Air and water both flow And mix and merge Neither lives But give life Noises echo Voices carry Smells and sounds Join us together Colors can run If they touch Languages mesh At meal time Not yours Not mine Not his, hers or theirs We are bound together
Coal is now a major subject of news on India. This is happening in the background of the on-going war in Ukraine and West’s pressure on India to join West’s sanctions on Russia. A Reuters report from Chennai — Power-hungry India halts passenger trains to free up track to move coal — said on April 30, 2022: India has boosted[Read More…]
The incidents from Ram Navami to Hanuman Jayanti have more than shaken the nation. The ‘bulldozer of Hate’ demolished not only several households but also our Constitutional values. Backing up on this now loud speakers in Mosque is being made an issue by divisive politics. While most Muslim groups are for abiding by the instructions of Courts, the BJP-MNS (Raj[Read More…]
Aligarh city in Uttar Pradesh is known for two things – the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and the lock manufacturing industries. Aligarh is a university town, notable as the seat of AMU, which was founded here as Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College in 1975, initiating the Aligarh Movement. Sir Hamilton Gibb, who was an eminent Scottish Orientalist from England who taught[Read More…]
The High Court of Gujarat recently rebuked the State Bank of India for not issuing a no dues certificate to a farmer due to the pending dues of just, believe it or not, 37 paise ( not Rs.) in his accounts! This should be read along with the statistics that the same bank wrote off loans amounting to Rs. 34,402 [Read More…]
There is near-consensus in the academia that facts and facts alone are sovereign in research,and theories are suspect.This does not prevent reputed scholars to author huge times on ‘the end of ideology’,’the clash of civilizations’,’the mind of Islam’, ‘the fading of the American dream’,and so on.Nevertheless the insistence is reiterated ad nauseam. It is especially when someone writes something that[Read More…]
France’s economy, the euro zone’s second-biggest economy, growth unexpectedly ground to a halt in the first quarter while Germany, Europe’s largest economy, faces possibility of tipping into recession. The war in Ukraine is the major cause of this situation. A Reuters report said: France’s economy growth unexpectedly ground to a halt in the first quarter as consumer spending dropped in[Read More…]
High Court places restraints Instead Of Protecting People’s Rights Around 2000 rural poor, mostly adivasis, came from across Telangana to join a protest at the dharna chowk, Hyderabad on April 28, 2022. The Grameena Pedala Sangham had to conduct its demonstration, with about 200 people, as per conditions laid down by the government and the High Court. It was focusing[Read More…]
We need change-making—both big and small—around the world, that challenges the structural causes of militarism, corrupt capitalism, and climate catastrophe, while at the same time, concretely creating an alternative system based on a just and sustainable peace. The past two and a half years of pandemic, food shortages, racial uprisings, economic collapse, and now another war are enough to make one[Read More…]
It has become increasingly clear to the world that there is not one, but two, actually three, distinct levels of conflict embedded in what the world’s media and political leadership deceptively insist of calling the ‘Ukraine War.’ The first level was clearly initiated on February 24, 2022 when Russia launched an aggressive war against Ukraine imperiling its sovereign rights and[Read More…]
The Japanese government’s decision one year ago to dump radioactive water from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant storage tanks into the Pacific Ocean, starting in the spring of 2023, is facing increasing pressure to back off, especially in light of the facts that not only is it illegal but also morally reprehensible as well as a despicable disregard for the[Read More…]
The hysteria in Canberra and Washington over the Sino-Solomon Islands security pact has shown, again, how irrelevant the individual affairs of Pacific Island states are in the chess game of geopolitics. The one thing conspicuously missing has been the issue of climate change, near and dear to those whose lands are gradually being inundated by rising sea levels. In a[Read More…]
Last month our park system sponsored a lecture by a renowned ornithologist, describing the international attention our part of the Lake Erie shoreline gets during spring bird migration. One thing he explained was that large birds like ducks and eagles travel typically by day, navigating by land features, whereas songbirds and warblers fly at night and navigate off the stars.[Read More…]
Roeland Park, KS: The Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-KS) has called upon Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly to issue an executive order for the removal of the vestigial racist covenants contained in property records across the state. The unenforceable covenants contain insulting, degrading and discriminatory language from a bygone era that are hurtful to many homeowners.[Read More…]
A new freely downloadable book I would like to announce the publication of a book which describes the early history of the earth, and the evolution of humans. The book may be downloaded and circulated free of charge from the following link: https://eacpe.org/content/uploads/2022/04/Lives-in-Prehistory-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf Human history as cultural history We need to reform our teaching of history so that the emphasis[Read More…]
The Zameen Prapt Sangharsh Commitee Sangrur-Patiala for a prolonged period of five hours gheraoed the main gate of the Community Centre in Rampur Chatra village in Sangrur ,demanding implementation of land distribution reserved for dalit community ,from 12.30 to 5.30.The speakers of the gathering raised their voice against the auctioning of land at unfair prices and demanded a fair price.[Read More…]
The Tamils are an ancient people. Their history had its beginnings in the rich alluvial plains near the southern extremity of peninsular India which included the land mass known as the island of Sri Lanka today. The island’s plant and animal life (including the presence of elephants) evidence the earlier land connection with the Indian sub continent. So too do[Read More…]
Immemorial February 21 produced significant political literature. The literature is evidence of political, and to be definite, class position of concerned parties; be it a group or political party, a faction or a political trend or establishment. The communist party in this land, brutally assaulted by the neo-colonial state of Pakistan, had not forsaken its fundamental position – a society[Read More…]
While Safety is First Priority, Serious Problems of the Poor Living Nearby Should Also be Reduced A big fire at the Bhalsawa landfill near Delhi has led to the emergence of a highly hazardous situation in Delhi. Official sources have attributed this to the release of mehane gas, a GHG many times more more potent than carbon dioxide in terms[Read More…]
