87 - Sadanand Dhume - Why Indian Secularism Is In Danger

You can find Sadanand’s writing for the Wall Street Journal here: https://www.wsj.com/news/author/sadanand-dhume Specifically on “Love Jihad”: https://www.wsj.com/articles/hindu-nationalists-crazy-crackdown-on-love-jihad-11606349657 Sadanand’s work at the American Enterprise Institute: https://www.aei.org/profile/sadanand-dhume/ For more from Sadanand on Hindu ethnonationalism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RawnTNec6Nc The Grand Tamasha podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxp8lyhZjcI&list=PL19Wqzt3FqEUvI2mEQVRngisQMecIfoGf Sadanand’s book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/My-Friend-the-Fanatic/Sadanand-Dhume/9781634504218 Follow Sadanand on Twitter: @dhume Further References Some of my sources of Indian news, as promised: The Hindu: Breaking News, India News, Sports News and Live Updates: https://www.thehindu.com/ The Quint: https://www.thequint.com/ Scroll.in: https://scroll.in/ The Caravan (caravanmagazine.in): https://caravanmagazine.in/ The Quilliam Circle: https://www.quilliaminternational.com/circle/ Maajid Nawaz, Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism (2012) Shashi Tharoor, Why I Am a Hindu (2018) My interview with Salil Tripathi: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/44-salil-tripathi-journalistic-integrity My interview with Armin Navabi: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/episode-028-armin-navabi-the-battle-for-iran For more on the “sexy Kali” controversy: https://atheistrepublic.libsyn.com/indians-respond-to-sexy-hindu-goddess-kali-part-1 and https://www.youtube.com/c/AtheistRepublic/search?query=sexy%20kali My article on the Indian project: https://areomagazine.com/2019/08/15/on-being-a-proud-indian/ Timestamps 2:04 The so-called “Love Jihad” laws, fears of conversion, Indian paternalism 16:01 Interfaith marriages in India 8:30 Attitudes towards Christian converts 24:32 Problems within the Indian Muslim community. 30:43 Indian secularism at the time of Independence 37:57 The various anxieties about Islamic radicalism that helped fuel the rise of Hindu nationalism 39:11 Double standards in Indian law 41:26 India’s electoral system, group mobilisation and the abandonment of secularism on the part of the Hindu nationalists 45:18 Muslim personal law, the Hajj subsidy 49:18 Hindu religious radicalism 58:00 The chilling effect on speech 01:00:33 Indian law and freedom of speech 01:06:05 Indian exceptionalism and the achievements of Indian secularism 01:08:30 Misconceptions about democracy, the weakness of Indian institutions 01:11:30 The recent controversial citizenship laws, the NRC and CAA 01:19:09 How Covid-19 and the pandemic have affected Indian politics. Sadanand’s predictions for the future.