ReportWire

Tag: Hinduism

  • Louisiana court allows Ten Commandments posters in public classrooms

    [ad_1]

    BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: Public classrooms in the state can now display posters of the Ten Commandments after a U.S. appeals court cleared the way for a Louisiana law that a lower court had earlier blocked.

    The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 12-6 to lift a block that a lower court first placed on the law in 2024. The court said on February 20 that it was too early to make a judgment call on the law’s constitutionality.

    The majority of judges said it is not yet clear how schools will show the religious text. They do not know how visible it will be, whether teachers will discuss the Ten Commandments in class, or whether other historical documents, such as the Mayflower Compact or the Declaration of Independence, will also be displayed.

    Because these details are missing, the judges said they do not have enough facts to decide if the law breaks the First Amendment. In other words, they said there isn’t enough clear information for a proper legal decision, so they’re not just guessing.

    However, six judges disagreed and wrote separate opinions. Some said the court should review the case now. Others said the law forces children to see government-supported religion in a place they are required to attend, which they believe clearly goes against the Constitution.

    Judge James L. Dennis wrote that the law is precisely the kind of government support for religion that the Constitution’s framers sought to prevent.

    This ruling followed the full court’s January hearing. Earlier, a three-judge panel had ruled that Louisiana’s similar law was unconstitutional. Arkansas also has a similar law that is being challenged in federal court.

    Texas’ law began on September 1. It is the biggest effort in the country to put the Ten Commandments in public schools. In some cases, federal judges temporarily stopped school districts from posting them. But in many classrooms across Texas, the posters have already been put up, either paid for by the districts or through donations.

    These laws are part of efforts by Republicans, including President Donald Trump, to bring religion into public school classrooms. Critics say this breaks the rule separating church and state. Supporters argue that the Ten Commandments are an important historical document and a foundational part of U.S. law.

    Families from different religions — including Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism — as well as clergy members and nonreligious families, have challenged the laws.

    In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar law in Kentucky violated the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which bars the government from establishing or supporting a religion. The court said the law had no nonreligious purpose and was clearly religious.

    In 2005, the Supreme Court again ruled that Ten Commandments displays in two Kentucky courthouses were unconstitutional. However, in the same year, the court allowed a Ten Commandments monument to remain on the grounds of the Texas state Capitol in Austin.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • JD Vance Hopes His Hindu Wife Converts to Christianity, Sparking Debate on Interfaith Marriage

    [ad_1]

    Vice President JD Vance recently told a packed college arena that he hopes his Hindu wife would someday convert to Christianity, thrusting into the spotlight the deeply sensitive challenges facing interfaith couples.

    Experts who have counseled hundreds of couples who don’t share religious beliefs say the key is respect for each other’s faith traditions and having honest discussions about how to raise their children. Most agree that pressuring or even hoping the other would convert could prove damaging to a relationship, and all the more so for a couple in the public arena.

    “To respect your partner and everything they bring to the marriage — every part of their identity — is integral to the kind of honesty that you need to have in a marriage,” said Susan Katz Miller, author of the book “Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family.”

    “Having secret agendas is not usually going to lead to success,” she said.

    Vance, who converted to Catholicism five years into his marriage with Usha Chilukuri Vance, shared his hopes for her conversion while taking questions at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi. A woman asked how he and his wife raise their children without giving them the sense that his religion supersedes her beliefs.

    “Do I hope that eventually she is somehow moved by what I was moved by in church? Yeah, honestly, I do wish that, because I believe in the Christian Gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way,” the vice president said. “But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me.”

    Vance’s comments received extensive criticism. The Hindu American Foundation, in a statement addressing the vice president, cited a history of Christians attempting to convert Hindus, and what it says is a rise in anti-Hindu online rhetoric often coming from Christian sources.

    “Both of these underpin the sentiment that your statements re: your wife’s religious heritage are reflective of a belief that there is only one true path to salvation — a concept that Hinduism simply doesn’t have — and that path is through Christ,” the statement said.

    Vance’s press office did not offer comment for this article. But Vance did engage on social media with a critic who accused him of throwing his wife’s religion under the bus, calling the comment “disgusting.” He said his wife is “the most amazing blessing” in his life and that she encouraged him to reengage with his faith.

    “She is not a Christian and has no plans to convert, but like many people in an interfaith marriage — or any interfaith relationship — I hope she may one day see things as I do,” Vance said in his X post. “Regardless, I’ll continue to love and support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife.”


    Interfaith marriage is more common today

    A Pew Research Center survey in 2015, the most recent asking Americans about interfaith marriage, found that 39% of Americans who had married since 2010 have a spouse from a different religious group. By contrast, only 19% of those who wed before 1960 reported being in an interfaith marriage.

    The number of interfaith couples in the U.S. has increased over the past decade, said Miller, whose mother was Christian and her father Jewish. Her mother chose to raise the children Jewish.

    “Interfaith couples have different options,” Miller said. “They can choose one or both religions. They could choose a new religion or choose no religion, which is a choice a lot of couples are now making.”

    But, she said, “pressuring one’s spouse to convert or even hoping they would convert is not a good basis for a successful marriage.”

    At the Turning Point event, Vance told the audience that he and his wife decided to raise their children as Christian. He said they attend a Christian school and participate in milestone Catholic sacraments, such as his oldest son receiving his First Communion a year ago.

    Vance has said that when he met his wife at Yale Law School, they were both atheist or agnostic. She grew up in a Hindu immigrant family that was not particularly religious, and they incorporated Hindu rites into their wedding ceremony in 2014. Vance became Catholic in 2019.

    The Catholic Church requires interfaith couples to raise their children Catholic, and it’s a commitment Catholics must make in order to receive permission to marry outside the faith, said John Grabowski, theology professor at The Catholic University of America. Along with his wife, Grabowski helps prepare interfaith couples for marriage.

    “If your faith is the most important thing in your life, you want to share that with your spouse,” he said, adding that it is a natural expression of love for Christians to want their partners to join them in eternal life.

    “However, the Catholic Church does insist that spouses should not be coerced or pressured into the faith,” he said. “It’s a delicate line.”

    Religious conversion in interfaith relationships is a key theme of Netflix’s hit show “ Nobody Wants This.” The romantic comedy follows the relationship between a Reform rabbi and an agnostic woman, including the pressures they face as she considers converting to Judaism.

    Vance’s comments offered a glimpse into a real-life example of this intimate decision-making. Grabowski believes the vice president handled the touchy question “fairly well” by generally addressing the challenges in his interfaith marriage, but not detailing how the couple handle their differences.

    “It was fascinating listening to that exchange,” Grabowski said, “because we normally don’t get a prominent political figure thinking out loud about grappling with these issues as a Catholic while trying to respect his faith and his wife’s conviction.”


    Interfaith spouses handle religious conversion in many ways

    Dilip Amin, founder of InterfaithShaadi.org, an online forum serving mostly South Asians, believes that religious conversion for the sake of a marriage could derail the relationship.

    “If you convert because you’ve had an authentic change of heart, that’s fine,” he said. “But if it occurs because of constant pressure and proselytizing, that’s wrong. My advice is: Don’t let a religious institution drive your actions. Talk with each other. You don’t need a third party to interpret the situation for you.”

    There is also strife when one spouse’s religious beliefs shift after marriage, said Ani Zonneveld, founder and president of Muslims for Progressive Values. She has officiated many interfaith weddings.

    “I’ve seen that strain … where a Muslim husband who didn’t care much about practicing Islam became orthodox after having children,” Zonneveld said. “That’s unfair to the other person.”

    The Rev. J. Dana Trent was ordained a Southern Baptist minister, but married a man who was initiated into Hinduism and lived as a monk. They’ve been married 15 years and together wrote a memoir titled “Saffron Cross: The Unlikely Story of How a Christian Minister Married a Hindu Monk.”

    Raised an evangelical, Trent knows the Bible verse from Corinthians 6:14, that some believe discourages interfaith marriage. In it, the Apostle Paul says: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.”

    Trent disagrees with that interpretation, saying its millennia-old context doesn’t apply in 2025 when being in an interfaith marriage often is not isolating.

    “The goal of an interfaith marriage is not to convert each other,” she said, “but to support and deepen each other’s faith traditions and paths.”

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • At least 12 dead, dozens injured at Hindu temple in India during crowd stampede

    [ad_1]

    A crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in southern India left at least 12 people dead and dozens injured, local authorities said Saturday. The death toll rose from nine to 12 people on Saturday, CBS News confirmed.

    The incident occurred at the Swamy Venkateswara Temple in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh state where hundreds of devotees had gathered to mark one of Hinduism’s sacred days, “Ekadashi,” senior police officer K. V. Maheswra Reddy told the Associated Press.

    On this day, the devotees fast and offer prayers to Lord Vishnu, a key Hindu deity known as the preserver and protector of the universe, according to BBC News.

    An initial investigation suggests that an iron grille meant to maintain the queue of worshippers at the temple broke, leading to the uncontrolled crowd surge, Reddy said.

    Senior local government official Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar said more casualties were feared. “Initially, we had reports of seven deaths, but two more people have succumbed to their injuries, while the condition of two others is critical,” he said.

    Of the deceased, eight are women and one is a child, Pundkar said, adding that at least 16 devotees injured in the crowd surge are being treated at a local hospital, while 20 others are in a state of shock and put under observation at a different hospital.

