Culture

Hegemony: Kerala’s Bharatapuzha as a political stage

Unlike the North Indian Kumbh, the Bharatapuzha by contrast has never functioned as a Pan-Hindu pilgrimage centre. It has no historical association with mass ritual bathing, no priestly networks that regulate sacred time, and no inherited mythological mandate that binds the river to cyclical purification rites. The introduction of the Maha Magha Mahotsavam is a clear cultural imposition by Hindutva

Mian Maqdoom Shah shrine, Mumbai’s Mahim Durgah & the December Urs

I saw quite a few processions going towards the...

Bettina Bäumer’s Inclusive Philosophy Is What We Need in Such Times

Her autobiography is a rare account of a woman’s journey in the deepest sense from Europe to India; from Christianity, both Protestant and Catholic, to the Philosophy of Recognition or Pratyabhijñā, popularly called Kashmir Śaivism.

Ghazala Wahab on the Glorious Days of the Hindi Heartland

In the first part of this Book Baithak episode,...

Urdu is not the monopoly of mullahs, nor even the Muslim community 

Our self-styled “left liberal” intelligentsia, otherwise loud in denouncing Hindu majoritarianism, suddenly turned mute when confronted with Muslim right-wing pressure

The Mubarakpur Saree in the Digital Age: Can e-commerce bypass traditional barriers?

An age-old saree weaving tradition is also one area brutally affected by the US-driven tariff war with India

‘What happened to Ali Mohammad was wrong’: UP temple’s Muslim caretaker held for offering namaz; Hindu priest to arrange bail, says he served with...

In Budaun, Times of India reported how a temple priest has offered to bail out a Muslim caretaker arrested for offering namaz on temple grounds. Paramanand Das condemned the video recording and emphasised Ali Mohammad's decades of faithful service. Despite the arrest and charges of defiling a place of worship, Das affirmed Ali's respect for all faiths and the temple's inclusive nature.

Pahalgam Attack: Kashmir unites in heroic resilience amid terror attack, proving humanity’s strength against hate narrative

Kashmir, renowned for its breath-taking landscapes and the warmth of its people, became a place of tragic sorrow, loss and anger, on April 22 when a terror attack claimed 26 lives at Baisaran, Pahalgam.  In the face of the chaos that followed, local heroes like Syed Adil Hussain Shah and Sajad Bhat risked their own lives to save others;  despite the tragedy, the people of Kashmir, transcending religious and cultural divides, stood in fraternal solidarity, showing that humanity, love, and peace are stronger than terror and hatred

Faith Knows No Religion: Banke Bihari Temple again rejects boycott call against Muslim artisans and businesses

Banke Bihari Priests reject boycott calls against Muslim artisans and businesses, hail Muslim artisans as vital to temple traditions, embrace unity over division, and uphold faith as the highest virtue in Brijmandal—where even Raskhan sang for Krishna, and craftsmen of all faiths continue to serve the divine with devotion, senior priest said "Bhakti is supreme in Brijmandal. If someone has faith and comes for darshan, why should we oppose it?"

Lalita Ramdas hails Himanshi Narwal’s stoic courage in open letter

Lalita Ramdas, wife of admiral Ramdas, wrote this a few hours after watching an amazing short clip of Himanshi Narwal's comments to the press.

“Urdu Is Not Alien”: Supreme Court reclaims the language’s place in the Indian Constitutional fabric

By upholding the use of Urdu on a municipal signboard in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court reaffirms India’s plural ethos, debunks politicised language divides, and restores dignity to a shared linguistic heritage

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A Law of Identity, Passed Without Listening: Inside the Transgender Amendment Bill, 2026 and the crisis it has triggered

Framed as a measure of protection, the amendment shifts identity from self-determination to State approval, raising fears of exclusion, bureaucratic control, and the erosion of dignity recognised in constitutional jurisprudence

Intrusive and Unconstitutional: CJP’s dissent note on Maharashtra’s Anti-Conversion Law

Through this detailed critique and legal analysis of the hastily enacted Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026 (Maharashtra Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam 2026), CJP shows how it is both a serious intrusion on personal liberty, autonomous choice and religious freedoms but also gives a weapon to state agencies like the police to, along with other actors, become vigilantes into personal lives and behaviour

Telangana: Safeguard lakhs of Hamali workers, set by welfare board, citizens groups

Different sections of citizens in Telangana and organisations too have in a pithy letter to the Telangana Chief Minister urged the constitution of a Hamali Welfare Board to safeguard the interests of lakhs of Hamali Workers across the state, as per law and in consonance with the Congress Party Manifesto

Delhi, Mumbai: Media organisations sharply criticise UNI eviction

The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), the Editors’ Guild of India and the Mumbai Press club have sharply condemned the executive overreach that ordered the Delhi police to violently evict the staff of the UNI on March 20, 2026

Denigration of martyrs like Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev – a peep into RSS archives

On the 95th anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, March 23, 2026, historian Shamsul Islam dives deep into RSS archives to show how this organization has historically denounced the movements led by these revolutionaries

The Siege of Faith: A year-long analysis of the persecution and otherisation of Christians in India

An examination of systemic hostility across states—where anti-conversion laws, administrative complicity, and media dilution normalised discrimination

Proposed Amendments to Gujarat Marriage Registration Rules Unconstitutional: NAJAR, NAPM

Members of National Alliance for Justice, Accountability and Rights (NAJAR - Gujarat) - a pan Indian collective of progressive lawyers and law professionals and the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM Gujarat), along with many civil society organisations of the state have strongly objected to the proposed amendments to the Gujarat Registration of Marriages Rules, 2006, notified on February 20, 2026