WASHINGTON: Hindus, who constitute one percent of the American population and is the third largest religion of the world, has gone unpresented in the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, in the absence of which the USCIRF has been producing biased, unscientific and one-sided reports on India and Hindus, the head of a top Indian diaspora think-tank body said Friday. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Friday announced the appointment of three new members -- Maureen Ferguson, Vicky Hartzler, and Asif Mahmood - and reappointments of Stephen Schneck and Eric Ueland to its commission. The term of the previous commissioners -- Abraham Cooper, David Curry, Frederick Davie, Mohamed Magid, Nury Turkel and Frank Wolf - ended on May 14. "Congratulations to the appointed member of the USCIRF. Leaders have missed a historic opportunity to appoint representation for diversity and the balance in the commission, representation of one of the largest faiths. One in every six people on this earth come from Hindu religion. That is not represented on the commission, which is going to be big miss from the bringing the diversity and having a proper balance in the International Religious Freedom report," Khanderao Kand, chief of Policy and Strategy at Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) told PTI Friday. The annual report of the USCIRF on international religious freedom, he said, is biased against India. "What we observe in general as well as in this year is that this report is predictably biased against India. It is full of omission and commission. It presents some of the facts, but it does not provide all the facts. It hides many facts," Khanderao said. "It (USCIRF report) actually does not contextualize. It does not give the historical facts or the trends. The report then fits to a certain narrative and that's why it is not factually complete, and it becomes a polemic. It is predictably anti-India. Unfortunately, it is recommending India to be a country of particular concern," he said, adding this is a strange recommendation for a country like India, which is the world's largest democracy. Right now, the world is witnessing the world's largest democratic exercises in India. It is strange to see the USCIRF is making such a recommendation to India, which is based on diversity and pluralism. Khanderao charged that annual report of the USCIRF mostly caters towards "certain" religion and does not give all perspective. "The report lacks transparency on how experts are selected or evidence is gathered. There is a lack of diversity and as a result of that, the report seems to be polemic and biased," he said, adding the FIIDS' research has found that reports are connected with the vested interests of some of its staffers. "This is unfortunate. If you bring the real experts on the board and diversity on the board, then the report would be a balanced one. But otherwise, we are seeing that it is coming up with a report that fits into their narrative. For example, India last year had zero Hindu Muslim riots. Actually, India is a country with a historically large number of riots. But the report is not talking about the positivity about that. There are a lot of elements which are wrongly presented. So, I think as a result of that the report is actually a biased one," he said. Urging the authorities to make the USCIRF a truly representative body in terms of religion, he said Hinduism or other religions like Buddhism needs to have some representation in the report. Secondly the report needs to be based on much more diversity from the viewpoints. The reports should be data driven and there should be transparency. In its annual report released early this month, the USCIRF recommended the State Department to designate 17 nations as Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs) based on their governments engaging in or tolerating particularly severe violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief. These include 12 that the State Department designated as CPCs in December 2023: Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan-as well as five additional recommendations: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Nigeria, and Vietnam. India has rejected the contents of the USCIRF report.

Read the original post:

Hindus not represented in USCIRF, says Indian diaspora body - The Times of India

NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 10, 2024 (News 18): Amid an ongoing debate over the status of the Muslim population in India, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has published a study this year with an analysis of global datasets and scenarios that states that minorities are not just protected but thriving in India. On the other hand, it says that the Hindu, Jain and Parsi population in India has shrunk. According to the paper, titled Share of Religious Minority A Cross Country Analysis (1950-2015), Contrary to the noise in several quarters, a careful analysis of the data shows that minorities are not just protected but indeed thriving in India. This is particularly remarkable given the wider context within the South Asian neighborhood where the share of the majority religious denomination has increased and minority populations have shrunk alarmingly across countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Afghanistan. Indias performance suggests that there is a conducive environment to foster diversity in the society. The study also explains that the Muslim population in India has increased while the percentage of Hindus has dropped over the decades. In India, the share of the majority Hindu population decreased by 7.82 per cent between 1950 and 2015 (from 84.68 per cent to 78.06 per cent), it said.

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) is an independent body, which advises the prime minister and the government on economic and related issues. Council member Dr Shamika Ravi and two others Abraham Jose, a young professional, and Apurv Kumar Mishra, a consultant have done the analysis and written the paper, which was accessed by News18. The paper analyzes global and country-specific data. It said: It is not possible to promote better life outcomes for the disadvantaged sections of society without providing a nurturing environment and societal support through a bottom-up approach. By way of illustration, India is one of the few countries that has a legal definition of minorities and provides constitutionally protected rights for them. The outcomes of these progressive policies and inclusive institutions are reflected in the growing number of minority populations within India.

