Author: Koenraad ElstPublisher: Voice of IndiaYear: 2015Language: EnglishPages: 222ISBN/UPC (if available): 97889385485022 DescriptionThis book is a collection of articles about secularism and its relationship with religious communalism. In Christian Europe, secularism used to be a way of curtailing the intrusive power of the Churches. In India, however, “secularism” has acquired a wholly different meaning. Ever since the term was propagated by Jawaharlal Nehru, being an Indian secularist does not require you to reject theocracy and the intrusion of religion into politics. On the contrary, every obscurantist in India swears by “secularism”.The word’s effective meaning has shifted to a concern quite unknown to its European coiners. Viz. the struggle against Hinduism. In political practice, as also in the editorial policies of the dominant media, secularists patronize all enemies of Hinduism: Islam the Christian Churches, the Communists and Naxalites, the anti-Hindu voices among Sikhs, Jains and neo-Buddhists, as well as mindless consumerism and every other trend that promotes Hindu cultural self-forgetfulness.The Secularist-Islamist alliance is one of the Wonders of the World and requires ever new exercises in hypocrisy on the part of the former, sometimes descending into grotesque buffoonery. It is a different matter that the hollow and crassly superficial ideology of Nehruvian Secularism is secure in its power position because of the absence of credible Challengers. With a political opposition claiming to be “positive secularists” and “genuine secularists”, India’s official “Pseudo-Secularism” has no one to fear. In public discourse, Nehruvian Secularism today is mainly a form of snobbery that confers a cheap moral superiority on self-hating Hindus to Mark them off as enlightened sophisticates against the cramped and backward Hindu “Fundamentalists”. It relieves them, in the comfort of their positions of privilege, of the duty to look into the causes of Hindu discontent.It is hoped nonetheless that once in a while a sincere attempt to discuss matters can penetrate their wall of self-righteousness, and that this book will promote dialogue between the Nehruvian Secularists and the rest of us.ContentsChap. I : US THINKER GIVES UNTHINKING SUPPORT TO ANTI-INDIA DEMANDS : A REPLY TO ROBERT HATHAWAY :1. Terror in Kashmir2. Sovereignty3. America and the Muslim World4. War Against Terrorism5. Impact of Gujarat Riots6. Cut the Money SupplyChap. II : "INDIAN Secularism IS SYSTEMATICALLY DISHONEST" :1. Waves2. The Gujarat Riots3. Hindutva and the Minorities4. My Role in all this5. Secularism6. Islam and Conversion7. Hindus and Muslims8. Here's what's going onChap. III : THE SAFFRON WAVEChap. IV : THE STRUGGLE FOR INDIA'S Soul : A REPLY TO MINI KAMDAR :1. "Hindu Fascism"2. Inequality, Racism and Islam3. The Perennial Aryans4. Hate, the Concept5. The Hindutva Programme6. The Godhra Carnage7. A Pre-planned Butchery?8. Adivasi Participation9. Rape and Rumours10. Gandhi11. A Gilt from Heaven12. Pakistan13. The Textbook Controversy14. Targeted Killings15. Things to do for Western Governments16. ConclusionChap. V : LEARNING FROM MAHATMA GANDHI'S MISTAKES :1. Gandhiji's Mistakes2. Problems with Pacifism3. Robust PacifismChap. VI : Religious CLEASING OF HINDUS :1. A Brief Overview of the Problem :i. Afghanistanii. Kashmiriii. Partitioniv. The Bangladesh Warv. Small-scale Cleansing Throughout Indiavi. Cleansing of Hindus by Christiansvii. Cleansing of Hindus by Buddhistsviii. Hindu-cleansing in Africaix. Hindu-cleansing in Europe?2. Why does Nobody know or Care about the Plight of the Hindus? :i. Distortion of the Terms Underlying the Informationii. History Denialiii. False Reportingiv. Riot Vulturesv. Foreign Complicity3. ConclusionChap. VII : WHAT IF RAJIV Gandhi HADN'T UNLOCKED THE BABRI Masjid IN 1986?Chap. VIII : NO Hindu JUSTIFICATION FOR Islamic ICONOCLASMChap. IX : WAHI : THE Supernatural BASIS OF ISLAM :1. The Modern view of the Quranic Trance2. Mohammed's Reaction to the Quranic Trance3. The Yogic View of Mohammed's Trance4. Cultural Relativism comes to the Defence of Mohammed's Wahi5. Herman Somers' Diagnosis of Mohammed6. Further Symptoms7. The Physical Basis of a Mental Problem8. Dealing with a Mistaken ReligionChap. X : LET'S COMBAT COMMUNALISM :1. Am I a Sangh Parivar Apologist?2. My Critique of Islam3. What is Hindutva?4. Choice of Sources5. The Murder of Swami Shraddhananda6. Hedgewar's and Golwalkar's Record7. Bjp Secularism8. Eaton's Book Banned?9. The Demolition10. ConclusionChap. XI : DHIMMITUDE IN EURABIA :1. "Don't take Liberties with Freedom"2. How to Criticize the Prophet3. Banning the Quran?4. Whirlwind Ayaan5. A Former Jihadist Dies : Anwar Shaikh, 1928-2006Chap. XII : THE CASE OF M.F. HUSAIN :1. Protests2. "It's Normal for Goddesses to be Naked"3. "Nudity is Normal in Modern Art"4. "Husain is a Muslim"5. My ViewChap. XIII : A HINDUTVA READER :1. Presumed Prehistory of the Book2. "Hindu Nationalism"3. What's Still Missing