    Video footage on local media showed people rushing to help those who fainted in the crowd surge and were gasping for breath. Some were seen rubbing the hands of those who fell on the ground.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh’s highest-elected official, N. Chandrababu Naidu, expressed grief and offered their condolences to the families of the bereaved.

    State authorities in Andhra Pradesh said the location was a private temple on 12 acres of land and wasn’t under the control of the government administration. Despite its maximum capacity of 3,000, the crowd swelled to around 25,000 on Saturday, officials said. 

    “Arrangements were not made accordingly, nor was information provided to the government by the concerned individual. This is the reason for the accident,” the state’s fact-check unit said in a statement on social media.

    Naidu vowed strict action against those responsible for the deadly stampede and ordered an inquiry into the incident, according to local media.

    Crowd surges at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India, where massive groups often congregate at temples or pilgrimage sites, sometimes overwhelming local infrastructure and security measures. 

    In July, a crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in northern India left at least six people dead and dozens injured. At least 30 people died in January during the Kumbh Mela festival in the northern city of Prayagraj. A month later, at least 18 people were killed at a railway station in New Delhi while on the way to the festival. 

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 7 Dead, Dozens Injured in Crowd Surge at Hindu Temple in Southern India

    [ad_1]

    NEW DELHI (AP) — A crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in southern India left at least seven people dead and dozens injured, local authorities said Saturday.

    The incident occurred at the Swamy Venkateswara Temple in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh state where hundreds of devotees had gathered to mark one of Hinduism’s sacred days, “Ekadashi,” senior police officer K. V. Maheswra Reddy told the Associated Press.

    On this day, the devotees fast and offer prayers to Lord Vishnu, a key Hindu deity.

    Reddy said more casualties were feared. “Condition of at least three is critical,” he said, adding that the injured have been taken to local hospitals for treatment.

    An initial investigation suggests that an iron grille meant to maintain the queue of worshippers at the temple broke, leading to the uncontrolled crowd surge, Reddy said.

    N. Chandrababu Naidu, the state’s highest-elected official, expressed grief and offered condolences to the families of the bereaved.

    “It is extremely tragic that devotees who came for darshan (seeing) of the deity have lost their lives in this manner,” Naidu said on X.

    Crowd surges at religious gatherings are not uncommon in India, where massive groups often congregate at temples or pilgrimage sites, sometimes overwhelming local infrastructure and security measures.

    In July, a crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in northern India left at least six people dead and dozens injured.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Learn About Diwali, the Festival of Lights

    [ad_1]

    It is celebrated across faiths by more than a billion people in the world’s most populous nation and the diaspora. Over five days, people take part in festive gatherings, fireworks displays, feasts and prayer.

    Diwali is derived from the word “Deepavali,” which means “a row of lights.” Celebrants light rows of traditional clay oil lamps outside their homes to symbolize the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.


    Diwali’s date is based on Hindu lunar calendar

    The dates of the festival are based on the Hindu lunar calendar, typically falling in late October or early November.

    This year, the holiday is being celebrated on Oct. 20.


    Diwali’s underlying theme

    While Diwali is a major religious festival for Hindus, it is also observed by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. The origin story of Diwali varies depending on the region. All these stories have one underlying theme — the victory of good over evil.

    In southern India, Diwali celebrates the victory of Lord Krishna’s destruction of the demon Naraka who is said to have imprisoned women and tormented his subjects. In northern India, Diwali honors the triumphant return of Lord Rama, his wife Sita, and brother Lakshmana, from a 14-year exile in the forest.


    The celebrations feature lights, fireworks, feasting

    The festival brings with it a number of unique traditions, which also vary by the region. What all celebrations have in common are the lights, fireworks, feasting, new clothes and praying.

    —In southern India, many have an early morning warm oil bath to symbolize bathing in the holy River Ganges as a form of physical and spiritual purification.

    —In the north, worshipping the Goddess Lakshmi, who symbolizes wealth and prosperity, is the norm.

    Gambling is a popular tradition because of the belief whoever gambled on Diwali night would prosper throughout the year. Many people buy gold on the first day of Diwali, known as Dhanteras — an act they believe will bring them good luck.

    Setting off firecrackers is a cherished tradition, as is exchanging sweets and gifts among friends and family. Diwali celebrations typically feature rangoli, which are geometric, floral patterns drawn on the floor using colorful powders. While several northern states had instituted partial or total bans to combat rising air pollution levels during the festival, India’s Supreme Court recently ruled allowing the sale of “green fireworks” believed to be less polluting.


    Some other faiths have their own Diwali stories

    Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs have their own Diwali stories:

    —Jains observe Diwali as the day the Lord Mahavira, the last of the great teachers, attained nirvana, which is liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

    —Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas — a day that overlaps with Diwali — to commemorate the release of Guru Hargobind, a revered figure in the faith, who had been imprisoned by the Mughal emperor Jahangir.

    —Buddhists observe the day as one when the Hindu Emperor Ashoka, who ruled in the third century B.C., converted to Buddhism.


    New in 2025:
    California makes Diwali an official state holiday

    The law, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, would authorize public schools and community colleges to close on Diwali. State employees could elect to take the day off and public school students will get an excused absence to celebrate the holiday. The new law recognizes that Diwali is also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.

    Pennsylvania was the first U.S. state to make Diwali a statewide holiday in 2024, followed by Connecticut earlier this year. In June 2023, New York City officially declared Diwali as a public school holiday. Several school districts in New Jersey also observe the holiday with a day off.

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • California makes Diwali an official statewide holiday

    [ad_1]

    LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — California has become the third U.S. state to designate Diwali — the Hindu “Festival of Lights” — as an official statewide holiday.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law Tuesday to go into effect on Jan. 1. It would authorize public schools and community colleges to close on Diwali. State employees could elect to take the day off and public school students will get an excused absence to celebrate the holiday. The new law recognizes that Diwali is also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.

    Pennsylvania was the first U.S. state to make Diwali a statewide holiday in 2024, followed by Connecticut earlier this year.

    Assemblymember Ash Kalra, a Democrat from San Jose who coauthored the bill with Darshana Patel, an assemblymember from San Diego, said he grew up celebrating the festival with family members, but it was an experience that was isolated from the rest of his life.

    “To have South Asian children be able to proudly celebrate and share it with others is a significant moment,” he said.

    San Jose, a city in California’s Silicon Valley, has a sizable Indian American population. According to a 2025 Pew survey, 960,000 out of the nation’s Indian population of 4.9 million — or 20% — live in California. Hindu American organizations, including the Hindu American Foundation and the Coalition of Hindus in North America, advocated for the law.

    “The provisions that allow students to take the day off without repercussion and state employees to take paid leave are important leaps toward making Diwali truly accessible to those who celebrate,” said Samir Kalra, managing director of the Hindu American Foundation.

    Diwali, which falls on Oct. 20 this year, is derived from the word “Deepavali,” which means “a row of lights.” Celebrants light rows of lamps to symbolize the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. The holiday is celebrated with festive gatherings, fireworks displays, feasts and prayer.

    While Diwali is a major religious festival for Hindus, it is also observed by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. The origin story of Diwali varies depending on the region. All these stories, across faiths, have the same underlying themes of good triumphing over evil and light over darkness.

    Sikhs, for example, celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas — a day that overlaps with Diwali — to commemorate the release of Guru Hargobind, a revered figure in the faith, who had been imprisoned for 12 years by the Mughal emperor Jahangir.

    Puneet Kaur Sandhu, Sacramento-based senior state policy manager for the Sikh Coalition, said her organization worked with Ash Kalra to make sure the bill’s language included celebrants from other religions whose holidays coincide with Diwali as well.

    “It’s so meaningful that all of us in the community can take this day to celebrate,” she said.

    Rohit Shendrikar, board chair for the South Asian Network in Southern California, said this law not only recognizes the South Asian community in California, but also the impact its members have had on the state.

    “I think about my parents’ immigrant experience when they moved here in the 1960s,” he said. “I celebrate Diwali together at home with my parents and my children, who will now have the opportunity to share their traditions and customs with friends. It helps build a bond between Californians.”

    ___

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh rally to demand protection from attacks

    Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh rally to demand protection from attacks

    [ad_1]

    DHAKA, Bangladesh — Tens of thousands of minority Hindus rallied Friday to demand that the interim government in Muslim-majority Bangladesh protect them from a wave of attacks and harassment and drop sedition cases against Hindu community leaders.

    About 30,000 Hindus demonstrated at a major intersection in the southeastern city of Chattogram, chanting slogans demanding their rights while police and soldiers guarded the area. Other protests were reported elsewhere in the country.

    Hindu groups say there have been thousands of attacks against Hindus since early August, when the secular government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was overthrown and Hasina fled the country following a student-led uprising. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel peace laureate named to lead an interim government after Hasina’s downfall, says those figures have been exaggerated.

    Hindus make up about 8% of the country’s nearly 170 million people, while Muslims are about 91%.

    The country’s influential minority group Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has said there have been more than 2,000 attacks on Hindus since Aug. 4, as the interim government has struggled to restore order.

    United Nations human rights officials and other rights groups have expressed concern over human rights in the country under Yunus.

    Hindus and other minority communities say the interim government hasn’t adequately protected them and that hard-line Islamists are becoming increasingly influential since Hasina’s ouster.

