Frontline on Air

The article explores the intricate relationship between power, piety, and politics in the context of Karnataka's religious institutions. It likely delves into the historical and contemporary dynamics surrounding these institutions, examining how political influences and religious considerations intersect. For a comprehensive understanding, it is advisable to read the full article.

By indicating a higher proportion of Other Backward Castes (OBC), at 63 per cent compared with the 55 per cent that has been speculated for a long time, the Bihar caste survey has given the opposition parties, especially the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), and its coalition partner the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a strong case to demand an all-India caste census. In fact, all the parties of the INDIA bloc have broadly supported such a move. There is a belief that we may be heading for a Mandal 2.0 moment, which could have a noticeable impact on the Assembly elections in 2023 and the Lok Sabha election in 2024.

What seems to be lost on most critics of Udhayanidhi Stalin’s speech on Sanatana Dharma is that the issue is not, in fact, a religious one—it has to do with philosophy and spirituality.

Instead of compartmentalising Hindu spirituality and Hindu philosophy, I usually refer to “the Hindu mei-gnana (true wisdom) tradition” to emphasise the importance of gnana, or knowledge, in the larger scheme of religious discourse. Hinduism, after all, is neither a monolithic religious construct nor a canonically sanctioned single doctrine; it countenances no centralised authority. In fact, any attempt to establish an exclusive and singular interpretation or an authoritative central power within the eclectic practice of Hinduism is motivated only by political and not spiritual concerns. Such attempts will inevitably lead to the destruction of the whole Hindu mei-gnana tradition and therefore must be stoutly opposed by anyone committed to preserving it.

The vicious and sweeping Delhi Police raids on the offices of NewsClick and the residences of virtually anyone associated with it; the indiscriminate seizure of the electronic devices of journalists and other employees without “any adherence to due process such as the provision of seizure memos, hash values of the seized data, or even copies of the data”1; the sealing of the news portal’s main office; the arrest of its founder-editor, Prabhir Purkayastha, and its administrative officer, Amit Chakravarty, on terrorism-related charges; and, as though this were not enough, the searches conducted at the premises of NewsClick and the home of its founder-editor after a fresh criminal case was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the fifth probe agency directed from above to set about this medium-sized digital news organisation—this marks the lowest point for media freedom in India since the Emergency of 1975-1977. And there is every indication that the post-2014 downslide, which has seen India sink to the rank of 161 among 180 countries and territories in the World Press Freedom Index 2023 published by Reporters Sans Frontières, will continue—unless there is organised and effective resistance and smart, sustained collective action at various levels, professional, legal, and political.