Indias secularism hangs on a precipice II on March 28, 2016Indian syncretism has survived despite the odds because it is based upon an easy acceptance of diversity. In the mosaic that is India Tamils, Bengalis, Mizos, Nagas, Manipuris, Odias, Punjabis, Parsis, Bohras, Memons, Christians, everyone feels different. We are comfortable with being different and demonstrate it by unselfconsciously wearing different headgear, different cuts of beard […]
Indias secularism hangs on a precipice I on March 27, 2016Even as Prime Minister Modi lauds the plurality of India and the profound peacefulness of Sufi Islam, the RSS and its cohorts have been sparing no effort to drive a deep wedge between the Hindus and Muslims in our country. A single day’s newspaper tells us that the student Umar Khalid found, while being questioned […]
Negotiation to ending insurgency in Kashmir on March 19, 2016In the past three months Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made two overtures to Pakistan, leaving little room for doubt that he wants to reverse the deterioration in bilateral relations. First he ‘dropped by’ Lahore to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his way back from Kabul, Afghanistan, in December 2015. The second was […]