Ishwar Sharan's Blog, page 6

The civilisational ethos of war – Prafull Goradia

The purpose of war is to enjoy peace. This means that if one cannot avoid war, one must minimise its length. – Prafull Goradia War is often remembered for its devastation, but rarely for its restraint. India’s recent Operation Sindoor presents a radically different philosophy—one rooted not in conquest, but in dharma It is mostly […]

What the current discourse on religious freedom gets wrong – Ram Madhav

  A proper understanding of the cultural and civilisational experiences of various nations helps in reframing the religious freedom discourse in the right perspective. – Ram Madhav In an interesting report, “Changing the conversation about religious freedom: An integral human development approach” published in March last year, the Atlantic Council, a US-based think tank, claimed […]

Chopper services in pilgrim spots must stop – Reshmi Dasgupta

The crux of the dilemma is the conflation of pilgrimage with tourism—manifest in the oxymoronic phrase “spiritual tourism”—because both involve travel. But the purposes of both are utterly different. Spiritual by definition cannot be materialistic; it is about purifying the soul and attaining enlightenment. Tourism is primarily to gratify the five senses—and there is nothing […]

Reflecting on death and mourning after the AI plane crash – Maria Wirth

At birth, the moment of death is already fixed, the Indian sages say. They compare our life in this world with a play on a stage—the curtain goes up and after a while, it will go down again. Our part in the play is over, yet what we are is of course still there. We […]

AI Flight 171: Experts’ theories on why the plane went down – Joe Pinkstone & Christopher Jasper

The pilot’s mayday call of “no thrust” and a “lack of power” indicates a mechanical, electrical, or external issue likely plagued the General Electric engines of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on take-off. – Joe Pinkstone & Christopher Jasper It could take weeks, if not months, for the exact cause of the plane crash that killed […]

Pew Survey: The evolution of the global religious population between 2010 and 2020 – Mannat Kaur

The latest Pew survey found that between 2010 and 2020, the number of Hindus around the world increased by 126 million, to approximately 1.2 billion. More importantly, their share of the world’s population remained relatively constant at 14.9 percent. This appears to indicate that, during this time, the growth rate of the Hindu population was […]

India at the crossroads with bully Trump – Ravi Shankar Etteth

In Trump’s binary world, except for himself, there’s no room for gurus—only dealmakers, debtors, and those who know when to pick a side. – Ravi Shankar  In the rarefied corridors of Raisina Hill, the mood has long been one of swaggering self-assurance. India the indispensable partner. The swing state of the 21st century. A democracy […]

Time to disband the UN – Sankrant Sanu

Instead of pouring billions more into the failing UN institution, the world’s democracies should create new, genuinely representative international bodies based on population and economic contribution. Let the authoritarians and micro-states keep the UN’s headquarters in New York as a museum to multilateral failure, while serious nations get on with the business of actual cooperation […]

Time to disband the UN – Sankrant Sanu

Instead of pouring billions more into the failing UN institution, the world’s democracies should create new, genuinely representative international bodies based on population and economic contribution. Let the authoritarians and micro-states keep the UN’s headquarters in New York as a museum to multilateral failure, while serious nations get on with the business of actual cooperation … … Continue reading →

Why is anti-Semitism cool now? – Reshmi Dasgupta

Being afraid of Islam and Islamists and therefore being chary of measures to counter terror groups and radicals lest they are accused of Islamophobia has made the West cede far too much ground on anti-Semitism. How much longer will activists be allowed to propagate false or exaggerated narratives on Gaza—its roots, its reality and its … … Continue reading →