Thursday, July 8, 2021

Pew Research: Two-thirds of Hindus Say Only Hindus "Truly Indian"

A recent Pew survey in India has found that 64% of Hindus see their religious identity and Indian national identity as closely intertwined. Most Hindus (59%) also link Indian identity with being able to speak Hindi language. The survey was conducted over two years in 2019 and 2020 by Pew Research Center. It included 29,000 Indians.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu Nationalist BJP party's appeal is the greatest among Hindus who closely associate their religious identity and the Hindi language with being “truly Indian.” The Pew survey found that less than half of Indians (46%) favored democracy as best suited to solve the country’s problems. Two percent more (48%) preferred a strong leader. 

Most Hindus Link Hindu Religion and Hindi Language With Indian National Identity. Source: Pew


The majority of Hindus see themselves as very different from Muslims (66%), and most Muslims return the sentiment, saying they are very different from Hindus (64%). Most Muslims across the country (65%), along with an identical share of Hindus (65%), see communal violence in India as a very big national problem. Like Hindus, Muslims prefer to live religiously segregated lives – not just when it comes to marriage and friendships, but also in some elements of public life. In particular, three-quarters of Muslims in India (74%) support having access to the existing system of Islamic courts, which handle family disputes (such as inheritance or divorce cases), in addition to the secular court system.     

Most Hindus (59%) also link Indian identity with being able to speak Hindi – one of dozens of languages that are widely spoken in India. And these two dimensions of national identity – being able to speak Hindi and being a Hindu – are closely connected. Among Hindus who say it is very important to be Hindu to be truly Indian, fully 80% also say it is very important to speak Hindi to be truly Indian.    

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu Nationalist BJP party's appeal is the greatest among Hindus who closely associate their religious identity and the Hindi language with being “truly Indian.” In the 2019 national elections, 60% of Hindu voters who think it is very important to be Hindu and to speak Hindi to be truly Indian cast their vote for the BJP, compared with only a third among Hindu voters who feel less strongly about both these aspects of national identity.

The findings of this Pew survey confirm how prescient Pakistan's founder Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Jinnah was. He saw the coming of Modi's Hindu Rashtra as far back as mid-1930s. It arose from the majoritarian tyranny of the Hindu-dominated Indian National Congress after 1937 elections in India. Speaking in Lucknow in October 1937, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah said the following: 

"The present leadership of the Congress, especially during the last ten years, has been responsible for alienating the Musalmans of lndia more and more, by pursuing a policy which is exclusively Hindu; and since they have formed the Governments in six provinces where they are in a majority they have by their words, deeds, and programme shown more and more that the Musalmans cannot expect any justice or fair play at their hands. Whenever they are in majority and wherever it suited them, they refused to co-operate with the Muslim League Parties and demanded unconditional surrender and signing of their pledges."

35 comments:

Ahmed said...


Dear Sir

Thank you for sharing this great post, Sir the problem is that Indians mostly who come to newspages of Pakistan on facebook and on Pakistani channels of youtube, they proudly make comments that "INDIA IS A SECULAR COUNTRY" . Based on this claim of Indians ,even many Muslims who are living in India say that "THEY ARE MUSLIM BUT THEY ARE PROUD TO BE INDIAN".

As far as I know even Christians of India make the same claims that "THEY ARE CHRISTIANS BUT THEY ARE PROUD TO BE INDIANS".

If Indian national indentity was only about being Hindu, then why these non-Hindus living in India make such claims that "THEY ARE PROUD TO BE INDIANS" irrespective of their religious beliefs?

Regards,

Ahmed said...


Dear Sir

These Indian trolls come to youtube channels of Pakistan and they even appear on Pakistani newspages of facebook and proudly make a claim that "INDIA IS A SECULAR COUNTRY".

Now one should ask these Indians that if India is truely a secular country, then why are majority of the Hindus living in India try to create a link or connection of Hindu faith with their national identity?

Thanks

rjs said...

intertwining religious identity with national identity is not unique to India...there are some parts of this country where only Christians are considered real Americans...

SAMIR SARDANA said...

What are these Hindu Heathens and Menials ? More than 60% of Indian Land mass,cannot write or speak or read Hindi, and at least 50% of the population, cannot write or speak or read Hindi

What are these clowns thinking about ? dindooohindoo

Meanwhile these Hindoo heathens, just killed a 85 year NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT,STAN SWAMY - who had Parkinson's ! The man was denied bail and medical aid ! He was Jesuit Preacher with the tribals ! He had to seek daily court sanction for medical treatment ! This is the status of the worthless Indian Police,legal system,Constitution and Judiciary !

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2021/jul/09/fr-stans-death-judicial-murder-church-didnt-do-enough-sathyadeepam-2327545.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57718361

He was killed by the HINDOO NAZI WING - THE NIA !

NIA IS A CRIMINAL ORGANISATION OF SCUM – WHO DESERVE TO BE RAPED AND KILLED !

SOME CASES OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND CORRUPTION BY THE NIA

• Suicide by a 22 year old Dalit Sikh after NIA 10 hour interrogation

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/dalit-youth-suicide-kin-demand-probe-link-death-to-nia-quizzing-6515902/

• An 89 year old missionary classed and jailed as a Terrorist and denied a straw https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54490554

• A 80 year old poet classed and jailed as a Terrorist and infected with COVID https://newsbox9.com/varavara-rao-gets-bail-in-surjagarh-iron-ore-mine-arson-case/

NIA IS ALSO AN ORGANISATION OF CHORS AND BLACKMAILERS.EXAMPLE OF CORRUPTION BY NIA SP AND 2 OTHERS

https://www.news18.com/news/india/3-nia-officers-accused-of-demanding-rs-2-crore-from-businessman-to-exempt-him-from-hafiz-saeeds-case-transferred-2276915.html https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/3-nia-officers-accused-of-seeking-bribe-in-case-against-hafiz-saeed-removed/story-VEIln0tILHengK5xu3e0LN.html https://www.news18.com/news/india/3-nia-officers-accused-of-demanding-rs-2-crore-from-businessman-to-exempt-him-from-hafiz-saeeds-case-transferred-2276915.html

NIA INDICTS ITS OWN FOR CORRUPTION

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/nia-asks-home-ministry-to-take-action-against-own-sp-2-officials-in-bribery-case-1599834-2019-09-16

CBI CHARGESHEETS NIA SP

https://www.deccanherald.com/national/cbi-books-ex-nia-asp-for-fraudulently-obtaining-cdr-of-mobile-phone-numbers-879174.html

NIA IS ALSO A NIKAMMA ORGANISATION .SOME CASES OF FAILED NIA INVESTIGATIONS

• Kerala Gold Smuggling case

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/nia-failed-to-prove-terror-link-court/article32931347.ece

COURT DIRECTIONS TO NIA TO SUBMIT EVIDENCE

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2020/jul/30/court-asks-nia-to-present-proof-to-link-terrorism-and-gold-smuggling-2176572.html

COURT GRANTING BAIL TO STUDENTS CHARGED BY NIA

https://scroll.in/latest/972817/kochi-nia-court-grants-bail-to-terror-accused-students-says-they-have-fundamental-right-to-protest

FAILURE OF NIA TO FILE CHARGESHEET WITHIN 180 DAYS IN PULWAMA CASE

https://www.firstpost.com/india/days-after-pulwama-terror-attack-anniversary-accused-gets-bail-after-nia-fails-to-file-chargesheet-in-time-8094521.html

Human Rights in Hindoosthan is a farce,as there is a limitation period for complaints on Human Rights Violations,in the PHR Bill . Such a provision does not even exist in the Pakistani National Commission for Human Rights Act, 2012,Act No. XVI OF 2012.

Another example of the farce of Human Rights In India is the Time limit for response from the State

o As per Section 17(1)(a) of the PHR Act,there is no time limit for the GOI to respond to a query by the NHRC on a complaint - although the Act states that , the NHRC will indicate to the GOI the time limit for a response.
o As per the 2nd Proviso to Section 12 (1) of the Pakistani National Commission for Human Rights Act, 2012,Act No. XVI OF 2012,in matters of security,provides a time of 30 days to the Govtt to respond,and else,proceeds to inquire into complaint on its own

SAMIR SARDANA said...

What are these Hindoos ? They do not have a common lingo,common scripture,common God (s),common salutations .................

Hindoos and Hindoosthan are a disaster,waiting to be destroyed,like I said in my posts in this link

http://www.riazhaq.com/2021/03/hindu-rashtra-will-modis-hindutva-lead.html

THERE IS ONLY 1 COMMON DEFINITION OF A HINDOO,which is the 1,by the lineage of Cyrus and Xerxes !

A “Persian dictionary”,titled “Lughet-e-Kishwari”,published in Lucknow in 1964,gives the meaning of the word Hindu as “chore [thief], dakoo [dacoit],raahzan [waylayer], and ghulam [slave].