European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni has admitted that the European Union’s economy is facing stagnation. “The situation in Ukraine presents an uncertainty and unpredictability factor for Europe, economic growth will obviously slow down with a stagnation risk,” he was quoted as saying during the Confcommercio-Ambrosetti forum on Thursday by the ANSA news agency. Much depends on “the duration of[Read More…]
Recent reports indicate increasing problems in the implementation of MG-NREGA in Himachal Pradesh, the most disturbing aspect being the long delays in the payments of workers. A front page, top news report in a leading newspaper of this region Amar Ujala stated on April 28, “ in most gram panchayats of Himachal Pradesh daily wage payments of thousands of workers [Read More…]
The world is littered with wreckage of many countries that fell prey to colonialism’s and imperialism’s ruthless march. All superpowers have hegemonic goals. One can only hope that such goals are achieved with minimum damage to vulnerable targeted countries and with minimum blowback that may make such policies and actions a spectacular failure. The U.S. way of colonizing other nations[Read More…]
On April 21st, President Biden announced new shipments of weapons to Ukraine, at a cost of $800 million to U.S. taxpayers. On April 25th, Secretaries Blinken and Austin announced over $300 million more military aid. The United States has now spent $3.7 billion on weapons for Ukraine since the Russian invasion, bringing total U.S. military aid to Ukraine since 2014[Read More…]
Sanctions are a form of warfare, and few would deny that we have moved into a new era of economic warfare with sanctions, led by the US, have become the norm, rather than the exception. This was the conclusion recently of the pro-Western World Economic Forum. If there is general agreement that sanctions are a form of warfare, and not[Read More…]
A freedom fighter who was killed at the age of 45 in prison in the most cruel way, Sagarmal Gopa was one of those who dared to challenge the might of the cruel royal kingdoms which often operated in even more arbitrary ways than the main colonial government and provided hardly any avenues for dissent. Gopa stood up against such[Read More…]
The Bhagat Singh Chatra Morcha in Varanasi Hindu University campus and Inquilabi Chatra Morcha in Allahabad University campus have been playing a vanguard role as mascots in the crusade against Brahmanical fascism and been consistent torch bearers in shimmering the views of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh..They have done the utmost to integrate or fuse the views of Ambedkar[Read More…]
The euro plummeted to a five-year low against the US dollar during Wednesday’s trading, amid heightened fears of a possible energy crisis and an economic slowdown in Europe. Media reports from Europe said: As of 11:01am GMT, the euro/dollar exchange rate was down to $1.061 from the previous closing level of $1.0636. Earlier in the day’s trading, the index fell[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Please refer to my letters dated 6-3-2022, 11-4-2022, 16-4-2022 & 23-4-2022 addressed to you on the manner in which the proposed LIC IPO would do gross injustice to millions of its policyholders, largely belonging to the SCs/STs/OBCs. In my letters cited, I have pointed out to you the five-fold[Read More…]
by Thomas Klikauer and Meg Young Many people would quite correctly argue that the conceptual pair of “communication and capitalism” are more about capitalism than communication and the media. While the imperatives of capitalism carry on, the requirements of corporate media become ever more determining. More and more, the media – print, TV, online, etc. – define our lives from[Read More…]
It was summer 1982 in the aftermath of the Zionist invasion and the total destruction of the camp by the Zionist planes. For this reason, the camp residents could live in semi-destroyed houses without doors or windows without suffering from severe cold. Therefore, the main concern was that winter would come before reconstructing their homes. I used to hear these[Read More…]
by Yevgeny Ivanov & Ashish Kumar Singh Does Russia need workers? The labor force in Russia is gradually declining. This indicator reached its peak in 2008-2011. Then the labor market was 76 million people, or 53% of the total population of the country. By 2020 that figure has fallen below 73 million, less than 51% of the total population. Employees[Read More…]
Pakistan has been rocked by demonstrations throughout the country since the ouster of former Prime Minister Imran Khan from power. This development has been a surprise not only to Khan’s detractors, but to Khan’s supporters as well. The size of these rallies has been astonishing. What they have also demonstrated is that the Pakistanis who have been outraged by recent[Read More…]
Pawan Guru, Paani Pita, Mata Dharat Mahatt (Air is the guide, Water is the father, the earth is a mother)”. That’s the message of Guru Nanak, the founder of one of the most progressive and modern religions of the world. While everyone across the globe celebrated Earth Day recently, the idea of respecting nature was never alien to the followers[Read More…]
It is a matter of great concern that mindless mining and aggressive industrialization in Odisha, has become the root cause of deprivation of thousands of innocent people who have been depending on natural resources for generations for sustaining their life and livelihood. Absence of collective political will to take up people’s causes has further added to the worries of the[Read More…]
A Timely Warning by Over 100 Very Senior Ex-Bureaucrats On 26 April over 100 former senior civil servants of India belonging to the Constitutional Conduct Group sent a letter to the Prime Minister drawing attention to the shocking increase in communal violence and government response to this. What is stated in this letter is so important that this should be[Read More…]
On April 24th we commemorated the 50th anniversary of The Communist party of Turkey -(Marxist Leninist) or TKP(ML).With the tenacity of a boulder withstanding a thunderstorm it resisted the Turkish bourgeois-feudal fascist state, giving a striking blow to religious fundamentalism.. Even after receiving the most mortal blows, it resurrected itself like a phoenix from the Ashes to enable new roses[Read More…]
Reports of water shortages and forest fires have been appearing all through the month of April in Himachal Pradesh. It is ironical that the tourist rush to popular hill-stations like Shimla, Manali and Kasauli increased heavily during this month, even though increasing sufferings of local villagers were reported. According to rainfall data, the rainfall from March 1 to April 23[Read More…]
No No Muslim was killed in Gujarat No Muslim is being killed now The vendor* was not selling fruit No one vandalized his cart in Karnataka No No bird is dying from drying rivers The rivers are not being throttled to die The Yamuna is not full of toxic foam No No politician is spewing hate Yati Narasinghanand[Read More…]
Marx regarded peasants as incapable of revolution, and it was the industrial proletariat that Marxists reposed their faith to defeat the Capitalist class in Europe. However, it was a different case in China because China was a semi-feudal, semi-colonial society during Mao’s time. China was an agrarian society. So, Mao took advantage of the large population of peasants and aroused[Read More…]
