Unfortunately, even if Hindus have moved on for the most part from the extremism and jingoistic pride of that (late 90s..) period, the secular commentary has not. In fact, it has only become worse, if such a thing was possible. It should come as no surprise to anyone therefore that the numerous earnest and passionate appeals to Indian voters to reject Mr. Modi that populated the august pages of The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Economist in recent months probably had very little meaning for voters in India. To know why, it is worth recalling what else these publications had to say about Hindus, Hinduism, and India in the last few years, before they took up their outraged positions on behalf of Indias supposedly vanishing secularism. A finely nuanced salvo by Vamsee Juluri on looking beyond the immediate trappings of labeling the recent rightward shift in Indian politics as a mere communal manifestation. However much centrist politicians seek to pigeonhole the recent mandate as one that regressed their (mostly imaginary) preoccupation with defending what they hold to be secularism...
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 13:13:50 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015