Who are these #Portuguese passport holders from India's #DamanandDiu labelled as "central" actors in 2022 #Leicester violence?What links do they have with India's BJP?What challenges lie ahead for UK to deal with this neo-Hindutva gang? I [email protected] theloop.ecpr.eu/why-were-por...

I couldn’t have asked for a better gift upon my return from Europe than holding my book for the first time! “Grassroots Women in the Populist Radical Right” is now out in the physical world 💗

My book investigates how & why women become involved in PRR parties, and how these parties seek to recruit & retain women members. Based on interview and survey data, it shows that women members are key actors in the organisational development, electoral expansion, and normalisation of PRR parties.

The book is currently available at a 30% discount from global.oup.com/academic/pro... with the code AUFLY30. In addition, the first chapter is free to read on Oxford Academic until 8 July 2026: academic.oup.com/book/62754/c....

A group of monks belonging to the “Walk for Peace” pilgrimage are bringing Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists together in a rare display of interfaith unity in a deeply divided nation. religionunplugged.com/news/buddhis...

My latest @religionmag.bsky.social-12 Buddhist monks walked across #SriLanka along with their dog #Aloka. Rel. leaders welcomed them spreading a message of unity. But it's not enough for a fragile nation facing Hindutva extremism, land grabbing by Buddhists: religionunplugged.com/news/buddhis...

my latest for @religionmag.bsky.social

So true for Indian far right too!

🌊 #IlliberalWave No.47 🛐 The #USCIRF has called for sanctions on #India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh organisation, for its flagrant violations of #ReligiousFreedom. 🔗 @sonias26.bsky.social warns that Trump may pay no heed to it, because of his own ties with the far-right network. 👉️ bit.ly/3OLvv3u

My 2nd batch of conflict reporting class-30April-3May. Learn dynamics of conflict reporting,real-life challenges in dealing with State/non-State actors,journalism Vs activism and journalist Vs propaganda arm of State/non-State actors. Will share my reporting exp.from Afghanistan,Iraq, Kashmir & more

State ownership complicates smoking battle in Japan and China trib.al/fyer5Q9

A new edition dropped! 🤓

I write for @religionmag.bsky.social.In war-torn Iraq, Muslims join Christians in celebrating Easter fostering solidarity especially since ISIS was forced out of major strongholds.But occasional interfaith support-limited to Easter-may not be sufficient to address challenges of Christian communities

90 Academics across Europe/UK called out the German government for not clearly condemning US-Israel attacks against Iran - they say it "violates international law" and further erodes "rules-based and institutional order in Europe" & "the world". verfassungsblog.de/statement-on... @verfassungsblog.de

Yesterday morning I stepped outside on my balcony for coffee with my wife and our neighbor. The drone was as low as it has ever been. We saw it over our heads. Below, our alleyway had turned into a parking lot for displaced people’s cars. A school next door is hosting around 1500 people.

🌍️ #India sits precariously in this US-Israel-led war against its old regional partner #Iran. 🤝 This, says @sonias26.bsky.social is because of Hindu supremacist Prime Minister Narendra #Modi’s proximity to Israel's leader Benjamin #Netanyahu. ➡️ bit.ly/4bzfuEX

Verfolgt in Deutschland, ausgewiesen aus Frankreich, ist Karl Marx mit 64 Jahren am 14. März 1883 in London gestorben. Er ist bis heute der einflussreichste Theoretiker der klassenlosen Gesellschaft & war den Herrschenden auch in seiner politischen Praxis zeitlebens ein Dorn im Auge. #AnDiesemTag🧵

I write Religion Unplugged: Several faith groups and religious figures in South Korea’s Jeju Island-"Peace Island”-have been unequivocally standing for the rights of Palestinians.Despite South Korea not recognizing Palestine as a state,these groups participate in rallies for Palestinian liberation.

After four days of hesitating, the president of France has joined the prime minister of Spain in saying that the 🇺🇸🇮🇱 attack on Iran is a violation of international law. But they are still the only 2 EU leaders to have done so. Will others join?

In my MA thesis @ifshhamburg.bsky.social I examined the interactions between India's RSS-BJP and AfD(Germany) + National Rally (France).They have been aiming to gain mutual validation of their narratives around Islamophobia, sovereignty & Euroscepticism. repository.gchumanrights.org/items/37e3da...

European far-right parties including AfD and National Rally are part of RSS-BJP's transnational networks. In Feb 2025, before Ursula von der leyen's India visit,Thierry Mariani-led Patriots for Europe delegation was invited by RSS affiliate India Foundation, where RSS &PFE ideologues criticised EU.

Important report for understanding how Hindutva - a variant of right-wing extremism- has become a cause of concern in UK!Local police "lacked" knowledge and understanding of Hindutva & political Islamism and political contexts that shaped the unrest is worrisome too. #Leicesterriots #Hindutva

While an #AIsummit is on in India, I write @ecprtheloop.bsky.social how Hindutva actors --affiliated with the #RSS- the ideological parent body of the ruling BJP -- are using AI-generated porn to target #Muslimwomen, and degrade the entire community of 200 million. theloop.ecpr.eu/hindu-nation...

