'It is mesmerising to watch the waltz the media is leading with the right-wing political formation in power in India. The ‘presidential-style’ coverage given to Candidate Modi before the 2014 election and the antagonism towards any political formation that had been moderate or welfarist in the Indian political economy till then – such as the Congress or the Left - are a matter of record.
As women concerned with combating violence against South Asian, Black and Minority Ethnic women and girls, we are writing to express our deep disquiet about your government’s approach to gender violence. When you were elected to lead India with a massive mandate from the people many had hoped that you would use it to try and improve women’s lives. Instead, your actions (and inaction) suggest that your government is not only indifferent to the increasing violence against women and rigid patriarchal control of their lives but often endorses and reinforces it. Recently, you the Prime Minister of India, along with top ministers of your cabinet, have reported to an unconstitutional authority, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who have called you to account for your actions. We find this shocking, because the RSS is a paramilitary organisation modelled on the Italian Fascist and German Nazi parties and known also for its violent misogyny. And while we know that you yourself have been a life-long member of the RSS, we think that in a democratic country like India, it is crucially important that the government is answerable only to parliament and democratic procedures.
'Decrying the rising intolerance and communal atmosphere in the country as manifested by incidents such as the murder of writer MM Kalburgi and the lynching of a Muslim man over rumours that he had eaten beef, four eminent writers announced on Sunday that they were returning their Sahitya Akademi awards, while Kannada writer Aravind Malagatti resigned from the body’s general council – joining the growing protest by litterateurs and cultural personalities that has already seen more than a dozen resignations and open letters directed at the literary institution, the government and Prime Mini
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be accused of many things, but not of inconsistency. When he finally spoke about the Dadri lynching — in which a Muslim resident of western Uttar Pradesh, Mohammed Akhlaq, was murdered by a mob on the suspicion that he possessed beef — he essentially repeated what he had said from the ramparts of Red Fort in 2015: let people of different religions fight poverty together, and not each other.
'Every newspaper in India carried the same headline on Friday, the 9th of October: 'Modi breaks silence on Dadri lynching.' It says something about the breathless desperation of the Indian press to hear the prime minister say something, anything, that could be interpreted as his disapproval of political barbarism, that there wasn't, in fact, a word in his speech about the Dadri lynching. Modi began by quoting and congratulating himself. Two years ago he had addressed a public meeting in Gandhi Maidan in Patna.
'After writer Nayantara Sahgal returned her Sahitya Akademi award protesting against what she called a "vicious assault" on India's diversity and debate, poet Ashok Vajpeyi has also given up the prestigious literary honour. "It is high time that writers take a stand," Mr Vajpeyi, a former chairperson of the Lalit Kala Akademi, said. Nayantara Sahgal, the 88-year-old niece of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, recorded her protest against the government in a scathing statement titled "Unmaking of India".
'The senior Supreme Court lawyer, who was in Patna to lend his support to veterans fighting for OROP, said the BJP did nothing to bring back black money, and had it done so, it would have been able to meet the demands of ex-servicemen.
"In today’s India, secular liberals face a challenge: how to stay alive. In August, 77-year-old scholar M. M. Kalburgi, an outspoken critic of Hindu idol worship, was gunned down on his own doorstep. In February, the communist leader Govind Pansare was killed near Mumbai. And in 2013, the activist Narendra Dabholkar was murdered for campaigning against religious superstitions. These killings should be seen as the canary in the coal mine: Secular voices are being censored and others will follow.
"From his social media feed and his website, it's clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi loves facing the camera and posing for pictures. His talent for ensuring that the lens is constantly trained on him was highlighted yet again during his recently concluded visit to the United States when he visited the Facebook headquarters. A video that emerged from his meeting with the company's founder Mark Zuckerberg has left the internet in splits.
Massive protests mark Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley: Diverse communities join hands to counter the Modi PR machine... San Jose, CA: September 27, 2015: Passionate crowds of protesters greeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with loud slogans and a sea of placards upon his arrival at San Jose’s SAP Center for a stage-managed Silicon Valley “community reception.” The posters, chants, and surprise banner drop challenged the Modi PR team’s attempts to whitewash the controversial politician’s record.
