Pavan K. Varma | Resist new usurpers of Hindu’s eternal legacy
Published Jan 24, 2021, 7:13 am IST
Updated Jan 24, 2021, 7:13 am IST
Hindus have been used to being Hindus in a self-assured way without being told that there is a higher authority that will judge them
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It is a truism to say that Hinduism is a way of life. What this essentially means is, that unlike many other religions, Hinduism does not lay down an inflexible code of do’s and don’ts for its followers. It does not have only one God, nor only one book of faith, nor one Pope, nor a single place of paramount pilgrimage, nor only one presiding temple. Such diversity in practice often leads some uninformed observers to believe that Hinduism is not a cohesive religion: it is not one but many faiths. Such an assessment is wide off the mark. Hindus allow for differences of opinion, within and without, and variations in practice, dictated by choice not diktat, without diluting the core fealties of their f
On the trail of Sambhaji Bhide: Ahead of Bhima Koregaon riots 3rd anniversary, tracing the Hindutva leader s rise December 26, 2020 09:50:20 IST
It didn’t matter that Datta Khandagale had two small children. The abusive phone calls to his home continued unabated at all hours, for 21 days straight. “My family was unsettled, and I feared for their safety,” recalled the 39-year old journalist based in the small town of Vita in Maharashtra’s Sangli district. “They [callers] abused me, threatened to kill me. It has been over five years, but I vividly remember those harrowing days.”
In early 2015, a right wing outfit had embarked on a mission in Sangli to build temples to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha warrior king revered across Maharashtra, particularly in the western region where Sangli is located. Khandagale wrote an editorial opposing the idea. “I essentially said that Shivaji was a great man, but let him remain a human being. Don’t make him god,” K
Farm laws: Facebook blocks Kisan Ekta Morcha account, restores it after widespread outrage
The move came at a time when questions are being raised about the social media giant’s alleged bias towards the BJP. Updated Dec 20, 2020 · 10:31 pm A screenshot of the blocked page. | Twitter/KisanEktaMorcha
Facebook on Sunday evening restored the page of Kisan Ekta Morcha that has been sharing updates on the farmers’ protest against the Centre’s farm laws after having deleted it a few hours earlier. It was not immedately clear for how long the page had been taken taken. A photo shared by the group on Twitter at 7.18 pm showed that the Facebook page had been unpublished because Kisan Ekta Morcha was against Facebook’s “community standards on spam”.
No reason to remove Bajrang Dal from Facebook, Ajit Mohan tells IT standing committee: Report
December 17, 2020
Ajit Mohan, head of Facebook India, told a Parliamentary panel that the company has no reason to act against or take down content from Bajrang Dal, the right wing organisation with close ties to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mohan deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on Wednesday, where he said Facebook’s fact-checking team did not find any content from Bajrang Dal that necessitated a ban, reported PTI.
The Committee, headed by Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor, was questioning Mohan about a recent Wall Street Journal article, which reported that Facebook was wary of removing Bajrang Dal off of its platform for fear that such an action will endanger the company’s staff and its business interests in India. Facebook’s security team had reportedly issued internal warnings about the risk of cracking do
NEW DELHI: Facebook India refused to classify Bajrang Dal as a “dangerous organisation” on the platform, saying it could spark physical attacks against the company’s staff and harm their business prospects, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal newspaper.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad joint general secretary Surendra Jain told TOI that the organisation would initiate legal proceedings against the WSJ for defaming it . This is a conspiracy primarily to defame and insult India under the garb of attacking Bajrang Dal. We will not accept this insult and will take legal action against WSJ, said Jain, who has also been a senior office-bearer of the Bajrang Dal in the past. Both Bajrang Dal and VHP are part of the larger Sangh parivar.