    The issue has reached beyond Bangladesh, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi voicing concern over reports of attacks.

    While the administration of United States President Joe Biden has said it is monitoring Bangladesh’s human rights issues since Hasina’s ouster, U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has condemned what he described as “barbaric” violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities in Bangladesh.

    In a post on X, he said: “I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos.”

    Hindu activists have been staging protest rallies in the capital, Dhaka, and elsewhere since August to press a set of eight demands including a law to protect minorities, a ministry for minorities and a tribunal to prosecute acts of oppression against minorities. They also seek a five-day holiday for their largest festival, the Durga Puja.

    Friday’s protest in Chattogram was hastily organized after sedition charges were filed Wednesday against 19 Hindu leaders, including prominent priest Chandan Kumar Dhar, over an Oct. 25 rally in that city. Police arrested two of the leaders, angering Hindus.

    The charges stem from an event in which a group of rally-goers allegedly placed a saffron flag above the Bangladesh flag on a pillar, which was considered disrespecting the national flag.

    Hindu community leaders say the cases are politically motivated and demanded Thursday that they be withdrawn within 72 hours. Another Hindu rally was planned for Saturday in Dhaka.

    Separately, supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party and its allied Jatiya Party have said they also have been targeted since Hasina’s ouster. Jatiya’s headquarters was vandalized and set on fire late Thursday.

    On Friday, Jatiya Party Chair G.M. Quader said his supporters would continue to hold rallies to demand their rights despite risking their lives. He said they would hold a rally Saturday at the party headquarters in Dhaka to protest price hikes of commodities, and what they call false charges against their leaders and activists.

    Later Friday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police announced it was banning any rallies near the Jatiya Party’s headquarters. Hours after the police decision, the party said it postponed their rally to show respect to the law and a new date for the rally would be announced soon.

    The police decision came after a student group strongly criticized the police administration for initially granting permission for the rally, and threatened to block it.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • What is Diwali, the Festival of Lights?

    What is Diwali, the Festival of Lights?

    [ad_1]

    Diwali is the most important festival of the year in India — and for Hindus in particular.

    It is celebrated across faiths by more than a billion people in the world’s most populous nation and the diaspora. Over five days, people take part in festive gatherings, fireworks displays, feasts and prayer.

    Diwali is derived from the word “Deepavali,” which means “a row of lights.” Celebrants light rows of traditional clay oil lamps outside their homes to symbolize the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance.

    Hindu women light oil lamps at the Banganga pond as they celebrate Dev Diwali festival in Mumbai, India, Nov. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

    When is Diwali?

    The dates of the festival are based on the Hindu lunar calendar, typically falling in late October or early November.

    This year, the holiday is being celebrated on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. In the U.S., Diwali falls on Halloween this year, which has triggered quite a few #Diwaloween memes on social media where some celebrants can be seen lighting diyas in their scary costumes or handing out laddoos to trick-or-treaters.

    What are some Hindu stories of Diwali?

    Image

    FILE- A residential building is decorated with lanterns and lights during Diwali, the festival of lights in Mumbai, India, Nov. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

    While Diwali is a major religious festival for Hindus, it is also observed by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. The origin story of Diwali varies depending on the region. All these stories have one underlying theme — the victory of good over evil.

    In southern India, Diwali celebrates the victory of Lord Krishna’s destruction of the demon Naraka who is said to have imprisoned women and tormented his subjects. In northern India, Diwali honors the triumphant return of Lord Rama, his wife Sita, and brother Lakshmana, from a 14-year exile in the forest.

    How is Diwali celebrated?

    Image

    A record 2.51 million earthen oil lamps are lit along the Saryu river during Deepotsav celebrations on the eve of Diwali, creating a new Guinness World Record, in Ayodhya, India, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

    Image

    People crowd a market as they shop ahead of Diwali festival in Mumbai, India, Nov. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

    The festival brings with it a number of unique traditions, which also vary by the region. What all celebrations have in common are the lights, fireworks, feasting, new clothes and praying.

    —In southern India, many have an early morning warm oil bath to symbolize bathing in the holy River Ganges as a form of physical and spiritual purification.

    —In the north, worshipping the Goddess Lakshmi, who symbolizes wealth and prosperity, is the norm.

    Gambling is a popular tradition because of the belief whoever gambled on Diwali night would prosper throughout the year. Many people buy gold on the first day of Diwali, known as Dhanteras — an act they believe will bring them good luck.

    Setting off firecrackers is a cherished tradition, as is exchanging sweets and gifts among friends and family. Diwali celebrations typically feature rangoli, which are geometric, floral patterns drawn on the floor using colorful powders. This year, several northern Indian states, including the capital New Delhi, are instituting partial or total fireworks bans to combat rising pollution levels during Diwali.

    What are the Diwali stories from other faiths?

    Image

    FILE- People lights firecrackers to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, in Ahmedabad, India, Oct. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)

    Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs have their own Diwali stories:

    —Jains observe Diwali as the day the Lord Mahavira, the last of the great teachers, attained nirvana, which is liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

    —Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas — a day that overlaps with Diwali — to commemorate the release of Guru Hargobind, a revered figure in the faith, who had been imprisoned for 12 years by the Mughal emperor Jahangir.

    —Buddhists observe the day as one when the Hindu Emperor Ashoka, who ruled in the third century B.C., converted to Buddhism.

    New in 2024: Diwali Barbie

    This year, Mattel has released its “Barbie Signature Diwali Doll” by designer Anita Dongre who wrote on Instagram that her Barbie represents “the fashion-forward modern women who wears India on her sleeve with pride.”

    In contrast to her earliest iteration in 1996 who was clad in a bright pink sari or the 2012 avatar who was packaged with a “monkey friend,” Diwali Barbie is fashionably dressed in a lehnga, an ankle length embroidered skirt with motifs from Dongre’s home state of Rajasthan, a cropped blouse and vest.

    This doll, priced at $40, sold out on day one on Mattel’s website.

    ___

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • AP PHOTOS: Performers bring Hindu gods to life in the Ramleela

    AP PHOTOS: Performers bring Hindu gods to life in the Ramleela

    [ad_1]

    NEW DELHI (AP) — 23-year old Ashutosh Agnihotri has been playing god this week.

    Ahead of the Dussehra festival, which celebrates the defeat of mythological demon Ravana, at the hands of Lord Rama, artists dressed in ornate crowns and costumes perform the Ramleela, a dramatic re-enactment of Lord Rama’s life as told in the religious epic Ramayana.

    Performing as one of Hindu-majority India’s most beloved gods means living up to the values enshrined in his inspiring life story, says Agnihotri, the actor playing Lord Rama.

    The former technology professional-turned-actor is trying to keep his anger in check during the 10-day run of the Ramleela in a New Delhi park.

    “Well, I get angry. God does not get angry easily,” he says. “When you have played the character of god, you realize how you should live your life as a human being. God has shown you everything.”

    Usually performed on a brightly lit open stage, the Ramleela brings alive one of the most enduring tales in Hindu religion, symbolizing the victory of good over evil and blending collective devotion with popular culture.

    Ashutosh Agnihotri, 23, right, playing the character of Hindu god Rama, rehearses his lines backstage before the start of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Actors get ready backstage before the start of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Actors take off their makeup backstage after performing in Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Production assistants sort costumes backstage during Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    An actor rehearses his lines backstage before the start of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Ashutosh Agnihotri, 23, playing the character of Hindu god Rama, sitting to the right of the partition, waits with others to go onstage during Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    It tells the story of Lord Rama’s exile with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana, Sita’s abduction by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana, and the grand battle for her ultimate rescue.

    The scenes include song and dance, narration and melodramatic dialogue, with a live orchestra using local instruments like drums and the harmonium to keep the audience engaged.

    What the production lacks in technological sophistication, it makes up with sheer ingenuity.

    The man in charge of special effects holds a flame behind the actor playing the ten-headed Ravana, whose raucous laughter fills the air as smoke machines throw up plumes of color.

    Image

    A production assistant holds a fire stick sitting behind Vikas Sirswal, 32, who is playing the demon king Ravana onstage, during Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi,India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Theatre director Rakesh Ratnakar, 65, gives instructions to the actors backstage before the start of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Theatre director Rakesh Ratnakar, 65, sings from the music pit during Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Rakesh Ratnakar, 65, a retired drama teacher who has been directing Ramleela performances in New Delhi for years, brought together a motley crew of actors, technicians and make-up artists, many travelling from other cities.

    Days of rehearsals, hours of makeup, and pounds of heavy costume go into the production.

    Funds for the show are collected from donors. While the tale may be traditional, digital technology and social media have helped in reaching contemporary audiences. The demon king Ravana is the most sought after for selfies with fans.

    For Ratnakar, putting the show together is a labour of love, and devotion. The show ends every night with ritual prayers.

    Lord Rama represents “the essence” of India, he says, and his life story will help safeguard both the Hindu religion and India’s culture.

    Image

    Hitanshi Jha, 21, center, playing the character of Hindu god Rama’s wife Sita, gets ready backstage for Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Vikas Sirswal, 32, right, playing the character of the demon king Ravana and Hitanshi Jha, 21, playing the character of Sita perform onstage during Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    21-year old Hitanshi Jha, who plays the role of Sita, believes that a divine hand guides her performance.

    “Meaning everything happens automatically. I don’t say anything on stage, God himself makes it happen,” she says.

