"Around 200 people chanted Hanuman Chalisa and ''Jai Shri Ram' slogans outside the mosque when prayers were being offered inside, officials said. This led to a heated exchange between Hindus and Muslims, and led to stone pelting, the police said."
"Some members from the rally hoisted saffron flags and climbed the mosque and tried to damage the minaret, witnesses said. Some videos also showed the Hindutva group members trying to damage nearby houses and vehicles."
"In the last four days, villages in Madhya Pradesh have been witness to incidents of communal violence, all of which broke out during fund collection rallies for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya."
"All processions were led by rightwing organisations from state’s Malwa-Nimar region, a stronghold of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the nerve centre of electoral politics in Madhya Pradesh."
"A total of 15 people have been arrested, of whom five have been booked of under National Security Act and 10 others have been booked for attempt to murder and rioting.... No one from among those who took out the rally has been arrested so far."
"According to the residents of Begum Bagh, the area had witnessed the rally on multiple occasions during the day, and the right-wing youth workers were not just sloganeering, but also hurling abuses at the locals."
- February Delhi Pogrom & charges filed against victims
- Foundation-stone laying of both Ram Mandir &New Parliament
- Arrests of Anand Teltumbde, Hany Babu, Stan Swamy
- Lockdown & migrant crisis
- Passage of "Love Jihad" laws
- Passage of farming laws
- RSS staffing police checkpoints & assuming other governmental duties during lockdown
- Australian ambassador meeting & praising RSS
- French ambassador meeting & praising Yogi Adityanath
Amidst all the bad, what was the best thing that happened this year for human rights in India?
I'll start.
Two things come immediately to mind, and they both happened outside of India.
First, Sri Preston Kulkarni, whose campaign was floated by the RSS's #2 man in America, who out-raised his opponent by millions, who was predicted to win by five points, who was a darling of his party running for an open seat, lost because of his support from the RSS.
Second, Australian Senator @janet_rice made history when she became perhaps the first national-level politician to ever speak against the RSS on the floor of the legislature, calling it "a fascist organisation that openly admits admiration for Adolf Hitler."
I am donor-supported. My goal is to raise $50,000 by 1 February. That will fund me for the entirety of 2021. It will allow me to continue my investigation into RSS influence in USA as well as expand it internationally.
I'm creating a recommended book list for students of South Asian history and politics.
What do you think should be on it?
- "Annihilation of Caste" by BR Ambedkar
- "Walking With the Comrades" by Arundhati Roy
- "Hindutva" by VD Savarkar
- "Slavery" by Jyotirao Phule
- "Mogul India" by Niccolao Manucci
- "Sketch of the Sikhs" by John Malcolm
- "Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi" by Mohandas Gandhi
- "The Mughal Throne" by Abraham Eraly
- "Aurangzeb" by Audrey Truschke
- "What Gandhi and Congress Have Done to Untouchables" by BR Ambedkar
- "A History of the Sikhs" by Joseph Davey Cunningham
- "Travels in the Mogul Empire" by François Bernier
One of the saddest parts of this is seeing so many young men, caught up in mass hysteria, think that they're doing something productive by screaming religious slogans while attacking another community's religious site.
Wouldn't they rather be working and making money? Going out to eat with their girlfriends? Watching Netflix at home? Anything other than mobbing around with a bunch of other guys who are all working themselves into a frenzy?
"The Kulkarni controversy, which brought the 'Modi Democrat' phenomenon into the spotlight, was spurred by the contributions of one of the largest donors to his campaign: the Bhutada family."
"Still, Kulkarni was hardly the first Democratic politician with Hindu nationalist ties. Hawaiian Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, while not of Indian descent, is a practicing Hindu, and she leveraged that identity to make extraordinary inroads within the global network of Hindutva."
"With Gabbard’s decision to retire from Congress after this year, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois will likely claim the mantle of the top Democratic ally to Hindu nationalists."