South Asia Citizens Web

over a few generations, it became difficult for people to call the children of those who had migrated from heartland India ‘Hindustani’ – as Hindustan was the name for India. The term ‘Mohajir’ gained more currency to describe these immigrants and their children.

A law is being passed to regulate the online world and prevent abuse of the internet. Many use it to commit criminal acts, harass, intimidate and blackmail, particularly women. This is a good step and the authorities should be congratulated. The punishments are also more moderate and sensible than before. This is all good. However, the proposed law also makes it a criminal offense to “say anything negatively or propagate against Bangabandhu and the 1971 war”.

Aadhaar-based biometric authentication was recently made compulsory for users of the Public Distribution System (PDS) in Ranchi District, Jharkhand. This involves installing “Point of Sale” (PoS) machines at PDS outlets, and verifying the identity of cardholders by matching their fingerprints against the Aadhaar database over the internet.

I learned that Grandfather had breathed his last on the evening of September 8, 1982. I interject personal memories into the political and historical narrative, inviting biographical interpretation.

As investigations into the murders of Dabholkar and Pansare have progressed, disturbing links appear to have emerged between the organisation and the killings. On 16 September 2015, a special investigation team of the Maharashtra police arrested a seeker named Sameer Gaikwad in Sangli on suspicion of his involvement in Pansare’s death. And on 10 June this year, the CBI arrested another seeker, a Panvel-based doctor named Virendra Tawade, on suspicion of his role in Dabholkar’s killing.

Rather than retreat in the face of such scrutiny, the Sanstha has gone on the offensive. On 23 September 2015, a battery of 31 lawyers, led by Sanjiv Punalekar, who is associated with a group known as the Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad. [. . .] Meanwhile, the Sanstha continues to spew violent rhetoric. [. . .] RSS and Sanatan Sanstha are organisations that are closely associated with Hindutva.