It was an Earth Day to remember. On a beautiful sunny spring day, our local citizen coalition Reject Raytheon in Asheville, NC pulled off a three-part demonstration for the protection of the earth and earthlings and against the US military-industrial complex. We rallied, we paraded, and we performed a direct action. The event on Friday, April 22, began at 10[Read More…]
With Russian shells raining down on Ukrainian cities, an uneasy ceasefire in Yemen, the attack on Palestinians at prayer in Jerusalem and many other conflicts around the world, it might seem to some to be inappropriate to talk about peace. When a war is going on, though, it is absolutely the time to talk about peace. How else can we[Read More…]
Casualties of America’s Never-Ending Global War on Terror Madogaz Musa Abdullah still remembers the phone call. But what came next was a blur. He drove for hours, deep into the Libyan desert, speeding toward the border with Algeria. His mind buckled, his thoughts reeled, and more than three years later, he’s still not certain how he made that six-hour journey.[Read More…]
Dear Stan, It is your earthly birthday! You would have certainly felt embarrassed and even winced at the thought of anyone wishing you, leave alone celebrating your birthday today! In a style which has characterised you all your life here on earth – you would have shunned and even run away from the very idea of anyone attempting to organise[Read More…]
‘World Localization Day’ will be celebrated on 20 June. Organised by the non-profit Local Futures, this annual coming together of people from across the world began in 2020 and focuses on the need to localise supply-chains and recover our connection with nature and community. The stated aim is to “galvanize the worldwide localization movement into a force for systemic[Read More…]
When Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister was posing for pictures, adventurously sitting atop a bulldozer in the new JCB factory inaugurated recently in Gujarat, little did he realise (or, did he deliberately choose to ignore?) that only a few days earlier, similar bulldozers were deployed by the local authorities to demolish buildings in the Jahangirpuri colony in New Delhi[Read More…]
Article 51 A (h) of the Indian constitution says, “It shall be the duty of every citizen to develop the scientific temper, humanism, spirit of inquiry and reform.” Dr. Ambedkar in his writings and speeches always emphasized on developing scientific temper in the country. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the chief architect of the Indian constitution. He was a great social[Read More…]
It is shockingly painful and disconcerting to note that on the occasion of Ram Navami (April 10) there was widespread violence that the Hindutvavadis indulged in some of the states. This violence, as Praveen Swami sharply and rightly remarks in his thought provoking article, “[t]o the Neo-Hindutva gang members… isn’t a means to an end. Rather, it is the end in[Read More…]
(The following Memorandum had been submitted to the then President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee Ji in May 2013, and again to the present President Shri Ramnath Kovind JI in May 2017 by the Socialist Party (India). Simultaneously, the Memorandum was also placed in the public domain for a wider discussion on the issue through press releases, seminars and through[Read More…]
It is disgusting that the day Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani got bail at the CJM’s court,he was re-arrested on patently trumped-up charges of obstructing police officers from carrying out their duties and ‘outraging the modesty of a woman police officer’ by a police team from a different district of Assam. In both these cases the police are obviously the sole[Read More…]
The military spending of all nations combined set a new record in 2021, exceeding the $2 trillion mark for the first time ever, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed in a report published on Monday. According to the report, while the U.S. defense spending slid by 1.4% compared to 2020, Washington remained the absolute global leader, having lavished[Read More…]
So, again France dribbled well, seven months ahead of the World Cup Football and escaped the trap of fascism, is it so? Many persons who are anxious of worldwideweb of fascism and its forward march were seen to be relieved and taking breath of respite. But there are, alas, many buts and we must visit some. A point which might[Read More…]
“I hear the universal cock-crowing with surprise and pleasure, as if I never heard it before. What a tough fellow! How native to the earth!” —Henry David Thoreau Chickens are indeed native to the earth. Despite centuries of domestication—from the tropical forest to the farmyard to the factory farm—the call of the wild has always been in the chicken’s heart. Far[Read More…]
Boy, all you hear from both sides of the Two Party/One Party dribble, along with their embedded mainstream media, is how we are a ‘ Democracy’. Then they preach, according to which side of the right wing sphere they inhabit, how ‘ Our democracy is under threat.’ According to the Open Secrets website, the total money spent on Congressional and[Read More…]
Those who pass between fleeting words Take your names with you and go Rid our time of your hours, and go Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet The occupation has become a fait accompli, and we had to face a new, bitter reality. Our situation has become like the situation in occupied Palestine. The priority for us is restoring everyday life despite[Read More…]
An important aspect of climate change that clearly affects many Asian and African countries more is that a very large part of their working population toils in open spaces. In a country like India where over two-thirds of the population is rural and a significant section of urban workers, like construction workers, also do much of their work in the[Read More…]
PART ONE SOMETHING FUNDAMENTAL IN HUMANS DRIVES UKRAINIAN WAR FORWARD If World War III’s Nuclear holocaust begins in Ukraine it will because of the same madness caused by the same hatred, greed, hypocrisy and fascism driven by the same oligarch’s, plutocrat’s and militarists in the same empires of both the west and the east, who, especially in the past one[Read More…]
Face it, we’re living in a world that, while anything but exceptional, is increasingly the exception to every rule. Only the other day, 93-year-old Noam Chomsky had something to say about that. Mind you, he’s seen a bit of our world since, in 1939, he wrote his first article for his elementary school newspaper on the fall of the Spanish[Read More…]
Secular religions are hard to battle in terms of their misplaced assumptions. In some ways, they are even harder to fight than those based on mythical gods and superstitious foundations, many drawn from desert religions and sandy practice. ANZAC, the name of the Australian New Zealand Army Corps, hardly sounds promising as the basis of a religion. But since the[Read More…]
(Continuing my testimony about the massacre Zionists committed in the Palestinian Burj shimali camp during the Israeli invasion to Lebanon in 1982) One day someone came from the camp and told us that the Israelis did not enter the camp. We were tired of being in the Lebanese village, and we were in a horrible situation, although the Lebanese owner[Read More…]
