Does religion cause violence? A case study of Hinduism and religious violence in contemporary India

One of the most outspoken critiques of the Hindu far-right establishment, the author Arundhati Roy, made the following statement, “In India the new government - the members of the radical Hindu Right who want India to be a 'Hindu Nation' - they're bigots. Butchers. Massacres are their unofficial election campaigns - orchestrated to polarise communities and bring in the vote.”[1] Not touching upon the value judgements made clear through this statement, what cannot be ignored is the new paradigm of religious violence that has snowballed in India over the last decade, and the role of Hindutva politics in inculcating such an environment.

Gaddafi's Green Book: a case study in political Islam

The legacy of Muammar Gaddafi is a complex one. A brutal dictator, an ardent anti-imperialist, a political philosopher – all of these are hats that he could be considered to have worn through the years. As such, any evaluation of this legacy must consider the intersections between his role as a head of state, a self-proclaimed revolutionary, a Pan-Africanist, an author, and his numerous other identities. His most renowned work provides an insight into his vision for a revolutionary Libyan state through the lens of all his identities.

The western welfare state: paving the way for Marxist revolution, or stopping it in its tracks?

Noted anti-communist and pioneer of the welfare state, German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, once said about his project, “My idea was to bribe the working classes, or shall I say, to win them over, to regard the state as a social institution existing for their sake and interested in their welfare.”[1] Could it be possible that the laws that guaranteed every German pensions, a minimum wage, nationalised health insurance, workplace regulation, paid time off, and unemployment insurance all be part of an insidious plot to undermine the looming threat of Marxist revolution? Marx himself might have disagreed, having stated in Capital that “the creation of a normal working day is the product of a protracted civil war…between the capitalist class and the working-class.”[2]

Srijon Sinha

Turning the Tides (historical short fiction)

As Andreas wandered past the smouldering logs that used to be the framework for a massive command tent, he felt a quiet sort of dread in his heart. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to him; the discontent among the men had been simmering for weeks now. The Punjab campaign had been hard on all of them but for things to get to this point seemed impossible Clearly, there was something he didn’t understand about the circumstances.

Srijon Sinha

South Asian student in France, writing everything from day-to-day experiences to political analyses and op-eds.

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Does religion cause violence? A case study of Hinduism and religious violence in contemporary India

Srijon Sinha

Gaddafi's Green Book: a case study in political Islam

Srijon Sinha

The western welfare state: paving the way for Marxist revolution, or stopping it in its tracks?

Srijon Sinha

Turning the Tides (historical short fiction)

Srijon Sinha

The Ayodhya verdict and the cycle of complacency

Srijon Sinha

Karachi, 1947 (historical short fiction)

Srijon Sinha