South Asia Citizens Web

Rituals of random violence have their own rationale, the maintenance and reproduction of dread of the unknown, or even of the known. The consequences are clear. People in search of protection cluster together. The political community fragments, and the collective self of India is once again fractured.

THINGS happen with such rapidity these days that it is hard to comprehend what is happening to the Indian republic. On the one side are the relentless attacks, attacks of such orgiastic violence that it leaves most people shaken.

Why are foreign donors so enthusiastic about alternative dispute mechanisms when they deliver second class justice for women?

Three years after he became Prime Minister, Modi made his second statement against the vigilante violence unleashed by cow hoodlums in different parts of the country. The speech, welcome though it was, lacked conviction primarily because Modi heads a government in which ministers have openly lauded such ’gau rakshaks’, and given them state financial assistance. Just a week ago, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said hate crime was not new in India and that the only thing new was its over-reporting.

t’s a good time to be a populist. Across the world, populism has made significant strides. Sanctimonious populism coupled with ironclad convictions seems to be the staple diet of contemporary politics. The emergence of right-wing populism, nationalism and anti-Muslim politics is not confined to Europe but is manifest in other regions as well. Likewise, illiberal nationalism is not exclusive to Muslim-majority states but is also evident in India in the form of the chauvinistic Hindutva movement–the Hindu nationalist ideology.