THE WISDOM FUND: News & Views
February 17, 2020
The Wire

'Anti-Muslim Prejudice is in Modi's DNA'

In an outspoken and critical interview which will upset the BJP government and enrage its supporters, Tavleen Singh has repeatedly compared the Narendra Modi government, its legislation and its attitude to Muslims to Nazi rule in Germany in the 1930s. She calls the Citizenship Amendment Act "India's first Nuremberg law". She repeatedly speaks of Modi's attitude and treatment of Muslims alongside Hitler's treatment of jews. She says just as Hitler's Nuremberg laws singled out jews and treated them differently to other Germans so, too, does the Citizenship Amendment Act single out Muslims and treat them differently to other Indians.

In a 42-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire on her recently published book Messiah Modi?, Singh says that she has known for a long time that anti-Muslim prejudice is part of the DNA of the RSS, whom she calls the "alma mater" of Narendra Modi. She now fears that anti-Muslim prejudice is also part of Narendra Modi's DNA. She says there were hints of this when he was chief minister of Gujarat and refused to wear a skull cap or compared the killings of Muslims in 2002 to a puppy being run over by a car. . . .

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Tavleen Singh is one of India's most influential columnists and authors. In "Messiah Modi?" she details her early support for Modi the candidate, followed by a helpless disenchantment with Modi the Prime Minister.

WIKIPEDIA: List of wars involving India -- Hindu kings also looted Hindu temples

Helen Williams, "History: British Rule in India"

Visweswaran, Kamala, Michael Witzel, Nandini Manjrenkar, Dipta Bhog, and Uma Chakravarti, "The Hindutva view of history: rewriting textbooks in India and the United States," Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 10(1):101-112.

The Truth About Islam -- displayed in Washington Metrorail, 1998

[India has become a model of the imperial cult of "neo-liberalism" - almost everything must be privatized, sold off. The worldwide assault on social democracy and the collusion of major parliamentary parties - begun in the US and Britain in the 1980s - has produced in India a dystopia of extremes and a spectre for us all.--John Pilger, "India Has Become a Dystopia of Extremes," CounterPunch, January 3, 2014]

"Why Did Muslim Rulers Destroy Hindu Temples? Facts and Myths," The Wisdom Fund, June 18, 2014

Dr Ram Puniyani, Anhad India, July 9, 2016

V Ragunathan, "Truth, half-truth and statistics," indiatimes.com, July 20, 2017

Modi is lucky to be blessed with so weak an opposition . . . Even so, doubts assail him, for he must know he has not delivered on the promise of 2014. It is why he has resorted to looking for enemies within. Like other populists, he sits in his white house tweeting out his resentment against the sultanate of "them."" And, as India gets ready to give this willful provincial, . . . a second term, one cannot help but tremble at what he might yet do to punish the world for his own failures.--Aatish Taseer, "Can the World's Largest Democracy Endure Another Five Years of a Modi Government?," time.com, May 9, 2019

Zakir Naik, "I AM HINDU," youtube.com, mo/date/year?

Zakir Naik challenges Modi to debate on Hinduism, THE WEEK, May 15, 2019

Romila Thapar, "They Peddle Myths and Call It History," nytimes.com, May 17, 2019

Siddharth, "Why Ambedkar chose Buddhism over Hinduism, Islam, Christianity," theprint.in, May 20, 2019

"Article 370: India Strips Disputed Kashmir of Special Status," The Wisdom Fund, August 5, 2019

Godhra bogey "Divide et Impera: India's BJP Determined to Complete What the British Began (Hindutva Is Not Hinduism),," The Wisdom Fund, September 10, 2019

Aatish Taseer, "I am Indian. Why Is the Government Sending Me Into Exile?," time.com, November 7, 2019

AUDIO: "Rana Ayyub on India's Crackdown on Muslims," The New Yorker, December 2, 2019

Mahua Moitra: BJP betrayed the people who voted for them by questioning their citizenship, The Print, February 3, 2020

Brash and bigoted: How Arnab Goswami changed India's TV debate, The Listening Post, February 18, 2020

Samanth Subramanian, "How Hindu supremacists are tearing India apart," theguardian.com, February 20, 2020 -- Editor: ARTICLE COVERS THE MAIN ISSUES

'Modi is still our best bet, don't want Rahul Gandhi to be PM': Tavleen Singh, The Print, February 20, 2020