One disturbing and intriguing aspect of current opposition politics is the persistent illusion that but for a few exceptions it is business as usual in politics.It is not.There is a vast,far-reaching but insidious and unobtrusive plan at work to change the character of the state.The campaign is two-pronged,both from the level of the state and the level of popular mobilization.Every[Read More…]
Fascist groupings and their associated policies of religio-fanaticism are in the ascendant throughout the world. While some are emerging from the political peripheries – slowly but steadily gaining traction on the terrain of ideological hegemony – some have already taken the reins of state power. India is no exception to this global trend. In this political context, April 22, 2022[Read More…]
In difficult times of resource crunch if some important development needs remain unmet then this can be understood, but what about a situation when funds have been sanctioned and allocated but despite clear and crying need for utilization of these funds, these remain unspent and ultimately lapse. It is this big failure that is becoming a big debating point in[Read More…]
Abhinav Kumar (Misreading the Kashmir Files, IE, 16th April 2022) takes on the liberals with gay abandon. As per him the secularism in India faces a grave challenge from Islamic fundamentalism of which the conflict in Kashmir is the most egregious example. He ardently defends the film Kashmir Files. Kashmir Files is in the media and social scenario in a[Read More…]
by Akshat Jain and Shahrukh Khatib Utpal Kumar, writer extraordinaire for Firstpost, and executive editor for iTV Network according to his LinkedIn profile, has written an article to explain ‘How communal flare-up in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri exposes liberal, intellectual and even political ineptitude’. He uses the bogey of Jahangirpuri riots to attack liberals for allowing Muslims to be intolerant. This article[Read More…]
Rural Decentralization is Crucial for Strengthening Grassroots Democracy and People-Centered Development. A Reminder to Resist Over-centralizing and Corporatization Trends Today the 30th National Panchayati Raj is being observed in India. On this day we remember the passing of the 73th constitutional amendment for panchayati raj and rural decentralization in 1992. Although panchayati raj existed earlier also but the system of[Read More…]
Three members of Boris Johnson’s team and two from Sir Keir Starmer’s have been referred to the new parliamentary watchdog set up amid the #MeToo scandal, The Sunday Times reports. The UK cabinet ministers are among more than 50 MPs reportedly facing allegations of sexual misconduct after being referred to a parliamentary watchdog. Media reports from UK said: Misconduct of 56 MPs[Read More…]
Close to Saharanpur in Western UP and Haridwar and Dehradun in the hill state of Uttarakhand, sprawls the dense forests of the Rajaji National Park. With elephant corridors stretching across the zigzag of the green density into the Jim Corbett National Park and a precious tiger and wildlife sanctuary near the upper regions of the Kumaon hills, the Rajaji National[Read More…]
After the 2014 coup and eight years of fighting between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists, history has once again exploded and returned to the stage in Ukraine. As Westerners with governments who act blatantly hostile and belligerent to Russia, we should ask: was Russia provoked, and if so, how? It is important to question how and why this conflict[Read More…]
There are some fascinating similarities between the Crimean War of the 1850s and the Ukraine War of 2022. According to Norman Rich, author of “The Crimean War” its main purpose was the containment of an expanding Russia as European powers had become fearful of Russia’s extension of power under Tsarist rule. One of the questions Rich addressed was why peace[Read More…]
Mourning is commonly associated with death of a near and dear loved one. Apathy, a turning away from the outer world, lack of interest in activities un-connected with the loved object is states of mind associated with the loss. Social and religious practices provide avenues and space for these emotions and help in coming to terms with the loss after[Read More…]
Amid the highly polarized political atmosphere the love hate love relationship between Nitish Kumar and Muslims of Bihar is an outlier where by and large the two protagonists have maintained mutual respect despite belonging to two diametrically opposite political camps. The investigation of this relationship and the mutual regard is important as both the parties to this socio-political construct behave[Read More…]
France is now a major area of focus in today’s geopolitics. Its on-going election is the issue. The current geopolitical scene with the background of the Ukraine war has pulled much attention to France’s election. The current election scene in the matured bourgeois democracy exemplifies a part of the bourgeois politics. What has happened there with election? The tough competition[Read More…]
In the media, we see one-sided media campaign against Ethiopia, where armed war has broken out between the central government and rebels in the northern province of Tigray. In the absence of knowledge of the content of the conflict, Western governments and the media choose to support the rebels’ narrative. Rebels who have strong friends in Washington. One is tempted[Read More…]
Joint or cooperative e farming has enhanced the welfare of the dalit landless agricultural labour Community significantly in Punjab.With most organised methods the labour has been woven together. Through pooling resources substantial gains have been achieved. The agricultural labourers have acquired reserved land on annual lease by paying from the very own pockets .Dalit families have contributed money to pay[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Please refer to my letters dated 6-3-2022, 11-4-2022 & 16-4-2022 addressed to you on the manner in which the proposed LIC IPO would do gross injustice to its policyholders, largely belonging to the SCs/STs/OBCs (https://countercurrents.org/2022/03/lic-ipo-gross-injustice-to-the-smaller-lic-policy-holders-especially-those-belonging-to-the-scs-sts-obcs/ & https://countercurrents.org/2022/04/most-disadvantaged-policy-holders-to-lose-out-in-lic-ipo/ & https://countercurrents.org/2022/04/lic-ipo-gross-injustice-to-the-smaller-lic-policy-holders/) In my earlier correspondence, I had brought to your notice the following disturbing[Read More…]
The most upending event of the past 10,000 years is the advent of engineered food as fermentation farms displace factory farms. “We are on the Cusp of the Fastest, Deepest, Most Consequential Disruption of Agriculture in History.” (RethinkX.com) “Modern foods will bankrupt the cattle industry within a decade.” (RethinkX) More on that to follow, but first: Industrial farming, alongside global[Read More…]
The United States is facing two grim prospects in 2022: one, that continued abuse of the ecosphere could render much of the Earth unlivable for humans and myriad other species, and two, that the United States’ current political drift toward autocratic rule could accelerate, dashing any hope of attaining a multiracial, pluralistic democracy. These two emergencies are intertwined. Either we[Read More…]
