Culture

UP’s syncretic warrior cults facing Hindutva challenge

Be it the attack on the Gogamedi shrine in the Hanumangarh district of northern Rajasthan or the Neja Mela in the Sambhal district of western Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva’s systemic attack on India’s syncretic traditions, past and present, reveals its rigid and Brahmanical ideological orientation: imposition of a strictly hierarchical, exclusionary and structured notion of faith and practice

Sufidar Trust, Walajah Big Mosque: The 4 decades long tradition of Hindus serving Iftar meals to Muslims during Ramzan

As a testament of the philosophy of religious unity, a temple honouring the teachings of Sufi saint Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj Sahib by preparing Iftar meals for 1200 Muslims

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala to Malerkotla in Punjab, spontaneous community initiatives celebrate harmony & syncretism

Examples of interfaith solidarity and harmony arise from Kerala to Punjab as collective efforts by communities on-ground spread love in an era which has witnessed perpetrated hatred.

Incidents of everyday harmony from Punjab to Lakshadweep Islands

 India’s diverse communities and their aspirations for a diverse and harmonious society is revealed in the multiple events of interfaith harmony organised by citizens from West Bengal to Punjab, and from Lakshadweep to Tamil Nadu.

The sound of music

This was an exclusive in depth interview done in 2008, 16 years ago with the indomitable Ameen Sayani who passed on February 20,2024 at the ripe old age of 91. Teesta Setalvad speaks to Ameen Sayani about the 4 decades old journey in politics, music and life with nuggets of India’s freedom struggle in which Sayani’s mother was a close associate of Gandhiji. A product of the New Era school Mumbai, Sayani’s is a tale more precious in the re-telling

Light a Lamp to rescue Plural India: An Urdu Story, “Diya Baati Ki Bela”, by Zakiya Mashhadi

The author has not been awarded the Urdu Sahitya Academy’s award, possibly because the story harks back to a reality that rulers want Indians to obliterate, and forget

Reason, emotion and history

First published on: June 10, 2022(In March 1994, as...

Muzaffar Ali and his English language autobiography, Zikr:  hope for a beleaguered India?

The author, a History professor at AMU, writes on the discussion that took place at the prestigious university last week, on January 25 and 6, 2024 with young students faced with the divisive politics of today

Bhagat Singh, the Tradition of Martrydom and Hindutva

First published on: MARCH 23, 2016March the 23rd (2016)...

A Fast & Penitence: 72 hours of Love & Sorrow to fellow Muslims, pride in My Moghul heritage

This powerful Video Statement that takes just 36 plus minutes to listen to listen to and just ten minutes to read is real India’s response to what the author, Suranya Aiyar

Roots of the Knowledge Tree

What some of us have learnt from BN Goswamy

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UP’s syncretic warrior cults facing Hindutva challenge

Be it the attack on the Gogamedi shrine in the Hanumangarh district of northern Rajasthan or the Neja Mela in the Sambhal district of western Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva’s systemic attack on India’s syncretic traditions, past and present, reveals its rigid and Brahmanical ideological orientation: imposition of a strictly hierarchical, exclusionary and structured notion of faith and practice

No Hearing, No Notice, Just Deletion: How Bengal’s SIR Erased a Decorated IAF Officer

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An Adivasi woman once in bonded labour now serves her village as a Sarpanch

As India marks 50 years of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, cases of bonded labour still surface in states like Telangana where many workers in sectors such as agriculture, brick kilns, fishing and construction remain trapped in debt and coercion; here the author reflects on a transformative journey of an Adivasi woman who serves as a Sarpanch.