…in which I get very annoyed by this cheap, sensationalist headline in The Telegraph (UK): White British actresses told to leave Bollywood*.

The report talks of a “hate campaign by one of India’s most feared political leaders” but almost forgets to mention that the actresses may not have valid work permits.
Curiously, there appears to be no way to leave a comment online on the report.
I have sent the following email to the Editor:
Dear Editor,
With reference to your recent story on “White British actresses told to leave Bollywood“, would you please print …

Most of you reading this would not have heard of Dilip Patidar.  I had not either.  Until November 2008, Dilip Patidar was another “ordinary Indian citizen” – or so it appears.  But since then, he has not been traceable.
Here is the sad story of a creaking legal system, a missing person and an indifferent administration. Read on.

Here are the basic “facts” around the case.
Night of 10th November 2008: Dilip Patidar is taken(?) for interrogation from his rented house in “Shanti Vihar Colony” in Indore by a squad from Mumbai …

As many of you would know, “Immigration” is currently a hot issue in Europe – including of course the UK.  The issue was recently covred in Stratfor, the widely read commentary on strategic affairs and TIME Magazine had a cover story on this a few days back.
But that is not the point of this post. About 3 weeks ago, I came across an article in The Daily Mail, that suggested an extraordinary attempt at social re-engineering by Labour party in UK. In other words, a cynical effort at exploiting immigration …

Some thought-provoking excerpts from The Human-Rights Facade Is Beginning to Crumble by Noah Pollak (Hat Tip: Kaushal):
*** Excerpts begin ***
…The UK Times was impelled, finally, to give some space to the fact that Amnesty, one of the two largest human-rights groups* (the other being Human Rights Watch) has been promoting Begg, a former Gitmo detainee and booster of terrorists and radicals. What finally attracted press attention to this outrageous state of affairs was the appearance of a whistleblower from within the ranks of Amnesty.

Meet Gita Sahgal, the head of Amnesty’s …

Last week, while catching up on news-reports re. the Ranganath Misra Commission, I was struck by how slowly but steadily we keep chipping away at an already fragile sense of national identity…by pitting one region against another, by pitting “caste” against “caste” …and now one religion against another.
But I am getting side-tracked. The Ranganath Misra Commission is not about “national identity”; it is about “development and progress”. And how is this development and progress going to be measured? By improving numbers in government employment, of course. So we have:
Since the …

Some of you may have already read the story of a recent, extraordinary judgement by the Kolkata High Court that involved the religious conversion of a minor:
Calcutta High Court on Wednesday (16th Dec) granted the anticipatory bail plea of a 26-year-old youth from Murshidabad who had been accused of kidnapping and marrying a 15-year-old girl.
Sairul Sheikh, a resident of Bakultala in Behrampore, had been accused of kidnapping and forcibly marrying Anita Roy.
A division bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh and Justice S P Talukdar allowed Sheikh’s plea after his lawyers …

Thanks to Sh KSV Subramanian for alerting me to this. In a comment yesterday, he asked:
Kerala government has announced writing off loans upto Rs.25,000 to converted Christians. Is this not discrimination on the basis of religion?”
I decided to dig further. Here is what I unearthed…courtesy the Budget Speech of Dr Thomas Isaac, Minister for Finance, Govt. of Kerala:
8 (iv). The penal interest and loan amounts up to Rs.25000/- in regard to loans drawn by scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and converted Christian communities from government departments, corporations and co-operatives will …

Try and guess the time and the place of this account:
OVER the rivers and down the highways and along countless jungle paths…an endless unorganized flow of refugees with a few tin kettles, cardboard boxes and ragged clothes piled on their heads, carrying their sick children and their old. They pad along barefooted, with the mud sucking at their heels in the wet parts. They are silent, except for a child whimpering now and then, but their faces tell the story. Many are sick and covered with sores. Others have cholera, …

Dear All: I am opening this second thread to continue the discussion over from On Religious Freedoms and Secularism. I am reproducing the last few comments to maintain continuity in the discussion. I believe the comments have been reproduced accurately but if some of them look misplaced, pl. let me know.
Please continue to share your thoughts below.
Thank you.

