idols of Hindu gods and goddesses, complete with Hindu-style offerings and incense sticks is just generalizing Indians under one category.

Further, even with the Hindu Indians, not all of them are intensely devout believers. Just like the generic and dominant American Christian characters in popular media, some might be of stronger faith while some might hardly worship their deities at all.

It has been automatically assumed that all Indian accents are more than often funny-sounding and grammatically incorrect. The root cause of this was racial ignorance and the earlier depictions of Indians by white actors (wearing brownface) like Peter Sellers in The Party and Fisher Stevens in Short Circuit.

Of course, the stereotypical 'Indian accent' reached disastrous heights with the character Apu in The Simpsons. Apu was so offensive to the diaspora that even a documentary called The Problem With Apu got released in 2017, dissecting the stereotypes and racial microaggressions the character presented. Actor Kal Penn even revealed how some studios wanted him to have an 'authentic Apu accent' in his roles! Recently, Apu's voice actor Hank Azaria apologized and stepped down from the role.

India has a concerning rate of social inequality and poverty. Some films like Lion have tried showing a financially-troubled protagonist in a realistic light and empathetic light. But otherwise, foreign films often tend to romanticize poverty (or show 'poverty porn' as some might say) or paint the entirety of India as a backward nation with no modern infrastructure. The Darjeeling Limited, Million Dollar Arm, and many others mock and generalize Indian cities as having nothing but shoddy shacks of buildings and half-naked children.

Indian directors frame their scenes in the backdrops of ruined buildings, crowded streets, and cows in the middle of traffic, but they paint the context as being from a particular area in India, rather than generalizing the entire country as an undeveloped urban jungle.

Movies that deal with the interaction of foreign and Indian characters evoke pity sympathy, but maybe, they can do better with a more empathetic portrayal rather than a sympathetic one. Lion and Million Dollar Arm both depict white characters turning the fates of poor Indians. Both are based on true stories and do justice to their source material to an extent.

However, Indian representation should also involve portrayals of self-independent characters who can make it on their own, rather than depending on white people all the time. Colonial cultural hegemony is unfortunately still engrained in India after two centuries of British rule. The 'fair skin' is still glorified even in Indian communities, with fair skin being equated to a very desirable quality. Hence, bolder Indian lead characters are needed not just to fight the generic white savior narrative, but the racist biases that some Indians themselves internalize in their thoughts.

Bollywood is the name largely attributed to the Hindi film industry. However, India produces films in the rest of its languages too, with some modern gems acquiring critical acclaim at international film festivals too. These languages can range from Assamese to Malayalam to Bengali, and so on. Further, not every Indian film is riddled with Bollywood cliches like musical numbers, grandiose sets, and majestic gestures of romance.

Scenes like the final dance to Jai Ho in Slumdog Millionaire and the wedding scene in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel reinforce the notions that Indian celebrations mostly involve grand, choreographed song and dance like a typical Bollywood film.

Cults like those in Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom, and the spiritual journeys in India as shown in Eat, Pray, Love, paint India as a highly 'exotic' land filled with mysticism and superstitious beliefs.

RELATED: 10 Things From The Indiana Jones Franchise That Haven't Aged Well

The argument against this stereotype can again be explained as the point for India's multi-religious identity. Not all Indians are blind worshippers of bearded mystics and gurus. As of last year, about 2.9 million Indians are atheists, while some consider themselves to be rationalists despite holding onto their religious identity. Otherwise, India is a diverse land of its own, rather than an exotic, archaic, and divine fantasy-world of sorts.

India does boast of historic classical and folk music styles, having exported maestros like sitarist Ravi Shankar to the rest of the world. Still, such forms of music hardly make way to the Indian music mainstream in today's times. Film music or independent music usually dominates the playlists of many Indian demographics. Many independent artists are experimenting or reinterpreting foreign genres too, be it hip-hop or electronica.

That's why rather than relying on a 'traditional' sound, films shot in India can feature several new-age Indian artists and their musical styles.

Indians, Arabs, Koreans, and many other immigrants get mocked for their names that are difficult to pronounce by the dominant citizen groups in the countries they settle. Some even have to Anglicize or shorten their names for the convenience of the Westerners. Instead of mispronouncing or changing the names of the people from this diaspora, maybe the Hollywood narrative can make an effort to accurately show some Indian names. It's not that difficult always.