Visits to Honiara, part plea, part threat. Delegations equipped with a note of harassment. That was the initial Australian effort to convince the Solomon Islands that the decision to make a security pact with Beijing was simply not appropriate in the lotus land of Washington’s Pacific empire. Despite an election campaign warming up, Senator Zed Seselja found time to tell[Read More…]
We were in a Lebanese village where all of us who came from the Burj shimali camp gathered in one room. The Zionist army treated the Lebanese in that period well, intending to win the sympathy of the Lebanese people. But this changed after some time when the Lebanese realized that Israel’s goals were far beyond eliminating the PLO. Indeed[Read More…]
When things deteriorate very rapidly in any country , there is a tendency—and a temptation– to discuss the situation more in terms of the lead personalities, particularly if these happen to be as colorful as Imran Khan. Yet there is a clear need to go beyond mere personalities and look at some of those problems which appear to be more[Read More…]
Congress party is apparently gambling a little too much on Prashant Kishor. He is not a jinn nor is a miracle-man who can suddenly reverse political fortunes of Congress with his strategies. It may be recalled, his services were of hardly any help to Congress in 2017 Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly elections. Even his inclusion in the party is least[Read More…]
The recent period has seen a series of events, where bulldozers were used in Muslim areas. This started in Khargone in Madhya Pradesh and later in Jehangirpuri in Delhi. Both of these follow a similar pattern. The Hindu mobs enter the Muslim locations on the pretext of yatra either Ram Navami or Hanuman Jayanti. The mobs instead of going to[Read More…]
The Covid lockdowns saw thousands of children deprived of schooling across the country and even after resumption of classes many from poorer families have not returned to school. In Bihar’s Siwan district though two special initiatives are raising hope of tackling the problems of students dropping out by making school truly attractive to the children. The unique initiatives at government[Read More…]
I am immensely and most disagreeably surprised by the excessive action of the Assam Police in arresting legislator Jignesh Mewani from far-off Gujarat for a bitter critical comment on the Prime Minister on the complaint of someone from Assam. The complainant may have the highest regard for the Prime Minister.But others are within their rights to hold and air a[Read More…]
Women Panchayat Leaders Fighting Powerful Interests Should Get Protection It is shocking to know from recent media reports that 21 year old Neha Verma, the youngest woman Pradhan (or elected head-person of officially constituted village council) was attacked in her village (Tambar in Palampur region). She is reported to have received serious injuries on her neck. She was attacked[Read More…]
This year the Earth Day is being observed at a time when the dangers to our once beautiful and bountiful planet appear to be at their most extreme. This is not just because of the more worrying projections of climate change by leading scientists, or because of similar projections of a worsening situation with respect to other serious environmental problems.[Read More…]
What songs can we sing for you O Mother, on this Earth Day? Intercontinental missiles fly. You lie wounded by bombs. Wombs emptied into tombs of soldiers weep, decimated by the monsters of war. What songs can we sing for you O Mother, on this Earth Day? We should have sung of flowing fields, and waving trees[Read More…]
written on the eve of Earth Day, 2022 i spit an iron ball at you i spit a ball a meteor of fire… i spit into your eyes i spit into your ruptured heart on puddles of your interrupted blood into your splattered brain, onto your speechless tongue i spit on the splinters and charred ruins that before were houses[Read More…]
In terms of labyrinthine callousness and indifference to justice, the treatment of lawyer Bernard Collaery by the Australian government must be slotted alongside that of another noted Australian currently being held in the maximum-security facility of Belmarsh, London. While Collaery has not suffered the same deprivations of liberty as publisher extraordinaire Julian Assange, both share the target status accorded them[Read More…]
The 54th anniversary of the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., just passed. Dr. King was shot down while organizing low-wage sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. At that time, he was building the Poor People’s Campaign, an effort to organize America’s poor into a force to be reckoned with. In his opposition to the Vietnam War and his promotion of a campaign[Read More…]
Sashi Tharoor pertinently observed: “While our mainstream media was distracted by hijab, halal, and azan, India’s labour force shrunk by 3.8 million in March. Unemployment rose across sectors.76 lakh jobs were lost in industry, 41 lakh in manufacturing, and 29 lakh in construction”. Communal riots had broken out in as many as four states including Delhi over last weekend. Violence has accompanied dozens of communal riots across[Read More…]
by Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen In a 1970 poster for the first Earth Day and a cartoon the following year, Walt Kelly’s Pogo offered a hard truth about ecological crises: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” That doesn’t mean there are no differences in individuals’ contribution to those crises. Landowners, not agricultural workers who harvest crops,[Read More…]
I continue writing about the massacres that took place in the Burj Shimali camp due to the savage bombing of the Israeli planes in June 1982. I think of all those who lost their lives at the hands of the criminal Zionists. They are not numbers, but people I knew, lived with and knew their hopes and aspirations. Most of[Read More…]
by Dr. Dilnaz Boga and Rohit Ranjan We are living in times when societies across the world are struggling with socio-economic, political, ecological and spiritual crises. Simultaneously, disparities between social classes in terms of resource appropriation and allocation are growing starker with time. Despite the severity of crises in all walks of human life in the twenty-first century, the question[Read More…]
Israel’s central bank has made the biggest changes to its allocation of reserves in over a decade, adding the Chinese yuan alongside three other currencies to a stockpile that last year exceeded $200 billion for the first time ever. A Bloomberg report said: Starting this year, the currency mix will expand from the trio of the U.S. dollar, the euro[Read More…]
One of the most important requirements of our troubled world is a meaningful system of education which is able to create joyful, interesting conditions of learning linked to strong ethical values of justice, equality, honesty, truth, compassion, non-violence, care of all living beings, protection of environment and courage. A key question that any student should be exploring is—how can I[Read More…]
It was a dastardly formality. On April 20, at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, Julian Assange, beamed in via video link from Belmarsh Prison, his carceral home for three years, is to be extradited to the United States to face 18 charges, 17 based on the US Espionage Act of 1917. The final arbiter will be the UK Secretary[Read More…]
