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India’s Elections and the “Doniger Affair”

…eligion as a tool of social oppression. This is perhaps why the most vocal Indian (or Indian expatriate) defenders of Doniger in the wake of the controversy have, for the most part, been intellectual or activist Marxists. Penguin’s decision to withdraw her book gave them new ammo in a battle against what they perceive as Hindu majoritarian aggression, exemplified by the destruction of the Babri mosque and the 2002 Gujarat riots. Many of these inte…

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Church=State in Putin’s Orthodox Empire?; Evangelical-Orthodox Anti-Gay Alliance; Malaysian Court Protects Transwomen; Catholicism (Still) Declining in Latin America; Global LGBT Recap

…. But who is to decide what constitutes a “vice against nature”? The Portuguese legislators had been too coy to mention gay sex explicitly, and so a meaningless clause entered the statute books, which no court could act upon. This year, the Penal Code was rewritten. The new Penal Code sweeps away a great deal of the musty colonial legacy, including the mention of “vices against nature”. Now not even the most contorted of arguments could claim that…

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BYU Honor Code Used to Harass Black Atheletes

…de, we sounded a note of caution here at RD about the “dark side” of honor code enforcement. After all, the honor code had been created during the 1960s in an effort by ultra-conservative BYU President Ernest Wilkinson to root out liberals, and honor code enforcement (including anonymous referrals) had been used to bait and harrass feminist, liberal, and gay students, shut down campus free speech, and compromise the privacy of pastoral counseling…

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Policing Academic Freedom: A Book, a Controversy, and the Ominous Aftermath

…nguin publishing house, arguing that the book violated Article 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which forbids “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class of citizens.” The school teacher was Mr. Batra, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist organization. As early as 2001, Mr. Batra has engaged in political and legal measures to affect educational curriculum through his…

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“Americans Hate Muslims, Too” (And Other Impediments to U.S. Advocacy for Religious Freedom Abroad)

…us the room instead of others because “Americans hate Muslims, too.” Still today, when I travel in India, Hindus presupposing my agreement frequently make off-handed and derogatory comments about their Muslim neighbors. For those concerned about the effectiveness of the United States’ advocacy for religious freedom around the world, the perception that “Americans hate Muslims, too” should be a matter of great concern. As I have written elsewhere,…

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Religious Affiliation, ‘Mankind’: India’s Anti-Corruption Activist Leads Second Freedom Struggle

…demands to vote for the reformers’ version of the Lokpal Bill. “Tune into Indian television and watch the India parliament debate the law. Link yourself, pit yourself, against Indian corruption. The future depends on what you do today,” she implored. [As of the end of August a compromise had been reached, but 73-year-old activist Anna Hazare has said the battle is only half won. -Eds.] “Prisoners Threatened to Kill the Teachers, But They Kept the…

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With Trump’s Failure to Protect Religious Minorities, Afghan Hindus and Sikhs Face an Uncertain Future in India

…r Singh Shergill, remains optimistic despite the history of persecution in India: “Although India has a troubling history in protecting the rights of minority communities, I see this as a positive development since it gives a much-needed option to the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus at risk, particularly given the failure of Trump and the Republicans to take any action.” Afghan Hindus may have little to fear, but Afghan Sikhs may find themselves going fro…

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Global LGBT Recap: “Lavender Fascism,” Rage in India, Pope Francis Ousts Culture Warrior

…a few days at his Ashram. And amidst controversy over the treatment of an Indian diplomat by law enforcement officials in New York, a senior leader of India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has called for the arrest of gay American diplomats.   Chile: Pro-Equality Bachelet Returns as President In a race that gave voters a choice between two women vying for the presidency, Chilean voters on December 15 overwhelmingly elected former Presi…

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Possible Heir to Dalai Lama Cleared of Corruption Charges

…s in cash at the Karmapa’s makeshift headquarters near Dharamsala in North India. The Central Government of India, following weeks of investigation, finally cleared Karmapa of any wrongdoing (the money they found had indeed been an accumulation of donations). Speculations abound on what really triggered the raid last month, and there are various conspiracy theories, though it now appears that local politics played a key role. After the money was s…

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Claiming Yoga for India

…embraced and prescribed yoga both within and beyond the borders of what is today the State of India—not to mention the living yoga giants, Baba Ramdev and Bikram Choudhury, or American yoga entrepreneurs like tantric-fitness advocate John Friend or the evangelical Christian “Holy Yoga” of Brooke Boon. These yoga insiders have little in common with one another, yet according to each of them, they are doers of yoga. Any attempt to decide who counts…

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