It is not surprising, therefore, that minority populations from across the neighborhood come to India during times of duress. India has been a nourishing environment for the Tibetian Buddhists who had to escape from China and have found a comfortable home in India in the last six decades, the paper said. Similarly, Matuas who took refuge in India due to religious persecution in Bangladesh have been assimilated into Indian society. India also hosts a significant population of refugees from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar and Afghanistan. Given its plural, liberal and democratic nature, India has continued its civilizational tradition of harboring persecuted populations from several countries over the last six decades, it added.

Much more at source. https://www.news18.com/india/muslims-other-minorities-rose-in-numbers-protected-and-flourishing-in-india-pms-economic-advisory-council-8882797.html Download complete report: https://eacpm.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Share-of-Religious-Minorities-EAC-PM-Working-Paper.pdf (site is unresponsive at times, so try again later)

Post Views: 253

Here is the original post:

India's Muslim Population Rose Between 1950 and 2015, Share of Hindus Declined By 7.8%: PM-EAC Study Hindu ... - Hinduism Today

The worlds largest election is currently under way in India, with more than 960 million people registered to vote over a period of six weeks. Spearheading the campaign for his Bharatiya Janata Party, incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi is spending that time crisscrossing the country, delivering a message he hopes will result in a landslide victory for the Hindu nationalist party.

He is a popular figure but also a divisive one. Modis speeches are drawing heat for their anti-Muslim rhetoric. At a campaign rally on April 21, 2024, he referred to Muslims as infiltrators.

He later doubled down on these remarks, suggesting that if Indias largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, came to power, the wealth of Hindus would be snatched and given to communities that have too many children, a seemingly lightly veiled reference to Indian Muslims.

Such language represents a fear that Modi and the BJP have stoked many times before: that Muslims will become a numerical threat to Indias Hindu-majority population.

Modi has since claimed that he did not explicitly target Muslims in his speech, but his words widely recorded and disseminated have certainly been taken that way.

To some onlookers, the rhetoric is an indication that not all is well in the BJP campaign as it seeks to secure a two-thirds supermajority in Parliament. By appealing to the partys Hindu base, the argument goes, Modi is trying to counter voter apathy in the face of high youth unemployment and rising economic inequality.

As a historian of public health in India, I believe it is important to shed light on the specific origins of anti-Muslim rhetoric and how it fits long-standing fears of Muslim population growth and the erosion of the Hindu majority in India.

Demographic fears in India are tied to political and administrative representation and have been since the days of British colonialism.

In 1919, the British granted Indians limited franchise; Indian legislators were allowed to create policy in certain fields, such as health care and education, but not on law and order.

After the 1931 census, Indian leaders mostly Hindus, but also some Muslims and British officials began to express concern about the seemingly rapid rate of population growth in India, which at the time was increasing by over 1% annually.

These leaders, in common with similar efforts around the globe, began to push new birth control methods toward Indian women.

But to successfully induce large numbers of women to embrace family planning practices, colonial officials and Indian administrators had to contend with the fact that Indians of all religions were suspicious of birth control propaganda.

These suspicions stemmed from cultural practices shared by both Hindu and Muslim communities that informed womens status in society, including child marriage, the seclusion of women and polygamy.

Policies that tried to interfere with the traditional lives of Indian women, including birth control, were widely considered harmful instances of colonial control.

While the British used these cultural practices and suspicions to suggest that all Indians were responsible for rapid population growth and associated poverty and hunger, Hindu nationalist groups created a different narrative. These fringe groups, which emerged as a political force in the 1930s, popularized the idea that practices encouraging population growth were particularly prevalent among the Muslim population.

At the same time, there were growing tensions between the Indian National Congress party and the Muslim League, which was founded in 1906 but began to demand a separate homeland for Indian Muslims in the late 1930s.

Divisions existed in Indian society prior to British rule. By classifying Indians into categories based on caste and religion, however, British colonial rulers made these identities and divisions more rigid, pitting various communities against one another.

Communal tensions allowed the British to uphold the idea that without the control and surveillance of colonial rule, Indians were incapable of self-government and liberal democracy.

Though the British left the new nation-states of India and Pakistan in 1947, increasing Hindu-Muslim tensions after partition continued to inform family planning propaganda in independent India.

Hindu nationalists had expected the creation of a single nation with Hindu majority rule. As such, they saw the creation of Pakistan a homeland and nation-state for South Asian Muslims as a massive failure of the Indian freedom movement and a loss for India.

