“We are academics, not rabble-rousers”
Hany Babu was my M.Phil supervisor from 2017-19 in the Department of English at Delhi University. I was working on conceptions of citizenship, broadly speaking. Whenever my analysis veered off…
September 2020
Life hasn’t been the same, since I grew up- Perspective from a Kashmiri father
Often in life, when one has kids, they plant a thousand wishes, dreams and aspirations for them- the kind of life they’d want them to have, the kind of clothes…
New laws will steal food from the plates of Indian farmers
India is seeing multiple protests by its farmers, citizens and lawmakers. People are coming out on the streets as they are no longer afraid of the pandemic, but are more…
Global Warming “Solutions”
Here are two comments regarding what we must do regarding the threat to our species’ continued existence being posed currently by global warming; here’s the first one: The primary reason…
In Search of America
The disparity between America’s ideals and America’s main street realities are always vast and often stark. This has always been so, most apparently and appallingly for Americans of color…
Shaping Palestinian politics: The UAE has a leg up on Turkey
The United Arab Emirates may have the upper hand in its competition with Turkey in efforts to shape Palestinian politics. Similarly, the UAE’s recognition of the Jewish state gives it…
Termites
Think about this: You know how spiders look, ditto for bees, ants and other assorted bugs. Yet, when it comes to termites, few of us can even sketch how they…
André Vltchek’s Sudden Death
In Kenya during Al-Shabaab standoff Exposing Lies of the Empire (PT. Badak Merah Semesta, 2015) first introduced me to André Vltchek’s remarkable journalism, weaving together unforgettable narratives of Western imperialism…
Hegemony or Survival
Noam Chomsky. 2004. Hegemony or Survival. Australia. Penguin Books. 301 pages, ISBN: 978-0I4I-03734-9. A$9.95rrp “Either you are with us or against us” Noam Chomsky has written one of the boldest…
Muzzling the dissent
“ I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it”, said E.B Hall. Today’s era is the era of democracy, a…
The tradition of incriminating of Muslims in India goes back decades
“The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Saturday that it has busted an al Qaeda module and arrested nine people who were allegedly planning to carry out major terror strikes…
Comrade Rabindra Behera; The Reminiscences of a Revolutionary
Who cares about comrade’s life and death in rural areas? Who cares to document their lives, sacrifices, struggles and contributions in shaping society in the age of decadent capitalism? The…
Who is Arun Ferreira and why is he in Jail?
By Atul and Sandeep Pandey Arun Ferreira is a civil rights activist and human rights lawyer. He has been behind bars since June 6, 2018, when he was arrested in…
The tomato field
There is a tomato field that is sorrowful to the universe unable to lament though it doesn’t yet know that the farmer is dead. The dust on the field…
Learning In Times Of COVID-19: Busting myths about the success of e-schooling
“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” – Charles Dederich The above quote, used to describe a child’s first day at school, has been prolifically used…
Tribute to S P Balasubrahmanyam : Music and art transcends regions and boundaries
S P Balasubrahmanyam who had the world record of singing more than 40000 songs in 16 different languages of India represented the idea of 'India', very much under attack. The…
Cinema of Insurrection – Rebels, Gentlemen and Other Players
“Ritwik Ghatak’s stint as Vice-Principal of FTII left something of him in his students. A John Abraham would never have happened were it not for the tutelage of Ghatak. John…
Farmers Protest Across India Against Anti-Farmer Laws
Protests were held across the country today after the nationwide 'Bharat Bandh' call by farmer organisations against the Farm Bills. The Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill,…
Democracy without debate
Today farmers all over the country have been protesting against the bills passed in the name of 'strengthening' them and giving them 'free access' to 'market. In the Narmada Valley,…
Communist Guerilla Leader of 1971 Bangladesh Haider Juno is in Life Support
Haider Anwar Khan Juno, one of the most prominent communists and cultural organizers of Bangladesh, is now in life support in a Dhaka hospital. Juno, 75, was suffering from pneumonia…
The Death of Andre Vltchek, a Passionate Warrior for Truth
“If the world is upside down the way it is now, wouldn’t we have to turn it over to get it to stand up straight?” – Eduardo Galeano, Upside Down, 1998…
Democracy or ‘Kakistocracy’?