And that is Y Ambedkar wrote a book called "Y I am not a Hindoo",but the dumb Hindoos still do NOT get it !

There is only 1 GENIUS in the world who,by his intuition,assessed the "HINDOOS" (excluding Jinnah),and that was Idi Amin !

Look at the sample of these Hindoo Gupta Misthan Bhandars,of Hinoosthan

South Africa - The Gupta Mishtan Bhandars have sent ZUMA to jail and destroyed South Africa forever - and the Africans are STILL NOT KICKING OUT THE INDIANS !

London - Another Gupta Mishtan Bhandar,has done a massive steel fraud

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/uk-fraud-agency-probes-liberty-steel-owner-sanjeev-gupta-s-greensill-links-101621038726603.html

How can a Indian make steel,in London ?

USA - Another Gupta Mishtan Bhandar - Rajat Gupta of Mc Kinsey,in jail.An Indian cleaning toilets in Mc Kinsey,is understandable - but the Global CEO - YOU HAVE TO THINK ! Even in South Africa,the Gupta Mishtan Bhandars,completely corrupted Mc Kinsey !

TO CONCLUDE,I QUOTE THE LAST 2 LINES OF MY POST AT April 1, 2021 at 10:20 AM ON http://www.riazhaq.com/2021/03/hindu-rashtra-will-modis-hindutva-lead.html,as under :

"Bharat Mata's Muslims, have NO Jinnah and NO AQK.HENCE,KASHMIR IS THE BEST BET -with the aid of Pakistan,and perhaps,the Taliban and PRC,in the future".

AND LO AND BEHOLD - TALIBAN ARE JUST WEEKS FROM KABUL,AND THEY SAY THAT PRC IS THEIR "FRIEND"

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3140399/china-welcome-friend-reconstruction-afghanistan-taliban

THE PROPHECIES OF THE IMPENDING DESTRUCTION OF HINDOOSTHAN ARE CONVERGING ! dindooohindoo

The Mongols + Pakistan + Turks + Afghans + Persians , time to do a Nagorno 1 and 2 in Dindoosthan ?

What is the 1st time thing that the Taliban will do ? DESTROY ALL INDIAN ASSETS ! ALL THE MONEY INVESTED BY INDIA AND RAW IN AFGHANISTAN IS DOWN THE DRAIN - AND THIS TIME - FOREVER!

USA WILL NOT BOTHER TALIBAN,AND TALIBAN WILL NOT SHELTER QAEDA,AND THE USA WILL IGNORE THE TALIBAN INVASION OF KASHMIR ! INSHALLAH !

Nagorno 1 = Kashmir

Nagorno 2 - North East India

Rk singh said...

@ sameer Sardanaji, you seem to be obsessed with Hindus. Not surprising, sin e Sardana is a Hindu name and your roots are from that religion. If you cannot respect your own ancestors religion, you cannot respect yourself.

samir sardana said...

Julius Malema of South Africa said this about Hindoos and Indians

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/eff-julius-malema-indians-comments-2019/

“We know that our fathers and mothers who are domestic workers are paid nothing by the fellow South Africans who happen to be of Indian descent.”

Y ARE INDIAN HINDOOS REVILED IN SOUTH AFRICA ?

Take the example of THE GUPTA MISHTAN BHANDAR brothers, of Tom and Jerry fame, who have bankrupted South Africa,and landed ZUMA in JAIL and ZUMA is STILL NOT INCRIMINATING THESE GUPTA MISHTAN BHANDAR !

Lying and Stealing is a Hindoo Trait from the time of the experience of Cyrus,with the Hindoos ! Corrupting Politicians and Money Laundering is the addendum evolution in 2021 !

What have Indians done in Africa ? They 1st downgrade that nation to that of India - and then, they replicate their scams in Africa,with the IBM, id.est., Indian Best Practice Model !

In India,there is a PMLA which is a draconian law - that states that,if you receive money laundered funds of Rs 1,then all your assets wherein that money has specifically gone,is FROZEN and gone !

Such a draconian law does not exist anywhere in Africa !

So come in the Indian Banias

The matrix is the same 1 that they use in India !

There is a chain of entities A to Z in India and Abroad

1st the money is laundered in the nation from A to Z.With 26 alphabets, 26 companies,and each having 3 subsidiaries,5 associates and 2 JVs (as the consolidation rules vary).Each of the 2 entities above will have different auditors,who are basically competing with each other for statutory, tax, secretarial and other compliance audits.

Money comes into each alphabet,from multiple sources and is mixed. Mixture is key,in making the legit and illegal cash inflow,completely fungible. The mixing and has to be carefully planned,as it has to sound and appear to be a sound business judgement and each cash flow has to be backed by a supply chain or investment transaction.THIS IS THE KEY STEP,AS FUNGIBILITY means that on principles of NATURAL JUSTICE you cannot FREEZE THE ACCOUNT OF A LEGITIMATE SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNER,Just because Party A,who received money from that legit supply chain partner,violated some laws (which have no connection to that legit transaction).

But of course, that LEGIT SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNER,is NOT LEGIT,BUT the SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSACTION IS,ON PAPER,LEGIT.What that means,is that A has sold diamond jewellery to Mr Mars,and there is an Invoice and AWB and load port customs checked the diamonds,and Mars got it and sold it to Mr Pluto and then Mr Nebula - and then the diamonds came back to A ! This is a LEGIT trade transaction,but it it NOT ! At each stage,the diamonds are marked up and they are also FUNGIBLE AS THE DIAMONDS SOLD BY A are sold in SPLINTERS (on paper) to several buyers at each stage - but at the end - Mr A gets it all back !

At each stage of MARK UPS there are profits,which are creatively tax exempt,and on those profits (which are actually not legit - but appear in the books),bank loans are taken - and then,when the loan amounts are close to say a Billion USD - it is time to retire (VAMOOZE AND SNOOZE)!

Each such transaction of cash inflow and outflow,is based on some supply chain,or investment transaction and this then,is made to INTERSECT with cross border transactions,in nations,which have limited info sharing and extradition treaties,and severe restrictions on penetrating bank secrecy,and which need an unadulterated trail of illegality of funds,to be proven with the original sin,of the crime (which is obviated by the perpetual mixing,in each transaction in entities from A to Z,within the nation of crime and abroad).

Even in the best case,it will take decades to unravel,and the key players,who signed the papers (or ostensibly signed,the papers),will be dead - and that is the best EVASION,of the chain of crime.dindooohindoo

Now Africans need to ask - Y are Indians in Africa ?

Riaz Haq said...

8 key findings about Christians in India

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/12/8-key-findings-about-christians-in-india/

Indian Christians disproportionally identify with lower castes (74%), including 57% with Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribes (ST). India’s caste system is a social hierarchy that can dictate class and social life, including whom a person can marry. Today, regardless of their religion, Indians nearly universally identify with a caste category. Among Christians, 33% identify as SC, while 24% identify as ST. And Christians are somewhat more likely than the Indian population overall to say there is widespread caste discrimination in India. For example, among Indians overall, 20% say there is widespread discrimination against SCs in India, compared with 31% among Christians who say the same. A smaller share of Christians (18%) say there is a lot of discrimination against Christians in India, and even fewer say they have personally faced recent discrimination based on their caste (11%) or religion (10%).

Lower-caste Indian Christians are much more likely than upper-caste (also called General Category) Christians to hold both Christian and non-Christian beliefs. Indian Christians who belong to SCs, STs and other lower castes tend to believe in angels and demons at significantly higher rates than upper-caste Christians. For example, roughly half of lower-caste Christians (51%) believe in demons or evil spirits, while just 12% of higher-caste Christians hold this belief. Lower-caste Christians also are more likely than General Category Christians to believe in spiritual forces not generally associated with Christianity, like karma (58% vs. 44%) and the evil eye (33% vs. 12%).

Overall, Indian Christians are less prone toward religious segregation than some other groups. For instance, Christians are less likely than other religious groups to say that stopping interreligious marriage is “very important.”Among Christians, 37% say stopping the interreligious marriage of Christian women is very important, while 35% say the same about Christian men. In contrast, roughly two-thirds of Hindus and an even greater share of Muslims say it is crucial to stop such marriages by men and women in their respective communities. In addition, fewer Christians (22%) than Hindus (47%) and Muslims (45%) say all of their close friends share their religion. In part, these attitudes may reflect Christians’ regional concentration in the South, where opposition to interreligious marriage is generally less widespread and religious segregation overall is less pronounced.

Politically, Christians favor the opposing Indian National Congress (INC) over the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is often described as promoting a Hindu nationalist ideology. A plurality of Christian voters (30%) say they voted for the INC in the 2019 parliamentary elections, which roughly matches the shares of Muslims and Sikhs who voted for the INC. Just one-in-ten Indian Christian voters say they voted for the BJP in 2019, the lowest share among all of India’s major religious groups. Once again, the voting patterns of Christians in India mirror the political preferences of Southern Indians more generally. In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the BJP received its lowest vote share in the South, including among Hindus; many people in the South, including Christians, voted for regional parties.

samir sardana said...

