Sightings Articles

blasphemy | censorship | Doniger | Hinduism | India

Looking Back on My Run-in with Censorship in India

Ed. Note: The author has discussed other aspects of the story of her publishing experiences in India in The New York Review of Books (“India: Censorship by the Batra Brigade,” May 8, 2014); Sightings (“Prelude to Censorship: The Toleration of Blasphe...

October 1, 2018

Doniger | India | free speech | Hinduism | #JeSuisCharlie | censorship | blasphemy | British colonization | Bhagavad Gita | Krishna | Brahmo Samaj | Arya Samaj | Sanatana Dharma | Sanskritization | Indian Penal Code | Hindu Nationalism | Hindutva

#JeSuisCharlie: Blasphemy in Hinduism and Censorship in India

Free speech, under attack in France, is also contested in India, where violence ignited by videos or messages deemed “blasphemous” or “insulting” by orthodox Hindus has long been a reality. In 2014 alone, eighty-five religion-related attacks on the m...

January 22, 2015

Doniger | yoga | hindu

Is Yoga a Form of Hinduism? Is Hinduism a Form of Yoga?

Debates about these questions have been making headlines lately. Some American Hindus have argued that American yoga is not Hindu enough, that Hindus should “Take Back Yoga” (the label of a campaign by the Hindu American Foundation). Other Americans ...

December 30, 2010