The dilemma of the Muslim liberal https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/on-a-knifes-edge-by-s-irfan-habib-liberal-muslims-left-with-little-elbow-room-to-raise-genuine-concerns-within-community/article66524533.ece  S. IRFAN HABIB Faced with Hindutva hatred, the Muslim liberal is today sandwiched between two extremist groups. Feb 23, 2023

It is difficult to adhere to the new standards of patriotism thrown at them by the majoritarian “nationalists”. The secular space where a liberal Muslim or Hindu can prosper has shrunk dangerously. A liberal Muslim is sandwiched between two groups of extremists, one from her own community and the other, and more visibly vocal one today, the hydra-headed Hindutva’s foot soldiers and ideologues....

Most Muslims in India are converts but the reasons were diverse; although some were surely cases of forced conversion, many were attracted to Islam as an egalitarian and socially a seemingly less oppressive faith, which was a message spread through Sufi khanqahs as well. This hatred for the ‘other’ has peaked, or perhaps it has not yet, but we now see calls for genocide being made from the very heart of the capital at Jantar Mantar while the police remains a mute spectator...

In the midst of t...blatant communalism, we hear a call for peace and for all religions to be respected from the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat. Bhagwat also said that everyone who lives in India is a Hindu, as Hinduism is a way of life and Sanatana Dharma is a religion.

I see this merely as a façade to promote majoritarian politics. For me, as a liberal, anyone born in India is an Indian, he/she may later be a Hindu, Muslim, or even an atheist.

https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/the-role-of-liberal-muslims-in-india-today/article66524691.ece

Rise of Hindutva politics and the progressive Muslim  Feb 23, 2023  https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/looking-inward-progressive-muslim-voices-struggle-for-space-amid-rise-of-hindutva-politics/article66520174.ece The rise of Hindutva politics has further restricted the space for articulation of progressive views. A liberal Muslim must guard not just her personal freedoms but also actively resist the communal onslaught through democratic means. She must condemn every action of Muslim fanatics and Hindutva loonies. She must consistently demand accountability from institutions of the state. And while doing all of this, she must be prepared to be labelled fitna or even kafir for the personal choices she made in her own life! This is too much to ask from an ordinary citizen.  

But I see hope in ordinary Indians who are religious themselves and yet do not hate those belonging to other faiths. Hindutva may have scored electorally in our first-past-the-post system, but 60 per cent of Indians still do not vote for divisive ideologies. They are the silent majority who give me hope.

https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/being-muslim-being-a-muslim-woman-personal-essay-by-syeda-hameed/article66524316.ece

Historical Evolution of Transgender Community in India  https://triumphias.com/blog/transgender-community-in-india-historical-evolution/

The third genders in India have emerged as a strong faction in the LGBT rights. In the contemporary time the Government of India introduced so many welfare policy and schemes such as, census, documentation, issuing of the citizenship ID Cards, issuing passports, social-economical development and constitutional safeguards for the transgender people. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a major initiative of the 11thFive Year Plan period which brought employment opportunities for transgender people. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation is the National Urban Livelihood Mission and Healthcare facilities. The social, economic, political transformation, Housing, legal measures, Police Reforms, legal and constitutional safeguards to prevent human rights violations of the transgender community and institutional mechanisms  to address specific concerns of transgender people.

Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi  on Developing Bodhicitta
https://youtu.be/scVIZxDrOSk

The unknown Ambedkar: India’s first labour minister https://theleaflet.in/the-unknown-ambedkar-indias-first-labour-minister/
Sanjoy Ghose·May 1, 2023

Ambedkar’s tryst with labour began when he was associated with the Bombay Textile Labour Union, formed in 1925 by moderates N.M. Joshi and R.R. Bakale...In 1936, Ambedkar formed the Independent Labour Party (ILP), which had a comprehensive manifesto on worker rights. In 1937, the party described itself as a “labour organisation” which mainly “advanced the welfare of labour classes” and was “committed to supporting state ownership and management wherever necessary”.

In the 1937 Indian provincial elections, the first under the Government of India Act, 1935, the ILP made a stunning debut by winning 15 of the 17 seats contested in the Bombay Legislative Assembly...

 https://twitter.com/TheDeshBhakt/status/1539990210565378053

India China Border Clash | Modi Govt hiding Aksai Chin truth? | Ep.2 - Deshbhakt की खुदाई! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx16mzJS_tU
The Deshbhakt

According to The Telegraph, Brittas was initially served a notice from the Rajya Sabha secretariat and was asked to appear before Dhankar. Brittas said when he had met Dhankar and briefed him “orally” on the issue, he was asked to give his explanation in writing instead.

https://thewire.in/government/rajya-sabha-chairman-summons-john-brittas-over-newspaper-article-critical-of-amit-shah 

01/05/2023

History is an important “issue” because it goes beyond the confines of academia and everyone has an opinion on it. It helps in creating identities. Identities which are often contested and imagined. The relationship between history and nationalism is like – as Eric Hobsbawm would have put it – “what poppy is to an opium addict”; it serves a purpose. What we are today has its roots in history and that is why history as a discipline is always on the radar of political regimes. In India, as lay people we do not read enough and often imbibe hearsay, WhatsApp forwards and political speeches as history and condemn historians for their “prejudice” in attempting to write academic histories.

https://thewire.in/history/are-we-moving-towards-a-medieval-understanding-of-history 

History never remains static; it is ever changing. Rewriting history is natural and essential. With every new interpretation or evidence, history changes.

And it is not uncommon for different political regimes to have different perspectives on history and to try to influence the historical narrative in the curriculum.

History should be understood in its totality, that is, with its context. Totality should not be confused with the “entirety” of the past, which is virtually impossible to achieve.

by Eshan Sharma

28/04/2023

Development: Between Cliché and Creativity,"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_wdd7D2iQk Shiv Visvanathan Azim Premji University
Jan 20, 2012 Shiv Visvanathan speaks on "Development: Between Cliché and Creativity," as part of the Azim Premji University Public Lecture Series
October 8, 2011
Shiv Visvanathan is Professor of Social Science at Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Ahmedabad. His areas of research interest include Sociology of Science and Technology, Violence and Globalization, Corruption, Sociology of Disasters and Futures. Apart from extensive journal and newspaper publications, his work includes Organizing for Science (1985) and A Carnival of Science (1997), both published by Oxford University Press. He has also co-edited Foul Play: Chronicles of Corruption 1947-1997 (1999), published by Banyan Books.