An Alert and Warning! NATO Secretary-general calls for “transformation” of NATO into a fighting force against Russia and China Noam Chomsky, 93, issues warning: ‘We’re approaching the most dangerous point in human history’ Let people throughout the world speak out now and organize against the posturing for, and promotion of a world war that could easily become a nuclear war that[Read More…]
A friend, a young journalist in Gaza, Mohammed Rafik Mhawesh, told me that food prices in the besieged Strip have skyrocketed in recent weeks and that many already impoverished families are struggling to put food on the table. “Food prices are dramatically surging,” he said, “particularly since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war.” Essential food prices, like wheat and meat,[Read More…]
Apple orchards have become a leading livelihood source in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in Himachal Pradesh. However orchard owners have been troubled from time to time by several problems including competition from indiscriminate imports and reducing margins. In such a situation sometimes they are tempted to go in for technologies which offer a quick way to increasing yields[Read More…]
A British judge on Wednesday officially approved the U.S. government’s request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who faces espionage charges for publishing classified material that exposed war crimes by American forces. The judge’s new and widely expected procedural order, the culmination of a drawn-out legal battle, places the final decision on Assange’s extradition in the hands of U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel,[Read More…]
Sometimes a few words are worth a thousand pictures – at least when it comes to Ukraine. Here’s one of them: The Ukrainian leader said that his country hadn’t been willing to cede territory from the beginning. “Had we been willing to give up our territory, there would have been no war,” Zelensky said. So the question recurs. Why is it[Read More…]
In the background of the present war in Ukraine, much is being written by political commentators about the reasons why the Indian head of state Narendra Modi has taken an outwardly neutral stand towards his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin – a position which can be described variously as ambivalent, or even crypto-friendly. India’s abstention from voting in favour of resolutions [Read More…]
The recent decision by the Supreme Court to look into “limiting the scope” of “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS), which is an important part of the Clean Water Act of 1972, is likely to further threaten America’s biodiverse ecosystems. The Clean Water Act refers to WOTUS but does not clearly define it, leaving its definition up for interpretation by the government and the Environmental[Read More…]
Placid is not the only distinctive feature of this government in Goa. Well after a month since election results were announced, the BJP is tottering with government formation. Governance is near-invisible. In quick time, the government has made known anti-democratic/anti-people credentials. It pretends it is pro-development when, in fact it is the opposite. Ministers are openly dismissive of people’s aspirations.[Read More…]
(This tribute to Justice Rajinder Sachar had been written on his second death anniversary, 20 April 2020, and was published in several magazines/portals. The same has been reissued on the occasion of his fourth death anniversary, 20 April 2022.) The second death anniversary of Justice Rajinder Sachar falls on 20 April 2020. On this solemn occasion as we remember him[Read More…]
Prologue Some years back, I was visiting government schools in an eastern state of India, when the government official accompanying me said, “Let me take you to a SMART school, which is doing exceptionally well”. With much anticipation and apprehension (because I’ve already had experienced some SMART schools in other states), I agreed, and within half an hour’s drive we[Read More…]
Recently this year (Mid April 2022) the incidents on Ramnavami and then on Hanuman Jayanti were very disturbing to say the least. On Ramnavami, the major incidents which shook us were in Gujarat, Khambata and Himmat Nagar, in MP in Khargone, in Karnatka in Gulbarga, Raichur and Kolar, in UP in Sitapur and in Goa in Islampura. These are few[Read More…]
A Vancouver-based online magazine has started another campaign for the jailed Indian scholar. Radical Desi had previously initiated a petition for the release of Prof. G.N. Saibaba, who is being incarcerated under brutal conditions in spite of being disabled below the waist. Now it has begun an online petition ( https://www.change.org/p/nobel-prize-for-gn-saibaba) asking for the Nobel prize in recognition of his[Read More…]
In the lead up to the semi-annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank being held in Washington this week, the global aid agency Oxfam has produced a report detailing the horrendous impact of rising inflation, coming on top of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, for almost half the world’s population. It said the[Read More…]
In early April this year there was outrage across the country when photographs emerged of eight journalists and theatre artists stripped to their underwear in a police station in Madhya Pradesh. They had been arrested by the police in Sidhi district on 2nd April over a protest against the arrest of theatre artist Neeraj Kunder, at the behest of a[Read More…]
The pattern of Ram Navami processions becoming occasions for display of Islamophobic bigotry, followed by anti-Muslim violence, is being witnessed in atleast nine states; including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, New Delhi, Goa, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Karnataka, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar. “Jai Shree Ram” slogans were chanted in front of mosques by sword wielding crowds waving saffron flags. The processions taken out[Read More…]
This month, the government of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined an ignominious collective in announcing a refugee deal with Rwanda, seedily entitled the UK-Rwanda Migration Partnership. The fact that such terms are used – a partnership or deal connotes contract and transaction – suggests how inhumane policies towards those seeking sanctuary and a better life have become. In no[Read More…]
India has been sending wheat and life –saving medicines to the people of Afghanistan through Attari-wagah integrated post since the Taliban leaders took over the reins of government in Afghanistan. The government of Pakistan under former Prime Minister Imran Khan showed a goodwill gesture and the current regime under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended permission for two months[Read More…]
Goa was in crisis mode on Sunday when Hindu-Muslim clashes occurred in the vicinity of Vasco. A large crowd of Ram Navami processionists marched through Vasco on the occasion of Ram Navami on 10th April. They chose the small and congested streets of the area rather than the broader convenient approved route thus creating disruption. At the conclusion, a small[Read More…]
