12. Modern and contemporary Hinduism

Source 1

Portraits of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda

The first photograph, taken on 10 December 1881 in Calcutta, portraits Ramakrishna, originally called Gadadhar Chatterji (1836 -1886), influential religious leader who expounded a inclusivist version of Hinduism. In the second photograph, taken in San Francisco in 1900, is Ramakrishna's disciple, Vivekananda, original name Narendranath Datta, (1863-1902). Vivekananda presented to the West a modern version of Hinduism during the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religion in Chicago.

Source 2

Excerpts from "Understanding Gujarat Violence"

Excerpts from "Understanding Gujarat Violence" By Ashutosh Varshney, published in the online Blog "Contemporary Conflicts" in March 26, 2004. This article is about the religious violence between Hindus and Muslims occurred in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002 and the role of the Hindus Fundamentalism therein.

On February 27, 2002, Sabarmati Express pulled into the train station of Godhra, a small town in the Western Indian state of Gujarat, ruled by a Hindus nationalist government since 1995. What exactly happened at the train station and soon thereafter remains trapped in different narratives. Some details can, however, be reconstructed with sufficient assurance.
Sabarmati Express was carrying affiliates of the Hindus right from Ayodhya, where they had gone to express their vigorous support for building a Rama temple at a legally and politically disputed site. At Godhra, apparently, an altercation took place between Hindus activists and some Muslim boys serving tea at the train station. As the train began moving after its scheduled stop at the station, the emergency cord was pulled. As a result, the train stopped in a primarily Muslim neighborhood where, according to credible press reports, it was attacked by a Muslim mob. Two carriages were burned, and the firefighting efforts hampered. The fire killed 58 passengers, including many women and children.
A retaliatory bloodbath followed in many parts of the state. Hindus mobs torched Muslim homes and businesses, killed Muslim men, women and children, and erased mosques and graves. Instead of isolating those Muslim criminals who attacked the train and punishing them legally, as any law-bound and civilized government would do, the state government allowed revenge killings. Over a thousand lives, possibly many more, were lost over the next few weeks. Over 100,000 Muslims were pushed into the state’s ramshackle refugee camps, where basic amenities were minimal and living conditions abysmal.
Hindus-Muslim riots are not uncommon in India, but Gujarat violence plumbed new depths of horror and brutality and has come to acquire a double meaning. It was a bruising embarrassment for anyone who believes in the pluralistic core of Indian nationhood, a view enshrined in India’s constitution, a view that gives an equal place to all religions in the country, privileging none.
Hindus nationalism, India’s Hindus right, reads Gujarat violence differently. It believes in an India dominated by its majority community, the Hindus. All other religions, it has always argued, must “assimilate” to India’s Hindus core, accepting in effect that the Hindus are the architect of the Indian nation and also its superior citizens. For Hindus nationalist ideologues, the anti-Muslim violence was an ideological victory. In a formal resolution, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological and organizational centerpiece of Hindus nationalism, said: ‘‘Let the minorities understand that their real safety lies in the goodwill of the majority.’’ Laws alone, the RSS implied, as it always has, cannot protect India’s minorities.

Excerpts from Understanding Gujarat Violence
By Ashutosh Varshney
Published on: Mar 26, 2004 in Contemporary Conflicts
http://conconflicts.ssrc.org/archives/gujarat/varshney/

Source 3

Russian Hare Krishna followers


Some Russians affiliated to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, one of the most widespread Hindus organization in the West.

Photo by Anneli Salo. CC-3.0
http://upload.wikimedia.org/...Hare_Krishna_in_Moscow_H9202_C.JPG
(26/09/2014)