Photo of a green and a brown wooden house by a lake on which houseboats are floating. Snow-capped mountains rise up in the background.
Shore of Dal Lake east of the city of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. | Foto: User Isa Macouzet via Unsplash | Unsplash License

Terrorist Attack in Baisaran Valley: Ramifications on India’s Domestic Politics

On April 22nd, terrorists targeted tourists in Baisaran Valley, Kashmir, India, resulting in the deaths of 26 people. Since the attack, tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors have escalated. India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars over the disputed territory of Kashmir, which both countries claim.  This article will examine the political ramifications within India, particularly through the lens of right-wing discourse. It will contextualise the multiple dynamics of the terrorist attack on India’s secularism and diversity, as the majoritarian political ecosystem constructed and weaponised narratives for ideological and political advantages.

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Photo of a beach filled with crowds of people in colorful clothes. Close to the shore there is a line of colorful boats.
January 13, 2025: Aerial view of Kumbh Mela at Triveni Sangam | Photo: Pankaj Chauhan via Pexels

Maha Kumbh Mela: Integrating The Pursuit of Spirituality With Political Dynamics

Maha Kumbh is a major Hindu festival in India, noted as the largest human gathering by UNESCO. Occurring every 144 years, in 2025 it was held in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh (UP), with an estimated 600 million attendees worldwide. This article examines the symbols of the festival, their political significance, and the blending of faith and politics under the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. The focus of the study is on methodologies for achieving political goals, as opposed to the customary strategy of employing religion within the context of Indian politics; a stratagem that the majority of prominent national political parties have utilised.

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Die Proteste der indischen Landbevölkerung dauern an, hier zwei Demonstranten in Delhi im Februar 2021. | Photo: picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com | Naveen Sharma

Bäuer*innenproteste in Indien und anderswo: Der Aufstand des Landes

Indien erlebt derzeit die größten Proteste seiner Geschichte: Millionen Bäuer*innen sind mit ihren Traktoren in die indische Hauptstadt Delhi gezogen. Angesichts einer geplanten Gesetzesinitiative zur Liberalisierung des Agrarmarktes fürchten Millionen um ihre Existenz. Längst haben die Proteste auch auf Themen von Demokratie, Repräsentation und Kultur übergegriffen. Doch nicht nur in Indien sind Agrarpolitik, Lieferketten, und ländliche Produktionsbedingungen zu hoch politisierten Themen geworden.

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