RELATED: The Simpsons: 10 Things Fans Need To Know About Apu

Even though today, foreign productions do try to accurately portray Indian characters and their names, there used to be Indian characters with names complicated and exaggerated beyond measure. The biggest case yet again is Apu's surname, Nahasapeemapetilon. Older films were even more careless in christening their Indian characters. In Annie (1978), an Indian bodyguard was simply named Punjab (an Indian state, hardly ever used as a person's name).

Indian food might provide a spicier culinary experience to Americans or Britishers who are not used to the taste. There's an actual term 'Delhi Belly' referring to the upset stomach that foreign tourists have when they visit India.

RELATED: No Reservations And 9 Other Delicious Movies Where Food Is The Star

Western portrayals have often reduced Indian food as something heavily spicey or gooey that leads to diarrhea. Such tropes are played around with Jon Hamm and Alan Arkin's character in Million Dollar Arm. Another done-to-death stereotype is referring to Indian gravy dishes as 'curry'. There are so many diverse meat and vegetable-based dishes from all Indian states that it's hard to categorize any particular Indian dish as a curry. A good alternative to such cliches can be The Hundred-Foot Journey that normalizes the cooking habits of Indians.

Indian-Americans were often shown as shop clerks, drivers, doctors, or any other supporting character. Often reduced to caricatures with the aforementioned accents, they were hardly given any scope for character development or background stories.

However, now, with slightly higher representation, this attitude is changing. Examples like Aziz Ansari's lead role in Master of None and Rahul Kohli in The Haunting Of Bly Manor are helping in giving Indian-origin American and British actors a more nuanced and multi-layered portrayal.

NEXT:Haunting Of Bly Manor: 5 Of Owen's Funniest Puns (& 5 Most Memorable Quotes)

Next The Big Bang Theory: 10 Hidden Details About Penny That Everyone Missed

Hailing from and based in India, Shaurya Thapa harbors interests in freelance journalism, cultural diversity, and critical analyses on films and TV of varied genres.

Read more from the original source:

10 Stereotypes Indians Are Tired Of Seeing In Western Films And TV - Screen Rant

LUCKNOW : With the Uttar Pradesh government clearing an ordinance to deal with religious conversion solely for marriage, Muslim leaders on Wednesday reacted with caution saying it should be ensured that it does not infringe upon the constitutional right to freedom of religion.

The state cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Tuesday given its nod to the draft ordinance providing for jail up to 10 years and fine of 50,000 for those violating its clauses.

The good thing is that the new ordinance does not use the term love jihad and the forced conversion which has been termed as illegal and punishable is something that is already held as crime in the Muslim law. In the Quran also, the Allah has said force in religion is not justified and so we have no objection to punishment over it," senior member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Khalid Rashid Farangimahli told PTI.

Love jihad is a term coined by a section of Hindu groups for Muslim men allegedly forcing women to convert in the guise of love and marriage.

We are of the opinion that for peace and communal harmony, it is needed that Muslims and Hindus marry in their own communities. We have no objection to whatever we have seen in the ordinance," Farangimahli said.

The AIMPLB member stressed that whenever any law is enacted, it is based on the intention that there would not be any discrimination with anyone.

We also expect that this law will not be used wrongly. The legal expert will have to see that the law does not raise a question mark on the constitutional right to freedom of religion for all Indians. Otherwise, we have no objection to this law," he said.

Shaista Amber, president, All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board, however, said there was no need for such a law.

If anyone is getting married on the basis of deceit and forcibly getting the other person converted, there should be a stringent law for it and we already have laws for it. There was no need to bring a new law," she said.

Stressing that there are laws to check deceit in marriage, Amber said if the government has decided to bring a new law, it should also be ensured that it is not misused and peoples right to freedom of expression is not harmed.

Another senior AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani reasoned if two adults get married, even if they belong to different castes, religions or even nations, their marriage is their private right.

The apex court has also accepted this fact, Jilani, also a senior counsel, said.

Muslim religious leader Sajid Rashidi, however, saw in it an attempt to polarise the society ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections.