Modi: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, February 23, 2020

Sharad Sharma and Chandrashekar Srinivasan, "Judges Watch Videos Of BJP Leaders, Ask For FIRs For Hate Speeches," ndtv.com, February 26, 2020


I Would've Arrested Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra -- Former Delhi Top Cop Ajay Raj Sharma on Delhi Riots, The Wire, February 28, 2020


Delhi Riot Survivors Feel 'Abandoned and Stunned': Farah Naqvi to Karan Thapar, The Wire, February 29, 2020

"India: 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom," state.gov, June 2020

"How 5 August redefined national politics in India -- beyond Ram Mandir and Article 370," theprint.in, August 5, 2020

[In 2019, India added three new billionaires every month while most of the rest of the world was in an economic slowdown. The total number of billionaires reached 138, the highest after China and the US.--Ravi Kant, "The rise of the monopolists in Modi's India," asiatimes.com, October 12, 2020]

[it takes more than hugs and handshakes at PR stunts like the "Howdy Modi" event in Austin, Texas, or the "Namaste Trump" gimmick in Gujarat, to bring in investment.--Bhim Bhurtel, "Why manufacturers are not rushing from China to India," asiatimes.com, November 2, 2020]

Salil Tripathi, "Why India Has Become a Different Country," foreignpolicy.com, November 27, 2020

Faizan Mustafa: Tabligi Jamat, Kumbh Mela & Epidemic Diseases Act, April 13, 2021

Kumbh And Markaz: Double Standards In Covid Protocols? NDTV, April 14, 2021

Soutik Biswas, "Covid-19: How India Failed to Prevent a Deadly Second Wave," bbc.com, April 19, 2021

Ramachandra Guha, Modi Leadership Style Main Reason for India's COVID Mishandling, April 20, 2021

EDITORIAL: "Paper tiger: India's national government looks increasingly hapless," bbc.com, May 8, 2021

Nero's Pride: Not Even A Pandemic Can Stop The Central Vista Project, The Wire, May 14, 2021

India @75 Conversation between Dr Shashi Tharoor and Mahua Moitra, August 15, 2021

Pavan Varma, BJP-RSS have Talibanized Hinduism, Eroded India's Pluralism, Harmony and Rule of Law, The Wire, August 17, 2021

Shashi Tharoor J Sai Deepak, Clear Cut Talks, September 10, 2021

What Is the Price of the Modi Years? In Conversation with Aakar Patel, The Wire, November 21, 2021

Modi's Made India Communal & Authoritarian; Courts Caving-in; India May Fracture: Pratap Bhanu Mehta, The Wire, December 17, 2021

J Harikumar: Pavan . . . explains the foundational ideas thoroughly before proceeding to more sophisticated ideas. For instance, in many chapters, he expounds upon some of the Hindu philosophical ideas before discussing their implications for society, their historical context, and etc. Regarding the ideas presented in the book, they gave me a new perspective of Indian civilization. By tying together the philosophy with the history, the reader can truly understand what India is at its core.--Pavan K Varma, "The Great Hindu Civilization: Achievement, Neglect, Bias And The Way Forward," West Land (January 1, 2022)

Justice Madan Lokur, "Terribly Disappointed" Supreme Court Hasn't Acted Against Calls For Genocide, The Wire, January 6, 2022

Admiral Arun Prakash, Silence of Political Leaders on Genocide Calls is Ominous, The Wire, January 8, 2022

When An Indian Historian Lashed Out At The West, myBrut, January 24, 2022

How dangerous is it to be Muslim in India? TRT World, January 25, 2022

Hindus for Human Rights to Keep Lobbying US Congress, Govt against India's Treatment of Muslims, The Wire, February, 19, 2022

Niranjan Takle "My brother was offered a bribe of 100 crore in return for a favourable judgement. Mohit Shah, the chief justice, made the offer himself." (p221)--Niranjan Takle, "Who Killed Judge Loya?," Niranjan Publishing (May 9, 2022)

Who is Narendra Modi? India's path to becoming a world power, DW Documentary, May 13, 2022

Abhyankar, Ahmad & Suri, Why BJP's insult of Holy Prophet is a diplomatic fiasco, ThePrint, June 6, 2022

Prophet Muhammad Row: Presenting Bhartiya Fringe Party Feat. Nupur Sharma, PM Modi, Amit Shah & Yogi, The Wire, June 15, 2022

