Posted 2/25/2024, 2:00:00 AM
Fringe Pop Stars Normalizing Hate in Transformed Hindu Heartland, New Book Finds
- Book explores the cultural context enabling anti-Muslim violence through singers, poets, and influencers promoting Hindutva ideology
- Profiles 3 major figures - Kavi Singh, Kamal Agney, and Sandeep Deo - gaining fame and relevance through incendiary artistic works
- These fringe pop stars normalize hate speech, weaving it into everyday life through cheap, viral content
- Uses journalist rigor and novelistic techniques to paint a sobering picture of a radically transformed Hindu heartland
- Concludes Indian society has been deeply and perhaps irretrievably transformed by religious nationalism
