With nearly a dozen releases timed strategically around the electoral period, Indian cinema is amplifying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party's Hindu nationalist political agenda. The slew of new films — ahead of the April 19 national elections — are helmed by major production houses that rely on storylines that overtly either promote Modi and his government’s policies or target rival politicians.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On the festival of Baisakhi, celebrated usually on April 13, Sikhs the world over will joyously wear yellow saffron colors, symbolizing spring harvest and the solar new year, when the Sun enters the constellation Aries.
Read MoreBhupat Bhai Sekhaliya, a rickshaw driver from Gujarat, a state in western India known for its economic progress and as the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, faces significant challenges due to his background. He belongs to the Dalit community, which is at the bottom of India’s caste system.
Read MoreIndia’s increased use of Facial Recognition Technology has led to the arrest of those the government deemed “troublemakers” for their involvement in recent protests. It was not the first time video technology had been used to identify people taking part in such activity against the government. As a result, there’s the potential on the part of police to increasingly target religious minorities.
Read MoreThe issue of young women wearing hijabs in schools has become a controversial and heated topic in the Indian state of Rajasthan following a similar battle in the southern state of Karnataka. Hijab bans in Hindu-majority India are nothing new. However, such edicts have intensified recently under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, who adhere to Hindu nationalism and have focused on limiting the rights of religious minorities.
Read MoreAs the evening sun casts down its warm glow over the city of New Delhi, the steps of Jama Masjid become a hive of activity during the month of Ramadan. A diverse crowd gathers within its sacred walls, numbering in the thousands. They come bearing dishes from their homes and nearby markets, preparing for the evening meal also known as Iftar to break their fasts.
Read More(EXPLAINER) India has implemented a new citizenship law that excludes Muslims, a religious minority, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. Although the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed five years ago by the country’s parliament, it was not enacted at the time due to the pandemic.
Read MoreDays after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a Hindu temple built over a mosque demolished by agitators in 1990, a new report by the Archaeological Survey of India found that another mosque had been built over a pre-existing Hindu temple. A court ruling that followed the survey granted Hindus permission to conduct prayers in one of the mosque's four cellars, igniting tensions with Muslims.
Read MoreThe memory of Feb. 25, 2020, remains vivid in Mohammed Tahir Saifi’s mind, as if it occurred only yesterday. He often looks back on that day as the one that turned his life upside down because he had to spend two years in jail for a crime he he did not commit. It was a day when a riot erupted in India’s capital, resulting in the death of over 50 people.
Read More(OPINION) Modi and former President Donald Trump are hyper-nationalists and Islamophobes. Both push fear-driven campaigns based on historical grievances and aversion to foreign religions and ethnicities. A militant Hindu monk has been elected to lead India’s largest state, and he is rabidly anti-Muslim.
Read MoreThe consecration rituals of the icon of Lord Rama were performed in a newly built mega-temple in the town of Ayodhya, India, on Jan. 22, 2024. The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, performed the rituals during a 48-minute period considered auspicious by Hindu astrologers. Lord Rama, an avatara or incarnation of Vishnu, is one of the most important deities in the Hindu tradition.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in features a retrospective from columnist Bobby Ross Jr. on his 25 years on the Godbeat. Plus, a major new study on ‘nones’ — and, as always, all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreThe opening on Monday of a Hindu temple — a consecration ceremony considered a crowning moment for Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist movement — took place just months before the prime minister seeks to win a third term. The opening of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir, a temple built on the ruins of a historic mosque, is located in the Indian city of Ayodhya.
Read MoreIndia’s Supreme Court recently upheld the government's decision to revoke the special status of Kashmir under Article 370, a move made more than four years ago. This latest decision, however, has rekindled debates surrounding autonomy, demographics and the trajectory of regarding Kashmir’s future.
Read MoreAs the climate worsens in the Kashmir valley, a multitude of individuals gathered at the Jamia Masjid Srinagar, Dargah Hazratbal and other local mosques and shrines in Kashmir this month seeking divine intervention through special prayers for much-needed rain and snow.
Read MoreAs India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to run for a third term, the country remains on the brink. Activists, journalists and civil society groups have continued in recent months to raise alarms at the rise in religious persecution of minorities throughout the country.
Read MoreIndia’s Christian community has emerged as a proactive force in the battle against mental health challenges. Through initiatives such as national helplines, counselor training programs and pastoral support, they are working towards building a more mentally resilient society.
Read More(ANALYSIS) It was 31 years ago that a mob of nearly 150,000 Hindu extremists descended on the Babri Masjid, a 500-year old mosque in India’s Ayodhya city. Leading The mob were politicians from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who rallied members of notorious Hindu nationalist paramilitary groups to participate in the violence and later replace the mosque with a Hindu temple.
Read MoreIndia’s opposition has made significant strides to garner support as they recently banded together against the Hindu nationalist Modi government, but could possible in-fighting may dull their efforts ahead of next year’s elections?
Read More(ANALYSIS) In November 2023, British media reported on the use of sexual violence in the recent wave of violence in Manipur, India. This follows a conflict that erupted in May 2023, described by the U.N. as a “community conflict between the predominantly Hindu Meitei and the predominantly Christian Kuki ethnic communities.”
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