Courting controversy in the West
The sustained efforts by certain Hindu groups in the west to redefine and “correct” long existing Hindu traditions are perhaps reflective of their desire to put in place a cogent…
Read moreSecularism and Absence of Theory
[Published in Economic and Political Theory, 37(51):5142-5142] A text like my article on the secularism debate (EPW, September 28, 2002), is something more than a sequence of sentences. This is a…
Read moreThe Vacuity of Secularism
[Published in Economic and Political Weekly, 37: 4047-4053] On the Indian Debate and Its Western Origins The rise of Hindutva has often been interpreted as a threat to the secular state.…
Read moreThe Question of Conversion in India
[Published in Economic and Political Weekly, 40(28):3048-55] The Indian debate on religious conversion has been an ongoing one for a few centuries now. However, the mutual understanding between the advocates…
Read moreMantras of Anti-Brahmanism: Colonial Experience of Indian Intellectuals
[Published in Economic and Political Weekly, 38: 4611-17] Colonial Experience of Indian Intellectuals Opposing factions in the Orientalist-Anglicist controversy in the 19th century shared a common understanding of Indian religion…
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