The Number of People Enslaved The number of people enslaved by Muslims has been a hotly debated topic, especially when the millions of Africans forced from their homelands are considered. Some historians estimate that between A.D. 650 and 1900, 10 to 20 million people were enslaved by Arab slave traders. Others believe over 20 million enslaved Africans [...]
ISN’T HINDUISM SIMPLY A WAY OF LIFE?” This is a question I am frequently asked at satsang gatherings. It invariably makes for spirited discussion, as there is avid interest and a lively diversity of opinion. Years ago, Swami Chinmayananda, founder of Chinmaya Mission, gave a dramatic lecture on the subject . Here are key excerpts: [...]
April 18, 2015
HHR
Analysis/Insights
Around 80 Valmiki families on Thursday called off their agitation after a written assurance from the Uttar Pradesh government that it has no plan to demolish their “unauthorised” houses in Rampur. The Valmikis, who had donned skull caps on Ambedkar Jayanti to show their intent for converting to Islam in protest, said they were still [...]
April 18, 2015
HHR
Articles, India
Of all Indian scriptures, the Bhagavat Gita has likely been the one most commented on. India’s sages, yogis, philosophers, thinkers have, as a rule, regarded it a sacred duty to add theirs to the long list of commentaries on these eighteen brief chapters from the Mahabharata—a mere 700 slokas which have left the deepest of [...]
April 15, 2015
HHR
Analysis/Insights
“…aggressive religions – they tend to overrun the Earth. Hinduism on the other hand is passive, and therein lies its danger.” (Sri Aurobindo, 1926) Throughout life it has often appeared to me that Hindus were passive. I don’t mean passive in terms of being non-violent (though that may also be the case), but passive in [...]
April 15, 2015
Rajesh Patel
Analysis/Insights, Archives
Many people will tell me, “I practice yoga, I sing kirtan, and I study the Bhagavad Gita and Indian philosophy. I meditate, I believe in an all pervasive consciousness that is manifest as the Universe itself. People have called it by many names and it has been represented by various forms. I study herbal medicine [...]
“[Many Hindus] claim that having a liberal and enlightened attitude towards homosexuality means that we are giving in to Western influence and values. It is always intriguing when we hear uninformed people speak of homosexuality as a form of colonialism. Aren’t they aware of the apparent contradictions? Of all the institutions we have inherited from [...]
Dr Koenraad Elst discusses Hindu Bashing and Hinduphobia in today's Media and Academia across the world left unchallenged by the present ruling party the BJP and Hindu organizations.He also discusses anti Hindu/India groups set up by Indians in the west along with their backers for military intervention/ armed resistance to balkanize India.Also Dr Elst proves [...]
The united minorities are waging a no-holds-barred campaign against Narendra Modi or against whomever is or can be pictured as a pro-Hindu power-wielder. One of their lines of attack is the blackening of the ruling party, the BJP, in the eyes of public opinion and of the world. An impression is being created that the [...]
March 30, 2015
Dr Koenraad Elst
Analysis/Insights, Archives
Vamsee Juluri, professor of media studies at the University of San Francisco, speaks up for the anonymous Hindu who, he says, was silent all those years of colonial rule only to be criticized as an ‘oppressor’ post-Independence. His new book ‘Rearming Hinduism’ seeks to restore to the millennia-old faith its intellectual heritage by reintroducing Hinduism [...]