Law already exists against forced conversion, but since the elections to the West Bengal assembly are due there is a need to prepare a political ground and create hatred between Hindus and Muslims," he alleged.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters

* Enter a valid email

* Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Read this article:

Muslims react with caution to UP govt's ordinance against conversion for marriage - Mint

Text Size: A- A+

I have forced myself to write a response to Yogendra Yadavs latest column in ThePrint in which he has stigmatised the rise of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen or AIMIM as a worrisome news.

Even though the highly superficial critique of psephologist-turned-politician Yogendra Yadav does not make sense logically, it does make sense as a public display of bte noir. If we pay close attention, we will realise that what a wide range of politicians say about the success of Asaduddin Owaisis party in the Bihar assembly election comes from a sense of reluctance in accepting the fact that Muslim votes are no longer their private deposit that they can keep taking for granted.

The rise of AIMIM, outside Hyderabad, and more specifically in Indias Hindi heartland, has rattled most of the secular political fronts equally. When the Bihar election results were announced, giving the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) another five years despite a decent fight from Tejashwi Yadavs Rashtriya Janata Dal (RLD)-led Mahagathbandhan (MGB), many Congress leaders were unhappy. At one point, it felt as if the Congress was more dejected with the AIMIM winning five seats in what once used to be its stronghold, Seemanchal, than losing the election overall.

One of the Congress tallest Muslim leaders from Bihar, Tariq Anwar, wrote on Twitter saying NDA should thank Owaisi for helping them form government for another term in Bihar. The Youth Congress official Facebook page shared several posters and cartoons suggesting the same thing the AIMIM is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s B-team and that Owaisi has helped the NDA win Bihar. But the election data destroys all such claims. This is not the first time, though, that Congress leaders have made this superficial claim. During the Telangana assembly election in December 2018, Rahul Gandhi had said: TRS is BJPs B-team, AIMIM is BJPs C-team.

Also read: The BJP does not want Owaisi, the BJP does not need Owaisi

Yogendra Yadavs critique is pejoratively clever. He alleges that the AIMIM is a particularly pernicious political outfit. He explains the history of the Hyderabad-based party and tries to delegitimise it by questioning its loyalty and allegiance to India for its positioning in the India or Pakistan episode, when Hyderabad was an independent state. I am yet to see any other political partys loyalty being questioned for what its founding members did before 1947. We know about the Congress celebrating Hindu Mahasabha founder Madan Mohan Malviya, other Hindu nationalists like Lala Lajpat Rai and even V.D. Savarkar.

Even when the Congress is criticised for its past, the criticism lies around its mistakes and blunders, or at most for its Muslim appeasement. However, the AIMIM has not been labelled dubious by Yogendra Yadav for its mistakes. Instead, the partys loyalty and allegiance to India has been questioned.

Furthermore, Yogendra Yadav also alleges that the AIMIM is a communal outfit. He, however, is sincere enough to acknowledge that the AIMIM is not the only communal outfit. He writes that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the Milli Council, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), and various factions of Kerala Congress are equally communal. The AIUDF, as Yadav suggests, is different only in the sense that it does not carry communalism in its name. I wonder what stopped him from including the Indian National Congress (INC), which represents Brahmins; Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which represents Baniyas; Samajwadi Party (SP), which represents Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh; Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which represents Yadavs in Bihar; Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which represents Dalits in UP, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which represents Rajbhars; Apna Dal, which represents Kurmis; and Bahujan Vanchit Aghadi (VBA), which represents Dalits in Maharashtra, among others. It should be noted that Yogendra Yadav only chose to name the parties that represent three minority communities Sikhs, Christians and Muslims.

In the end, Yogendra Yadavs biggest concern is that Asaduddin Owaisis AIMIM may well be the right partner that Hindu majoritarian politics is looking for. I am afraid that he needs to be reminded that Hindutva politics has already won two Lok Sabha elections, and has seemingly compromised all the State institutions, without the help of AIMIM. The Narendra Modi government has been re-elected with a greater majority than before, and his popularity has been on rise despite everything. Hindu majoritarian politics was indeed looking for opportunities, which were served to them by the secular leaders themselves. The reception of Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan by secular parties legitimised Hindu majoritarian politics. So did the reception of the Ayodhya verdict by secular parties and the repeated silence of these parties on issues that concerned Muslims.

