-The Hindu The farmers’ movement has strengthened the bonds between Muslims and Jats in western Uttar Pradesh The revival of grassroots Secularism in western Uttar Pradesh, which is lifting the veil of fear for Muslims, is among the most rewarding benefits of the farmer’s movement in north India. The movement strengthened the social and cultural bonds between Jats and Muslims whose communal harmony of many decades took a beating during the violence...

-The Hindu Only if the Samajwadi Party-led coalition wins by a large margin can it be assured of government formation It is clear that the fierce electoral battle for Uttar Pradesh is mainly between the Akhilesh Yadav-led gathbandhan (coalition) and the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), even if it appears multi-cornered on paper. The failure of unity among supposedly secular parties against the BJP once again demonstrates not just their half-hearted...

The virility of Muslim men vis-à-vis men from other religious communities have often been used as a political tool and to create a divisive agenda just before elections for getting votes from the majority of the Indian electorate who are Hindus. Instead of focusing on positive agendas like human development, employment generation, and poverty reduction, political campaigns just before the elections oftentimes reduce to mere communal propaganda (when a lot...

-TheWire.in "Such mass targeting of Muslim women in public spaces, whether online or offline, that treats them as objects in the political discourse of Hindutva is simply unacceptable." New Delhi: A group of more than 800 women’s rights organisations and concerned individuals have issued a statement condemning the recent online targeting and harassment of Muslim women on GitHub, through an app called ‘Sulli Deals’ that sought to ‘auction’ these women. Photos of over...

-The Hindu Dalit-Muslim alliances are not enough; upper caste Hindus are needed too, to restore Secularism Ever since the Sachar Committee Report of 2006 demonstrated that the socio-economic conditions of Muslims have worsened compared to Dalits, some have argued that Muslims have become India’s new Dalits. It is further proposed that the two communities should forge an alliance to fight the Hindu Right to restore Secularism because together they constitute a significant...