Additionally, post-partition leadership and administrators in India were for the most part drawn from Hindu men and some women, since the majority of educated and elite Muslim classes ended up in Pakistan.

As a result, colonial-era perceptions of Muslims continued to inform the way Indian policymakers and administrators created and implemented health care and education policy. In particular, preexisting perceptions of Muslim hyperfertility in Indian policymakers minds became more deeply entrenched with partition.

As India launched its first major population control program in 1951, administrators at all levels of governance assumed that uptake of birth control would be lower in Muslim communities than Hindu communities.

In actuality, the factors that influenced the rate of uptake of IUDs, oral contraceptives and tubectomies in postindependence India were governed more by geography whether women lived in rural or urban areas, and were from the countrys north or south and class status.

Since 1951, population control has been one of the major goals of Indian policymaking as part of a program to reduce poverty and improve public health. But the continued assumption that Indian Muslims are unwilling to participate in population control practices has led to the public perception of Islam as superstitious or backward.

Research has shown that Indian Muslim communities across the nation have felt the effects of this stereotyping, especially in northern India. Muslims reported being disproportionately targeted by population control initiatives. These concerns among the Muslim community intensified with the aggressive forced sterilization program carried out by the Indian state under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s.

Modis party, the BJP, was formed in 1980 but failed to win significant elections until the 1990s.

The main focus of their organizing in the 1980s and 1990s was to demand the demolition of a mosque commissioned by Mughal emperor Babur in Ayodhya, traditionally regarded as the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama.

In tandem with this campaign, the BJP promoted fears of Muslim demographic dominance in India, tying demands for taking back the land on which the Babri Masjid was built with fears of a Muslim majority.

But such fears are unfounded. Despite the Muslim minority growing from 11% in the mid-1980s to 14% today, their representation in Parliament has actually declined, from 9% in the mid-1980s to 5% today.

Since the BJP came to power in India in 2014, party leaders have relied on the historic fears of imagined Muslim population growth to help them win successive elections at the state and national level and pass legislation such as the Citizenship Amendment Act, which discriminates against Muslims. BJP leaders have accused Muslim men of forcibly converting Hindu women to Islam through love jihad, a conspiracy theory that Muslim men deceptively seduce Hindu women to increase their demographic strength.

Modis latest statement referring to those who have too many children is the latest iteration of a long history of Hindu demographic fears and has proven to be a lasting one.

Original post:

Modi's anti-Muslim rhetoric taps into Hindu replacement fears that trace back to colonial India - The Conversation

Congress MLC T. Jeevan Reddy termed Prime Minister Narendra Modis claim that the Congress party would demolish the Ram temple with bulldozers as blasphemous and hurting the sentiments of Hindus in the country.

At a press conference held in Hyderabad, he said the entire country was aware of who has brought in the bulldozer culture in the country and by referring to demolition of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Mr. Modi has insulted the Hindus and those who believe in Hindu faith.

He said Mr. Modis comments were unpardonable and a Prime Minister resorting to such blatant falsehood and creating enmity between faiths was not acceptable. Why is the Election Commission of India (ECI) not taking any action, he asked and demanded that Mr. Modi apologise for his irrational statements and withdraw them immediately.

Mr. Reddy said it was the Congress Government that opened the gate of the temple respecting the Courts verdict in 1986 when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister. Where was Mr. Modi when Rajiv Gandhi performed Shilanyas as per the Court orders.

He claimed that had Rajiv Gandhi come back to power in 1989, the temple construction would have started by then convincing the people of all faiths as per the court orders. Congress respects all religions and is committed to the secular values that India stood for.

Mr. Reddy alleged that the BJP has raked up emotions in the name of the temple and the issue was aggravated only because of the communal politics of the BJP. It was Rajiv Gandhi who took steps for spiritual growth in the country. It was during his time that the epic serials Ramanayana and Maha Bharatha were aired on Doordarshan.

Link:

Modi hurt sentiments of Hindus with Ram temple demolition comments: MLC Jeevan Reddy - The Hindu

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Red Road on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr in Kolkata on July 18, 2015. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS)

Kolkata, May 23 (IANS) As the Calcutta High Court's cancellation of over 5,00,000 OBC certificates granted in West Bengal after 2010 created a political tsunami in the state, observers pointed out that early indications of the imminent complications started surfacing last year.

In October last year, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) sought the details of 87 Backward Communities, which had been recommended for inclusion in the OBC list by the West Bengal government.