At a time when inter-faith harmony is being disturbed at several places in the country, it is important to recall a very important lesson of our freedom movement—all the great leaders who got the maximum support and affection of people were those who stood firmly for inter-faith harmony. People generally identified two important streams of the freedom movement—the mainstream Congress[Read More…]
A long time ago in the Milky Way galaxy on a planet named Earth the trees died. It only happened once in the planet’s history. It was during the Permian-Triassic 252 million years ago. Henk Visscher, PhD, Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University makes a living studying exposed fossil beds of the transitional period of the Permian to Triassic era,[Read More…]
There is no Planet B. For most people that is obvious. No proof is required. I just examined a book and a website, both entitled There Is No Planet B. Neither contained any arguments to change the minds of those who believe that there is a Planet B. Because such people do exist. They say that to ensure its survival[Read More…]
by E Ahmet Tonak and Vijay Prashad An article written by authors John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge for Bloomberg on March 24 sounded the alarm to announce the end of “the second great age of globalization.” The Western trade war and sanctions against China that predated the pandemic have now been joined by the stiff Western sanctions imposed against Russia after it[Read More…]
by Roger McKenzie and Vijay Prashad War is an ugly part of the human experience. Everything about it is hideous. War is most obviously the act of invasion and the brutality that goes along with its operations. No war is precise; every war hurts civilians. Each act of bombardment sends a neurological shudder through a society. World War II demonstrated[Read More…]
Apathy!! Add that one to the list of: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. Sadly, the dumb down nature of our country lends for the nurturing of apathy. Travel through the supermarkets, Main Streets, malls and just about anywhere that Americans congregate and you can almost smell the foul odor of apathy. It seems that, with some exceptions,[Read More…]
As one who has followed Olympic women’s figure skating, especially since Michelle Kwan (ironically a Chinese-American), I was—as an egalitarian feminist when it comes to sports—excited to learn that there was a 15-year-old Russian woman skater, Kamila Valieva, who could do effortless quad jumps. Waiting in anticipation of her first Olympic performance, I listened to commentators and former US skaters[Read More…]
Jan Adhikar Manch, a coalition of trade unions, democratic rights groups and other progressive forces in Odisha, strongly condemns the manner in which Comrade Batakrushna Swain was arbitrarily foisted with fresh charges by the state police on 12 April 2022 as he was ready to leave the Puri jail. Comrade Batakrushna Swain, the Convenor of Upakuliya Jami o Jangal[Read More…]
‘The development of India may require mining, but are we (the adivasis) not a part of india? We don’t even know who has the mine, or how they acquired it”, -Indu Netam, the convenor of Adivasi Jan Van Adhikar Manch and a member of Mineral Inheritors Rights Association (MIRA) Understanding Mining in India The mining industry in India has[Read More…]
The Ukraine War is one of the most significant and sad events of our times. In the middle of several conflicting claims and counter claims, 11 facts regarding this war stand out as the most crucial With thousands dead and over four million displaced within a few weeks, this war has very high humanitarian costs. With each passing day the[Read More…]
In the first testimony about the Israeli massacres that took places in the Palestinian refugee camp Burj el Shimali in south Lebanon , I Said earlier that the Palestinian refugee camp was in ruins in every sense of the word due to the indiscriminating Israeli air raids. But despite all that, the young men of the camp rushed to the[Read More…]
Contemporary documents of the brutal massacre and people’s heroic resistance remain hidden in boxes of National Archives India has turned into a grazing field for all kinds of religious bigots led by the Hindutva gang. Even PM of the country who took oath to uphold democratic-secular polity is identifying himself as a Hindu nationalist as if he is in office[Read More…]
Didi kabhi shadi mat karna (Didi, never get married). Durga’s voice reverberated in the house during our morning ritual of chatting over a cup of piping hot tea. Durga, one of the thousands or probably lakhs of immigrants from Bihar, helps me with household chores. Mine is the first house she comes to in the morning, primarily because I have[Read More…]
by William D. Hartung and Julia Gledhill The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought immense suffering to the people of that land, while sparking calls for increased military spending in both the United States and Europe. Though that war may prove to be a tragedy for the world, one group is already benefiting from it: U.S. arms contractors. Even before[Read More…]
Former Monsanto Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant is currently in the news. He is trying to avoid appearing in court to be questioned by lawyers on behalf of a cancer patient in the case of Allan Shelton v Monsanto. Shelton has non-Hodgkin lymphoma and is one of the 100,000-plus people in the US claiming in lawsuits that exposure to Monsanto’s[Read More…]
Tyranny did not Pause even on the Easter Decades earlier recall what the US-Britain and NATO did in Iraq even on the Xmas Eve. Layla Anwar (“Come and see our overflowing morgues…..come and see the rubble of your surgical strikes”: An Arab Women Blues wrote in her website blog: “Everyday, under the pretext of either al-Qaida, insurgents, militants or whatever[Read More…]
Western Diplomats and Experts Have Been Warning About US and NATO policies Escalating Ukraine Crisis Much before the Ukraine war this year, several internationally renowned foreign policy experts, including retired senior officials and other persons close to the establishment in the USA and its western allies, have been warning that a policy of excessive hostility towards Russia, persistent interference in[Read More…]
While people across the country celebrated the 131st Ambedkar Jayanthi on 14th April 2022, in Bargarh district of Odisha, Bajrang Dal members carried out a horrendous assault on a bike rally taken out by youth celebrating Ambedkar Jayanthi. The attackers also tore/damaged Ambedkarite banners, flags and bikes and urinated on them. All India Lawyers’ Association For Justice (AILAJ) members from[Read More…]
In 1982 I was working as a secondary teacher, and I had just graduated from the University. I was happy with my life, and I bought a car and rented an apartment in the Lebanese city of Tyr. On Friday, I went from southern Lebanon to Beirut to attend a conference to discuss social issues in the Palestinian camps in[Read More…]
Although the rulers of the world’s major military and economic powers have repeatedly claimed that they are making their nations great again, their policies have not resulted in widespread happiness among their citizens. That conclusion emerges from the recent World Happiness Report-2022, published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Based on Gallup World Polls conducted from 2019 through 2021,[Read More…]