    The day of the Dussehra festival also marks the end of the five-day Durga Puja festival, the biggest holiday for India’s Bengali community. Thousands gather at temporary shrines to the Hindu goddess Durga, who is seen as the mother of the universe and worshipped for her fearsome power.

    As the actors in Delhi finish their show, they seek the director’s blessings, bowing down in front of their guru.

    Then the makeup comes off and costumes are packed away, and the crew gathers for a meal, relaxing in their dressing room in a tent provided by a charitable group.

    Time to catch up on real lives and sleep, before another day of playing gods.

    Image

    Characters playing the Hindu God Rama and his brother Laxmana touch the feet of the theatre director Rakesh Ratnakar at end of the third day of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    A makeup artist gets an actor ready backstage before the start of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Actors rehearse their lines backstage before the start of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    An actor takes directions backstage before the start of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Ashutosh Agnihotri, 23, playing the character of Hindu god Rama, left, talks to Hitanshi Jha, 21, playing the character of Sita backstage during Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    An actor dressed as a deer waits for the cue to go onstage during Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    A child reacts as Vikas Sirswal, 32, playing the character of the demon king Ravana, walks past after performing in Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Ashutosh Agnihotri, 23, playing the character of Hindu god Rama, left, rests backstage as Hitanshi Jha, 21, playing the character of Sita, ties her hair at the end of the third day of Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Hitanshi Jha, 21, an actor playing the character of Sita, second right, takes dinner with other actors after performing in Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Actors performing in Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, rest at their rented accommodation in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Children performing the characters of foot soldiers in Vanar Sena, or monkey brigade, wait backstage for their turn to perform in Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    Image

    Actors perform onstage in Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Authorities investigating string of Buddhist, Hindu temple thefts

    Authorities investigating string of Buddhist, Hindu temple thefts

    [ad_1]

    CHASKA, Minn. — It was mid-afternoon in May when surveillance video inside Sri Saibaba Mandir captured two individuals inside the Hindu temple in Chaska.    

    Temple leaders said the two men left with $20,000 worth of sacred 24-karat gold necklaces. The burglars even appear to gesture to the temple’s camera before leaving.

     “They actually violated the sanctity of the place,” said Tej Mucherla, a committee member and former President of Sri Saibaba Mandir. “I think it was all pre-staged. “They knew exactly what they were doing, where they were going.”   

    The Chaska temple was not the only one hit.

    Buddist monks at Wat Promwachirayan, a St. Louis Park Buddhist temple, said thieves walked away with $7,000 worth of cash, after breaking through the door of the monks’ home, adjacent to the temple, back in June.    

    Before the burglary, three men arrived and said they would like to learn about meditation. A trick to get in the temple to scope things out, according to Vice Head of Monks, Theerapattarapop Phuangmala.

    The Hindu Temple of Minnesota in Maple Grove experienced a burglary on the same day as Wat Promwachirayan.

    “It just appears that they broke in through the back door. They were able to get away with a ton of things,” said Shajive Jeganathan, President of the Hindu Society of Minnesota. “The items from our temple that were stolen were from the priest’s quarters that were in our temple.”

    In the end, $70,000 worth of personal items and jewelry were taken from the Maple Grove temple.

    In total, Jeganathan estimates upwards of $100,000 worth of items have been stolen, across 14 temple thefts in the Twin Cities.

    “I was extremely shocked. One of the things that I am always concerned about is we are a place of worship and any place of worship, irrespective of whether your Buddist or Hindu, both were hit,” said Jeganathan.

    Maple Grove Police Chief Eric Werner said multiple jurisdictions are investigating a theft ring that may cross state lines as well.

    Investigators with the Carver County Sheriff’s Office said several men, believed to be involved with that ring, were arrested in late July while burglarizing a home in Blaine.

    Authorities are still looking for others involved with the burglaries.

    Mucherla said he believes the stolen items will eventually return, in some form or another.

    “Lost ornaments, lost jewelry, it will all come back in a different form,” said Mucherla. “This will come back.”

    [ad_2]

    Jason Rantala

    Source link

  • Bangladesh’s president dissolves Parliament, clearing the way for elections to replace ousted leader

    Bangladesh’s president dissolves Parliament, clearing the way for elections to replace ousted leader

    [ad_1]

    DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh’s president dissolved Parliament Tuesday, clearing the way for new elections to replace the longtime prime minister who resigned and fled the country following weeks of demonstrations against her rule that descended into violence.

    President Mohammed Shahabuddin also ordered the release of opposition leader Khaleda Zia from house arrest. Zia, a longtime rival of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was convicted on corruption charges by Hasina’s government in 2018.

    On Tuesday, some senior positions in the military were reshuffled. The student protesters said they would not allow any military-backed government.

    The streets of Dhaka, the capital, appeared calmer Tuesday, with no reports of new violence as jubilant protesters thronged the ousted leader’s residence. Some posed for selfies with soldiers guarding the building, where a day earlier angry protesters had looted furniture, paintings, flowerpots and chickens.

    Dhaka’s main airport resumed operations after an eight-hour suspension.

    The Bangladesh Police Association said it was launching a strike across the country because of a lack of security after numerous police stations were attacked on Monday and “many” officers were killed, though it didn’t give any number of the dead.

    It said officers would not return to work unless their safety is assured. The association also apologized for violent police attacks on student protesters, saying officers had been “forced to open fire” and had been cast as the “villain.”

    As the country waited for a new government to emerge, a key student leader said protesters wanted Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus to head an interim government. Yunus — who is currently in Paris for the Olympics — called Hasina’s resignation the country’s “second liberation day.” He could not immediately be reached for comment, but a key organizer of the protests, Nahid Islam, said Yunus had agreed.

    Islam said protesters would propose more names for the Cabinet and suggested that it would be difficult for those in power to ignore their wishes.

    Hasina fled to India by helicopter on Monday as protesters defied military curfew orders to march on the capital, with thousands of demonstrators eventually storming her official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family.

    Protests against a quota system for government jobs, which critics said favored people with connections to her party, grew into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule, which was marked by human rights abuses, corruption and allegations of rigged elections amid a brutal crackdown on her opponents.

    A bloody crackdown on the demonstrations led to clashes that left scores dead, further fueling the movement.

    Military chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman said he was taking temporary control of the country after Hasina resigned, and he and the country’s figurehead president promised an interim government would be formed soon to preside over new elections.

    But the chaos left in the wake of Hasina’s ouster has created a power vacuum and it is unclear what it would mean for the South Asian nation with a history of military rule and messy politics which in the past has pushed the country into many crises.

    The military wields significant political influence in Bangladesh, which has faced more than 20 coups or coup attempts since its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

    It was not clear if Hasina’s resignation or the military chief’s calls for calm would be enough to end the turmoil, and whether the army would have any role in the interim government or if it would try to influence it from outside. The student protesters have warned that they would not allow any military-backed government.

    Zaman said the military would investigate all the killings and punish those responsible, giving in to the weekslong demand of the protesters.

    Earlier Tuesday, protest leader Sarjis Alam told reporters that they had asked the president to dissolve Parliament by 3 p.m., and threatened to renew their demonstrations otherwise as they seek to “repair the state.”

    “We have proposed the name of Muhammad Yunus with his consent. Now if someone else comes from among the MPs, we will not allow that to happen,” he said.

    Yunus, a longtime opponent of the ousted leader, was accused of corruption by her government and tried on charges he said were motivated by vengeance. He received the Nobel Prize in 2006 for work pioneering microlending.

    Amidst the celebrations, student Juairia Karim said it was a historic day. “Today we are getting what we deserve,” she said. “Everyone is happy, everyone is cheerful.”

    But the country was still counting the toll of weeks of violence that produced some of its worst bloodshed since its 1971 war of independence. Many fear that Hasina’s departure could lead to even more instability in the densely populated nation, which is already dealing with high unemployment, corruption and climate change.

    Violence just before and after Hasina’s resignation left at least 109 people dead, including 14 police officers, and hundreds of others injured, according to media reports which could not be independently confirmed.

    In the southwestern district of Satkhira, 596 prisoners and detainees escaped from a jail after an attack on the facility Monday evening, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported, as police stations and security officials were attacked across the country.

    Many police in Dhaka assembled in a central barracks in fear of attacks after several stations were burned or vandalized.

    There are growing fears among the country’s Hindu minority, which has been targeted in the past during political unrest and which has long been seen as pro-Hasina, that they could again face attacks. Local reports of violence against Hindu leaders and other minorities could not be confirmed.

    “Hindus are very afraid,” Charu Chandra Das Brahmachari, leader of the Bangladesh branch of a Hindu movement, told the IANS news service. “Hindus are very afraid that they could be attacked anytime. This is because whenever the government falls, minorities are affected.”

    The EU ambassador to Bangladesh, Charles Whitley, said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that European diplomats were “very concerned” about reports of anti-minority violence.

    Opposition politicians have publicly called on people not to attack minority groups, while student leaders asked supporters to guard Hindu temples and other places of worship.

    The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday urged people to exercise restraint in what it said was a “transitional moment on our democratic path.”

    “It would defeat the spirit of the revolution that toppled the illegitimate and autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina if people decide to take the law into their own hands without due process,” Tarique Rahman, the party’s acting chairman, wrote on the social media platform X.