The journalists, critics and social media writers today are facing false cases foisted by the State and Police. A senior journalist is fighting a sedition case for criticising the Centre’s…
Reform monarchy, demands biggest protest in years in Thailand
Tens of thousands of people recently massed close to Thailand's royal palace demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army chief who led a coup in…
Assange’s Thirteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Mental Health, Managed Risk and Publication Chronologies
September 24. Central Criminal Court, London: The lion’s share of today’s Old Bailey proceedings in Julian Assange’s extradition trial was spent on battles over mental health and dire risk. The…
The Legend of Bhagat Singh: In Conversation with Prof Jag Mohan Singh
The revolutionary ideals of Shaheed Bhagat Singh have become more than relevant in today's time. It is beyond the imaginations of many how a man who just lived 23 years…
Uphold the Constitutional Right of Farmers to Protest
For the last one week thousands of farmers in several parts of India have been protesting against three farm reform bills that were finally passed by the ruling party in…
John Hersey, Hiroshima, and the End of World
Whether you’re reading this with your morning coffee, just after lunch, or on the late shift in the wee small hours of the morning, it’s 100 seconds to midnight. That’s…
Imagine Trump or Biden In Church Praying For Yemeni Children Facing Starvation and US missiles?
Noting the history of the child genocide in Yemen as only one example of America's genocidal foreign policy and cruel criminal media managed political distraction away from compassionate public interest,…
Film Screening On Kandhamal And Webinar
Pedestrian pictures weekend screening VOICES FROM THE RUINS: Kandhamal In Search of Justice directed by K P Sasi from 25th September 2020 Friday , 6 PM onwards. Please follow this…
Hyderabad Police Action (1948 Sep 13-17, Part-2) : The Screen Play and the Heroes
( Since Part-1 of this article was published on Sep20, we had the sad news that Andre Vltchek is no more. This article in countercurrents.org, which has been a platform…
What If Preventing Collapse Isn’t Profitable?
The real downside of the green-profit narrative has been that it created the assumption in many people's minds that the solution to climate change and other environmental dilemmas is technical,…
Breonna Taylor protests erupt across the U.S. and 2 police officers shot
Protesters took to the streets in cities across the U.S. after Kentucky grand jury indicted a former Louisville police detective involved in the March 13 shooting death of 26-year-old Breonna…
The Ecological Impact Of Militarism
Against the Institution of War As we start the 21st century and the new millennium, our scientific and technological civilization seems to be entering a period of crisis. Today, for…
Need for enhancing old age pension and other pension benefits under NSAP
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Articles 21 and 41 of the Constitution cast an obligation on the State to ensure that the aged and other…
Assange’s Twelfth Day at the Old Bailey: Autism, Suicide and Prisons
September 23. Central Criminal Court, London.: Following the script sheet of the previous day, the non sequitur, pop medical view of the prosecution was again in sharp evidence at the…
Palestinians Are Not Numbers: On the Future of the Palestinian Discourse
Palestine can never be truly understood through numbers, because numbers are dehumanizing, impersonal, and, when necessary, can also be contrived to mean something else entirely. Numbers are not meant to…
Andrei Tarkovsky, Satyajit Ray And Mani Kaul
Endurance of pain is an idea directly drawn from Christianity. However, in the Indian context, historically, endurance of pain is regarded as un-knowledge, avidya (in Sanskrit an antonym of knowledge,…
How old is the Kashmir Dispute?
There can be, and have been, countless books on Kashmir and Kashmiris. Given its geopolitical importance in the Indian subcontinent and the constant needling by Pakistan, Kashmir has been a…
Our duty is to ensure that our young ones survive
What does civilization stand for and what it has produced over its four to five thousand years of its existence. In Western Europe from the earliest civilised times those societies…
The Dying Planet Report 2020
The World Wildlife Foundation, in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London, recently issued an eye-popping description of the forces of humanity versus life in nature, the Living Planet Report…
The US is using the Guardian to justify jailing Assange for life. Why is the paper so silent?