Christianity in India is doomed.As of now the Hindoo Nazis are targetting the Muslims - and then, they will deflect to the Nassara.

Nuns being ravaged in India and Abuse hurled on Mother Teresa,is passe.

This is the nation,where an unarmed Aussie missionary,was BURNT ALIVE,with his 2 minor sons

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/21-years-after-his-killing-odisha-village-says-it-still-weeps-for-staines/articleshow/68666096.cms

No one helped them – not even the Aussie state

People say – How could they ? Y did they ? The little boys – they did no wrong ? Even Barnabus had a soul, they say ! dindooohindoo

These Hindoos speared Judas Thomas to death,in the Temple of Kali ! Judas Thomas !

BUT PEOPLE STILL DO NOT LEARN ! MAYBE THESE GEMS OF WISDOM, WILL KINDLE THE CANDLE OF ENLIGHTENMENT !

Allow me to present the “words of St Francis Xavier” (which should be framed in gold, in the Liber Pontificalis), of the land of the Goan filth, the “Dindoo evangelium”, as under :

The Brahmins are the “most perverse” people in the world…. They “never tell the truth”, but think of nothing but how to “tell subtle lies” and to deceive the simple and ignorant people…

They are as “perverse and wicked” a set, as can anywhere be found, and to whom applies the Psalm, which says: ‘From an unholy race, and wicked and crafty men, deliver me, Lord’.,

And then there is the gospel of Judas Thomas on India !

According to the “apocryphal Acts of St. Thomas” , the apostles drew lots and the Apostle Judas Thomas, who was a carpenter, got India. When Jesus appeared to him, in a vision that night,Thomas said, “Whither soever Thou wilt, our Lord, send me; only to India I will not go.”.

GENESIS OF HATE

A Lay Observer will note that almost all Christian converts in India,are DARK SKINNED and NEGROID in features.

People say – What is the context ?

These dark skinned people are the DALITS ,who were called DASYUS in the RIG VEDA,which is the 1st INDIAN SCRIPTURE,and PREDATES THE GITA

These DASYUS are the TRUE INDIANS.The fair and light skinned were the INVADERS into India,over the last 3000 years. The fair skinned Indians are the offspring of the Scythians, Sakas, Greeks, Mongols, Mughals,Persians etc who pillaged Indian women, and some stayed back in Hindoosthan and settled with Hindoos,and their own breed

What has the Vatican done in India ? They have brought these DASYUS at PAR WITH THE HINDOOS. In fact these DASYUS CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY think and act like they are MORE THAN EQUALS to the HINDOO ELITE (and rightly so).THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THE HINDOO WILL NEVER TOLERATE

So what is the context ? Hindoos hate Dasyus and Black skinned Indiians – which are now subsumed into the Christian Converts,and are now demanding their rights and a "more than equal" status.dindooohindoo

SAMIR SARDANA said...

What is the future of Christianity,in South Asia and East Asia ? Is is the faith of Abraham and Jesus ? It is another matter,that the proclaimed seed and followers of Abraham,id.est., the Jews,do not believe in Jesus.

Is Christianity,in South and East Asia, a compromise or a dilution or a corruption of theology and metaphysics ?

Sample these Indonassean NOMINAL Christians,who exhume their dead and dress them up,light a cigar for them,and then talk to them,and eat with them and then bury them,in their graves (with the new clothes and cigar)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/indonesia-village-dead-corpses-dress-up-toraja-indonesia-south-sulawesi-alive-annual-festival-tourist-a7694541.html

Then we have the Goan Limpets who have "a dead body" of Francis Xavier,without a toe and a hand and a forearm,which is prayed to as a living deity and a miracle.The toe,hand and forearm travel all over the world,and are also prayed to.There are many saints in Christianity,and none have their bodies displayed for 5 days or 550 years (as in this case).In turns out that some crank Portugese woman bit of the toe of Francis Xavier,as a relic ! Naturally, the Nassara say that the body was preserved w/o chemicals for 550 years - and people believe it ! Goa till 30 days ago,had 4000 daily cases and close to 100 dead a day,which is the HIGHEST PER CAPITA FOR COVID,for any nation at any time.Neither Jesus nor Xavier,could save these people !

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1988719_1988728_1988722,00.html

Is this evolution ?

However,one has to admit that these Converts are better off,than without Christianity,and it is the only hope for the destitutes of India and Asia.They probably will not get spiritual salvation, but will be empowered and emancipated,and then,in a century or so,will have a spiritual awakening.

These kinks in Christianity,in South Asia and East Asia,capture the Core DNA of the people, as in, IDOLATORY in Indians.Whether they are Christians or Muslims,that innate weakness to pray to a body or an idol,as an intermediary,lies at the core of the Indians,South Asians and East Asians.

But then a man like Stan Swamy comes along and captures the CORE DNA of Jesus,and makes the experiment worthwhile.Even his Church did not try to save him.His sacrifice has no peer in India,as no Indian was killed by a state,as powerful as, India is today (FOR WHATEVER BE ITS WORTH),and no Indian was killed for a class struggle.Stan Swamy was not converting people - unlike Tegh Bahadur and company,who were killed (so called) for religious conversions, heresy and blasphemy.

Even Judas Thomas was killed by Kali worshippers,as a part of a religious war, and not a class war !

The mistake that Stan Swamy's team made,was that they relied on the worthless Indian Judiciary and Constitution.Jesus also made that mistake - but it was a "purposeful mistake",as he wanted to be killed,at the hands of the Pharisees.

Perhaps the Indians need to canonise Stan Swamy,and start an Order after him

ASIAN Christians need to ponder,over the words of Pope Francis,in the St Patrick cathedral in NY,as under :

"we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus Christ and his life, humanly speaking, ENDED IN FAILURE,THE FAILURE OF THE CROSS"

https://abcnews.go.com/US/read-pope-francis-yorks-st-patricks-cathedral/story?id=34023376

Ahmed said...


Dear Sir

Thank you for sharing this post, I have studied Pakistan studies in my School time and I now remember what our teacher told us.

Quaid-e-Azam(founding father of Pakistan) was very smart and dignified politician and leader of South Asia and sub-continent specifically. He was very far sighted and he understand and realized the mindset of the Hindus who were working in Congress party. From outside the politicians and members of Congress party tried to portray themselves as moderates and tolerant but from inside they had intention of making Congress party a complete hindu body.

This is something which Quaid-e-Azam realized and understood earlier and this is exactly why he started the struggle of having an independent Muslim state for Muslims of India.

Ahmed said...


Dear Sir

I have an important question, I have watched some of the news channels of India in which most of the news anchors and news reporters are actually paid by BJP government.

In one of these news channel a Pakistani guest was invited and the Indian news anchor was saying that all the Muslims who live in Pakistan right now actually have Hindu heritage and ancestry. They meant to say that all the Muslims who live in Pakistan at the moment ,their fore fathers converted to Islam from Hinduism.

Sir I wanted to know that how far is this true? Is it true that all the Muslims living in Pakistan have Hindu heritage and ancestry? Were all the fore fathers of the Muslims of Pakistan Hindus before?

Can you pls throw some light on this?

Regards,

Riaz Haq said...

Ahmad: "Is it true that all the Muslims living in Pakistan have Hindu heritage and ancestry? Were all the fore fathers of the Muslims of Pakistan Hindus before?"


Male ancestors of the vast majority of present-day South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis) came from West Eurasia, Central Asia and Iran, according to the latest DNA research led by Harvard geneticist Dr. David Reich. Reich's team came to this conclusion after studying the Y-chromosomes of present-day Indians.

https://www.riazhaq.com/2021/02/harvard-scientist-debunks-hindu.html

Some Hindu Indian scientists have used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) samples, extracted from the bones of recently discovered ancient skeletal remains of a couple in Rakigarhi in Haryana, to claim the local indigenous origins of all Hindus. Y-chromosomes are passed from father to son while mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to children. The Harvard team's findings thoroughly debunk Hindu Nationalists' "racial purity" myth similar to that promoted by White Supremacist racists in the West. Reich writes: "The Hindutva ideology that there was no major contribution to Indian culture from migrants from outside South Asia is undermined by the fact that approximately half of the ancestry of Indians today is derived from multiple waves of mass migration from Iran and the Eurasian steppe within the last five thousand years".

Riaz Haq said...

Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy
Christophe Jaffrelot
Translated by Cynthia Schoch
A riveting account of how a popularly elected leader has steered the world's largest democracy toward authoritarianism and intolerance

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691206806/modis-india

Over the past two decades, thanks to Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalism has been coupled with a form of national-populism that has ensured its success at the polls, first in Gujarat and then in India at large. Modi managed to seduce a substantial number of citizens by promising them development and polarizing the electorate along ethno-religious lines. Both facets of this national-populism found expression in a highly personalized political style as Modi related directly to the voters through all kinds of channels of communication in order to saturate the public space.

Drawing on original interviews conducted across India, Christophe Jaffrelot shows how Modi’s government has moved India toward a new form of democracy, an ethnic democracy that equates the majoritarian community with the nation and relegates Muslims and Christians to second-class citizens who are harassed by vigilante groups. He discusses how the promotion of Hindu nationalism has resulted in attacks against secularists, intellectuals, universities, and NGOs. Jaffrelot explains how the political system of India has acquired authoritarian features for other reasons, too. Eager to govern not only in New Delhi, but also in the states, the government has centralized power at the expense of federalism and undermined institutions that were part of the checks and balances, including India’s Supreme Court.

Modi’s India is a sobering account of how a once-vibrant democracy can go wrong when a government backed by popular consent suppresses dissent while growing increasingly intolerant of ethnic and religious minorities.

Riaz Haq said...

Christophe Jaffrelot on Hindytva, Narendra Modi and Hindu Nationalism:

https://democracyparadox.com/2021/07/13/christophe-jaffrelot-on-narendra-modi-and-hindu-nationalism/

Hindutva is an ideology. And if you want an ethnic religious ideology that will emphasize a dimension of Hinduism that was not very much referred to in the past. The Hindus as a people, as a community, as the descendants of, as they said, the Vedic fathers. This definition of the Hindus as a people has many affinities with Zionism and I would say Hindutva is to Hinduism what Zionism is to Judaism. in many ways the emphasis is on ethnic characteristics rather than belief. So, this idea that you define the citizenship, the nationality, by ethnic characterization and language, that’s a new definition of the identity in India. And that’s largely because of the impact of this ideology.



----------------
we need to go back to Hinduism as a civilization. it’s more than a religion. It’s a full-fledged civilization and it is traditionally admitted that this civilization does not rely on any orthodoxy, but on a strong orthopraxy. And the orthopraxy is enshrined in the caste system, a very rigid and hierarchical social order. That’s one dimension. And the other dimension is this absence of orthodoxy that finds expression in the fact that there is no book, no dogma, no clergy in Hinduism and a great sense of religious liberty. Many different kinds of beliefs co-exist in Hinduism. Gurus were very creative and constantly invented new ways to reach God.

That’s what Hinduism was in terms of spirituality and this is something Hindutva has tried to erase. The sense of spiritual diversity has been certainly the first causality of the rise of Hindutva. One example to illustrate this. Hindus used to worship Sufis, Islamic figures, and therefore, went to pray on their tombs in large numbers. This is what I call the Dargah culture. Dargha is the name we give to these mausoleums of Sufi saints. Well, Hindu nationalists tended to consider that such cults were not recommended. So Hindu nationalists have influenced the Hindu community in different ways. They have codified the Hindu identity along Brahmanical lines mostly, and they have tended to reduce the diversity of Hinduism. So, the difference, if you want, between Hinduism and Hindutva is enshrined in these tendencies.

Ahmed said...


Dear Sir

This post of yours is very interesting and informative, once again thank you for sharing this.

Sir even Al-Beruni who was a well known Muslim traveller and scholar of medivial period once said when he stayed in India for sometime he said:

"HINDUS BY NATURE ARE VERY PROUD AND SELF-CONEITED PEOPLE. THEY ALWAYS TRY TO APPEAR MORE THAN WHAT THEY ARE. AND THEY HAVE ALWAYS ENTERTAINED THE IDEA OF A GREATER INDIA".

Even the famous Indian politician and leader "Pundit Nehru" wrote a book titled "DISCOVERY OF INDIA" and in that book he has enlarged and expanded India.In this book,Pundit Nehru portrayed India as a much bigger country then it looked on the world map.

Sir the idea of Indian nationalism for Hindus actually means "HINDU NATIONALISM". And this ideology of Indians suffered badly when 2 nation theory was introduced .

Riaz Haq said...

Were the 16 charged with plotting to kill #India’s #Modi framed? They had criticized #BJP and #RSS for their promotion of a #Hindu majoritarian state and for their attempts to subvert India’s constitution. #Hindutva #Islamophobia_in_india https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/12/bhima-koregaon-case-india-conspiracy-modi

In 2018, Indian police claimed to have uncovered a shocking plan to bring down the government. But there is mounting evidence that the initial conspiracy was a fiction – and the accused are victims of an elaborate plot

by Siddhartha Deb

Wilson, who appeared in press photographs with flowing, shoulder-length hair, squeezed between two plainclothes policemen on the backseat of an unmarked van, seems an unlikely candidate for violent conspiracy. A Malayalam-speaking Christian who grew up in the southern state of Kerala, Wilson’s life in Delhi had been wholly devoted to campaigning on behalf of political prisoners. He made visits to inmates in Tihar jail, India’s largest prison, to lawyers’ offices to help with campaigns for their release, and to dozens of media organisations in the centre of New Delhi to raise awareness of the plight of those he believed had been falsely incarcerated.

Just before his arrest, Wilson had applied to the PhD programme in political science at Surrey University, and was hoping to leave for the UK if he managed to get a scholarship. The documentary film-maker Sanjay Kak, who has known Wilson for nearly two decades and worked with him on campaigns for the release of political prisoners, described him as completely devoted to the cause. “Rona in many ways exemplifies an Indian kind of activist – quiet, self-effacing and yet deeply committed to what they do,” he said. “The tragedy of what has happened to him is that he has been drawn in by the very machine he worked so hard to dismantle all his life.”

Wilson is one of 16 people arrested since June 2018 for their part in an alleged Maoist conspiracy to foment an uprising against Modi’s government. The origin of this so-called conspiracy was traced to a festival called the Elgaar Parishad (meaning “loud assembly”) held in Pune on 31 December 2017. Organised by two progressive retired judges, the festival was looking ahead to the 200th anniversary of a famous Dalit victory in the nearby village of Bhima Koregaon in 1818, when historically oppressed Dalit soldiers serving in a British regiment defeated an upper-caste Hindu army.

Riaz Haq said...

#Drought-stricken state of #MadhyaPradesh: Minor girls paraded naked in #India 'rain ritual'. "We believe that this will bring rains," #Indian media quoted a women in the procession as saying. #Modi #BJP #Hindutva https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-58461751


Six minor girls in central India were stripped and paraded naked as part of a village ritual to summon rains.

The incident took place in a drought-parched village in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state.

Videos that went viral on social media reportedly showed young girls walking naked with a wooden shaft on their shoulders which had a frog tied to it.

Locals believe the ritual will appease the rain god and bring rainfall to the region.

India's National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has sought a report from the administration of Damoh district, where the village is located.

The Madhya Pradesh police said they had not received any formal complaint against the event, but added that they had opened an investigation.

"Action will be taken if we find the girls were forced to walk naked," Damoh superintendent of police DR Teniwar told news agency Press Trust of India.

The video shows the girls, some of them reported to be as young as five, walking together in a procession, followed by a group of women singing hymns.

The procession stopped at every house in the village and the children collected foodgrains, which were later donated to the community kitchen of a local temple.

"We believe that this will bring rains," PTI quoted a women in the procession as saying.

Damoh district collector S Krishna Chaitanya said the girls' parents had consented to the ritual and had even participated in it.

"In such cases, the administration can only make the villagers aware about the futility of such superstition and make them understand that such practices don't yield desired results," he added.

Indian agriculture largely depends on monsoon rains and in many regions, there are rituals devoted to rain gods depending upon local customs and traditions.

Some communities hold yagnas (Hindu fire rituals), others marry frogs or donkeys or take out processions singing songs in praise of the rain gods.

Cynics say the rituals merely distract ordinary people from hardship, but cultural experts say the practices are a measure of desperation in those who believe there is nowhere else to turn for help.

Riaz Haq said...

Little change in #India's religious make-up in 70 years. #Hindus are 79.8% of India's 1.2 billion people in 2021 census. #Muslims comprise 14.2% of #Indians. India is home to one of the world's largest Muslim populations, after #Indonesia.
https://news.yahoo.com/pew-study-little-change-indias-140230204.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr via @YahooNews

All religious groups in India have shown major declines in fertility rates, a study from Pew Research Center has found.

As a result there have been only "modest changes" in the religious make-up of the people since 1951.

The two largest groups, Hindus and Muslims, make up 94% of India's 1.2 billion people.

Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains together make up the remaining 6% of the population.

Based on data available in India's decennial census and the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the Pew study examines how the country's religious composition has changed, and the main reasons behind the changes.

India is neither a melting pot nor a salad bowl

India's population has more than trebled following the 1947 division of a colonial state into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan - from 361 million people in 1951, to more than 1.2 billion people in 2011. (Independent India held its first census in 1951, and the last one was conducted in 2011.)

