http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/94472/06_2009/godman_conman2a/conman-or-godman-the-untold-story-of-ashok-jadeja.html
... and greed .... of money, power, knowledge, respect ...
Showing posts with label secularism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label secularism. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Punjab - History, Issues - The Vienna Incident
http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1110906
Friday, April 24, 2009
Jana Gana Mana Vs Vande Mataram Controversy
I wrote an article on this, which was posted as a guest post on Shantanu's blog on April 24, 2009.
It is available here with comments !
It is available here with comments !
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Hindutva, Secularism and the importance of 'framing' in general
In some interpretations of Hindutva - as I discovered - it means the same as secularism.
The problem is that most people - both Hindutva supporters, and opposers - this meaning is not clear. If for example, RSS organises a rally to promote secular principle or religious harmony etc, not many people may join.
Organisations, and political parties are too clever not to recognise this confusion. They seem to be exploiting it infact. If they are really serious about the all embracing and secular values of Hinduism, the need to proactively and explicitly frame things right. The use of 'Hindutva' for secularism is not going to work unfortunately, as it is too close to a particular religion, and very widely misunderstood now. For example, imagining the word for secularism in 'urdu' India wide ... I am sure it will not be as welcome and 'neutral' as the english word 'secularism'.
Framing is important. Both to create confusion. And to dispell it.
The problem is that most people - both Hindutva supporters, and opposers - this meaning is not clear. If for example, RSS organises a rally to promote secular principle or religious harmony etc, not many people may join.
Organisations, and political parties are too clever not to recognise this confusion. They seem to be exploiting it infact. If they are really serious about the all embracing and secular values of Hinduism, the need to proactively and explicitly frame things right. The use of 'Hindutva' for secularism is not going to work unfortunately, as it is too close to a particular religion, and very widely misunderstood now. For example, imagining the word for secularism in 'urdu' India wide ... I am sure it will not be as welcome and 'neutral' as the english word 'secularism'.
Framing is important. Both to create confusion. And to dispell it.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
What is wrong with identity politics ?
Some news videos
- http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/video/video.aspx?id=63246
All political parties are opportunistic and exploit caste or religion to some extent. At national scale, BJP looks most communal (but their communal intensity varies depending on forums they are speaking in. eg. read this). At regional scale there are many other parties which play identity politics eg. BSP :: Low caste votes.
What is wrong with identity politics ? For example, even 'Professionals Party of India' is appealing to the identity of 'professionals'.
Answer : What is wrong with identity politics is that it trumps debates on values, and policies. Voting for someone because s/he is a professional or muslim or hindu or low-caste, at the cost of another who may be advocating better policies and may be upholding better personal values, is what is wrong about identity politics. It divides us into class or blood based identities, rather than uniting us as a nation of equals, on the agenda of progress and development.
- http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/video/video.aspx?id=63246
All political parties are opportunistic and exploit caste or religion to some extent. At national scale, BJP looks most communal (but their communal intensity varies depending on forums they are speaking in. eg. read this). At regional scale there are many other parties which play identity politics eg. BSP :: Low caste votes.
What is wrong with identity politics ? For example, even 'Professionals Party of India' is appealing to the identity of 'professionals'.
Answer : What is wrong with identity politics is that it trumps debates on values, and policies. Voting for someone because s/he is a professional or muslim or hindu or low-caste, at the cost of another who may be advocating better policies and may be upholding better personal values, is what is wrong about identity politics. It divides us into class or blood based identities, rather than uniting us as a nation of equals, on the agenda of progress and development.
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