It was only a matter of time before the anti-Muslim sentiment in India turned violent. A country that has historically prided itself on its diversity and tolerance and for being ‘the largest democracy in the world’ has, in recent years, exhibited the exact opposite qualities – chauvinism, racism, religious intolerance, and, at times, extreme violence. The…
They came to the hospital with gunshot wounds, stabbings, acid burns and mutilated genitalia. Homes and mosques were torched, businesses razed. Those Indian Muslims who resisted had acid thrown at their faces. Others were shot at. The Hindu mobs came in numbers, carried saffron flags, and chanted “Jai Shree Ram” – a battle cry for a…
On 9 to 10 November 1938 the German government encouraged its supporters to burn down synagogues and smash up Jewish homes, shops, businesses, schools. At least 91 Jews – and probably many more – were killed by Nazi supporters egged on by Joseph Goebbels, the minister for public enlightenment and propaganda, in what became known…
The Delhi violence is not abrupt but is the result of the violence we have accumulated in our hearts over the years fueled by religious extremism, government, agenda, misinformation, fragile egos and superiority and devoid of humanity and decency. *** The death toll has risen to 27 and might still grow, an earshot away from…
India’s Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu made a curious comment on 28 December. “Express dissent in a democratic way,” he said. Before he became the Vice President – a largely symbolic role – Naidu was the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the far-right political organization that now governs India. Naidu made his comment…
A mob of masked thugs broke into India’s premier Jawaharlal Nehru University Sunday night and beat dozens of students who were protesting against their country’s contentious “Citizenship (Amendment) Act”, after which the victims accused the perpetrators of being allied with the ruling BJP and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that his country is now under…