During this period, every major religion in India saw its numbers rise, the study found.

The number of Hindus increased from 304 million to 966 million; Muslims grew from 35 million to 172 million; and the number of Indians who say they are Christian rose from 8 million to 28 million.

The religious make-up of Indians
Hindus make up 79.8% of India's 1.2 billion people in the 2021 census. 94% of the world's Hindus live in India

Muslims comprise 14.2% of Indians. India is home to one of the world's largest Muslim populations, surpassed only by Indonesia

Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains together make up 6% of the population

Only about 30,000 Indians described themselves as atheists in 2011

Around 8 million people said that they did not belong to any of the six largest groups

There were 83 smaller religious groups and each had at least 100 adherents

India gains roughly 1 million inhabitants every month, putting it on course to overtake China as the world's most populous country by 2030

(Source: 2011 census, Pew Research Center)

Riaz Haq said...

#US @VP Kamala Harris presses #India's #Modi gently on #HumanRights in historic meeting. "It is imperative that we defend democratic principles and institutions within our respective countries.” #Hindutva #Islamophobia #Kashmir https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-09-23/harris-meets-modi-discuss-human-rights-combating-covid-19-pandemic


Vice President Kamala Harris invoked her familial ties to India as she gently pressed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on human rights during a history-making meeting Thursday between America’s first vice president of Indian descent and the leader of a country that has become an increasingly close ally.
Harris, during public remarks at her ceremonial office before the closed-door session, told Modi that as democracies around the world are under threat “it is imperative that we defend democratic principles and institutions within our respective countries.”

“I know from personal experience and from my family of the commitment of the Indian people to democracy,” she said, “and the work that needs to be done [so that] we can begin to imagine, and then actually achieve, our vision for democratic principles and institutions.”

The remarks marked a subtle change from the Trump administration’s unquestioned fidelity to the populist Modi, who has presided over an increase in religious polarization in his country, with more laws targeting religious minorities, including its large Muslim population, as well as attacks on non-Hindus.

Despite the mild pressure, the two leaders shared warm words, including praise from Harris for India’s role in producing COVID-19 vaccines for the world. Modi thanked Harris for offering a “sense of kinship” in a phone call during his country’s deadly coronavirus surge this spring.

He invited Harris to visit his country, telling her that Indians “are waiting to welcome you” and calling her “the source of inspiration for so many people across the world.” Harris, who visited Southeast Asia last month, did not immediately commit to a trip.

The public discussion of about 15 minutes attracted more attention, including a large press contingent from India, than typical meetings between heads of state and vice presidents. Harris’ mother was born in India, and Indian Americans are one of the fastest growing groups in the United States, with a population of more than 4 million.

Modi did not speak publicly about his desire to increase U.S. work visas for Indians, but it is part of his agenda. Harris and Modi also talked about their goals to combat COVID-19 and climate change, and to strengthen the strategic alliance.

India has become a closer ally in recent years as American presidents from both parties have recognized the country’s strategic importance in countering China’s growing military and financial power.

Modi is scheduled to meet with President Biden on Friday and then separately again with Harris and Biden in meetings of the so-called Quad, which also includes Japan and Australia.

Riaz Haq said...

Why does India’s Hindu right-wing hate the Urdu language so much?


https://qz.com/india/2079526/explaining-indian-hindu-right-wings-hate-for-the-urdu-language/

so complete was the communal association of Hindi and Urdu by that time, Rai recounts that “a Hindi friend” asked Nehru whose language Urdu was. “Yeh meri aur mere bap-dada’on ki bhasha hai,” Nehru replied. This is my language, the language of my ancestors. Thereupon the “Hindi friend” retorted: Brahman hote hue Urdu ko apni bhasha kehte ho, sharam nahin ati? (Aren’t you ashamed, being a Brahmin, to claim Urdu as your language?)

Uttar Pradesh, the heartland of the Hindi-Urdu fight, went even further, banning Urdu-medium schooling altogether. As Urdu writer and critic Shamsur Rahman Faruqi put it, there was an effort to “wipe out Urdu” in Uttar Pradesh after independence.



Sanskritised Hindi—which Alok Rai pointedly calls “Hindi” in scare quotes to differentiate it from its spoken forms—has a fairly restricted life outside government and is practically absent from Bollywood, by some distance the largest producer of Hindi-Urdu content in the world.

Of course, Hindutva is ascendantly militant right now and is unafraid to use intimidation to try and resurrect colonial-era Hindi-Urdu debates. However, even as these political controversies break, one must keep in mind that changing language habits— especially the natural spoken tongue—of millions is a tough feat to pull off.


In fact, ironically, the Bharatiya Janata Party uses what could be called “Urdu” too in slogans such as “Modi hai to mumkin hai” (mumkin is from Arabic via Persian) or “azadi kā amrit mahotsav” (azadi is a Persian loan). Even words as basic as “Hindu” and “Hindi” are loans from Persian, being taken up by Indian languages in the medieval period. Hence, in the reductive lens of (Sanskritised) Hindi versus (Persianised) Urdu, they fit into the latter silo.

This, of course, does not mean language change cannot occur. In fact, like medieval Khari Boli absorbed Persian words as part of its everyday lexicon, much the same is happening with English today, which given its linguistic prestige and power exerts a significant influence even on non-Anglophones. Open any Hindi newspaper, for example, and it is suffused with English loan words. Informal, spoken speech will probably have even more.

Riaz Haq said...

From Modi to #Yogi: The #Militant Monk Who Could Lead #India to #HinduRashtra. #YogiAdityanath, the diminutive 49 year-old saffron-clad fire-breathing monk and chief minister of the most populous #Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, is political heir to #Modi. https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-modi-to-yogi-the-militant-monk-who-could-lead-india-to-full-hindu-theocracy-1.10385471

And if the BJP wins the crucial state elections that are just four months away, Yogi, who is universally addressed (according to his own request) as Maharaj (King) will be the front runner to be the heir and successor to Narendra Modi, the hardline Hindutva prime minister of India.



Yogi Adityanath is sui generis in the Hindu nationalist ecosystem, known as the Sangh, as unlike the Modi and other current BJP government ministers, he has no current connection to or background in the secretive and militant Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the mothership of the BJP and source of its Hindus First vision for India. The RSS has been banned multiple times, most notoriously for its involvement in Gandhi's assassination. And yet Yogi is today a contender for the party's top job.

------------
So what explains the rise and rise of Yogi as the new Hindu Hriday Samrat (Emperor of Hindu Hearts), an obsequious piece of puffery over which, until recently, was Modi's favored epithet? In two words: Muslim hate.



The RSS and its creature, the BJP, are excited by the idea that Yogi gives voice to a brand of maximalist majoritarian politics without the filters to which Modi is subjected and thus does not dare to say, hemmed in as he is (so far) by India's Constitution and the office of the prime minister.



Yogi Adityanath, originally called Ajay Mohan Bhist, was born into the family of a forest ranger. Having obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, he apparently became disenchanted with routine life and first joined the same temple movement in Goraknath Mutt that eventually led Hindu nationalist mobs in 1992 to tear down the Babri Masjid, an act that triggered nationwide intercommunal violence and which Yogi has publicly praised. He took diksha, or ordination, as a monk disciple of his spiritual father Mahant Avaidyanth and was named his successor.



Yogi has always mixed realpolitik with Hindutva. He has won five parliamentary elections, representing the constituency of Gorakhpur. From the start, he's recognized the power of a cult of personality, absolute loyalty backed up by physical coercion.



After his first win, he established a vigilante force called the Hindu Yuva Vahini, which was often accused of violence and extortion. His vigilantes would roar around in cars and motorbikes with only Yogi’s image emblazoned where the license plates were supposed to be. A popular slogan in his state amongst his supporters goes: UP mein rehna hoga Yogi Yogi kehna hoga, if you want to live in UP, chant Yogi’s name.

Till Modi and the RSS gave him his dream job ruling Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath was, together with his band of vigilantes, set on an adversarial course against them. The Sangh, though, sensed his potential as the ultimate instrument of Hindutva, finally gave him the prize in 2017.

Riaz Haq said...

Hindu bigots are openly urging Indians to murder Muslims
And the ruling party does nothing to stop them

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/01/15/hindu-bigots-are-openly-urging-indians-to-murder-muslims


“All Hindus must pick up weapons and conduct a cleanliness drive,” bellowed a Hindu priest at a three-day “religious parliament” in north India last month. Another speaker fired up the large crowd even more crudely: “If a hundred of us become soldiers and kill two million of them, we will be victorious.” By “them”, she meant India’s 200m Muslims.

