From the category archives:

DesiPundit

Baffling Supreme Court Judgment On Beards

by Mohib Ahmad

Some of the comments made by the bench header by Justices Raveendran and Katju went way beyond the scope of the case. A healthy debate on private institutions right to set rules and regulations is needed. At the same time the courts can’t litigate religion from the bench.

61 comments

Hindutva And The Upcoming Indian Elections

by Bhupinder

The contrast between 2004 and 2009 is exacerbated by the accidental infamy that Varun Gandhi has gained in the last few days. It points to the fact that it has been left to a hitherto a very minor leader of the party to articulate what the Sadhvi Ritambaras during 1989- 1992 and then Narendra Modi and the late Pramod Mahajan took up later.

32 comments

Civil Revolution May Usher A Constitutional Democracy In Pakistan

by Mirza Akhtar Beg

Mirza Akhtar Beg argues that Pakistan appears to be on the verge of emerging as a functioning Constitutional Democracy, with primacy of laws and constitution that has eluded Pakistan for 61 years of its checkered history.

7 comments

Indian Muslims: Moderation And Extremism

by Asghar Ali Engineer

As long as my memory goes I remember Muslims in general and Indian Muslims in particular, have been criticized for being extremists in religious matters and though, the criticism went, there are a few moderate Muslims, they do not take any stand or refuse to stand up and be counted and always, extremists carry the day.

34 comments

Dal Lake – Heaven’s End

by Nawaz Gul Qanungo

Dal Lake. The green blanket has been replaced by a canopy of tinned roofs – coloured, patchy, rusty, hideous. The Dal might still be there somewhere. But tomorrow? 75 square kilometers some centuries back. 25 a few decades back. And barely 12 today. This Dal!

2 comments

Lahore Attack: The Blame Game

by Shoaib Daniyal

In Life, the Universe and Everything, Douglas Adams tells us the story of the residents of the planet Krikket—Krikketers. The Krikketers had never imagined that a Universe could exist outside their little planet. Due to a certain chain of events, however, when they did discover than many worlds lay outside of their little planet, they were shocked.

20 comments

A Crisis Of Faith: 20 Years Of Rushdie Fatwa

by CM Naim

Unfortunately God doesn’t speak to mankind anymore, otherwise I imagine he would give the same reprimand to those who demand Rushdie’s head. For The Satanic Verses may rightfully be seen as a “religious” book, written not out of contempt for the tradition but out of anguish over it.

4 comments

India Votes: What Are The Issues Of Indian Muslims As Elections Approach?

by Kaleem Kawaja

As another election to the parliament in India approaches, the question comes up “What are Indian Muslims Thinking? What are the issues on the basis of which they will vote for various parties? Are their issues the same as those of other Indians or do they have some distinct issues of their own?

8 comments

Muslims Are In India’s Mainstream

by Kaleem Kawaja

The Muslim identity of India is a thoroughly Indian identity, very different from the Islamic identity of other Muslim countries. This unique Indo-Islamic identity has evolved over centuries of intermingling of traditions, culture, religion and social contacts

25 comments

India Is Darul Aman, Mr. Singhal

by Asghar Ali Engineer

Let me once again reiterate for Shri Singhal that Muslims and other minorities have always considered India as Darul Aman and all of them have strong sense of loyalty to this great country which is their only homeland. They would never dither from this position.

76 comments