🌈 #GenderingDemocracy No.34 💻️ Followers of the Hindu nationalist #Hindutva movement are using AI-generated pornographic images to degrade Indian Muslim women. Their tactics, argues @sonias26.bsky.social, serve the movement’s wider drive to humiliate India’s Muslim community. 👉 bit.ly/4riRtbR

The Maldives, the South Asian island nation of 515,132 people, recently passed a new law to tighten the noose of the media. But this new law also indirectly strengthens the state’s restriction on religious freedom. My latest religionunplugged.com/news/law-exp...

Diplomatic ties with Taliban,responsible for gender,ethnic & religious apartheid,would undermine India’s professed pluralism.Recognising it as Afghanistan's legitimate representative would normalise atrocities against women/minorities.I write @ecprtheloop.bsky.social theloop.ecpr.eu/india-has-a-...

✂️ 4 years after cutting ties with #Afghanistan, the Indian government’s strategy towards the #Taliban is changing. 📉 @sonias26.bsky.social argues #India's deteriorating relationship with #Pakistan prompted this change + that India’s pluralist reputation is now at risk. 👉 bit.ly/3XzSy1N

I am just so thrilled to win this award -- this is not just an award for a piece of journalism but recognition of the violence against women in the name of "culture" --which is FGM. And this is happening at people's homes and in cosmetics clinics in different cities across the UK!

In Laos, the tiny Communist country tucked between Thailand and Vietnam, Christians have been facing religious persecution. Despite guaranteeing religious freedom on paper, the Communist authorities heavily monitor the religious activities of Christians. religionunplugged.com/news/christi...

✏️ BEST FEATURE Congratulations to the writers of our shortlisted pieces: Sonia Sarkar, Alannah Francis, Alia Waheed, @shantidas.bsky.social, Anna Moore, @lucymorgan.bsky.social and @sharandhaliwal.bsky.social

My piece: India's reckless blood transfusion system is exposed once again as five thalassemic children contracted HIV through blood transfusion. www.bmj.com/content/391/...

My latest: As protests against the authoritarian regime of President Aleksandar Vučić entered the tenth month this September, ordinary Serbians express their discontent towards Serbian Orthodox Church for not showing enough support towards them. religionunplugged.com/news/serbian...

I write: As Bangladesh grapples with political instability for a year since Hasina was forced to flee the country following mass student-led protests in 2024, Islamist radicals have been trying to make a comeback in this South Asian nation of 173 million people. religionunplugged.com/news/islamis...

How Trump's think tank allies are exporting illiberalism https://asia.nikkei.com/opinion/how-trump-s-think-tank-allies-are-exporting-illiberalism

My piece @asia.nikkei.com on how American think-tanks linked with Trump administration have been mobilizing the far-right globally through conferences --from France and Hungary in Europe to India and Japan in Asia. #farright #ThinkTanks #CPAC #NAtcon

August 15 2021 is one such date that I will remember as long as my brain continues to retain my personal experiences. This was the day when Taliban took over #Kabul. Replugging my piece that I wrote from Kabul after the fall for SCMP #Afghanistan soniasarkar26.wordpress.com/2021/08/17/a...

My piece: UNICRI-Vox Pol report stated the growing online dominance of the “right-wing violent extremist form of Hindutva ideology”. Hindu extremists have been pushing the global Hindutva project & learning new strategies from extremist counterparts elsewhere. www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/on-c...

The homegrown far-right in Singapore,Japan,India & China’s autonomous Mongolian region is identifying with white supremacy, getting inspired by the ideology & forming transnational alliance with their white counterparts in the west. I write @gnetresearch.bsky.social gnet-research.org/2025/08/01/t...

Earlier this year, a #Singaporean was detained for planning a violent attack on minorities after being radicalised by Western, #FarRight extremist ideologies. @sonias26.bsky.social explores how these violent ideologies have been influencing homegrown radicalisation in the East.

India's latest Operation Sindoor was laden with patriarchal symbolism – and that the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP failed to conceal its anti-Muslim sentiment, even at a time of national crisis. My piece for @ecprtheloop.bsky.social theloop.ecpr.eu/the-patriarc...

🪖 In May, #India launched a military assault against #Pakistan to avenge the terrorist killings of Hindu men. 🗣️ @sonias26.bsky.social argues that this was laden with patriarchal #Symbolism & that the ruling #BJP failed to conceal its anti-Muslim sentiment. #Modi 👉 ow.ly/2XFV50WiRbm

Who is creating unrest in Nepal?Why are India's Hindu nationalists wanting to restore monarchy and Hindu statehood in Nepal?Why are posters of Hindu nationalist leader Adityanath seen in a pro-monarchist rally in Kathmandu? My analysis: www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/a-sa... #Nepal #India #Hindutva

Why Muslims In War-Torn Kosovo Are Turning To Catholicism? Why are Kosovo’s politicians not quite rattled by this? Kosovo has been long seeking membership into the European Union, selling itself to the world as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious place. My piece: religionunplugged.com/news/why-are...