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.