    In a statement Monday, the United Nation’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said the transition of power in Bangladesh must be “in line with the country’s international obligations” and “inclusive and open to the meaningful participation of all Bangladeshis.”

    The students said they hoped to fix the country.

    “I think the next leader of the country should learn from the students that if anyone becomes corrupt, a traitor, or takes any action against the country, they will face the same fate,” said Mohammad Jahirul Islam, a student in Dhaka.

    Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January polls that were boycotted by her main opponents. Thousands of opposition members were jailed before the voting, and the U.S. and the U.K. denounced the result as not credible, though the government defended it.

    Hasina landed at a military airfield near New Delhi on Monday after leaving Dhaka and met Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the Indian Express newspaper reported. It said Hasina was taken to a safe house and planned to travel to the United Kingdom.

    Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar confirmed her presence in the country but did not indicate whether she intends to stay.

    He told Parliament that Hasina “at very short notice requested approval to come for the moment to India.”

    The U.S. issued a new travel advisory for Bangladesh on Tuesday, asking its citizens not to travel to the country “due to civil unrest, crime, and terrorism.”

    ___

    Saaliq reported from New Delhi, India.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Stampede at religious event in India has killed at least 60 people

    Stampede at religious event in India has killed at least 60 people

    [ad_1]

    LUCKNOW, India — A stampede among thousands of people at a religious gathering in northern India killed at least 60 and left scores injured, officials said Tuesday, adding that many women and children were among the dead and the toll could rise.

    Attendees had rushed to leave the makeshift tent following an event with Hindu figure Bhole Baba, local media reported, citing authorities who said heat and suffocation inside could have been a factor. Video of the aftermath showed the structure appeared to have collapsed. Women wailed over the dead.

    Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.

    Police officer Rajesh Singh said there was likely overcrowding in the event in a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state, about 350 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of the state capital, Lucknow.

    Initial reports suggested that over 15,000 people had gathered for the event, which had permission to host about 5,000.

    “People started falling one upon another, one upon another. Those who were crushed died. People there pulled them out,” witness Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency.

    Bodies were brought to hospitals and morgues by trucks and private vehicles, government official Matadin Saroj said. Government official Ashish Kumar told The Associated Press that at least 60 bodies, many of them women and children, had reached mortuaries in the district.

    More than 150 people were admitted to hospitals, medical official Umesh Tripathi said.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to the families of the dead and said the federal government was working with state authorities to ensure the injured received help.

    Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, called the stampede “extremely sad and heart-wrenching” in a post on social media platform X. He said authorities were investigating the cause.

    In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled each other amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.

    In 2011, more than 100 Hindu devotees died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • At least 9 dead after suspected militants in Kashmir fire at Hindu pilgrims, sending bus into gorge

    At least 9 dead after suspected militants in Kashmir fire at Hindu pilgrims, sending bus into gorge

    [ad_1]

    An injured man is brought to the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu after the bus he was traveling in fell into a deep gorge in the Pouni area of Jammu’s Reasi district, India, Sunday, June 9, 2024. Officials in Indian-controlled Kashmir say at least nine people have been killed after suspected militants fired at a bus with Hindu pilgrims, which then fell into a deep gorge. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Why voters in southern India are more resistant to Modi’s Hindu-centric politics

    Why voters in southern India are more resistant to Modi’s Hindu-centric politics

    [ad_1]

    CHENNAI, India — Prime Minister Narendra Modi has wielded near-total control over Indian politics since coming to power 10 years ago, with one exception: He has failed to win over the country’s wealthier southern region.

    Five states across southern India account for roughly 20% of the country’s population and 30% of its economy. They are the heartbeat of India’s manufacturing and high-tech sectors. They are ethnically diverse and proudly multilingual. They empower women with educational and employment opportunities and have a long history of progressive politics.

    Not one of them is controlled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party — a stark rejection of its Hindu-nationalist agenda that enjoys wide support in northern India.

    The BJP is expected to win India’s election when results are announced in June, delivering Modi another five years as prime minister. But the odds are also high of strong resistance in the south. That would deny Modi his ambition of uniting all of India behind him and limit how far he can push the BJP agenda of promoting one religion and language over others.

    “If you conceive of a Hindi-speaking, unified civilization as the reason you exist, then that becomes a significant barrier for you to cross,” data scientist and political analyst Neelakantan R.S. said.

    Voters and leaders of India’s southern states have different needs than their counterparts in the north, which is more rural and populous. One thing they want is greater recognition from the Modi government of the key role their region plays in advancing the country’s economy.

    They feel their outsized contribution to India’s tax base is betrayed by Modi’s preferential treatment for poorer northern states, which receive a disproportionate amount of government funds for development projects and social welfare programs.

    Modi’s injection of religion into politics only exacerbates tensions with many southern voters.

    Despite the strong opposition, Modi is campaigning aggressively in the south. His goal is for the BJP to win enough seats in the lower house of parliament to secure a two-thirds majority. That much power could embolden the party to try changing the constitution to serve its Hindu-centric goals, political analyst Kavitha Muralidharan said.

    “A super majority is what they need to launch a full-scale, pan-India, Hindutva experiment,” Muralidharan said, referring to the century-old ideology guiding Modi.

    Modi has made some 20 trips this year to five southern states: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. They control roughly a quarter of the 543 seats in the lower house of parliament — and if the BJP can win just a few more than the 29 seats it won from these states in 2019, its super majority is within reach.

    But experts are skeptical this will happen because southern voters have deep connections to regional political parties that have dominated for decades and are the BJP’s toughest electoral opponents nationwide.

    Modi is heavily focused on the southernmost state, Tamil Nadu, where the BJP did not win any of its 39 seats up for grabs in the 2019 election.

    On a recent visit there, Modi wore the region’s traditional white silk garment — a veshti — wrapped around his lower body, and he used artificial intelligence software to have his speeches translated in real-time from Hindi to Tamil.

    “As the world’s oldest language, Tamil fills us with immense pride,” Modi said recently, making an apparent effort to tamp down rumors that the BJP wants to impose the Hindi language on the state.

    Still, Dileep Kumar, a computer engineer in Bengaluru, said voters in Tamil Nadu are wary. “I can’t go and say to a Hindi guy, brother, please quit your Hindi and start talking in Tamil. That’s not going to work, will it?” he said.

    One BJP candidate running for parliament in the state’s capital of Chennai believes the party has its best shot in years at gaining support.

    “His frequent visits are helping us,” Tamilisai Soundararajan said. “People here were electrified when they saw the prime minister.”

    But the incumbent she’s up against is doubtful. Hindu-centric politics won’t resonate in a place with a long history of social justice and equal rights movements, said Thamizhachi Thangapandian, a retired college professor who is a member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, the BJP’s strongest rival in Tamil Nadu.

    The beat of drums and firecrackers welcomed Thangapandian as she greeted voters recently riding an open-roofed tuk-tuk through Chennai’s alleyways. The achievements of her party blared through a set of speakers, including a reference to keeping out the “religion crazy” BJP.

    Modi routinely mentions on the campaign trail the recent construction of a Hindu temple atop a razed mosque, but the issue doesn’t animate voters in southern India like it does elsewhere.

    Southern India is home to some of the country’s most visited temples and has millions of Hindu devotees. What sets it apart, experts say, is that religion hasn’t been weaponized for political gain.

    “People are religious here,” said Muralidharan, the political analyst. “But it doesn’t convert into a frenzy.”

    The BJP’s religious zealotry makes leaders in the region nervous because of its potential to create a “disturbance to the peace” in a place with a global reputation as a good place to do business, said G Sundarrajan, a robotics entrepreneur in Chennai, where Hyundai and Foxconn (the maker of Apple iPhones) have located factories.

    “Investors prefer Tamil Nadu precisely because its peaceful, has a large educated labor force and support from local government,” he said.

    Modi tempers his Hindu-nationalist rhetoric while visiting the south, focusing his speeches instead on economics. For example, he has promised to build a high-speed rail line that would run through southern India and to help develop fisheries and auto manufacturing.

    The economy of southern India is more industrialized than the north, its cities are more urbanized, and its youth are more educated.

    Southern Indian cities have also become a magnet for global technology companies seeking to diversify beyond China, including Apple and Google. The vast potential for India’s economy, now the world’s fifth-largest, is a point of pride for Modi.

    But political leaders in southern India feel short-changed by Modi.

    Tamil Nadu, India’s second-wealthiest state, receives far less in return for every rupee in taxes it pays compared with poorer northern states like Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, which receive government investments equal to two or three times the amount they pay in taxes.

    This tension over the redistribution of wealth from south to north existed long before Modi came to power. But the BJP has made it worse.

    Southern leaders believe Modi’s priorities lie in the north, where he derives the bulk of his support. They worry that the BJP government will snatch away even more decision-making power from states if their majority grows, said Muralidharan.

    Southern leaders have protested against the Modi government for holding up development funding, for misusing federal agencies to target political opponents in the region, and for not sending enough emergency relief after natural disasters.

    And they believe their fight against the BJP and Modi is existential.

    “In southern India, the threat of being reduced to a vassal state is a serious problem,” said Neelakantan, the political analyst.

    ___

    Pathi reported from New Delhi.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Millions of Indians celebrate a new temple. For Modi, it is a triumph of his Hindu-first politics

    Millions of Indians celebrate a new temple. For Modi, it is a triumph of his Hindu-first politics

    [ad_1]

    AYODHYA, India — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday opened a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a historic mosque in the northern city of Ayodhya, in a political triumph for the populist leader who is seeking to transform the country from a secular democracy into a Hindu state.

