It is only natural for liberal Indians to empathise with Muslim academicians, journalists, lawyers, social activists and others who assembled in New Delhi on January 24. They had been shaken by the demolition of the Babri structure in Ayodhya on December 6 and subsequent riots, especially in Bombay, and were … Read More
The ghazi with the sword in one hand and the Koran in the other may well be dismissed as a caricature invented by some Christians and accepted by some Hindus. But no student of Muslim history can deny the symbiotic relationship between the Koran and the sword. This is not … Read More
Today’s is no ordinary Republic Day. It follows a turning point in India’s history as momentous as achievement of Independence on August 15, 1947; a turning point, it should be noted, is not necessarily a break. Independence itself was not a break from the past except inasmuch as leadership of … Read More
Going by the Indian government’s past record, it is highly unlikely that the Prime Minister will raise the issue of Islamic upsurge in his discussions with the visiting British Prime Minister, Mr. John Major. But this is the crux of the security threat India faces and will face in coming … Read More
In view of the intensity of riots in Bombay, it is not surprising that the voice of moderation and sanity among Muslims should have been heard there loud and clear. Muslims from different walks of life have, for the first time in recent history, felt it necessary to get together … Read More
Mr. L K Advani’s interview to The Pioneer (January 14) is obviously a very partial exposition of his ideological position and that too in an extremely difficult situation when his party is under fierce attack by the dominant intelligentsia and academia. As such, it shall be unfair to interpret it … Read More
It to be said straightaway that for the purpose of analyzing the Hindu-Muslim problem, our view and sense of history is as inadequate and muddled as the idiom of our public discourse which I discussed in this space on December 30/31. This proposition has little to do with whether we … Read More
Bombay is as much India’s crime capital as its commercial capital. Smugglers, slumlords and gangsters prosper in the city as nowhere else in the country. As such, there can be no question that Bombay’s underworld explains to a large extent the terrible happenings there. The horror in Bombay, however, … Read More
The joint press conference by Mr L. K Advani, without doubt the BJP’s most respected leader, and Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, party president, on Monday should help dispel the illusion, or interested speculation, that the BJP leadership is sharply divided between ‘moderates’ and ‘hardliners’. Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee has, of … Read More
It is necessary to look afresh at our history of the past two centuries to make sense of current developments. This, as I see it, is the history of the rise of Hindus after a lapse of centuries of Muslim invasions and rule. This is a wholly revisionist view of … Read More
