Hindu Nationalism in India
Series
When
Friday, 1 Sep 2017, 01:00pm - 02:00pm

In 2014, Narendra Modi swept into power as Prime Minister of India; he did so on a pro-business, pro-development platform and on a wave of Hindu nationalism.
It was a spectacular victory and, if the decisive recent state election results for his party in Uttar Pradesh are any indication, he remains a popular figure with many Indians – around 80% of whom are Hindus – several years into his leadership.
But India is a country with significant populations of religious minorities. Among other religious groups, especially Muslims, and among some concerned Hindu Indians too, there is deep concern about the rising tide of Hindu nationalism in the population. Of particular concern are Modi’s alignment with the extremist nationalist groups, his history of turning a blind-eye to acts of right-wing violence and vigilantism and the growing culture of media censorship.
Join authors Shashi Tharoor and Meena Kandasamy as they talk politics and religion in the world’s largest democracy. (Barkha Dutt will no longer be appearing at Melbourne Writers Festival.)
Presented in partnership with Melbourne Writers Festival.
Featuring
Featuring

Sally Warhaft is a Melbourne broadcaster, anthropologist and writer. She is the host of The Fifth Estate, the Wheeler Centre’s live series focusing on journalism, politics, media, and international relations, and The Leap Year, a Wheeler Centre podcast about Australians’ lives in the fog of ... Read more

Meena Kandasamy is a poet, fiction writer, translator and activist who lives in London. She has published two collections of poetry, Touch and Ms. Militancy, and has performed her work at literature festivals around the world. The Gypsy Goddess, her critically acclaimed novel about the 1968 Kilvenma... Read more

Shashi Tharoor is an award-winning author of 16 fiction and nonfiction books, a politician and former international civil servant. Tharoor’s books include the path-breaking satire The Great Indian Novel, the classic India: From Midnight to the Millennium and the visionary Pax Indica: India and the... Read more
Location
Flinders Street Federation Square Melbourne Victoria 3000
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