    The temple is dedicated to Hinduism’s Lord Ram and fulfills a long-standing demand by millions of Hindus who worship the revered deity and extoll him for the virtues of truth, sacrifice and ethical governance. Modi’s party and other Hindu nationalist groups who seized on the demand have portrayed the temple as central to their vision of reclaiming Hindu pride, which they say was suppressed by centuries of Mughal rule and British colonialism.

    Modi and his governing Bharatiya Janata Party hope that opening the temple will help catapult the prime minister to a record third successive term in elections expected this spring. But with the temple still under construction, critics accuse Modi of a hurried opening to woo voters.

    Modi, dressed in a traditional kurta tunic, led the opening ceremony as Hindu priests chanted hymns inside the temple’s inner sanctum, where a 1.3-meter (4.3-foot) stone sculpture of Lord Ram was installed last week. A conch was blown by a priest to mark the temple’s opening and Modi placed a lotus flower in front of the black stone idol, decked in intricate gold ornaments and holding a golden bow and arrow. He later prostrated before the idol.

    Nearly 7,500 people, including elite industrialists, politicians and movie stars, witnessed the ritual on a giant screen outside the temple as a military helicopter showered flower petals.

    “Our Lord Ram has arrived after centuries of wait,” Modi said in a speech after the ceremony, receiving a resounding applause from thousands of attendees. He said the temple was built after “countless sacrifices” and is testament to a rising India “breaking the shackles of slave mentality.”

    “Jan. 22, 2024, is not merely a date but marks the dawn of a new era,” Modi said.

    Modi’s government turned the event into a national occasion by organizing live screenings across the country and closing offices for half a day. Saffron flags — the color of Hinduism — adorned the streets of various cities where government party workers had gone door to door handing out religious pamphlets.

    Television news channels ran non-stop coverage of the event, portrayed as a religious spectacle. Some movie theaters broadcast the event live with complimentary popcorn. Many states declared the day a public holiday. In a rare step, stock and money markets were closed for the day.

    “Ram Rajya (rule) begins,” a TV news headline said. Ram Rajya is a Sankrit phrase that means just and ethical governance in Hinduism but has also been used by Hindu nationalists to signify Hindu domination in an officially secular India.

    Modi has been the face of an unprecedented and unapologetic fusion of religion and politics in India. Ahead of the temple opening, he set the tone by visiting numerous Ram temples over 11 days as part of a Hindu ritual.

    Analysts and critics see Monday’s ceremony as the start of the election campaign for Modi, an avowed Hindu nationalist and one of India’s most consequential leaders. They say the pomp-filled display led by the government shows the extent to which the line between religion and state has eroded under Modi.

    “Prime ministers prior to Modi have also been to temples, been to other places of worship, but they went there as devotees. This is the first time that he went there as somebody who performed the ritual,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, an expert in Hindu nationalism and author of a book on Modi.

    The temple, located at one of India’s most vexed religious sites, is expected to embolden Modi’s chances of returning to power by drawing on the religious sentiments of Hindus, who make up 80% of India’s population of 1.4 billion.

    Ayodhya, once crowded with tightly packed houses and rundown stalls, has undergone an elaborate makeover in the lead up to the temple’s inauguration. Narrow roads have been turned into a four-lane pilgrimage route leading to the temple, tourists are arriving at a new airport and sprawling railway station, and major hotel chains are building new properties.

    Jubilant devotees from across the country have arrived to celebrate the opening, with groups of them dancing to religious songs that blare from speakers on roads bedecked with flowers. Huge cut-outs of Lord Ram and billboards of Modi are ubiquitous across Ayodhya, where the borders have been sealed to prevent more people from coming in. Some 20,000 security personnel and more than 10,000 security cameras have been deployed.

    The moment will be remembered as momentous and historic by many of the country’s Hindu citizens.

    “I am here to see history unfolding before our eyes. For centuries, the story of Lord Ram has resonated in the hearts of millions,” said Harish Joshi who arrived in Ayodhya from Uttarakhand state four days before the ceremony.

    Built at an estimated cost of $217 million and spread over nearly 3 hectares (7.4 acres), the temple lies atop the debris of the 16th-century Babri Mosque, which was razed to the ground in 1992 by Hindu mobs who believed it was built on temple ruins marking the birthplace of Lord Ram.

    The site has long been a religious flashpoint for the two communities, with the demolition of the mosque triggering bloody riots across India that killed 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.

    The dispute ended in 2019 when, in a controversial decision, India’s Supreme Court called the mosque’s destruction “an egregious violation” of the law but granted the site to Hindus while giving Muslims a different plot of land.

    The fraught history is still an open wound for many Muslims, who see the construction of the temple as a testament to Modi’s Hindu-first politics.

    Officials say the temple, a three-story structure made of pink sandstone, will open to the public after the ceremony and they expect 100,000 devotees to visit daily. Builders are still working to finish 46 elaborate doors and intricate wall carvings.

    But not all are rejoicing. Four key Hindu religious authorities refused to attend, saying consecrating an unfinished temple goes against Hindu scriptures. Some top leaders from India’s main opposition Congress party also boycotted the event, with many opposition lawmakers accusing Modi of exploiting the temple for political points.

    ___

    Saaliq and Pathi reported from New Delhi.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Modi's promised Ram temple is set to open and resonate with Hindus ahead of India's election

    Modi's promised Ram temple is set to open and resonate with Hindus ahead of India's election

    [ad_1]

    NEW DELHI — Frenzied preparations were underway Wednesday in India’s northern holy city of Ayodhya to mark the opening of a grand temple for Lord Ram, Hinduism’s most revered deity.

    The Ram Mandir’s opening Monday would fulfill a decadeslong Hindu nationalist pledge that is expected to resonate with voters during the upcoming national election expected in April or May.

    Several sprawling tent cities were being erected nearby to accommodate tens of thousands of devotees who are expected to attend. Dozens of private jets will fly India’s powerful elite, including top industrialists, movie stars and celebrities, to Ayodhya to see the ceremony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has planned live screenings across the country, as well as at some Indian embassies across the world.

    Modi will be in attendance, alongside several Hindu priests, for the consecration ceremony in which a statue of Ram is to be placed in the temple’s inner sanctum.

    Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has long campaigned for the temple to replace the 16th-century Babri Mosque that was demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking nationwide riots that killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. The decadeslong dispute ended in 2019 when, in a controversial decision, India’s Supreme Court granted the site to Hindus and gave a different plot of land to Muslims for a mosque.

    The temple’s opening at one of India’s most contentious religious sites ahead of the national polls scheduled for the spring is expected to give major momentum to Modi as he looks to extend his rule for a record third-consecutive term by drawing on the religious sentiments of Hindus, who make up about 80% of India’s population.

    The temple, a three-story structure clad in pink sandstone, stretches across 2.9 hectares (7.2 acres) in a 28-hectare (70-acre) complex. It will have a 1.3-meter (4.25-foot) idol of Lord Ram, whom Hindus believe was born at the exact site where the razed mosque once stood.

    The city, once dotted with tightly packed houses and rundown stalls, is already witnessing an elaborate makeover.

    Nearly 7,500 people are expected at the opening ceremony, and by the end of the year a staggering 100,000 devotees per day are predicted to descend on Ayodhya, according to official estimates.

    The narrow roads have given way to four-lane pilgrim route, including the newly developed 13-kilometer (8-mile) Ram Path leading to the temple. The city boasts a new airport and a sprawling railway station with a daily passenger capacity of more than 50,000 people. Major hotel chains are building new properties and locals are converting their homes into homestays. Flower sellers and street food vendors, anticipating a surge in demand, have transformed their shops.

    Ananya Sharma, a local tour operator, said Ayodhya’s transformation gained momentum after the 2020 groundbreaking ceremony of the temple, also attended by Modi.

    “Subsequent development initiatives have elevated Ayodhya to a destination of both spiritual and economic significance,” Sharma said.

    The temple is being built at an estimated cost of $217 million, but it is far from complete. The site is filled with roaring bulldozers and busy builders still working on the elaborate 46 doors — 42 of which will have a layer of gold totaling around 100 kilograms (220 pounds) — and numerous wall carvings that will form the final architecture of the temple.

    At least two head priests from a Hindu sect have refused to go the opening ceremony, saying consecrating an unfinished temple goes against Hindu scriptures. Some top leaders from India’s main opposition Congress party have turned down invitations to attend, with many opposition lawmakers calling the temple a political project.

    Across India, however, the mood among Hindus has reached a feverish pitch.

    Politicians are visiting local temples and mopping the floors, obeying a directive that came directly from Modi. Indian TV channels are running wall-to-wall coverage ahead of the event. And volunteers from Modi’s party and other Hindu nationalist groups are going door to door, distributing religious flags and pamphlets.

    On a recent afternoon, Om Prakash Bhatia went to house after house in a New Delhi neighborhood inviting people to take part in Hindu ceremonies at local temples. Joined by other volunteers, he passed saffron flags — a color associated with Hinduism — to the residents, who presented him with marigold garlands and smeared vermillion on his forehead.

