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5 Nov, 2015

In India, portents of a religious autocracy – The Hindu

With the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) being the fountainhead of Hindutva, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government being strongly influenced by the RSS, we may ask: “Are we moving towards a Hindu religious autocracy which would move the country away from rationality and reason and, thus, democracy?” Unfortunately, it seems so. In any rational and reasonable society as in a democracy, dissent is accepted as a norm and reasoned dissent is encouraged. However, in India at present, the space for reasoned dissent is shrinking day by day, being reduced as part of the public policy of the present government. Consequently, intolerance to any different view is increasing. Thus, on October 22 in Karnataka, a young Dalit student-writer, Huchangi Prasad, was kidnapped and beaten up by a group of men for showing disrespect towards Hindu gods and writing about caste discrimination. Though the caste system has been the bane of Hindu society, it is now being practised with increased vigour. This is reflected in the growing number of crimes against Dalits, including the horrific incident in Faridabad last month where two Dalit children were burnt to death when a mob attacked their home.

Read the rest: Portents of a religious autocracy – The Hindu