An unmistakable aspect of the controversy over the Danish cartoons caricaturing Prophet Mohammad is that the Christian West has been quick to give it a strong political and economic dimension, while the worldwide Islamic community perceives the matter as a religious insult motivated by political deceit. This, I believe, is … Read More
In its second major overture to Hindu opinion after CPM MP Brinda Karat publicly targetted Ayurveda and yoga guru Swami Ramdev, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has booked the controversial artist, M.F. Hussain, for hurting the sentiments of the people. The NCP action comes in the wake of pressure from … Read More
Powerful Western rhetoric notwithstanding, political Islam is not a stateless entity with mindless hatred for non-Muslim societies. The sub-text of the Saudi monarch’s recent visit to India suggests that the keeper of Islam’s two holiest shrines may be steering his country away from the sterile Wahabi Islam that has given … Read More
Rahul Gandhi’s de facto anointment at the Hyderabad plenary session of the Congress, under the watchful eyes of his mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, sent political and media acolytes into the throes of a self-induced hysteria and hyperbole. Even though the truth is that the scandal involving the surreptitious … Read More
In the current atmosphere of unsolicited appeasement of the Muslim community by the ruling UPA, it seems futile to advocate a uniform civil code. Yet the time is propitious as a small village in Greater NOIDA has stood up for a motherless child. Its decision contrasts with the attitude of … Read More
The mills of god grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. The Bible says their inexorable grinding brings the most arrogant offenders to justice. As several high profile accused in the Bofors kickbacks scandal slip through the butterfingers of a tardy investigative system and a conniving polity, Sonia Gandhi may … Read More
Regardless of whether or not there is a consensus within the ruling UPA about reservations for Muslims on the basis of religion, Union Minister for Human Resources Development will certainly push through an ordinance on the issue, because few in the present regime will have the foresight or courage to … Read More
In a surprise development for the Hindu community, the famous Deoband Darul Uloom has asked Muslims nationwide to avoid slaughtering cows on the occasion of the forthcoming Id-ul-Zuha on January 11, out of respect for Hindu sentiments. The measure is fraught with significant possibilities for inter-community relations, but even more … Read More
Marx is dead, I’m not too well, and God, by god, is alive and kicking! Heaven help us, for the heavens have fallen upon our humble heads. Refugee commissars of an aborted Soviet Eden, hoping against hope to share the fruits of the October Revolution with the world’s only twice-born … Read More
The alacrity with which Russia has cracked down on non-governmental organisations receiving foreign funds has valuable lessons for India, where ideologically-driven NGOs use not only foreign but also Indian public funds to pursue a divisive non-national agenda. Many of these groups owe their high public profile less to grassroots activity … Read More