Also read: Why UP opposition parties are jittery after Owaisi performance in Bihar

It is easier for Yogendra Yadav to look the other way, but the reality is that since Modis second term, Hindu majoritarian politics has shifted from Hindu khatre mein hai (Hindus are in danger) to Musalmano ko darr ke jeena padega (Muslims have to live in fear). The BJP does not need Asaduddin Owaisis party to make their point. Secular parties have failed to establish social justice by failing to give Muslims their fair share of representation while taking Muslim votes for granted until now. The reports of Sachar Committee, Kundu Committee and numerous other researches clearly indicate the failure of secular parties vis--vis Muslims. These parties have paved ways for Hindu majoritarian politics to not just operate but to bloom. It is the inconsistent policies of the secular parties that must be blamed. That was the only opportunity Hindu majoritarian politics was looking for. We are past that. Yogendra Yadav and others are afraid that if Muslims start voting for a Muslim-led party, almost every secular front will have to become what they really are political outfits representing different castes. The AIMIM is not a secular party because Hindus do not vote for it. The Samajwadi Party is a secular party because Muslims also vote for it other than Yadavs.

Yogendra Yadav is getting it wrong. He is trying to shift the blame of bringing Hindu majoritarian politics from the Hindu majority to Muslims as if Hindu majoritarian politics would cease to exist had it not been for Asaduddin Owaisi or any other Muslim political outfit. It is about time that members of the Hindu community start owning their own mess instead of blaming Muslims as the BJP does.

Yogendra Yadavs secularism demands Muslims to vote for Hindu-led parties just as they have been doing almost religiously since 1947. Muslims voting for the AIMIM a Muslim-led party in his view, means Muslims are rejecting secularism. This binary is highly problematic. If Yogendra Yadav suggests that in order to save secularism, Muslims should give up their best chance of getting truly represented, this secularism must not be saved. Asaduddin Owaisis rise lies in the response (or lack of it) of secular parties to the BJPs Hindu majoritarian politics. Yogendra Yadav must not assume the AIMIM will be a Muslim BJP. Instead, for a change, the Hindu majority should, for once, rally behind a Muslim leader and save Indian secularism. After all, no politician stands as tall as Asaduddin Owaisi in countering Hindu majoritarian politics or in displaying the secular ethos of the Constitution in their public speeches. Yogendra Yadavs unwillingness to acknowledge that a Muslim leader who is not sanctioned by existing secular parties can be secular, is Islamophobia.

Sharjeel Usmani is a student leader and the National Secretary of Fraternity Movement. Views are personal.

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram

Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it

India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.

But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.

ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.

Support Our Journalism

Go here to see the original:

Yogendra Yadav is wrong to assume Owaisis AIMIM will be a Muslim BJP - ThePrint

Hindu temple, believed to have been constructed 1,300 years ago, has been discovered by Pakistani and Italian archaeological experts at a mountain in Swat district of northwest Pakistan. The discovery was made during an excavation at Barikot Ghundai. Also Read - After Coronavirus Ends, Arrangement For Lord Ram's Darshan Will Be Made From Every UP Village: Yogi Adityanath

Announcing the discovery on Thursday, Fazle Khaliq of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department of Archaeology said that the temple discovered is of God Vishnu. It was built by the Hindus 1,300 years ago during the Hindu Shahi period, he said.

The Hindu Shahis or Kabul Shahis (8501026 CE) was a Hindu dynasty that ruled the Kabul Valley (eastern Afghanistan), Gandhara (modern-day Pakistan), and present-day northwestern India. During their excavation, the archaeologists also found traces of cantonment and watchtowers near the temple site.

The experts also found a water tank near the temple site which they believed used by the Hindus for bathing before worship. Khaliq said that Swat district is home to thousand-year-old archaeology sites and the traces of the Hindu Shahi period have been found for the first time in the area.

Dr Luka, the head of the Italian archaeological mission, said this the first temple of the Ghandhara civilisation discovered in Swat district.

Swat district is among the top 20 sites in Pakistan which is home to every kind of tourism like natural beauty, religious tourism, cultural tourism and archaeological sites. Several worship places of Buddhism are also situated in Swat district.

