The celebration of a Hindu festival, Ram Navami, which marks the birth of Lord Ram, was tarnished by violence in late March across 10 Indian states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Delhi and West Bengal. It’s this kind of religious violence and intolerance that belied the surface of diplomatic talks between India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to Washington.
Read MoreNikhil Mandalaparthy is the advocacy director with Hindus for Human Rights, a human rights nonprofit that advocates for pluralism and civil and human rights in South Asia and North America. He spoke with Jody Hassett Sanchez in Washington during Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s state visit.
Read MoreEarlier this month, the two-part BBC documentary “The Modi Question” was screened at Columbia University's Journalism School and Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, among others. In its most recent attempts at stifling dissent, the Indian government banned the documentary. At Columbia University, the screening was followed by a panel discussion led by progressive academics, Indian activists and journalists.
Read More(OPINION) Politically, rallying Hindus around one overarching religious figure has been a key component of the BJP’s strategy to create a new pan-Hindu identity that transcends its myriad traditions and caste hierarchies, which are considered a roadblock to Hindu political unity.
Read More(REVIEW) The first two seasons of the Star Wars spinoff show deal with Mandalorian Din Djarin’s strict beliefs that forbid him from removing his helmet in front of another being. Now that he’s removed his helmet, he’s been cut off from his people, and the only way he can find forgiveness is by visiting his destroyed homeworld.
Read More(OPINION) What do world religions believe on polygamy, pro and con? With religion, age-old issues such as polygamy versus monogamy never disappear, and a recent Jerusalem Post article discussed Jewish practices, which we’ll examine.
Read MoreProtests by Kashmiri Hindus, also known as Kashmiri Pandits, have continued daily since the killing of Kashmiri Hindu Rahul Bhat on May 12 by, police allege, militants fighting against the Indian rule in Kashmir. Hundreds of Pandit government employees with families are protesting and demanding security.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The data is in: Christianity is aging, younger generations are having fewer children, and without a great influx of new members, thousands of churches will close over the next few decades. But smaller religious groups in the U.S. — like Hindus and Muslims — have younger members who are having more kids.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A narrative pushed by Hindu nationalists suggests Muslim men are forcing Hindu women and girls to marry them and convert to Islam. An anti-conversion law that prohibits “love jihad” was passed at the end of November and criminalizes Hindu-Muslim couples.
Read MoreThis year, millions celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights celebrating the triumph of good over evil, had to adapt their plans amid various restrictions on gathering during the coronavirus pandemic. In Malaysia, Hindus attended temple for prayers for the first time in more than a month, as the government had closed houses of worship to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Read MoreThis week Indian security forces killed a rebel militant commander in Kashmir, destroying dozens of homes in the process amid rising coronavirus cases in India. Some families say the Indian officers started the fires and looted their possessions.
Read MoreThe arrests of several Muslim activists amid the coronavirus lockdown is seen by critics of the Modi government as a way to blame Muslims for the Delhi riots that killed more than 50 people in February and squash protests of a citizenship law passed in December seen as discriminatory against Muslims.
Read MoreThis week’s “Weekend Plug-in” column highlights Pittsburgh Post-Gazette religion editor Peter Smith winning recognition as a Pulitzer Prize finalist — a year after he was a key part of a Pulitzer-winning entry for that same paper.
Read MoreArrests of Hindu activists protesting India’s new citizenship bill that excludes Muslims has energized Muslims and Christians who support a pluralism over what they see as attempts to make India a Hindu nation.
Read MoreAfter a Supreme Court ruling that allows Hindus to rebuild a temple over an illegally demolished mosque, Hindu nationalists are looking to claim another Mughal-era mosque in one of Hinduism’s holiest cities.
Read MoreIndia’s ruling Hindu nationalist party is fighting a state’s proposal to provide eggs to government daycare centers, where many of the women and children come from tribal backgrounds not adhering to vegetarian or Hindu diets.
Read MoreThousands of Kashmiri youth have been arrested on vague charges under a law that allows detentions up to two years before a trial. We spoke to their families.
Read More(OPINION) The international community should brace for serious trouble if India continues to revoke citizenship of people who settled there after fleeing Bangladesh.
Read More(ART REVIEW) The exhibition shows the interactions of humans with Hindu gods like Shiva and the mischievous side of Krishna, with his lover Radha and stealing butter and the clothes of women bathing outside.
Read MoreCannabis has a long regard in Hinduism going back thousands of years, unlike the Western vices of alcohol and tobacco. No other day is this more apparent than during the ancient Hindu festival Holi.
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