JNU
Redefining ‘Azadi’ in India: the prose of anti-sedition
The political debate in India over Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and “anti-nationals” is part of a larger political narrative which seeks to substitute political Hindutva, which may not be accepted by all, with a simple nationalism, whose binaries few can say no to – while simultaneously shrinking the notion of what it means to be […..]
Lessons in Apple nationalism: Not just angry nationals, but thinking nationals
Imagine if an Indian corporate bigwig – say Vishal Sikka of Infosys – was asked by NIA, investigating the Pathankot terror attacks, to get his company to write software hacking into a confirmed terrorist’s digital or financial transactions. Now imagine if he flatly refused, arguing that this would breach Infosys’s confidentiality agreements with clients, leave […..]
Patriotism, not hooliganism
To be a patriot is not a license to be a goonda. To be a lawyer and “officer of the court” is not a license to beat up people. Just holding the tricolour and shouting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” does not confer immunity from punishment when you violently defy the express orders of the nation’s […..]
Why Amit Shah is wrong on JNU ‘anti-nationalism’ and Rahul Gandhi
When BJP president Amit Shah launched his official website in August 2015, he dedicated his first blog to the founding father of Hindu nationalism, Veer Savarkar: the man who coined the term ‘Hindutva’ and whose 1920s book ‘Hindutva: Who is a Hindu’ remains a guiding bible for the movement. Shah, in his blog, called Savarkar […..]
