Ahead of Navratri, senior Gujarat activists write to CM Anandiben Patel to protest Love Jihad "terror"

By A Representative
With Navratri festival all set to begin in Gujarat, several civil rights groups and individual activists of Gujarat have come together to strongly protest the efforts by certain “extremist” forces to create an atmosphere of communal hatred in Gujarat in the name of fighting Love Jihad, saying, the essence of the whole exercise of these forces is to consider women as property of a particular community by considering Navaratri as the private property of a particular Hindutva group. In a strongly-worded letter to Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel, they have urged upon her to immediately put a brake on their “vicious propaganda.”
Pointing out that Navratri, which starts on September 25, is not just a religious festival but exemplifies Gujarat’s cultural heritage, the letter says, “It is dangerous that the Hindutva forces are trying to project it as their private property. One should not allow this to happen. This is particularly pernicious that it is happening at a time when Narvratri garbas are sought to be turned into commercial profit-making ventures for propagating tourism.”
Among those who have signed the letter include Trupti Shah of Sahiyar Women’s Organisation (Vadodara), Nita Choksi of Sangini (Vadodara), Sofia Khan of Safar (Ahmedabad), Sushil Prajapati of Action Aid (Ahmedabad), Nita Hardikar of Anandi (Rajkot), Priti Soni of Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, Latifa Giteli of Alfasal Education Trust (Godhra), Priti Jha of Peace and Equity Cell (Ahmedabad), Rohit Prajapati of Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (Vadodara), and social activists Rajal Chattopadhyay and Prasad Chakko.
The letter says, while the state home department has issued an order saying that it would “strictly deal with those who do not allow individuals to enter into garba premises in the name of religion”, efforts are lacking to ensure that this does not happen.
“Already, attempts are being made, via social media and through the distribution of leaflets, to not to allow individuals of a particular community to enter into garba events”, it said, adding, “Already, Hindutva forces have taken upon themselves the task of not allowing persons of that community into garba premises. If this happens, it would be illegal, and it is the responsibility of the police to ensure that things are not allowed to slip like this.”
Suggesting that all this is merely leading to the creation of even more communal hatred, the letter says, “This is merely creating an atmosphere of terror among young boys and girls. We hope that you agree that criminals have no religion, and whoever perpetrates all this is brought to books.”
Particularly taking strong exception to the term “Love Jihad”, the letter said, “The entire effort is to create a feeling of fear and anxiety among the parents about what would happen in case their daughters to go to garba, which last till late at night.” Calling this a reflection of the patriarchal mindset, the letter said, “Instead of making efforts to ensure security of girls, these forces are seeking to put restrictions on them.”
Pointing out that some political forces are seeking to take advantage of all this, the letter says, all this is “against the very spirit of the Indian constitution, which provides full rights to any adult to enter into marriage relationship with the person of another religion.” It adds, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that communal and caste divisions are “hurdles in the way to development, elements like Adityanath, Pravin Togadia and other leaders are behaving as if women are the private property of their faith.”

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Search This Blog