11/26/2016 – 12:00pm
This discourse is a scholarly response to the physical and ideological outbursts of violence that accompanied the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. This study, which is concerned with issues of representation, uses the Mumbai killings as a starting point for examining bigger social and political difficulties within and among Hindus, Jews, and Muslims. The discussion examines the politics of solidarity and the (re)shaping of sensitivities in order to sustain ongoing coalitions between Hindus and Jews, noting the real and imagined grounds on which religious, national, and geopolitical fault lines are drawn and alliances formed. The paper attempts to situate the interfaith memorial services and solidarity meetings that took place in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks in the perspective of the evolution of Hindu-Jewish and India-Israel coalitions and scholarship over the last two decades. It aims to investigate how perceptions of the “Other” (Hindus of Jews, Jews of Hindus, and Hindus and Jews of Muslims) influence the language and objectives of these alliances, such as victimization discourses, personal ties, and the demand for multi-national defense contracts.
Shana Sippy is a professor in Carleton College’s Religion Department. Her research focuses on religious and cultural identity expressions and representations. She focuses on the modern formation of Hindu and Jewish identities and communities, as well as the confluence of religious traditions with colonialism, social movements, and globalization.
