SECULARISM, DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

INSAF Bulletin 241 May 2022
Founding Editor: Daya Varma (1929-2015)
Editors: Vinod Mubayi (New York) and Raza Mir (New Jersey).
Editorial Board: Ram Puniyani and Irfan Engineer (Mumbai); Pervez Hoodbhoy (Islamabad); Dolores Chew (Montreal); Vamsi Vakulabharanam (Amherst); Ajay Bhardwaj (Vancouver).
Circulation/website: Feroz Mehdi (On behalf of Alternatives, Montreal).

The Editors of INSAF extend their greetings to our readers for May Day 2022!

EDITORIAL: UNDER BJP RULE, THE STATE ITSELF HAS BECOME A LYNCH MOB, OPENING THE DOOR TO SOMETHING FAR WORSE

Vinod Mubayi

A new phenomenon is now manifesting itself in jurisdictions under BJP rule. Hitherto, over the last 7 or 8 years since Modi became PM, one had witnessed the rise of private lynch mobs consisting of Hindutva goondas terrorizing minorities (mostly Muslims but, on occasion, Christians and Dalits too), beating them up and sometimes killing them on one flimsy pretext or another. The police would either look the other way or, if the perpetrators happened to be politically connected to the BJP or one of its sister organizations of the Sangh Parivar, they would arrest one or more of the victims, usually a hapless Muslim on some fraudulent charges. Literally hundreds if not thousands of such incidents have occurred in the last 8 years. The top BJP leadership notably Modi either stays silent or utters some meaningless platitudes when pressed by the media.

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SRI LANKA AMID RIVALRY FOR SOUTH ASIAN DOMINANCE

Sivanandam Sivasegaram

Prelude

This article was prompted by a political commentary by RK Radhakrishnan in Frontline, 22.4.2022 reproduced in the INSAF Bulletin, April 2022. The article showed obsession with Chinese influence in Sri Lanka despite what its title (Imploding Island: Sri Lanka on Brink of Ruin) persuaded me to expect. I mainly seek to locate Sri Lanka’s post-independence foreign relations in historical context. [Editor’s Note: We are grateful to Sivanandam Sivasegaram for taking the time to produce this thoughtful piece, an original for the INSAF Bulletin].

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KASHMIR: LOSS, MEMORY AND A SHARED HISTORY

Suvir Kaul

‘Is there something in the shared, yet dissimilar, histories of Kashmiris that might yet contain the hope of a more viable future, with all its challenges and difficulties?’

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HINDUS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CONDEMNS ANT-MUSLIM VIOLENCE IN INDIA

Dear Friend, Here at Hindus for Human Rights, our primary goal has always been to mobilize Hindus around the shared vision of a progressive, inclusive Hinduism that rejects hate and division, and emphasizes the dignity and human rights of all.

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OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER – CALL FOR END TO POLITICS OF HATE

Dear Prime Minister, We are witnessing a frenzy of hate filled destruction in the country where at the sacrificial altar are not just Muslims and members of the other minority communities but the Constitution itself.

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IMRAN KHAN – ANTI-IMPERIALIST HERO OR AUTHORITARIAN POPULIST?

Tooba Syed

Despite his best attempts and amid unproven allegations of foreign interference, Imran Khan was removed from power by a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly of Pakistan on 11 April.

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A MATTER OF FAITH: HOW A SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT IS ENABLING ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS

J Robin Christopher and Manavi Atri

Amid protests on 23 December 2021, the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill got a nod from the state’s legislative assembly.

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SUDHEER BEDEKAR OBITUARY –SOME COMMENTS

The April 2022 Insaf Bulletin carried obituaries of Sudheer Bedekar who passed away in late March of this year. We carry below some comments on one of the obituaries by a close comrade of Sudheer-Editors

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