Those priests baying for blood are not isolated bigots. Under the Hindu-nationalist government of Narendra Modi, the world’s most populous democracy has seen a growing wave of intolerance. In Gurgaon, a satellite city of Delhi, Muslims have been denied the use of open space to pray because it “offends sentiments”. They have also been denied permission to build mosques. Elsewhere Muslims accused of transporting cattle for slaughter, or of being in possession of beef, are sometimes lynched. Muslim businesses are boycotted. In recent months young Hindu radicals have persecuted high-profile Muslim women by creating apps to “auction” them off.

Muslims are not the only target of Hindu chauvinism. In Varanasi, a Hindu temple town, posters warn non-Hindus to stay away. Attacks on Christians, a tiny minority, have risen in recent years. Last week, after Mr Modi, the prime minister, was briefly delayed on an overpass in Sikh-majority Punjab, people associated with his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp) warned darkly of a repeat of 1984, when thousands of Sikhs were killed in pogroms after the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. In an index of societal discrimination against minorities compiled by Bar Ilan University in Israel, India scores worse than Saudi Arabia and no better than Iran. It is impossible to know the number of hate crimes in the country: independent trackers were shut down in 2017 and 2019, and the government stopped collecting data in 2017.

Another reason to worry is the silence of the government. From the prime minister downwards, no senior figure has condemned the drumbeat of incitement. When asked about it by the bbc, one bjp politician ripped off his microphone and stomped off. Academics, bureaucrats and retired army officers have sent anxious pleas to Mr Modi to appeal for calm. Yet only one unimportant official—the vice-president—has spoken up.

With big elections due next month, the mood could grow even more fissile. Senior bjp officials stop short of urging people to kill minorities, but they do incite hatred. Yogi Adityanath, the Hindu-nationalist chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s biggest state, declared that the vote was about the 80% against the 20%—that is, Hindus against Muslims.

Some pundits fear the bjp is resorting to divisive rhetoric because it can no longer rely on divisive promises, such as stripping the Muslim-majority former state of Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and starting work on a temple where a mosque once stood in the holy city of Ayodhya. Having honoured those commitments, it needs something new. And with the economy battered by the pandemic, a hostile China poking at the border and slim prospects for the millions who join the labour force every year, it is succumbing to its worst instincts.

Riaz Haq said...

Hindu bigots are openly urging Indians to murder Muslims
And the ruling party does nothing to stop them

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/01/15/hindu-bigots-are-openly-urging-indians-to-murder-muslims

The Indian government should realise that by pumping up the ridiculous notion that India’s 300m or so non-Hindus represent a threat to the 1.1bn majority, it is unleashing forces that may become uncontrollable. Sectarian bloodshed can generate a momentum of its own. India has suffered enough in the past for the risks to be obvious: hundreds of thousands died during its post-colonial partition, possibly more. Subsequent decades have seen episodic pogroms. But until recently, although rogue politicians often stirred up hatred for electoral advantage, the secular state mostly acted as a restraint. No longer.

The West, distracted by Russia and China, has paid little attention. Yet a stable, democratic India would be a counterweight to authoritarian China. A Hindu chauvinist India would not only be nastier for its inhabitants; it could also spread instability, prone to even worse relations with its Muslim neighbours. India’s friends, starting with America, should use their influence to persuade Mr Modi and his acolytes to check the spread of hate before it explodes into widespread violence. Mr Modi should want to prevent such a calamity, too. Does he? ■

Riaz Haq said...

"People of different states should communicate with each other in Hindi". Amit Shah’s ‘shocking’ statement on #Hindi will split, not unite, #India: #TamilNadu leaders. #AmitShah #Modi #Hindutva #BJP https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chennai/amit-shah-hindi-statement-tamil-nadu-leaders-7860467/


S Ramadoss, chief of the NDA ally Pattali Makkal Katchi, says English should remain as the link language and all the 22 languages in the Constitution’s eighth schedule should be declared official languages.


Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that people of different states should communicate with each other in Hindi was strongly condemned by political parties in Tamil Nadu on Friday. DMK MP Kanimozhi and S Ramadoss, founder of the NDA ally Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), were among those who took exception to the BJP leader’s remark.


At the 37th meeting of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language on Thursday, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decided that the medium of running the government should be the official language, and that this would increase the importance of Hindi. “Now the time has come to make the official language an important part of the unity of the country. When citizens of states who speak other languages communicate with each other, it should be in the language of India,” Shah was quoted by the Ministry of Home Affairs as having said.

Reacting to Shah’s statement, Kanimozhi, Lok Sabha MP from Thoothukudi, said, “Bringing the idea of one language will not help unite the nation but to split it. The Union government and ministers should be aware of the history of anti-Hindi agitations and the sacrifices made for that,” she said.

PMK leader Ramadoss said Shah’s statement was “shocking.” “It means nothing but Hindi imposition,” Ramadoss said. “Even as Hindi may be the language of majority states, Jawaharlal Nehru accepted the demands of the non-Hindi speaking states and allowed English to continue as the link language.”

If an Indian language should be the country’s official language, Tamil may be qualified for that position as it is the oldest language, he said. “However, Tamils do not believe in the imposition of one language, so political parties here demand all languages listed under the eighth schedule of the Constitution be declared official languages,” Ramadoss said. “English should remain as the link language, 22 languages including Tamil should be declared official languages, and people speaking different languages and their sentiments should be respected,” he said.

Riaz Haq said...

The World Ignored Russia’s Delusions. It Shouldn’t Make the Same Mistake With India.
Hindu nationalist ideologues in New Delhi are flirting with a dangerous revisionist history of South Asia.


https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/05/08/india-akhand-bharat-hindu-nationalist-rss-bjp/

By Sushant Singh, a senior fellow with the Centre for Policy Research in India.
Leaders have long relied on manufactured history to justify invasions. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied the existence of an independent Ukrainian state in his bid to take over the country and restore Russia’s perceived greatness. Chinese President Xi Jinping argues that the state must recover what his party sees as historical territory to overcome its so-called century of humiliation. Neither leader seems to care that Russia and China were never previously politically contiguous states.

Others around the world harbor similar irredentist dreams that are sometimes mocked by observers. We ignore these ambitions at our own peril. For decades, India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)—the Hindu nationalist organization with close links to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—has put forward the idea of Akhand Bharat or an “unbroken India.” The proposed entity stretches from Afghanistan on India’s western flank all the way to Myanmar to the east of India as well as encompassing all of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has mentioned the idea: In a 2012 interview, when he was still the chief minister of Gujarat, he argued that Akhand Bharat referred to cultural unity.

Last month, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat told a public gathering that India will become Akhand Bharat in 10 to 15 years, providing the first timeline for a Hindu nationalist pipe dream. Besides heading the RSS, Bhagwat is a very powerful figure in today’s India because of his personal relationship with Modi. The BJP is one of a few dozen institutions that comes under the direct control of the RSS, which now holds the most power since it was founded in 1925. Modi was a full-time RSS campaigner before it assigned him to the BJP, and he considers Bhagwat’s late father to be a mentor. Indian corporate leaders and foreign diplomats recognize Bhagwat’s clout, visiting him at RSS headquarters in Nagpur, India. His words must be engaged with seriously, not dismissed offhand as the fantasies of an old man.

SAMIR SARDANA said...

AS I SAID IN MY POST ON July 10, 2021 at 11:09 AM ABOVE

"Meanwhile these Hindoo heathens, just killed a 85 year NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT,STAN SWAMY - who had Parkinson's ! "

AND NOW IT IS PROVEN THAT NIA PLANTED EVIDENCE ON THE LAPTOP OF STAN SWAMY !

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/over-40-documents-planted-on-stan-swamys-laptop-claims-us-lab-report-3603377#pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

LIKE I ALWAYS SAID - NIA ARE SCUM ! FIT TO BE XTERMINATED - WITH THEIR FAMILIES + MHA + IB + POLICE

Riaz Haq said...

Hindu nationalist group, known for intolerant rhetoric, hosted a fundraiser in Frisco

By Nikhil Mandalaparthy and Tara Roy, Hindus for Human Rights

They wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2022/12/13/hindu-nationalist-group-known-for-intolerant-rhetoric-hosted-a-fundraiser-in-frisco/


”The GHHF believes in the “othering” of Muslims and Christians and has said: “All religions are different, Hinduism is inclusive and other two major religions — Christianity and Islam — are exclusive. It is all about “We and THEY”.“If they [Christians] are coming to convert our Hindus, we should drive them away. We should not even allow them to talk about their religion,” according to a GHHF blog.

Hate has no place in Dallas. Given GHHF’s track record of discriminatory rhetoric, it’s alarming to see that it has had success raising funds here in the Dallas area, which was named America’s fourth most diverse city in 2021, according to Wallet Hub. And yet, across the country, we are seeing Hindu nationalist groups like GHHF spread hate in local communities.