The notice was issued because the state government while recommending these 87 communities for inclusion in the OBC list, did not provide family-tree details for those who went through religious conversion.

At that point in time it was revealed that of the 87 communities, 76 were from the Muslim community and the remaining nine were from the Hindu community. Instead of taking the matter seriously, the state government came out with the logic that although the number of enlisted communities might be more from Muslims than Hindus, the total number of beneficiaries from the Hindu community was more than those from the Muslims.

Of the 87 communities about whom NCBC sought a report from the state government in October last year, the majority were included after the Trinamool Congress regime started in 2011, while few existed from the earlier Left Front regime.

The question is what prompted NCBC to seek such details from the state government in October last year.

The basis was in the NCBCs earlier report exposing irregularities in the OBC reservation list, especially in the changes made in 2011, which BJPs IT-cell chief and the partys central observer for West Bengal Amit Malviya highlighted through a message posted on his official X handle soon after the Calcutta High Court on Monday.

The BJP had raised objections about the OBC list in the state even before 2011, the year which marked the end of the 34-year Left Front rule in West Bengal and the beginning of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress regime in the state.

As of 2011, West Bengal had 108 castes in the OBC list, of which 55 were Hindus and the rest 53 Muslims. According to the BJP camp, even that list prevailing during the previous Left Front regime was discriminatory considering the states population was 70 per cent for Hindu and 30 per cent Muslim.

In 2011, the Trinamool Congress, soon after coming to power, added 71 additional castes to the list, out of which 65 were Muslims and only six were Hindus. In the fresh list of a total of 179 castes, the Muslims became the majority at 118 and the Hindus became the minority with just 61.

Now after the Calcutta High Court order on Monday, a serious political slugfest has surfaced in West Bengal.

On one hand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed that she does not accept the Calcutta High Court order since it favours BJP, both BJP and CPI(M) have started launching scathing attacks against her though on different grounds.

Amit Malviya and other BJP leaders have claimed that Mamata Banerjee can scream and stomp her feet but the appeasement politics she thrived on has been crushed, for now.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have welcomed the Calcutta High Court order and criticized the appeasement politics of Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee.

The CPI(M) politburo member and the party state secretary in West Bengal Md Salim has launched a scathing attack against the Chief Minister though from a different angle. According to him, the previous Left Front regime in West Bengal reserved 17 per cent of the quota on the basis of the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission.

The Left Front government in West Bengal was the first state government in West Bengal to do that, which the Calcutta High Court has also agreed to in its verdict on Wednesday. But after coming to power in 2011, the current Trinamool Congress government totally destroyed the OBC reservation system, The current state government granted OBC certificates at random without caring for the constitutional provisions. So the Calcutta High Court order was inevitable, Salim said.

Read more here:

How Muslims got prominence and Hindus ignored in Mamata Banerjee's reservation scheme - Morung Express

This undated photo released by the Free Burma Rangers, shows a monastery destroyed by a Burmese military airstrike on March 31, 2024, in Papun, Karen state, Myanmar.Photo | Associated Press

NEW DELHI: The situation in Myanmar continues to be on the grim with increased fighting between the military-led Junta army and the ethnic rebel groups across many parts specially in Rakhine state.

The tensions have taken a communal turn with reports of nearly 5,000 houses belonging to Buddhists and Hindus being gutted in Buthidaung, which is just 25 km away from Bangladesh border.

"These 5,000 houses were targeted as they belonged to Buddhists and Hindus. Most people had fled to safer zones so many houses were empty, but those who were left behind were pulled out and their houses looted and burnt in front of their eyes. Conscripts who include young boys from Rohingya camps in Bangladesh are being used for this exercise, according to a source.

These houses were gutted between April 11th and 21st. Buthidaung is now under complete control of rebel ethnic group Arakan Army.

Reports suggest that most of the local Muslims living in Buthidaung and Maungdaw township are not supporting the communal divide and some have sought help from the ethnic rebels to move to safer zones.

"In 2018 census there were 3000 houses in Buthidaung. This number has increased more than threefold to 10000 as many people fled their homes from other areas to settle here. Over 50 per cent of residents are Muslims while the remaining are ethnic groups (Buddhists, Hindus), according to a source.

It may be recalled that communal tensions had flared up in Rakhine state more than a decade back, which led to the exodus of Rohingyas and many of them sought refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh.

"Some Rohingyas from refugee camps are being forced as conscripts and even though a few flee, the others end up fighting the civilians. This strategy of divide and rule will worsen things on the ground, a source added.

Thousands of young people from across Myanmar have fled to safer zones, some have even crossed over to other countries to avoid forced conscription.

