South Asia Citizens Web

Renowned Historian Romila Thapar says the space for dissent in India is shrinking. She talks about covert pressures in the contemporary political arena and the intersection of nationalism, secularism and democracy. Discussing the place for nationalism in the current socio-political framework, Ms Thapar distinguishes between good historians and bad historians while highlighting the dangers of ’fantasy narratives’.

Armenian presence in India is documented at least since the sixteenth century. At that time the Mughals ruled much of northern India, whereas various Muslim sultanates ruled the Deccan or the interior southern region

The recent riots targeting Muslims in Kandy have provoked accusations on many sides. While mainstream conversations focus on what the riots entail in terms of immediate political consequences for the current Government and its tepid response, progressives have also had to reckon with the growing presence of anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence as a feature of contemporary Sri Lankan life.

The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed a committee of scholars to prove that Hindus are descended from India’s first inhabitants. Members of the country’s Muslim minority worry the government wants to make them second-class citizens.

Targeted violence against political opponents of BJP, as seen in Tripura, cannot be dissociated from wider processes of change. Public violence against the weak and vulnerable; poor, minorities, Dalits, women, adivasis, migrant workers, etc. has been a regular feature of Indian society.