In August, the annual India Day parade in Edison, N.J., featured posters of Hindu nationalist politicians along with a bulldozer, which has become a divisive symbol of hate against Indian Muslims. A month later, in September, Hindu nationalist organizations invited Hindu extremist leader Sadhvi Rithambara to deliver lectures across the country.

GHHF’s Frisco fundraiser is another grim reminder of how discriminatory attacks have become commonplace in the United States.

In September, Frisco saw a group of Indian American women verbally attacked and threatened — an incident the community is still reeling from, KTVT reported.

Beyond the Indian American community, anti-Semitic and anti-Asian hate crimes also continue to be on the rise in Dallas. While we speak out against these various forms of hate, we must also be vigilant against the rise of another violent ideology in our communities: Hindu nationalism.

Nikhil Mandalaparthy is the deputy executive director at Hindus for Human Rights where Tara Roy is the communication director. They wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.

Riaz Haq said...

‘A threat to unity’: anger over push to make Hindi national language of India | India | The Guardian

‘A threat to unity’: anger over push to make #Hindi national language of #India. Tensions are rising in India over prime minister Narendra #Modi’s push to make Hindi the country’s dominant language. #BJP #Hindutva | India | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/25/threat-unity-anger-over-push-make-hindi-national-language-of-india

Tensions are rising in India over prime minister Narendra Modi’s push to make Hindi the country’s dominant language.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janaya party (BJP) government has been accused of an agenda of “Hindi imposition” and “Hindi imperialism” and non-Hindi speaking states in south and east India have been fighting back.

One morning in November, MV Thangavel, an 85-year-old farmer from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, stood outside a local political party office and held a banner aloft, addressing Modi. “Modi government, central government, we don’t want Hindi … get rid of Hindi,” it read. Then he doused himself in paraffin and set himself alight. Thangavel did not survive.

“The BJP is trying to destroy other languages by trying to impose Hindi and make it one language on the basis of its ‘One Nation, One everything’ policy,” said MK Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in a recent speech.

In India, one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world, language has long been a contentious issue. But under Modi, there has been a tangible push for Hindi to be the country’s dominant language, be it through an attempt to impose mandatory Hindi in schools across the country to conducting matters of government entirely in the language. Modi’s speeches are given exclusively in Hindi and over 70% of cabinet papers are now prepared in Hindi. “If there is one language that has the ability to string the nation together in unity, it is the Hindi language,” said Amit Shah, the powerful home minister and Modi’s closest ally, in 2019.

According to Ganesh Narayan Devy, one of India’s most renowned linguists who dedicated his life to recording India’s over 700 languages and thousands of dialects, the recent attempts to impose Hindi were both “laughable and dangerous”.

“It’s not one language but the multiplicity of languages that has united India throughout history. India cannot be India unless it accommodates all native languages,” said Devy.

According to the most recent census in 2011, 44% of Indians speak Hindi. However, 53 native languages, some of which are entirely distinct from Hindi and have millions of speakers, are also classed under the banner of Hindi. Removing all the other languages would shrink the number of Hindi speakers to about 27%, meaning almost three-quarters of the country is not fluent.


Devy said being multilingual was at the heart of being Indian. “You will find people use Sanskrit for their prayers, Hindi for films and affairs of the heart, their mother tongue for their families and private thoughts, and English for their careers,” he said. “It’s hard to find a monolingual Indian. That should be celebrated, not threatened.”

‘Our language is who we are’
The debate over Hindi’s prominence has raged since before India’s independence. Though there are more Hindi speakers than those of any other native language in India, they are largely concentrated in the populous, politically powerful states in the north known as the Hindi belt. Hindi traditionally has very little presence in southern states such as Tamil-speaking Tamil Nadu and Malayalam-speaking Kerala, and eastern states such as West Bengal, home to 78 million Bengali speakers.

When the constitution was drawn up in 1949 it was decided that India should have no one national language. Instead 14 languages – a list which eventually grew to 22 – were formally recognised in the constitution, though Hindi and English were declared to be the “official languages” in which matters of national government and administration would be communicated.

Riaz Haq said...

‘A threat to unity’: anger over push to make Hindi national language of India | India | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/25/threat-unity-anger-over-push-make-hindi-national-language-of-india

Attempts were made to designate Hindi the single dominant language but were all met with protest, mostly from the south. In the 1960s, after the government declared that Hindi would be the only “official language” and English phased out, there was a violent uprising in Tamil Nadu where several people set themselves on fire and dozens died in the brutal crackdown on the protests. The government backtracked. To this day, only Tamil and English are taught in state schools in Tamil Nadu.

But it was after the election of the BJP government in 2014, whose Hindu nationalist agenda has included a tangible push for the promotion of Hindi, that the issue resurfaced again, and the government was accused of imposing cultural hegemony over non-Hindi-speaking states.

“Under Modi, language has become a heavily politicised issue,” said Papia Sen Gupta, a professor in the Centre for Political Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. “The narrative being projected is that India must be reimagined as Hindu state and that in order to be a true Hindu and a true Indian, you must speak Hindi. They are becoming more and more successful in implementing it.”

The idea of Hindi as India’s national language has its roots in the writings of VD Savarkar, the father of hardline Hindu nationalism and an icon of the BJP, who first articulated the slogan “Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan”, conflating nationalism with both religion and language, a phrase which is still commonly used by the right wing today.

There was such a backlash to the BJP’s attempts to introduce mandatory Hindi in schools nationally that they were later withdrawn. In October, Shah had non-Hindi states up in arms again, this time with a recommendation that that central universities and institutes of national importance should carry out teaching and exams only in Hindi, rather than English. The rule would only apply for institutions in Hindi-speaking states. But as many pointed out, students from across the country attend these schools, including from the south and east where Hindi is not part of the curriculum.

In response to Shah’s recommendation, in Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin tabled a state parliamentary resolution against any “imposition of a dominant language” and alleged that the BJP was attempting to make “Hindi the language that symbolises power”. He is also pushing for Tamil to be designated an official language, equal in status to Hindi. In Kerala and Karnataka, groups and political parties also raised concern over the “Hindi imposition”.

Some have warned of the bloody history that language imposition has triggered in the region. Sri Lanka descended into 26-year civil war after Sinhalese nationalists tried to foist their language on the island’s minority Tamils, and it was the oppression of the Bengali language in east Pakistan that led to the 1971 war and the establishment of Bangladesh.

The BJP government says it is not using Hindi to replace other native languages, but only English, the western language of India’s colonisers. But with English so deeply engrained in the Indian system, used across everything from the courts to the job market, and the proliferation of English seen to give India an advantage in a globalised world, there is little sign of it realistically being phased out in favour of Hindi.

In response to the policies seen to promote Hindi, multiple nationalist language movements have now emerged across India, from Rajasthan to West Bengal. In West Bengal, where the Bengali language is seen as a very fundamental part of people’s cultural identity, there has been a growing Bengali nationalist movement over the past two years.

Riaz Haq said...

‘A threat to unity’: anger over push to make Hindi national language of India | India | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/25/threat-unity-anger-over-push-make-hindi-national-language-of-india

In response to the policies seen to promote Hindi, multiple nationalist language movements have now emerged across India, from Rajasthan to West Bengal. In West Bengal, where the Bengali language is seen as a very fundamental part of people’s cultural identity, there has been a growing Bengali nationalist movement over the past two years.

“It’s Hindi imperialism,” said Garga Chatterjee, general secretary of Bangla Pokkho, a Bengali nationalist group established in 2018. “They want to transform India from a union of diverse states to one a nation state, where people who speak Hindi are treated as first-class citizens while we non-Hindi people, including Bengalis, are second-class citizens.”

Chatterjee said that, despite Bengali being the second most spoken language in India, he could not get a copy of the Indian constitution, open a bank account, book a railway ticket or a fill out tax return in his mother tongue.

“They are making Hindi the face of India and this is a direct threat to the unity of India,” he said. “We Bengalis are being talked down to in Hindi but now we are pushing back. Our language is who we are and we will die for it.”

Riaz Haq said...

Three decades ago, the razing by a Hindu mob of a 16th-century mosque in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya, which Hindus believe is the birthplace of the god Ram, led to the death of 2,000 people and propelled the rise of Mr. Modi’s party.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/world/asia/india-ukraine-russia.html

A temple is now being built there. Mr. Modi, who presided over the groundbreaking in 2020, has called it “the modern symbol of our traditions.”

Faced by such moves, Ms. Roy, the novelist, voiced a common concern. “You know, the Varanasi sari, worn by Hindus, woven by Muslims, was a symbol of everything that was so interwoven and is now being ripped apart,” she said. “A threat of violence hangs over the city.”

I found Syed Mohammed Yaseen, a leader of the Varanasi Muslim community, which makes up close to a third of the city’s population of roughly 1.2 million, at his timber store. “The situation is not good,” Mr. Yaseen, 75, said. “We are dealing with 18 lawsuits relating to the old mosque. The Hindus want to demolish it indirectly by starting their own worship there.” Increasingly, he said, Muslims felt like second-class citizens.