"Azad Remained Steadfast Against Partition: On the 75th Anniversary of India's Independence, Imagine if Gandhi, Nehru, Patel . . . Had Not Agreed to Partition India," The Wisdom Fund, August 15, 2022

"Is a Genocide of Muslims Underway in India," bridge.georgetown.edu, October 31, 2022

Shashi Tharoor, "Based on What Ambedkar Said and Stood For, There Is No Way Modi Can Be His 'Bhakt'," The Wire, November 2022

Parveen Talha, "Pasmanda Muslims And Their Decades-Long Fight For Equality," The Wire, December 12, 2022

Mahua Moitra On Soft Hindutva, Rapists Getting Bail & BJP's Himachal Loss, MOJO, December 13, 2022

Every PM from Nehru to Modi Betrayed Us, The Wire, January 11, 2023

Narendra Modi BBC Documentary: The Modi Question, archive.org, January 18, 2023

Former Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu: Blocking BBC's 2002 Riot Documentary "Unacceptable Censorship", January 18, 2023

Ramchandra Guha: India's Taken a Dangerous, Divisive And Self-Destructive Direction Under Modi, The Wire, January 30, 2023

Arun Shourie: Supreme Court Should Behave as if it's at War With Executive in Defence of Constitution, The Wire, February 14, 2023

Dr Shashi Tharoor explains what is a Hindu, April 9, 2023

Modi Staggeringly Incompetent In Most Things Not Just Economy, Disastrous For India If He Wins 24, The Wire, May 12, 2023

Dyani Lewis, "India cuts periodic table and evolution from school textbooks - experts are baffled'," nature.com, May 31, 2023

India's Prime Minister Modi delivers remarks at joint meeting of the US Congress, DW News, June 22, 2023 [Why was Modi not accompanied by his wife?]

Why India Is Erasing Its Own History, AJ+, July 26, 2023

"But we will respond with love," he said. "They are trying to provoke us. They are trying to start a riot."--Sonia Faleiro, "The Dissident: Umar Khalid Challenged Modi's Anti-Muslim Agenda. India Accused Him of Terrorism and Locked Him Up," theintercept.com, August 6, 2023

[So why were temples attacked? And who desecrated them? Richard M. Eaton, professor of history at the University of Arizona and author of "India in the Persianate Age: 1000-1765," argues that ruling dynasties targeted temples even in the pre-Islamic period. . . . Eaton pointed out that both Hindu and Muslim rulers attacked temples. The temples that were attacked were those that were associated with the king.
"Desecration of such temples was the normal means of detaching a defeated enemy from the most prominent manifestation of his former sovereign authority, thereby rendering him politically impotent," Eaton said, stressing that the attacks were political and not religious.--Sudha Ramachandran, "Desecration of Hindu Temples in India," thediplomat.com, January 15, 2024]

Zarafshan Shiraz, "Republic Day 2024," hindustantimes.com, January 24, 2024

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Slams FM Nirmala Sitharaman Over Sad State Of Indian Economy, HW News, February 7, 2024

Modi's Supremacy a Threat to India's Success; It's Stifling India, The Wire, February 24, 2024

Omar Abdullah: Tomorrow the godi media & agencies will be gushing about the "historic crowd" gathered to hear PM Modi in Srinagar. What they will conveniently forget to mention is that almost none of the people there will be attending of their own free will. The dictatorial J&K Govt has pulled out all stops to give the PM a crowd because the BJP can't manage anything in J&K without the administration. Employees, men & women both, in their 1000s are being asked to assemble between 4:30 AM & 5:30 AM in the freezing temperatures to be bused to the venue. This participation isn't optional, it's compulsory. Employees who don't show up are been threatened with disciplinary action by their Dept heads. Private schools like DPS Etc have had their buses commandeered to transport all these employees to the venue. I have lists running in to the 1000s with department details, addresses & mobile numbers plus transport details. I've redacted a portion of one page out of 140 pages. This is the naya J&K but like I said godi media won't report this.--Twitter, March 6, 2024

"India's Modi visits Kashmir: How has the region changed since 2019?," aljazeera.com, March 7, 2024

Young Kashmiris On PM's 1st Rally In Srinagar Since Abrogation Of Article 370, March 7, 2024

Namit Arora, 'Indians: A Brief History of a Civilization,'' The Wire, March 28, 2024

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