See original here:

1,300-Year-Old Hindu Temple Dedicated to God Vishnu Discovered in Northwest Pakistan's Swat - India.com

Four years ago, then-candidate Donald Trump forged an unlikely alliance with the Hindu American community. In an Edison banquet hall where posters of Trump showed him superimposed upon lotuses and Bollywood dancers wielded lightsabers for an interpretive dance condemning terrorism, Trump made his now-famous decree:

We love Hindus, Trump said. And if elected, you would have a true friend in the White House.

Trump lights a diya lamp at an RHC rally on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016, at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center, in Edison.

For a group typically snubbed by Republicans, Trumps proclamation reverberated.

That was the biggest gift candidate Trump could give to us, to the Hindu community, Shalabh Kumar, founder of the Republican Hindu Coalition which hosted the rally, told NJ Advance Media.

The same month, an ad showing Trump speaking Hindi, parroting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis re-election slogan and featuring clips from the rally went viral across Indian American media, with a multi-million-dollar fundraising push from the RHC.

You know how some kind of a moment happens and everyones enthusiastic, even though you might not be Republican, but just because the wave of your community joining something Thats how everybody was at that time, Dhiren Parikh, a 2016 Trump voter from Old Bridge, told NJ Advance Media.

He added: This year we dont see any movement.

Hindu-Americans who supported Trump in 2016 reported a reversal in attitude from the Trump campaign, contrary to its surprisingly active push four years prior. Though its no secret Hindu Americans en masse will go for the Biden-Harris ticket in New Jersey and nationwide, an ardent subsection of Hindus that showed up for Trump in 2016 might wane come election day, representing the campaigns failure to capitalize on would-be supporters.

Though polling data cant paint an exact picture of Trumps support among Hindus, which make up about half of all Indian Americans, 72 percent of registered Indian American voters plan to cast their ballots for Biden and 22 percent for Trump, according to the Indian American Attitudes Survey which surveyed nearly 1,000 Indian Americans. In 2016, 32 percent of Indian Americans held a favorable view of Trump in the Post-Election National Asian American Survey which polled more than 4,000 Asian Americans.

Attendees show their support for Trump at an RHC rally on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016, at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center, in Edison.

The campaign side this time around in 2020 has gone back to the traditional Republican outreach towards the Indian or Hindu-American community, which was simply a checkbox approach, Kumar said. You talk to a few Indians, you talk to a few Hindus, and check the box, youve done the minority outreach. There really has not been any serious outreach this time around.

The RHC has not held any major events this election cycle and Kumar, a Trump megadonor and one of the Hindu communitys most powerful political power brokers, has taken a back seat in 2020.

Others expressed the same frustration, complaining that the Trump team has made no efforts to reach out this time around, issued no statements, forged no community bonds and has just generally been absent.

President Trump has not made any formal statement or his campaign team about the Indian Americans are they thankful for [Indian Americans'] presence in this country or not?... South Brunswick resident Jyotsna Sharma told NJ Advance Media. "So why do they want to discard this community altogether?

Indian Americans show their support for Trump at an RHC rally on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016, at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center, in Edison.

Of course, not everybody agrees. A.D. Amar, president of the Indian-Americans for Trump 2016 PAC and Seton Hall University Professor, feels the Trump campaigns footprint has been felt by Indian Americans and sees the group serving as a decisive bloc in swing states. Still, Amar worries that Kamala Harris, of Indian and Hindu heritage, will invigorate Hindu Americans to vote Democrat.

Democrats typically enjoy the support of Hindus and Indians along with their multicultural coalition of Jews, Muslims, African Americans, Latinx Americans and immigrants.

If you are a Hindu-American, Indian-American, you naturally move towards Democrats because Democrats are considered to be a party of minorities they welcome minorities a lot more than Republicans do, Kumar said. Thats a very natural tilt toward the Democrat party. Thats the connection of the heart, connection of feelings. Not economic policies.

But, analogous to Jewish voters, a reliably blue bloc with a fervent swath of Trump supporters, there are a significant number of Hindus who admire Trump for his friendship with Indias strongman leader Modi, just as Republican Jews like Trumps relationship with Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Coupled with Trumps aggressive posture against Pakistan, his action against terrorism and his business-first economic policies, theres much Hindu Americans, the religious group with the highest socioeconomic levels in the U.S., found attractive in Trumps first term.

Part of the disenchantment, however, this election cycle is Trumps inaction on immigration reform.