    “Lord Ram is the center of our faith. After slavery and struggle of 500 years, finally the name of Lord Ram is victorious,” Bhatia said, referring to the Mughals who ruled India before the British colonized it.

    He chanted “Jai Sri Ram,” or “Hail Lord Ram,” a slogan that has become a battle cry for Hindu nationalists, who claim the Muslim Mughal rulers destroyed Hindu culture. It has prompted Hindu nationalists to seek ownership of hundreds of historic mosques, sparking fears over the status of religious places for India’s Muslims, a minority community that has come under attack in recent years by Hindu nationalist groups who seek to turn officially secular India into an avowedly Hindu nation.

    Many others shared Bhatia’s feelings about the temple’s opening.

    “I am very happy,” said Gaurav Shourey, a local resident. “While our ancestors saw the temples being destroyed, our generation takes pride in seeing the construction of them.”

    ___

    Banerjee reported from Lucknow, India, and Associated Press video journalist Piyush Nagpal contributed from New Delhi.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Why it took 17 days for rescuers in India to get to 41 workers trapped in a mountain tunnel

    Why it took 17 days for rescuers in India to get to 41 workers trapped in a mountain tunnel

    [ad_1]

    NEW DELHI — The rescue mission was expected to last only a few days. Instead, it took 17 days to reach 41 construction workers who were trapped when a landslide collapsed a mountain tunnel in northern India earlier this month.

    The excruciating wait finally ended at nightfall on Tuesday, as temperatures dropped near the accident site in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand. Everyone was pulled out alive.

    But beyond the jubilation and relief, questions remain as to why what became one of the most significant and complicated rescue operations in India’s recent history — aided by international tunneling experts and spearheaded by multiple rescue agencies — took so long.

    News of the trapped workers spread fast after a Nov. 12 early morning landslide caused a portion of the 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) Silkyara Tunnel they were building near the town of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand state to collapse about 200 meters (650 feet) from the entrance.

    No one was seriously injured or killed in the collapse but the engineers on the team knew they had their task cut out for them. They had to penetrate through rocks and metal to reach the workers trapped behind a wall of nearly 60 meters (197 feet) of debris.

    At first, the rescuers tried to reach the trapped workers — all poor migrant laborers from across the country — by drilling horizontally through the debris, in a straight line, using excavators and drilling machines. But the drilling machine broke down multiple times, frustrating the efforts of the rescuers who were working 24-hour shifts.

    They went on digging horizontally by replacing the machine, and 10 days into the mission, a small camera was sent through a narrow pipe that captured initial images of the workers stuck in the tunnel. All were doing OK and hopes for their rescue grew.

    The rescuers saw their hopes dashed on the thirteenth day of the operation, when their drilling machine broke down beyond repair. They had less than 20 meters (66 feet) to go in the digging.

    The families of the trapped workers grew anxious. Some were starting to panic.

    The rescuers put an alternate plan in motion and began drilling from the top of the mountain — a path that required digging nearly twice the distance of the horizontal shaft.

    The trapped workers, who were in the meantime being supplied with food and oxygen through a narrower pipe, were at the risk of falling sick. Officials who kept watch near the tunnel, and even local residents, began offering prayers at a small makeshift Hindu temple in the area, seeking divine help.

    The clock was ticking and the engineers realized they could not give up on the horizontal drilling path, even as the vertical drilling began.

    On Monday, they called in a team of miners to dig by hand the final stretch of the path and clear the way for a passageway to be made of welded metal pipes. Once the pipes were in place, rescuers pushed through the dirt and rocks.

    By Tuesday, they had drilled through more than 58 meters (190 feet). The plan was to pull out the trapped workers one by one, on wheeled stretchers through the pipes.

    Almost 24 hours later, all the 41 men were out.

    The rescue operation was followed closely in this country of more than 1.4 billion people but as the nation watched the ordeal on live television, questions emerged as to whether the mountainous area in Uttarakhand can withstand the level of heavy construction that has recently been taking place.

    The tunnel the workers were building was designed as part of the Chardham all-weather road, meant to connect various Hindu pilgrimage sites and temples. Large numbers of pilgrims and tourists visit Uttarakhand, with the numbers increasing steadily over the years.

    Some experts say the project, a flagship initiative of the federal government, will exacerbate fragile conditions in the upper Himalayas, where several towns are built atop landslide debris.

    Uttarakhand state, which is prone to landslides and flash floods exacerbated by climate change and is surrounded by melting glaciers, has already been in the news this year.

    In February, many residents of the holy town of Joshimath, revered by both Hindu and Sikh pilgrims, had to temporarily relocate elsewhere after the ground beneath them began sinking, creating deep fissures in ceilings, floors and walls of hundreds of houses. Multistoried hotels slumped to one side. Already cracked roads gaped open.

    Experts and activists say such events could reoccur in other towns of Uttarakhand, a state that is being promoted for religious tourism by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing party.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 41 workers in India are stuck in a tunnel for an 8th day. Officials consider alternate rescue plans

    41 workers in India are stuck in a tunnel for an 8th day. Officials consider alternate rescue plans

    [ad_1]

    LUCKNOW, India — Officials trying to reach 41 workers who have been trapped in a collapsed tunnel in northern India for eight days were contemplating alternative rescue plans Sunday after snags with a drilling machine caused them to halt digging.

    A new drilling machine arrived at the accident site in Uttarakhand state on Saturday to replace one that was damaged while breaking through the rocks and debris. They had been using the drill to create a space to insert wide pipes through which the trapped workers could crawl to their freedom.

    Authorities have so far drilled 24 meters (79 feet) through rubble and debris, but it would require up to 60 meters (197 feet) to allow the workers to escape, said Devendra Patwal, a disaster management official.

    Officials on Sunday were considering new angles for extracting the workers. Deepa Gaur, a government spokesperson, said this included possibly using the new machine to drill from the top of the hill, under which the workers have been trapped inside the collapsed tunnel.

    This method would be more time-consuming, taking an additional four or five days, she added.

    Earlier, rescue efforts hit a snag when a loud cracking sound was heard within the tunnel, startling those overseeing the operation, who paused the drilling and found parts of the machine damaged, said Tarun Kumar Baidya, director at the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited.

    The construction workers have been trapped since Nov. 12, when a landslide caused a portion of the 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) tunnel they were building to collapse about 200 meters (650 feet) from the entrance. The hilly area is prone to landslides.

    The site is in Uttarakhand, a mountainous state dotted with Hindu temples that attract many pilgrims and tourists. Highway and building construction has been constant to accommodate the influx. The tunnel is part of the busy Chardham all-weather road, a flagship federal project connecting various Hindu pilgrimage sites.

    About 200 disaster relief personnel have been at the site using drilling equipment and excavators in the rescue operation, with the plan being to push 80-centimeter-wide (2.6-foot-wide) steel pipes through an opening of excavated debris.

    Anshu Manish Khalkho, director at NHIDCL, said that after they paused the drilling on Saturday experts became concerned the drilling machine’s high-intensity vibrations could cause more debris to fall and hinder efforts. The machine has a drilling capacity of up to 5 meters (16 feet) per hour and is equipped with a 99-centimeter (3.2-foot) diameter pipe to clear debris.

    Khalko said drilling vertically from the top of the hill could also cause additional debris, but that they would opt for a specific technique designed for drilling through overburdened soil conditions where unstable ground make traditional methods more difficult. This method, experts hope, would lead to less debris falling.

    One challenge, however, is that drilling from the top means they would need to dig 103 meters (338 feet) to reach the trapped workers — nearly double than if they carried on digging from the front.

    Authorities were also contemplating drilling from the sides and the ends of the tunnel, Khulbe said.

    Vijay Singh, an official at the control room, said they had also extended the pipe installed inside the tunnel through which the trapped workers were receiving food like nuts, roasted chickpeas, popcorn, and other essential items. Oxygen supply is being administered through a separate pipe.

    Doctors, officials and relatives were in constant touch with the workers, said Patwal, the disaster management official. He said two doctors at the disaster site were ensuring the workers’ physical and mental well-being and that they have supplied them with vitamins and tablets to treat anxiety.

    But as the rescue operation stretches into its eighth day, families of those stuck underground are growing more worried, frustrated and angry.

    “I am losing my patience,” said Maharaj Singh Negi, whose brother Gabbar Singh is among the trapped workers. “The officials have not even briefed us about the future plans.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Is it India? Is it Bharat? Speculations abound as government pushes for the country’s Sanskrit name

    Is it India? Is it Bharat? Speculations abound as government pushes for the country’s Sanskrit name

    [ad_1]

    NEW DELHI — It began with a dinner invitation. How it ends could affect more than a billion people.

    State-issued invites sent to guests of this week’s G20 meeting referred to India’s president, Droupadi Murmu, as “President of Bharat.” Suddenly, in many circles, the question was everywhere: Would the country of more than 1.4 billion now be called by its ancient Sanskrit name?

    Since then, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s ministers, his Hindu nationalist supporters, Bollywood stars and cricketers have made similar public proclamations: India should officially be rebranded as Bharat.

    India is known by two names: India, used worldwide, and the Sanskrit and Hindi nomenclature of “Bharat.” Now, Modi’s government is signaling that Indians should shed the name India and instead call their country Bharat.

    The possibility is resonating with Hindu nationalists who form the prime minister’s core vote base. Their stated reason: the name “India” is tied to colonialism and slavery, a sentiment that Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has long shared. But the reasons — political, cultural, historical — run far deeper.

