Speaking up
It is great that the prime minister has spoken up about lynching but actions speak louder than words (“The Daily Fix: Much is being made of Modi breaking his silence on lynchings but words aren’t enough”). Modi needs to ensure that chief ministers of various states rein in cow vigilantes. He should also understand that when a member of his council of ministers goes to village of a person accused of lynching Mohammad Akhlaq (who died in police custody) the government’s intentions come under doubt. – KB Dessai
Not in my name
I am a proud Hindu but am totally against the Hindutva being propagated now (“Not In My Name: I refuse to cede Hinduism to those who want to make India a Hindu rashtra”). What is being propounded now is not the the Hinduism of Swami Vivekananda, Shankaracharya or the Sanatan Dharma, all of which predate the Sangh Parivar. Such organisations shouldn’t even take the names of Hindu gods – it is an insult to the gods we respect and adore. For instance, Hanuman was the epitome of gentlemanliness and was devoted to Rama. So, what makes the Bajrang Dal eligible to take his name? – Kavita Raja
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About 99.99 % Hindus in this country believe in peaceful co -existence. Being tolerant is in the blood of Hindus.The highly unfortunate lynching happened over a seat-sharing row. The criminals should be punished. But I am disgusted by the campaign by Leftists and so-called liberals to vitiate the atmosphere of the country and give a bad name to the BJP government. The same people are silent when communists kill Hindus in Kerala. Scroll.in is a platform for anti-India propaganda. – Ishwar Singh
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While incidents like Junaid’s murder at the hands of a mob are highly deplorable; some so-called secularists are giving them a communal tinge and find in this incident an opportunity to malign the Modi government. They are also trying to tarnish the image of Indian government by staging demonstration in Indian cities and abroad. Right-thinking people should not be swayed by such elements. – Avinash Pradhan
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Why is such protest limited to just a particular community? Where were thesse voices during the 26/11 Mumbai blasts or attacks in Bengaluru, Calcutta, Delhi, etc blasts one community? Where were you when the Marad massacre happened in Kerala, or when Kashmiri Pandits butchered or driven out of Kashmir? Can’t you feel bad for the minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh? – Krishna
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This is a great article and Sunita Viswanath’s views are profound and logical. India has been gifted by rich cultures and a multitude of religions that have thrived over centuries. It should stay that way, because that diversity is a great strength for the country and its inhabitants.
Forcing one’s beliefs on others is totally unproductive, immoral and against the very principles of a great religion. I am a Muslim who has lived with Hindus as neighbours and have shared meals with them. Religion never got entangled with our relationships.
Politicians and religious leaders need to fix the situation in the country today, as violence begets more violence. – Ahmed
Aryan debate
Shoaib Daniyal misstates and misrepresents more in this article than can be addressed in one email, but the idea that the Hindutva opposition to the Aryan Migration Theory comes from “blood” is flatly false, and even a cursory reading of the rebuttals to Tony Joseph’s article can prove this (“Blood nationalism: Why does Hindutva perceive a mortal danger from the Aryan Migration Theory?”). The Aryan Migration Theory opposition is not about blood but about culture. It is about the fact that Indian culture and Hinduism is a product of the syncretic synthesis between what geneticists call the ancestral North Indians and ancestral South Indians, each of whose presence in the subcontinent significantly predates the date advanced by Aryan Migration Theory proponents. (Indeed, many of the scientists who advocate the Theory also advocate the idea that Dravidians came to India from the Elamite civilization in Iran!) The Aryan Migration Theory proponents gloss over this syncretic origin of Indian culture and Hinduism in an attempt to cast Hindu or Vedic culture as one forced upon conquered natives by invading Aryans, when even the most pro-Aryan Mkigration Theory genetic and archaeological evidence shows no support for this.
None of the three rebuttals referenced by Daniyal even remotely suggests that Indian Muslims and Christians differ by “blood”. Indeed, most Hindutvavadis would claim that Indian Muslims and Christians were once Hindus or Buddhists and were forced to convert to their present-day religion. The dispute centers around which culture is native or foreign. The Hindutva crowd’s dispute is less with the raw genetic evidence than the much less supportable conclusions drawn from it about culture and religion. – Sanjeev S
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No doubt, waves of migration took place even before the arrival of Aryans from Central Asia. Indians are a mix of many races and regions – whether people accept it or not, genetics reveals the facts. As far as religion is concerned, Hinduism as it exists today in evolved in the Indian sub-continent, with inputs from those who were here prior to Aryan migration. Hinduism has nothing to do with race. – Veer Raju Ayilavarapu
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I had read Tony Joseph’s article in the Hindu in detail. It was logical and well reasoned but could be seen as a radical and unsettling for many as it distorts their core beliefs. As science and research progress, one needs to keep an open mind and form opinions based on peer reviewed facts, even if this upsets their long-held views or beliefs. – Stephen Abraham
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This is yet another attempt by Scroll.in to write something that will give Hindutva a bad name. True, India had been invaded and occupied by many civilisations, but that doesn’t mean that the world’s oldest religion did not originate from here. This, in fact, has been proven and documented by many researchers. – Rohit Pant
Passport move
A majority of Indians do not know Hindu and this move is unnecessary (“Passports will now be issued in both Hindi and English, says Sushma Swaraj”). If another language must be included, then it should be the mother tongue of the passport holder, or the regional language of the state in which they are. Even the airport staff of a non-Hindi speaking state won’t be able to read the Hindi passports. – S Chandhramouli
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Can I demand that my passport should be issued in Bengali? Why should Hindi be imposed on me? – Amitabha Sarkar
Banks’ burden
The bad loans problem is alarming and drastic steps need to be taken to reverse this trend (“The solution for India’s Rs 1,00,00,00,00,00,000 bad loan problem is still nowhere in sight”). India finds itself in the same position as early 1991, when non-performing assets of banks were hovering between 20% and 25%. The populist measures taken recently by some of the state governments to waive off farmers’ loans will create further problems and spoil the very fundamental concept of banking. The position of the bank branch functionaries is pitiable as their efforts to recover NPAs are in vain due to politically motivated decisions.
I feel it is the high time the government and the Reserve Bank of India make sincere attempts to pass an Act barring state governments from intervening in commercial banking operations. Let them continue to serve on the lines and principles of banking. The judicial process of very large corporate NPAs needs to be tackled as a time bound strategy. The cases of willful defaulters must be tackled in harsh manner. – Kanhaiya Singh
Spoiler alert
This is a well-written article but I differ on one ground (“Why the Bengali films of Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee are always on the money”). I haven’t seen Posto but I have seen Praaktan and I believe the film does not condemn a working woman for being ambitious. It shows that she has the strength to come out of an abusive marriage and be happy again! The co-director is herself a successful working woman with a family and I honestly hope she did not intend to vilify an independent working woman. The way I see it, the wife’s decision to walk out made the husband realise where he had gone wrong and he changes remarkably. The woman does not need to change as she was not in the wrong. She finds a partner who is supportive, understanding and loving. The man’s second wife also understands the first wife’s influence on her husband and even sadness crosses her face and when she realises who her co-passenger is, she ultimately thanks her profusely for giving her the best gift of all, her husband. – Ishani