Meanwhile, recently, Bangladeshs Foreign Minister, Hasan Mahmud said that they were hoping that the Rohingya refugees they are sheltering would return to Myanmar. There are said to be one million Rohingyas in Bangladesh.

There are reports of 138 Myanmar military personnel including a lieutenant colonel and two majors of Myanmar who have taken refuge in Bangladesh.

"They will be sent back the same way as other military men were repatriated, Mahmud said last week adding that the Rohingyas too wanted to return.

Meanwhile, people who have fled are facing survival issues due to lack of livelihood facilities.

The only respite will happen in Myanmar once monsoons begin in a few weeks. Mobility becomes restricted and the clashes on the grounds reduce drastically for nearly two months.

See more here:

Nearly 5,000 houses of Buddhists, Hindus gutted in Myanmar as tensions simmer - The New Indian Express

Veteran Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram feels the fervour for militant, extreme, right-wing Hinduism is working in favour of the BJP in the Hindi belt. Our Hinduism is more inclusive, he says in an interview with The Hindu on Friday. He speaks on a range of issues including the alleged misuse of Central agencies, Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and more.

How does the current Lok Sabha election differ from previous elections? The Opposition in the country seems to be gripped with a sense of urgency and anxiety over the outcome of the election.

I can speak authoritatively about the situation in Tamil Nadu. I can speak to some extent about the situation in Southern States. Therefore I should speak about only what I know. In Tamil Nadu, the situation is no different from 2019 or 2021. The DMK-led alliance, the INDIA Front, will score resoundingly as it did in 2019 and 2021. In the Southern States, the situation has turned in our favour. In Karnataka and Telangana we have governments today. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is on the verge of disintegration. In Karnataka, the Janata Dal (Secular) is practically wiped out by the BJP. Therefore, in Karnataka and Telangana we hope to do far better than 2019 when we got two and three seats respectively. In Kerala, of course, the 20 seats will be shared by the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front (UDF). I think that the UDF will have a slight edge and nothing will be left for the BJP.

Do you think if the BJP is re-elected that will change the course of Indian politics and democracy?

It depends, if the BJP is elected to power. I hope it will not. Then, of course a new government will come to power in Delhi led by the INDIA front and we will reverse the damage that has happened in the last 10 years. We have said so in our manifesto. There is much work to be done to clean up the mess - legal, political, administrative. If the BJP wins by a resounding majority, I have already cautioned that they will amend the Constitution. They will change the Westminster principles of Parliamentary democracy. They dont believe in that. They will introduce some kind of electoral autocracy. There will be a facade of the elections. All their other pronouncements lead to that conclusion: one nation, one election and one nation, one language. All that will convert India into an electoral autocracy. If the BJP wins by a small majority, it will hang on. It will become more repressive. It will try to crush the Opposition. Its goal is to get rid of the Congress, which is the only other national party and then deal with each regional party, State party on a case-by-case basis. I think there is much to expect; much to fear after the result of the election. So let us wait for the results.

What is the reason behind the substantial growth of the BJP?

What is working in favour of the BJP in the Hindi-speaking Northern States is the fervour for different kinds of Hinduism: militant, extreme, right-wing Hinduism. We are Hindus. But our Hinduism and practice of Hinduism is very different. We have great temples for Lord Siva, Lord Muruga and Lord Vishnu. But each one in Tamil Nadu has a family deity, what we call Siru Theivangal (Small Gods). Mariamman, Muthmariamman, Vekkaliamman, Vaiya Karuppan. Our practice of Hinduism is more inclusive. When you go to the temples of small deities, every community prays there whereas the BJP practices extreme, right-wing Hinduism and it is largely influenced by Varnashrama, the four caste divisions, which we reject. We rejected it in Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh because of great social reformers like Jyotirao Phule, Narayana Guru, E.V.R. Periyar, Basvaiah and a whole lot of others. That social reform movement seems to have passed the Hindi-speaking Northern States.

The BJP has been accusing the Congress and other regional parties of promoting dynasty politics...

I have a long list of 110 leaders of the BJP who are dynastic, starting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singhs son, or Sushma Swarajs daughter. What about Karnataka? [B.S.] Yedyurappas son. In Andhra Pradesh, the BJPs ally N. Chandrababu Naidu is the son-in-law of N.T. Rama Rao. What about their ally in Karnataka? H.D. Kumarasamy, the son of H.D. Deve Gowda. What does the BJP mean by accusing us of dynastic politics? If you point one finger, three fingers are pointing to yourself. The BJP minus [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi is full of sons and daughters. Whether it is right or wrong is a different matter. You cannot accuse the Opposition of dynastic politics when you have so many so-called dynasts in your own party. It is a completely baseless allegation and proved on the ground.

