President Barack Obama has quietly reversed a policy initiated by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to “get Narendra Modi” — ostensibly for the 2002 Gujarat riots, but in actuality “for taking stands that may be different from that favoured by the US administration” — in the words of a senior analyst in New York. [...]
April 20, 2014
HHR
Archives, World Focus
Whenever news about India make it to the local Nuremberg newspaper, my mother reads them out to me on phone. Usually, those news portray India in a poor light, like ‘people died from cold on the streets of Delhi’ or, especially in the past year ever so often, ‘another gang rape’, conveniently ignoring the gang [...]
India, the world’s largest democracy, is in the midst of a marathon five-week election that will result in the selection of its next prime minister. Although Nate Silver has yet to make it official, most pundits and prognosticators predict that Narendra Modi will be India’s next leader. Modi bears striking similarities to a celebrated American [...]
Arun Ayyagari, an IT Manager in New Jersey, a staunch supporter of Narendra Modi and admirer of BJP has customized his car plate as ‘MODI PM”. He has devised this novel method to market and popularize Narendra Modi for PM. “That way whenever and wherever I travel, it automatically spreads Modi wave, without even me [...]
April 9, 2014
HHR
News updates
WASHINGTON: A US Congressional panel’s hearing on religious freedom in India came under fire from some of its own members on Friday. They called it an attempt to influence elections in India, even as Hindu activists in the US said the partisan event was aimed at undermining the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. The [...]
April 5, 2014
HHR
News updates
India, a secular democracy or a theocracy? In a secular democracy, as is professed by India, the state should not interfere in the personal beliefs of its citizens. The freedom of faith or religion is the right of an individual. So, it follows, in a truly secular state, all its citizens ought to be perceived [...]
March 25, 2014
HHR
Analysis/Insights
In the ongoing campaign to throw at Narendra Modi(NaMo) whatever dirt one can find, Ramachandra Guha (“Degradation of Discourse”, Times of India, 6 Jan. 2014) accuses him of yet another flaw: the use of foul language against political opponents. His article is illustrated with a photograph of Modi chatting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Now, [...]
January 21, 2014
Dr Koenraad Elst
Analysis/Insights
Back in 2013 India was involved in a heated verbal exchange with America over the treatment meted out to Devyani Khobragade, Deputy Consul General in the Consulate General of India in New York. Khobragade hired Sangeeta Richard, an Indian national, in November 2012 as a nanny and domestic servant. She was charged on 11 December [...]
December 20, 2013
Ranbir Singh
Analysis/Insights, Archives
If India ’s academia is dominated by Stalinist professors with their inflexible Marxist dogma, how does this reflect upon how people outside the country view Hinduism? In India secularism is a strange beast which constantly warns of the threats which Hindu fundamentalism and fascism pose to the very fabric of democracy yet having the gall [...]
October 3, 2013
HHR
Analysis/Insights
Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, was already a controversial figure before the BJP nominated him as party candidate for post of prime minister. But ‘controversial’ to whom? And for what? The constant attacks on Modi have actually had the reverse effect of increasing the popularity of what otherwise would have been one of many [...]
September 15, 2013
Ranbir Singh
Analysis/Insights