By K N Panikkar-Frontline

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The social, political and ideological inﬂuence that Hindu communalism achieved were extensive but it failed to unite its mass base due to divisive policies.

The Hindutva ride

The social, political and ideological inﬂuence that Hindu communalism achieved were extensive but it failed to unite its mass base due to divisive pol

The violent agitation by political parties against women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple exposes their disregard for the Constitution.

Assault on the Constitution

The violent agitation by political parties against women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple exposes their disregard for the Constitution.

By K.N. Panikkar

Raja Ram Mohan Roy.Photo: The Hindu Archives

Three phases of Indian renaissance

The way to stem the increasingly declining values in society is to rethink the relationship between culture and politics in a manner in which culture

In the field of historical research, Romila’s works stand apart, both in narration and in interpretation. The writing of ancient Indian history during the post-Independence era found in her one of its outstanding practitioners, who brought together modes of analysis and interpretation with a theoretically nuanced innovative methodology.

SECULAR THOUGHTS

Without equality, democracy and social justice, which are three interrelated factors, secularism cannot exist as a positive value in society.

Rajendra Prasad, the President of the Constituent Assembly of India, signing a copy of the new Constitution at the Constitutent Assembly Hall in New Delhi in November 1949.-THE HINDU ARCHIVES

DEMOCRACY DEFICIT

What democracy does in India is only a caricature of what democracy really is.

In the works of Premchand in Hindi, Tarashankar Bandhopadhyaya in Bengali, Subramanya Bharati in Tamil, Vallathol Narayana Menon in Malayalam and Raja Rao in English, the nationalist consciousness is well represented.

CULTURE & MAKING OF A NATION

Even when all objective conditions are met, a nation like India can achieve nationhood only when cultural equality is established.

Dalits at Mahadalit Ekjutata Rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on February 21, 2010

IDENTITY & POLITICS

The demographic make-up of South Asia has helped reinforce identity politics in each country in the region.

What reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy, Devendranath Tagore, Keshab Chandra Sen and Narayana Guru did to propagate monotheism and the unity of the godhead was indeed significant, but in a multi-religious society, the invocation of Vedanta as the source of inspiration adversely affected the principle of universalism which all of them upheld. This contradiction, which remained unresolved, had serious repercussions for the state of secularism in post-Independence India.

Was there a renaissance?

Many of the ills of contemporary Indian society can be traced to the unfinished agenda of the Indian renaissance.

The assassination of Mahatma Gandhij by a Hindu fanatic was a severe setback to secularism. After this Hindu communal organisations were rather dormant, which, however, did not mean they were inactive. The Gandhi assassination did not dampen their spirits, and under the leadership of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) they soon regrouped and reinvigorated their cultural work and physical training.

Short on secularism

In Indian society, secularism can only have a perilous existence, that too by compromising some of its basic tenets.

The Somnath to Ayodhya rath yatra led by Lal Krishna Advani (centre) was communal in conception, aggressive in execution and religious in appeal.-THE HINDU PHOTO LIBRARY

The Hindutva ride

DURING the 25 years of its publication, Frontline has carved out a critical space in the intellectual life of the country by defending progressive cau

Ayodhya, projected as a cultural and religious symbol of Hindus, was perceived as a gold mine with inexhaustible possibilities, the least of which was the expansion of the BJPs mass base, until then drawn mainly from the cadres of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

COMMUNAL RECIPE

The reason for the present turmoil in BJP lies deeper in the very nature of the party, its ideology and programme.

Thousands of Christians have taken shelter in the forest to escape from the attacks of the members of Hindu communal organisations.

Ways of Hindutva

When communalism arose in the beginning of the 18th century, no one perhaps had an inkling about the magnitude and character it might assume in the fu

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