To what do you attribute the rise of Hindutva? Many BJP supporters say the country is going through a Hindu awakening and Hindu assertion after years of humiliation meted out.

What humiliation?

Humiliation in the hands of colonial rulers and before them the Muslim conquest.

Colonial rule is a fact of history. Before that, Mughal rule is a fact of history. But before that, there were other dynasties and empires. You cannot alter history. It is a fact. You can only shape a new India according to the needs of times. What India needs today is not going back to old, premature, pristine Hinduism. What India needs today is a secular nation wedded to science and technology and taking 142 crore people forward. We are the largest population in the world. This large population can survive only if we have secularism, tolerance and brotherhood. The country cannot survive if we divide on the basis of religion or language.

Why then is there a North-South divide on the rise of Hindutva? Is radical Islam across the world complementing the Hindutva forces?

It has nothing to do with Islam. It has got to do with history and the pace of development of south India. Education, healthcare, social reform movement and the rise of regional parties have made south India a more progressive part of India, whereas the northern Hindi-speaking States are clearly among the most backward States. They are poorer, they have less education, less healthcare, less infrastructure and therefore a clear socio-economic factor difference from southern and north India. Therefore they are vulnerable and amenable to these extreme appeals to religion, culture and language whereas we are more inclined to accept science and technology, industry, and education alone would take us forward. Add to that the BJP is seen as a north Indian party led by Hindi-speaking leaders and there is a natural suspicion of the BJP. For example, Mr. Modi knows English, but he refuses to speak English when he visits south India, whereas Mr. Deve Gowda, when he was the Prime Minister made an attempt to speak in Hindi to a Hindi audience. [P.V.] Narasimha Rao was fluent in English and Hindi. Therefore, what we ask is, dont impose one language, one culture and one social structure on States of India. Respect every language, history, culture, tradition, every way of worship. But the BJP wants a uniform India and not a united India.

The Opposition including the Congress is against the CAA. But former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in an interview had made it clear that every refugee who had come to India should leave the country one day

I dont know if Indira Gandhi said that. But please understand there is a treaty of law of asylum and India is a signatory to the treaty. It is based on international consensus, human rights of refugees. Therefore we have to enact a law on asylum and abide by that law. Again migration is a fact of history. Many many thousand Indians migrate from India every year. Therefore those who have come here 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 50 years ago, how can you throw them out? Where will you throw them? Enact an Act on asylum in accordance with international convention and then enforce that law. Nobody is preventing the Government of India from doing that. But those who have already come to India by a particular cut-off date, you cannot discriminate against them on the grounds of religion. They have come here for various reasons, essentially persecution and discrimination. They have come to India, are living in India, working in India and their families are here. How do you distinguish between them and discriminate between them on the basis of religion?

Do you think that the National Population Register (NPR) and the Aadhaar have been powerful tools in the hands of the BJP to further its political agenda?

Aadhaar was introduced by the UPA government. Aadhaar is supposed to be an identity to receive socio-economic benefits. The Supreme Court has categorically pronounced that the law on Aadhaar requires Aadhaar only for socio-economic benefits. You cannot use it for any other purpose. But the BJP government is mischievously insisting it for every purpose and we are opposing, challenging and fighting it. Aadhaar, if confined to socio-economic benefit, is a good means of identity. But going beyond Aadhaar, they are using NPR to discriminate against people on the basis of religion. The exercise in Assam ended in complete fiasco and they did not expect that the bulk of excluded persons who were enumerated under NPR will turn out to be Hindus. That is bound to happen if you have the wrong purpose and it will end with surprising results. Therefore, for the Hindus to remain and the Muslims to be put in virtual prisons they introduced the CAA. It is the result of the NPR fiasco in Assam. People are not able to connect the dots because the NPR exercise was a complete fiasco. They have to introduce the CAA and together they are patently discriminatory. Discriminatory on the basis of religion.

Are the provisions of PMLA, enacted to comply with international obligations to prevent money laundering, being misused?