Kumar has asked the Trump administration to clear the green card backlog, where more than a million immigrants have gotten petitions approved from employers but are stuck in a backlog, waiting for legal permanent residence. Additionally, hes lobbied for so-called DALCA kids or Deferred Action for Legal Childhood Arrival to enjoy the same legal protections as DACA kids.

RHC seeks a more definitive commitment from the Trump administration towards that, Kumar said. Even though we know President Trump is all for it, but the Trump administration needs to commit to it.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appears with Republican Hindu Coalition Founder Shalabh Kumar at an RHC rally on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016, at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center, in Edison.

Some Hindu Americans are also turned off by Trumps racial rhetoric.

This country is a land of immigrants and this kind of discord doesnt land anywhere. We look for more peace and prosperity and more respect for each otherHe should have set better examples when it comes to white supremacy, Sharma said, who cannot actually vote as she is still waiting for a green card.

For Parikh, the change in campaign strategy and Trumps tone on immigration were enough to swing his vote to Biden.

What we thought at the time candidate Trump can do for America, for me personally, didnt turn out that way, Parikh said.

Regardless, Hindu Americans are not a monolith, and trends in voting are just that: trends. There still exists a significant portion of Hindu voters whose adoration for the president is undiminished, who dont care about identity-based campaigning.

Why does he need to reach out to specifically South Asians, or African Americans or Hispanics? South Brunswick resident Jinesh Patel asked NJ Advance Media. It doesnt make sense, just for an election gimmick. I think he has done a lot in the last four years for South Asians, and African Americans, and Hispanics and America as a whole.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Josh Axelrod may be reached at JAxelrod@njadvancemedia.com.

See the article here:

Hindus in N.J. who voted for Trump in 2016 say their support is waning - nj.com

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka has taken up the issue of attack on a Hindu neighbourhood in the country where the majority community had accused members of the minority community of blasphemy. Official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said the issue was being looked into by the Bangladesh government.

Our High Commission is in close contact with the local authorities in Bangladesh. They have taken up this incident. We have been informed that the authorities in Bangladesh are investigating the outbreak of violence. They also remain vigilant to prevent any untoward disturbances, said Mr. Srivastava.

The violence had broken out in Comilla in the eastern part of Bangladesh where mobs had attacked homes belonging to the minority Hindus after rumoured social media comments about the French cartoons of Prophet Mohammed became viral. The attack was filmed and was shared widely on social media platforms that added to the tension.

Bangladesh has since promised to look into the incident. Hefazat E Islam, a hardline Islamic outfit, has been agitating against the French cartoons of the Prophet which has created pressure on the Sheikh Hasina government.

See the original post:

India takes up with Bangladesh attack on Hindus - The Hindu

Voicing concern over reports of attack on minority Hindu community in some parts of Bangladesh, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday urged the Centre to take up the issue immediately with the neighbouring country.

He referred to recent media reports that temples were attacked and Hindu families in Bangladesh became victims of arson and loot by fundamentalist forces.

At least 15 Hindu temples in Bangladesh have been vandalised over allegations of disrespect shown to Islam on Facebook, triggering panic among the minority community in some areas, a report from Dhaka said on October 31.

Temples at Nasirnagar in Brahmanbarhia district in Bangladesh were vandalised on Sunday and over 100 houses in the area belonging to Hindus were looted, the media report said.

After the violence, which reportedly lasted for hours, two temples in adjacent Madhabpur in Habigunj also came under attack, the report said quoting police and eyewitnesses.

It is reported that Hindu families in Bangladesh have been targeted by fundamentalist forces resulting in the arsoning and other violence as a reprisal of the stand taken by our government. Indian government should take up the issue with Bangladesh government as immediately as possible so as to prevent further escalation, he said in a statement.

Six persons have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the attack and paramilitary Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) deployed at Nasirnagar and Madhabpur Upazila headquarters along with the Rapid Action Battalion, police and Armed Police Battalion, the report said.

Locals said the Nasirnagar incident started with a Facebook post by one person from Harinberh village under Haripur Union Parishad.

Police detained the accused on Friday immediately after the allegation of blasphemy against him. The man has been sent to jail following a court order.

More:

Congress urges Centre to take up with Bangladesh attacks on Hindus - The Hindu