“Every day, we are feeling all kinds of attacks, and our identity is being diminished,” he said. “India’s secular character is being dented. It still exists in our Constitution, but in practice, it is dented, and the government is silent.”

This denting has taken several forms under Mr. Modi. Shashi Tharoor, a leading member of the opposition Congress Party that ruled India for most of the time since independence, suggested to me that “institutionalized bigotry” had taken hold.

A number of lynchings and demolitions of Muslim homes, the imprisonment of Muslim and other journalists critical of Mr. Modi, and the emasculation of independent courts have fanned fears of what Mr. Raghavan, the historian, called “a truly discriminatory regime, with its risk of radicalization.”

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With inequality worsening, food security worsening, energy security worsening, and climate change accelerating, more countries are asking what answers the post-1945 Western-dominated order can provide. India, it seems, believes it can be a broker, bridging East-West and North-South divisions.

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At the end of my stay, I traveled down to Chennai on the southeastern coast.

The atmosphere is softer there. The economy is booming. The electronics manufacturer Foxconn is rapidly expanding production capacity for Apple devices, building a hostel for 60,000 workers on a 20-acre site near the city.

“The great mass of Indians are awakening to the fact that they don’t need the ideology of the West and that we can set our own path — and Modi deserves credit for that,” Venky Naik, a retired businessman, said.

I went to a concert where a musician played haunting songs and spoke of “renewing your auspiciousness every day.” There I ran into Mukund Padmanabhan, a former editor of The Hindu newspaper and now a professor of public practice at the newly established Krea University, north of Chennai.

“I do not believe Modi can marshal Hinduism into a monolithic nationalist force,” he said. “There are thousands of Gods, and you don’t have to believe in any of them. There is no single or unique way.”

He gestured toward the mixed crowd of Hindus and Muslims at the concert. “People don’t like to talk about the project of Gandhi and Nehru, which was to bring everyone along and go forward, but it happened, and it is part of our truth, part of the indelible Indian palimpsest.”

Riaz Haq said...

If we were racist, why would we live with South Indians, black people around us: BJP’s Tarun Vijay

https://scroll.in/latest/833983/if-indians-were-racist-why-would-we-live-with-black-people-in-the-south-says-bjps-tarun-vijay

He has apologised for the statement, which he made during an interview on Al Jazeera on the attacks on African nationals in Greater Noida.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tarun Vijay is facing criticism for responding to a question on the allegedly racist attacks on African nationals in Greater Noida by saying if India was, indeed, racist, we would not “live with” “black people around us”. “If we were racist, why would....all the entire South – you know, Kerala, Tamil, Andhra, Karnataka – why do we live with them?” He added, “We have blacks...black people around us.”

He made the statement during a discussion on TV channel Al Jazeera, while responding to another Indian panelist, Bengaluru-based photographer Mahesh Shantaram, who asked, “Why are people saying Indians are racist? Why are Indians saying Indians are racist? Why are people abroad and those who visit our beautiful nation feeling that Indians are racist?”

Vijay’s remarks triggered outrage soon after the interview was shared on social media. He took to Twitter to clarify his statement. “In many parts of the nation, we have different people, in colour and never, ever did we have any discrimination against them...My words, perhaps, were not enough to convey this,” he said, apologising to those who felt he spoke “differently from he meant”.

The BJP leader also said that Indians were the “first to oppose any racism and were, in fact, victims of the racist British”. Vijay explained that he had meant to convey how Indians did not face racism even though the country has “people with different colour and culture”. “I can die, but how can I ridicule my own culture, my own people and my own nation? Think before you misinterpret my badly-framed sentence,” he said, further claiming that he never called South Indians “black”.

Riaz Haq said...

Has Modi Pushed Indian Democracy Past Its Breaking Point?
With the media and judiciary already under attack, the Prime Minister’s main opponent was just banned from Parliament.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/has-modi-pushed-indian-democracy-past-its-breaking-point

New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner: Modi is probably the most popular leader in the world. His party has amassed incredible power to a degree not seen in India in many decades. Yet, at the state level, especially in the south, you see regional parties keeping the B.J.P. out of power. How has this been possible?

Christophe Jaffrelot: He’s not as popular as he claims. The B.J.P. never got more than thirty-seven per cent of the vote nationally. They control half a dozen big states, and most of them are in the Hindi Heartland. [These are states in the northern and central parts of the country.] If you look at the periphery, if you look at the states which are outside the Hindi Heartland—they do not control Tamil Nadu and they will never control Tamil Nadu. They do not control Kerala and they will never control Kerala. Look at West Bengal and Punjab, and even Maharashtra, which is not a finished story. There is a kind of exaggeration of the control they exert. And they exert control not because of the popularity of the B.J.P.; they exert control largely because Modi gets the B.J.P. elected every five years, which means that, after him, the B.J.P. may be in trouble. They have so much power because of their totalitarian modus vivendi, not because of their popularity.

NY: I’m looking at Morning Consult’s global approval-rating tracker for world leaders. Modi is currently at seventy-six-per-cent approval. That is fifteen percentage points higher than any other world leader.

CJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But if you go by the voting patterns of Indians, which is for me the real measure of popularity, Indians in more than half of the country’s states do not vote for the B.J.P. and for Modi when he is the candidate.

In that case, how do you understand this dynamic, where Modi himself is personally popular but he can’t yet lead the B.J.P. to take control of a majority of states?

There are very strong regional identities that are not represented by the B.J.P. The B.J.P. is seen as a North Indian, Hindi-speaking party. It’s also seen as an upper-caste party. So those who are not Hindus—in Kashmir, of course, and Sikh people in Punjab—do not vote for the B.J.P. And those who are not Hindi speakers in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Kerala cannot share this ideology of the B.J.P.’s.

Riaz Haq said...

‘Everything is gone’: entire #Indian villages burned in ethnic violence. About 1,700 houses in #Manipur have been destroyed in clashes between Meiteis, who are mostly #Hindus, and mainly #Christian Kuki tribe. #Hindutva #BJP #RSS #Modi #ManipurOnFire https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/09/indian-villages-burned-ethnic-violence?CMP=share_btn_tw

Manipur state’s chief minister, N Biren Singh, has said about 230 people were injured and 1,700 houses were burned in clashes between the majority Meitei people, who are mostly Hindus, and the mainly Christian Kuki tribe.

Thousands of troops have been deployed to restore order, while about 35,000 residents have fled their homes for the safety of ad-hoc army-run camps for the displaced.

Sanatomba’s sibling is among them. They are Kuki, and he is sure she and her family will never be able to return. “She told me to come here and look for anything I can find,” he said, his hands and feet covered in soot.

The rest of the village suffered a similar fate, its three settlements littered with broken doors, burnt-out water tanks, and forced-open metal trunks.

The towering village church, a school building and even a jackfruit tree were set on fire by the attackers.

The raiders stole residents’ cattle and poultry, Sanatomba said. “Those animals they couldn’t take alive, they killed and took away as meat. I am afraid of Meitei people.”

The far-flung states of north-east India – sandwiched between Bangladesh, China and Myanmar – have long been a tinderbox of tensions between different ethnic groups.

The spark for the latest ethnic clash was a protest about plans to give the Meitei “scheduled tribe” status. A form of affirmative action to combat structural inequality and discrimination, that classification would give them guaranteed quotas of government jobs and college admissions.

Minority hill community leaders say the Meitei community is comparatively well-off and that granting them more privileges would be unfair. The Meiteis say employment quotas and other benefits for the tribespeople would be protected.

Violence erupted in the regional capital, Imphal, and elsewhere, with protesters setting fire to vehicles and buildings. According to villagers, Meitei mobs armed with guns and petrol cans then attacked Kuki settlements in the hills.

Authorities are concerned there could be more reprisal attacks “as both communities have accumulated weapons”, according to an army officer.


“Are you sure that none of you have any weapons that you would like to surrender?” a senior officer asked a Kuki gathering at a village outside Imphal on Monday.


“The other community has promised to surrender their weapons if you do too,” he added. “I want you to consider this as it doesn’t help either community to have these weapons in circulation.”

None of the mostly male audience did so.

Thanglallem Kuki, 32, a teacher at a private school, watched from a hilltop as his village of Kamuching was attacked and burned to the ground, spending two nights in the jungle before being rescued and taken to an army camp.

He said the Meitei mob went from house to house, retrieving valuables, electronic gadgets, cooking gas cylinders, and even mattresses, loading their loot into vehicles.

“After that they burned the houses and they were burning one house to another house. For the first time when they burned the houses, they left some houses unburnt and they stormed in after two days again and they completely burnt it.”

He had been left with nothing, he said. “We were looking and crying with broken hearts and we looked down on our houses being burnt to ashes with helplessness and without hope.”