It is. The PMLA is there in every country. But who has weaponised it? There were two treaties and they are mainly concerned with drug trafficking. They are also concerned with human trafficking. Because vast amounts of money is used for human trafficking and drug trafficking, the countries in the world got together and wanted a money laundering Act. Money laundering is narrowly defined. Are money laundering Acts in other countries used to throw dozens and hundreds of Opposition leaders in jail? Show me, one country which has used the money laundering law to throw the entire Opposition in jail. This is happening only in India. The PMLA has been weaponised. It is no longer a law. It is a powerful weapon to browbeat the Opposition, prosecute them and imprison them. Eventually they will be acquitted. But the process is a punishment. The process of detention, bail, rejection, further appeal, rejection, is a punishment. Now, (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal is in jail. Hemant Soren (former Jharkhand CM) is in jail. Manish Sisodia (Aam Aadmi Party leader) is in jail. By the time they get bail, the election is over and the purpose is served. We have made it clear in our manifesto that we will repeal the law and enact a new law consistent with international principle of money laundering.

Do you think the PMLA has included too many predicate offences? The ED seems to be overactive mainly because they seem to be able to enter the picture whenever any FIR is filed?

Predicate offence is the essence of the law. There must be an offence and that must be investigated by the State police or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). That offence must be proved. Mark my words: those offences may or may not generate a crime. Money laundering law in only concerned with the proceeds of crime. For example there can be murder - simple murder, murder with robbery or murder with burglary. The first crime is not a predicate offence under PMLA, because it is simply a murder. The second offence is a murder for gain. Whoever has the proceeds of crime is prosecuted under the PMLA. But the ED has reversed the matter. There are cases the CBI has not even filed the chargesheet for the predicate crime. It had not even completed its investigation. It has not come to a conclusion and charged the accused. The ED goes ahead and files a chargesheet or complaint for money laundering.

The Supreme Court Bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, last week said if there was no predicate offence, how can you have money laundering at all. Here the ED is doing the job the CBI is supposed to do. Suppose the CBI comes to a conclusion that there is no crime, what happens to the trial under PMLA? Please understand that the ED is being used to punish people even before the predicate offence is established. Unless there is a predicate crime and prima facie you must establish a predicate crime, the PMLA according to me cannot be used to register a case and it is only after the conviction and predicate crime you can start a trial in the PMLA case.

Do you believe the INDIA bloc would be able to defeat the BJP in the Hindi heartland and usher in a new regime?

I do not know. In the Hindi heartland the fight is being led by two parties in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. One is the Samajwadi Party and the other is the RJD. If they put up a strong fight, those States account for 120 seats. In Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana, the fight is led by the Congress party and I hope we will do very well in Haryana, and I dont have any information about Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. In West Bengal, the fight is between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress and the CPI(M) and these are the States that have a large number of seats. Of course there is Maharashtra. In Maharashtra, the alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will do very well.

Do you think the BJP would redraw the boundaries of the Lok Sabha constituencies after the election?

One hundred per cent. They have already done it in Assam. They will use every law and every rule to re-engineer the electoral map of India. They broke down Jammu and Kashmir into three parts. Why do you think that they will not do it in Maharashtra or in Tamil Nadu? The BJPs goal is a single government at the Centre. All other units are like the old palayams (kingdoms). Reduce them to smaller sizes and keep them under their thumb. Actually keep them under their feet. It is the national Opposition they want to destroy and today the national Opposition led by the Congress and other regional parties realised the dangers. Hundred per cent, I believe the BJP will amend the Constitution and steer India to a unitary form of government, making the government less responsible to the Parliament. It will be a more Presidential system of government and the States will be reduced to municipalities.

Excerpt from:

BJPs Hinduism is influenced by Varnashrama, ours is more inclusive: P. Chidambaram - The Hindu

India has not yet recognised the Taliban regime in Afghanistan (Representational)

India on Friday described as "positive development" the move by the Taliban regime to restore private land rights to Afghan Hindus and Sikh minorities.

According to reports, the Taliban administration has taken steps to restore property rights of the Hindu and the Sikh communities.

"We have seen reports on this issue. If the Taliban administration has decided to restore property rights to their citizens belonging to the Afghan Hindu and Sikh community, we see this as a positive development," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

His remarks came in response to a question on the matter during his weekly media briefing.

The Taliban regime has reportedly set up a commission to ensure return to owners the rights of private land which were seized by warlords during the tenure of the previous dispensation in Kabul.

The latest move by the Taliban dispensation comes weeks after India's pointsperson on Afghanistan J P Singh met senior members of Afghan authorities in Kabul.

Singh, the joint secretary heading the division for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), held talks with Taliban's foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi last month.

India has not yet recognised the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and has been pitching for the formation of a truly inclusive government in Kabul besides insisting that Afghan soil must not be used for any terrorist activities against any country.

India has been pitching for providing unimpeded humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country.