This post has been pending for a while. A few months ago, the Freedom Team of India (of which I am a member) released its draft policy on Religious Freedom and Tolerance for public comment. I was reminded of this when I read Atanu Dey’s recent article in Pragati. I believe this matter is worthy of serious debate and at the heart of some critical challenges that we face in our polity today.
I am therefore reproducing excerpts from the FTI policy and Atanu’s article below to prompt a discussion. Pl. …

A few weeks ago, in June ‘09, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission passed an order with far-reaching consequences that (unfortunately) went largely unnoticed.
In response to a petition filed by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini’s Centre for Human rights Studies and Awareness (CHRSA), the Commission decreed that the Police (and by extension, all paramilitary forces and armed services personnel) also have Human Rights and the concerned Commissioners (or Senior Officials of the force deployed) are responsible for their protection.
The CHRSA petition followed an investigation into the killing of two policemen by a …

Stumbled on this last week…
Excerpts from Why this silence on organised anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh? by Dr. Richard Benkin (July 23, ‘09):
Reports began trickling out of Bangladesh this spring about an anti-Hindu violence in the heart of its capital carried out in three stages: March 30, April 17, and April 29. A community of approximately 400 Hindus was reportedly going about its business when “hundreds of Muslims” suddenly descended on them and demanded they quit the homes where they and their families had lived for the past 150 years. Witnesses …

Readers would remember that in Part – I of this series, I had promised to share some notes on this issue and a summary of historical/ archaeological evidence.
In this Part (Part – II), I have made an attempt at explaining the backdrop to a very complex situation in an easy-to-understand and hopefully well articulated, manner citing historical and archaeological evidence. Most of what I have noted below is extracted from various arguments that have been put forward in support of reclaiming the Janmabhoomi.
In the following part (Part III), I will …

This is a very sad story. I first heard of this courtesy BarbarIndian and it shook me to the core. Here is a news-article from almost 8 years back, 18th Oct 2001 to be precise, headlined:
“Archana case: The longest legal battle“.
…The violent waves of the naxalite movement were gradually dying down and “special cell” of the city police were busy executing the mandate of uprooting this ultra-left movement, the chief target of state repression, by hook or by crook. But, never in their dreams, did these police officers think that …

*** CAUTION: Explicit Content & Strong Words ***
This post (and poll) was prompted by an exchange of thoughts between Rohit and Incognito on the Hinduism and Homosexuality post. The comments were triggered by Mahesh’s observation viz.
The main reason sited by NAZ foundation for asking the high court to strike down the sec 377 was
1)so that gay can come out and get open access to HIV & AIDS.
2)As its a concsensual act between two adults in private place
ITS ABOUT TIME THAT ON THE BASES OF ABOVE TWO POINTS WHICH ARE VERY …

A hurried post from the middle of my travels. Pl. use this thread to post your comments and thoughts on the matter of homosexuality, Section 377, the recent judgement of the Delhi High Court, Homosexuality and religion etc.
Thanks to Sanjay for alerting me to this article.
*** CAUTION: Explicit Content ***
Homosexuality and Religion
An Encyclopedia – (ed.) J. Siker, Greenwood Press, 2007.
HINDUISM. Hinduism is the world’s oldest living religion, and Hindus constitute about one-sixth of the world’s population today. Hindu communities foster a wide range of philosophy and practice, and …

I was introduced to “IndianKanoon” a few days ago by Sushant.
In his email Sushant wrote: “I am a PhD student in University of Michigan and I (have) started a search engine for Indian law called Indian Kanoon last year.”
That did not sound very exciting – until I remembered that there was a High Court ruling that I had been desperately trying to get a copy of.
I decided to try IndianKanoon out. I was not disappointed.
Sushant has done a great job here. The site is a huge help to find relevant …

Look at the news-reports below. Notice anything strange (hint: look at the words in bold)?
Body of major killed in Kashmir brought to Gujarat
Ahmedabad: Body of a major from Gujarat who was killed in a fierce gun battle near the LoC in Kupwara district of North Kashmir was brought here tonight. Major Rishikesh Vallbhbhai Ramani(27) of the 23 Punjab Regiment and one of his colleague were killed in the gun battle when army confronted a group of heavily-armed militants at Gulab Post, 130 kms from Srinagar when they were attempting to …

Twenty years ago on this day, a young unknown Chinese man became “immortal”.
He was the “Tank Man”.
On 5th of June 1989, he became a symbol of one man’s conviction and courage against the might of the State.
What happened to him later is not known…I can only pray and hope that he survived to recall with pride his act of defiance.
Read more on the Tank Man here plus a June 2008 interview with Jeff Widener, AP Photographer who took the “Tank Man” photo.
Some of you may also be able to watch …

This post was prompted by an exchange sometime ago on the Freedom Team of India google groups on the subject of “minority protection“.
As we get into the final stages of 2009 Lok Sabha elections, this is an attempt at dissecting this controversial topic and to examine how established political parties have dealt with this touchy subject. I would like to start off with this comment from Sanjeev Sabhlok, in response to points made during the discussion. He wrote (emphasis added):
All of us, each of us, is a minority of one.
Step …