Anders Breivik, the man who carried out the July 2011 massacre in Norway, counts the sanatana dharma movements in India among his allies in Europe's supposed war against Islam. His manifesto refers ...to Koenraad Elst, a well-known Belgian critic of Islam who is also a strong votary of Hindutva in India. In addition, many other Indian writers are also quoted by Breivik. This essay looks at the shared world view, agenda and history of this school of Hindutva, and the anti-Islamic European right.
Atrocities in Norway HANSSEN, KRISTIN
Economic and political weekly,
09/2011, Letnik:
46, Številka:
39
Journal Article, Magazine Article
What is this environment in Norway in which a man like Anders Behring Breivik can go on a carefully planned killing of 77 people? Breivik developed his ideas at a time when fringe groups and thinkers ...were able to develop a feeling of Islamophobia in Norwegian society. Conservative political parties in Norway too argue that Islamist forces have entrenched themselves as enclaves in society. However, after the horror of 22 July, there have been concerns about Islamophobic sentiments in public media and forums. Perhaps in the end the wake-up call that Breivik sought may have the opposite effect of what he intended.
Lesson from Utoeya
Economic and political weekly,
07/2011, Letnik:
46, Številka:
31
Journal Article, Magazine Article
Anti-Muslim violence has become endemic in the west in the past decade, not to mention the structural violence of silent prejudice and discrimination, both within state structures and in society. ...Reading Breivik's attack on multiculturalism, or the policies which encourage tolerance and protect minority rights in Europe, is like reading the texts of speeches by mainstream political leaders who head governments and main opposition parties. What Breivik shows us is that ideas and political positions which were correctly considered extreme and prejudicial even a couple of decades ago are now bang in the centre of the west's "mainstream"!