In June 2022, India re-established its diplomatic presence in Kabul by deploying a "technical team" in its embassy in the Afghan capital.

India had withdrawn its officials from the embassy after the Taliban seized power in August 2021 following concerns over their security.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Continued here:

India Welcomes Taliban's Move To Return Private Land To Hindus, Sikhs - NDTV

India Post News Service

CHICAGO: The Hindu American Foundations podcast All About Hinduism was presented with a 2024 DeRose-Hinkhouse Award of Excellence for Specialty Programming, Podcast Series on April 4, 2024, by the Religion Communicators Council.

All About Hinduism is a 13-part educational podcast series presenting the basic tenets of Hinduism and its history, as well as answering commonly asked questions about the worlds third-largest religion and addressing contentious contemporary issues that Hindus face.

All About Hinduism was produced, written, narrated, and edited by HAF Senior Director of Communications Mat McDermott. The shows academic advisor was HAFs then-Director of Education Dr Shereen Bhalla. HAF executive director Suhag Shukla provided script review. HAF Staff Writer Syama Allard was the shows associate producer.

A second series of All About Hinduism is expected to begin production in the second half of 2024.

Commenting on the award, McDermott stated, Im thrilled that my colleagues at the Religion Communicators Council have honored All About Hinduism with a 2024 DeRose-Hinkhouse Award. Religious literacy in the United States is low, particularly when it comes to Hinduism. Public perceptions about the beliefs and practices of Hindus too often remain dominated by stereotypes and misconceptions. What All About Hinduism set out to do, and I believe achieved, was create a concise and accurate portrait of Hinduism. In the second series we hope to go deeper, furthering our listeners knowledge of this vital, modern, and complex spiritual tradition.

The DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards are given annually to active members of the Religion Communicators Council who demonstrate excellence in religious communications and public relations.

Also Read:Hindu American Foundation raises funds for Hindus denied aid in Pakistan

Read the original:

HAF podcast All About Hinduism wins 2024 Award of Excellence - IndiaPost NewsPaper - IndiaPost.com

NEW DELHI: As the world anticipates the total solar eclipse sweeping over North America on April 8, 2024, various religious traditions reflect on the celestial event's significance, ranging from moments of dread to awe. Historically, solar eclipses have evoked profound reactions across different faiths, seen as messages from the divine or significant spiritual occurrences. Christianity's end times propheciesSome Christian interpretations align solar eclipses with biblical prophecies of the end times and Christ's return. The darkness mentioned in the Gospels during Jesus's crucifixion has been likened to a solar eclipse, symbolizing a profound spiritual transition. Despite scientific explanations that a three-hour darkness could not result from an eclipse, the metaphorical significance remains strong within some Christian circles. Islam's call to prayerFor Muslims, a solar eclipse is a call to prayer, a reminder of the might of Allah, and a time to dispel superstitions associated with astronomical events. The "kusuf" prayer, performed during solar eclipses, is an occasion for introspection and reaffirming one's devotion to God, aligning with the teachings of Prophet Mohammad. Hinduism's legend of immortal conflictHindu mythology explains eclipses through tales of gods and demons, with the sun and moon being swallowed by the demon Rahu as revenge. Eclipses are generally seen as ominous, prompting observant Hindus to fast, pray, and engage in purification rituals to ward off evil influences during these times. Judaism's interpretation as ominous signsThe Talmud does not prescribe blessings for eclipses but views them as ill omens for the world. Modern interpretations within Judaism encourage prayer and introspection during eclipses, suggesting that these natural phenomena serve as reminders of the impact of human actions on divine light. Buddhism's auspicious opportunity for spiritual practiceIn Tibetan Buddhism, solar eclipses are considered auspicious times when the energy of actions, both positive and negative, is magnified. The late Lama Zopa Rinpoche emphasized the importance of engaging in spiritual practices like chanting mantras and sutras during these events, with the belief that merits are significantly multiplied. Navajo Nation's sacred observanceAs per an Axios report, for the Navajo people, a solar eclipse represents a time when the sun undergoes death and rebirth, offering a moment to realign with the natural laws of the universe. "It's believed that the sun is dead, but it's going to rejuvenate, rebirth itself in the cycle so that we're able to live in harmony with the natural laws again," explains Henry Fowler, a math educator at Navajo Technical University. To honor this cosmic order, Navajos engage in a period of quiet meditation, abstaining from eating, drinking, sleeping, and other physical activities during the eclipse. (With inputs from agencies)

Read the original post:

Awe and dread: Why some will stay inside, won't watch total solar eclipse - The Times of India