Challenging Communalism: Conversations on Gender and Violence.

Mirror on Communalism, Issue 2,

In this issue the following articles are there :

1. Taking the debate on Male Self Regard Needs further-Rohini Hensman joins issue with Siddharth Shah.

2. Extracts from The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich

3. Extract from For Your Own Good by Alice Miller

Why should a Muslim have to wear his nationalism on his sleeve?

by Najeeb Jung, 20 Feb 2010, Times of India.

We owe the young Muslim our trust, due process and the benefit of the doubt — so that when the horror of something like Pune happens, he can spontaneously share the revulsion of his fellow citizens without the insidious taint of guilt by association.The young muslim has a confident sense of shared citizenship and wants to exercise his rights.

Whose God is it anyway?

by Bachi Karkaria, 20 Feb 2010, Times of India

Hindus don't drop in on the local mosque,and Muslims return this prejudice with equal pride.you could be cynical and say this exemplary inclusiveness is nothing more than expediency.It's more about need than devotion,about seeking favours rather than proclaiming faith.Our divine enthusiasm stems from a mortal insecurity.

Belief Beyond Borders

by Anahita Mukherji, Times of India, 20 Feb 2010.

The grassroots vigour of India's multi-faith spirituality has often been admired by societies where boundaries of identity are hidebound and beliefs more absolute.Which begs the question: Is the diversity of divinity an attitude that has been artificially grafted onto the popular psyche by the progressive founders of free India? The answer,quite simply,is that it is not.While religious inclusiveness is very much an article of faith of the modern Indian state,with a Constitutional guarantee and Gandhi's beloved hymn Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram as its anthem,it is not so much state-sponsored as instinctive and unlearned.Godliness is an ancient glue that pre-dates the Nehruvian idea of a secular India.Attar and aartis have been perfuming devotions side by side for centuries,and this aromatic mingling is a far more organic charter of secularism than the landmark 42nd amendment.