India

Indian Beauty Ad Pulled from TV Due to Showing Lesbian Couple

On Saturday, October 23, the commercial ad for Fem Creme Bleach, a popular whitening product in India, was removed from social media platforms. The takedown came after Narottam Mishra, the Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh, India, threatened to take legal actions because the ad showed objectionable content. The advertisement depicted a same-sex couple celebrating Karwa Chauth, a festival for Hindu women.

Academic Conference about Hindu-Nationalism Harassed by Hindutva

Christian is to Christian fundamentalism, Islam is to Islamic fundamentalism, as Hindu is to Hindutva. In a feature article published by the Association for Asian Studies, Arvind Sharma called Hindutva "Hinduism on steroids," while also explaining that Hinduism is a religion while Hindutva is a political idea. Hindutva was first posited from the work of V.D. Savarkar and has been adopted by far-right political groups in India like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Indian Ex-Muslims Finds Safe Haven and Belongingness Online

Online groups of India-based atheists have seen a rise in number in the past decade. In the last five years, the number of online communities made up of ex-Muslims from almost zero to a handful. These groups boast memberships of over 100 people, with one group's membership reaching 300 individuals.

100 members in an online community is a pretty low figure. That is, if you approach the figure from a perspective that does not include the possibility of life-threatening violence and social stigmatization. Being an ex-Muslim has its inherent problems.

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