The Latest Breaking News from Hindutva

During Ramadan, a man attacked a mosque in Markham, Ont. He allegedly yelled slurs, tore up a Qu'ran, and attempted to run down worshippers in his vehicle.

Facing pressure from local residents and Hindutva activists over WhatsApp statuses praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, two families have been allegedly compelled to leave their homes – in Hatkanangale tehsil of Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district over the last week.

This week the host Basant is joined by Newslaundry’s Prateek Goyal and Newsreel Asia’s Tej Bahadur Singh.

Mohandas Karamchand “Mahatma” Gandhi remains, even 75 years after his assassination, a useful symbol for many in India. For secularists, the leader of the country’s independence movement represents an imagined India of the past. For the current government, he is a means by which it can soften its international image.

The trajectory and tenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s southward push is going to be a striking subtext of the party’s journey over the next few years. But this isn’t because of its national executive meeting in Telangana last year, or because of its resolution on the party’s growth.

Over the last 30 days, affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have spearheaded high-intensity protests across Maharashtra. Alongside a coterie of similar Hindutva outfits, they all have a single demand – the enactment of a “love jihad” law in the state.

“Mera Abdul aisa nahin hai.” 

There’s little in common between bigotry and “bhaijaan”, an Urdu word evoking love and respect for a brotherly figure. But in the haze of TV news electrosmog, even a word with such positive connotations as “bhaijaan” is being incubated as a pejorative.

Clashes in India between Hindu nationalists and minority religious groups, particularly Muslims, have sparked tensions online and in person in the Indian American diaspora