Julian Assange is not on trial simply for his liberty and his life. He is fighting for the right of every journalist to do hard-hitting investigative journalism without fear of…
Andre, friend
Andre, your last moments in Karaköy, İstanbul are yet unknown. But, we know you with your actions and stand – anti-imperialist. Andre Vltchek, (1962 – September 22, 2020), a fighter, was…
Has Living in America been a “Serendipitous Outcome?”
Some of the greatest things, as I understand, they have come about by serendipity, the greatest discoveries. – Alan Alda Has living in America been a “serendipitous outcome” for me?…
Farm Bills: Punjab Farmers Rise Up In Anger
Punjab Farmers Movement reaches a crescendo in shimmering spark of resistance against Agricultural Land Ordinances and preparation for bandh on September 25th One of the most intense agitations in recent…
Refer FCRA bill, 2020 to a Select/Standing Committee of the Parliament
Voluntary Action Network India (VANI), being an apex body/national association of Indian voluntary development organizations strongly feels that the FCRA bill, 2020 will be a death blow to the…
“Older!” … “Not: Old!”
1. Crackling Aging is like a multitude of doors, closing in back alleys—sunless… (or lit by a lamppost in a film noir script). You think you see a beautiful face—gas-lit,…
Arctic sea ice shrinks to its second-lowest annual minimum extent ever
Arctic sea ice reached a minimum extent of 3.74 million square kilometers on September 15, likely the annual low, and the second lowest minimum on record. The orange line represents…
Assange’s Eleventh Day at the Old Bailey: Suicide, Hallucinations and Psychological Torture
September 22. Central Criminal Court, London: Today, the prosecutors in the Julian Assange case did their show trial predecessors from other legal traditions proud. The ghosts of such figures as…
The UAE-Israel deal’s historicity is in the fine print
A close read of the agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel suggests that the Jewish state has won far more than diplomatic recognition. It won acknowledgement of its…
(Un)Civil War?
When it rains, pieces of glass, pottery, and metal rise through the mud in the hills surrounding my Maryland home. The other day, I walked outside barefoot to fetch one…
Strange Celebrations of the UN 75th Anniversary
Leaders Hated and Feared Make False Claims of Global Peace, Security and Justice “Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Justice in the life of…
“Manifest Destiny” and the Mexican-American War
Each year tens of thousands of Irish-Americans proudly celebrate their heritage on St Patrick Day, yet few are aware of the fate of the Irish in the St Patrick’s Battalion,el…
A peacock, divine providence and we
At that time, the peacock was eating the grain given by its lord in the bungalow of Lok Kalyan Marg. And by that time, the number of coronavirus affected people…
Iran – US Sanctions – Unilateralism – Turning the Clock Back to Before the Nuclear Deal
Background Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has slammed U-S sanctions against his country, saying they are a flagrant violation of the U-N charter. In an address to the UN General Assembly,…
Another Reason to Change Our Species Name!
In my “Changing Our Species Name” I question Homo sapiens as an appropriate name for our species, and suggest an alternative that I believe to be more appropriate. The reason…
André Vltchek – Remembered
André, my good friend and comrade is no more. We worked on several investigative projects together. André’s professional rigor, sharpness of understanding, vision and ability to connecting the dots is…
You Can Ask Me….But
Ask me How I’m doing What I’m thinking about But Ask me What the future holds Where I’ll be But Ask me About the pain About the sadness But Ask…
Before teaching in English medium, first improve the shoddy text books
The discussion on the new education policy so far seems to have omitted the subject of text books. The quality of most text books so far is considered quite poor,…
A Moral Debate
Any moralistic discussion on social dialectics and civilized ethics is bound to generate euphony when the positive vibes of Harmony vibrate and are complemented by Justice. The great Greek philosopher…
The End of Reality?
In 1888, the year before he went insane, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote the following in Twilight of the Idols: We have got rid of the real world: what world is left? The…
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