    A name — be it of a person or an entire country — is many things. It’s descriptive, emotionally important and deeply wrapped up in identity. So when it comes to a whole nation, a name change is not a small thing.

    Around the world, there have been some notable national rebrandings in recent decades as nations shed names inflicted by colonial rulers. Ceylon was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972. Rhodesia got rebranded as Zimbabwe in 1980. Burma became Myanmar in 1989. And last year, Turkey was officially changed to Türkiye. The list goes on — Cambodia to Kampuchea, Swaziland to Eswatini, Malaya to Malaysia.

    In India, the country’s renaming demands stem from a more cultural and religious perspective. They are often invoked by Hindu nationalists who say the name Bharat is more authentic to the nation’s past.

    Officially, the Indian government has made no decision and issued no statement, and one senior leader dismissed the speculations of a name change as “just rumors.” But India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, seemed to advocate the increased use of Bharat this week.

    “‘India, that is Bharat’ — it is there in the constitution. Please, I would invite everybody to read it,” Jaishankar said Wednesday.

    Indeed, India’s constitution uses the term Bharat just once: “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.” Everywhere else, the country is referred to as India in English.

    The name Bharat is an ancient Sanskrit word that many historians believe dates back to early Hindu scriptures. “India” has etymological roots in the Indus River, which was called “Sindhu” in Sanskrit. Another popular but not legally recognized name for the country is Hindustan, which means “land of the Indus” in Persian. All three names were in use long before British rule.

    But Modi’s government, which won 2014 national polls and returned to power in 2019, has a penchant for changing names.

    It has done so with various cities, towns and prominent roads that were long associated with the British rule and Muslim heritage, arguing it is an ongoing effort to salvage the country from the taint of colonialism and so-called Muslim invaders. Prominent among such efforts is the government’s renaming of the northern city of Allahabad — named by Muslim Mughal rulers centuries ago — to the Sanskrit word “Prayagraj.”

    The name-changing exercise is fraught with a political motivation that is an essential ingredient of the ruling government’s revisionist agenda and has, under Modi’s rule, come amid increasing attacks by Hindu nationalists against minorities, particularly Muslims. A largely Hindu country that has long proclaimed its multicultural character, India has a sizable Muslim minority — 14% of the population.

    Already, Indians and even foreigners are tacitly being nudged to get used to the revised nomenclature of the country.

    A government-made mobile application for media and G20 delegates attending the summit says Bharat is the official name of the country — a first public proclamation of its kind during any global event. Visiting guests for the summit are also being welcomed to the host’s capital city with giant billboards that refer to the country as both Bharat and India.

    Efforts to change India’s name have been made in the past through court cases, but judges have so far steered away from the issue. However, an upcoming session of the federal Parliament — a surprise announcement made by the Modi government without disclosing any agenda — has prompted speculation. Opposition parties say an official rebranding could very well be in the cards.

    In July, India’s opposition parties announced a new alliance called INDIA in an effort to unseat Modi and defeat his party ahead of national elections in 2024. The acronym stands for “Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.” Since then, some officials in Modi’s party have demanded that the country be called Bharat instead of India.

    The formation of that alliance, says Zoya Hasan, an Indian academic and political scientist, “could be the immediate provocation here.”

    “It’s a political debate which is aimed at embarrassing the opposition who have re-appropriated the nationalism platform with their new name,” Hasan said. “This rattled the ruling establishment, and they want to regain their monopoly over nationalism by invoking Bharat.”

    She also said the timing of suddenly using Bharat is curious given one particular recent event. The chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a radical Hindu movement widely accused of stoking religious hatred with aggressively anti-Muslim views, recently urged Indians to use the Sanskrit name more often. The RSS is the ideological mother ship of Modi’s party, and the prime minister has been its lifelong member.

    “They can call it Bharat. It’s one of the official names. But there’s no need to erase India,” Hasan said, adding that the furor is a “needless controversy” as both names “have happily coexisted.”

    Modi’s party leaders, meanwhile, have celebrated what they call a much-needed change.

    “REPUBLIC OF BHARAT — happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards AMRIT KAAL,” BJP politician Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Amrit Kaal” is a Hindi phrase meaning “auspicious era” that Modi often uses to describe what he calls is India’s resurgence under his government.

    Modi’s opponents have been less welcoming, with many saying the government’s priorities are misplaced amid more pressing crises like increasing unemployment, widening religious strife and the backsliding of democracy. They also say his government is rattled by the INDIA grouping, and have — at least sarcastically — suggested they might change the alliance’s name as a countermove.

    “We could of course call ourselves the Alliance for Betterment, Harmony And Responsible Advancement for Tomorrow (BHARAT),” opposition lawmaker Shashi Tharoor wrote on X. “Then perhaps the ruling party might stop this fatuous game of changing names.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Krutika Pathi contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Living la vida yoga: India’s Modi will bend leaders into shape on International Yoga Day

    Living la vida yoga: India’s Modi will bend leaders into shape on International Yoga Day

    [ad_1]

    NEW DELHI — India’s prime minister has a reputation of casting himself as an ascetic. So when Narendra Modi leads foreign dignitaries and bureaucrats in a session for International Yoga Day on Wednesday at the United Nations’ Secretariat in New York, millions of Indians will take note.

    Yoga, an ancient discipline first practiced by Hindu sages, is now one of India’s most successful cultural exports after Bollywood. And it’s become a piece of India’s diplomacy. Surinder Goel, a 61-year-old yoga instructor in the capital, New Delhi, practices daily. He says the activity is “India’s contribution to the world.”

    “Our prime minister has done a great job in spreading yoga to the world,” Goel said. “Today, even the Muslim countries learn and follow it, only because of the PM.”

    Goel says yoga should be a daily practice worldwide, no matter how busy a person is.

    “He (Modi) is the busiest man, despite that he practices daily. When our PM can do Yoga daily, why can’t the common person do it? We should make Yoga compulsory in schools. The whole world should do Yoga 365 days,” he says.

    Nine years ago, the Hindu nationalist leader successfully lobbied the U.N. to designate June 21 as International Yoga Day. Since then, Modi has harnessed yoga as a cultural soft power to stretch his nation’s diplomatic reach and flex his country’s rising place in the world.

    Modi has promoted yoga so much that even foreign diplomats have been seen stretching themselves in gardens and their embassy offices. Government bureaucrats and officers have taken to social media to show themselves folding in different poses and sometimes tiredly grabbing their backs after mass outdoor yoga sessions. The Indian military has done downward dog with trained K-9 units, boat pose atop an aircraft carrier and mountain pose in the high-altitude Himalayas in bone-chilling temperatures.

    Modi has also been living la vida yoga, flexing his own hardcore devotion to the practice.

    In 2018 he posted a two-minute video on Twitter that showed him doing a range of yoga poses in a garden, including stretching and leaning backward on a rock in a spread-armed savasana that birthed many memes.

    In 2019, after the final day of national polling, he retreated to a Himalayan mountain cave to meditate and seek isolation — with a camera crew that relayed live visuals to the entire nation.

    A year later, Modi went the extra mile, tweeting videos showing an animated version of him doing yoga poses.

    Now, Modi is guiding leaders from around the world in the practice of yoga to promote its benefits as part of his three-day visit to the U.S.

    With over 1.42 billion people, which recently surpassed China as the most populous, India has become fragmented largely along religious lines. Despite its religious roots, Modi has used yoga to try and boost his image in the diverse nation.

    Modi’s ministers, following their leader in practicing yoga, have sometimes marked it with religious connotations by doing sun salutations and chanting Sanskrit verses considered holy in Hinduism. Government employees and students have been asked to practice the same, and some state administrations ruled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party have sought to make it mandatory in schools.

    This has angered some of the prime minister’s critics. In particular, some Muslims — India’s largest minority, which has faced rising violence under Modi by Hindu nationalists — say they should not be forced to perform sun salutations or chant Hindu hymns.

    Government ministers tried to address these concerns by guaranteeing that sun salutations would be optional, though some dissenters are not assured.

    Srivalli Cherla has noticed yoga becoming more politicized in recent years.

    The 30-year-old yoga instructor based in India’s remote Ladakh region originally took to yoga for physical exercise in 2017. After months of consistent practice, she noticed subtle changes in her body and mental health, and realized yoga was helping her release anger she was holding on to.

    “Whenever I am having a bad day, I come back home and roll out my yoga mat. It’s a form of mental discipline too; you learn not to give in to certain thoughts, so it challenges you mentally,” she says.

    Cherla said she had signed up for a program to receive a yoga instructor certification recognized by the Indian government’s Ayush Ministry, which promotes Ayurveda traditional medicine. But she quit just 10 days into training.

    “The teacher passed a comment that essentially called it a Hindu — and not secular — practice, which left a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve never seen it as religious. It’s part of India’s culture, but this comment made me realize what they were teaching didn’t align with my own beliefs or experience of yoga,” she says.

    In New Delhi, yogi Goel agrees that yoga is for everyone, regardless of religion.

    “We should not connect Yoga with religion or politics. Yoga is meant to benefit the common people, not ministers,” Goel says.

    And he believes yoga has the power to do more than just diplomacy.

    “Yoga can change the person, the country and the world,” he says.

    ___

    Associated Press video journalist Piyush Nagpal contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link