Since I am originally from Pakistan and have been teaching interdisciplinary studies (including political science) at City College of San Francisco, I have been following the developments there with great interest and concern, both from professional and personal points of view. For brevity and clarity, I am itemizing my impressions as follows: From the reports available so far, it seems[Read More…]
The recent years has seen increasing attacks on minorities particularly the Muslims. This seems to be aimed at achieving the BJP regimes intended aim of reducing the minority spaces in the socio-political-cultural and economic life and their engagement and participation as equal members of the nation-state. Psycho-cultural spaces: The severest form of attack has been on the psycho-cultural-spaces. In[Read More…]
The school in which I study has been harshly trumpeting the need to unthinkingly follow strict rules regarding hair. While boys have been ordered to keep their hair short, girls have been asked to plait their hair. These practices – prevalent in almost all schools in India – are highly problematic. First, the association of short hair with boys perpetuates[Read More…]
The happiness of 65-year-old Santo Bai, an Adivasi in Madhya Pradesh, knows no bounds. After suffering during the Covid pandemic she is now bursting with happiness because the Mahua flower, used for making a popular, traditional brew is blooming well in the forests this time. She goes to the forest to collect Mahua flowers every morning and returns home in[Read More…]
Deomali is a huge bauxite mountain range in Koraput district of Odisha. It is the property of the people of Odisha as a whole. The mountain peak is called Mount Mali. It has 33 fountains. People are living on agriculture and for that they profusely rely on the water of the fountains. The Mali mountain belongs to everyone. So, the[Read More…]
A successful programme was staged by 2 revolutionary mass organisations of Punjab representing the dalit agricultural labour and students, shimmering the sacred torch of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and his comrades on April 9th. It was of immense qualitative significance in the context of Punjab and India, challenging dalit oppression and Hindutva fascism. The speakers at the very core touched upon[Read More…]
In 365 days of 2021 Christians witnessed 502 incidents of violence In first 103 days of 2022 Christians witnessed 127 incidents of violence New Delhi – 15 April 2022: Today, over two thousand years ago Jesus Christ was persecuted or believed to be crucified on this day. Followers of Jesus are even today being persecuted in certain parts of the[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Please refer to my letters dated 6-3-2022 & 11-4-2022 addressed to you on the manner in which the proposed LIC IPO would do gross injustice to its policyholders, largely belonging to the SCs/STs/OBCs (https://countercurrents.org/2022/03/lic-ipo-gross-injustice-to-the-smaller-lic-policy-holders-especially-those-belonging-to-the-scs-sts-obcs/ & https://countercurrents.org/2022/04/most-disadvantaged-policy-holders-to-lose-out-in-lic-ipo/). In my correspondence, I had pointed out again and again how the IPO would[Read More…]
Insanity has often been defined as trying the same thing over and over and getting the same result. Case in point, Ukraine was seeking NATO membership to bolster its security. This membership would have come at the expense of Russian security, as Russian president Vladimir Putin made clear. To thwart NATO’s (i.e., the US’s) hegemonic ambitions and preserve its own[Read More…]
Experts in peace and conflict studies explain the scientific evidence that societies can choose peace, and that warfare is also a choice, not a necessity. Humanity’s future existence hinges on cooperation on a global scale. The greatest existential threats we face are worldwide problems that stem from the man-made climate disaster—and the massive decline in biodiversity, pollution, worsening storms, fires[Read More…]
The meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in the Chinese eastern city of Huangshan on March 30, is likely to go down in history as a decisive meeting in the relations between the two Asian giants. The meeting was not only important due to its timing or the fact that it reaffirmed the[Read More…]
Turmeric, turmeric– coppery-golden spice! Rubbed on fish, rubbed on chicken– it’s finger-lickin’ good! Add it to rice, drink it in tea– a little bit goes far! It can save your life, chase the blues away, reduce the stress and strife! Shake it out and give a shout– you’ve found a true elixir! Let the military band retire, let War and[Read More…]
The centuries old Indian handloom industry, spread across multiple and remote geographical terrains across the country, was in serious crisis for a long time and a combination of demonetization, GST and Covid have dealt it a death blow. The tragic reality of this sector, that employs thousands of rural artisans, runs deep but its wounds have been allowed to willfully[Read More…]
This 14th April (2022) we will again witness different political outfits celebrating his anniversary with pomp and show. Last few decades most of the political parties have been garlanding this great champion of social justice. The latest in Ambedkar praise club is AAP party, the product of RSS backed Anna movement, to declare Babasaheb as one of their two icons.[Read More…]
I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved (B.R. Ambedkar) To commemorate 131Ambedkar Jayanti on 14 April, this time several programmes and memorial meetings are being organized by the political parties belonging to Left, Right, Secular and Social Justice Parties. Besides, this time Phule-Ambedkar Jayanti is being celebrated together with much[Read More…]
The World Food Program, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization on Wednesday called for urgent, coordinated action on food security, and appealed to countries to avoid banning food or fertilizer exports. In a joint statement, the leaders of the four institutions warned that the war in Ukraine was adding to existing pressures from the COVID-19 crisis, climate[Read More…]
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US was unrivaled as a superpower. During the 1990s and, until about 2012, the US was relatively unconstrained in its use of military power in an attempt to get its way. However, often the use of military power was counterproductive. More importantly, the US frequently violated international law through its military interventions[Read More…]
When Trump left office, he had a personal low public opinion poll of 34% amid the January 6th quasi-coup attempt, whereas Biden in a middle of an enemy that most Americans love to hate, and have done for more than century, has approval rating 1% lower than Trump when the latter left office in January 2020. The question is why[Read More…]
Putin Changed the Subject, But Confronting Martin Luther King’s “Giant Triplets” Is More Urgent Than Ever I recently participated in a commemoration of Martin Luther King’s address “Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence,” originally delivered on April 2, 1967, at New York City’s Riverside Church. King used the occasion to announce his opposition to the ongoing war in[Read More…]
Yesterday, I saw a caricature with many connotations. The caricature is about Ukrainian man carrying the flag in front of a Russian tank and the writing beside him that he is resisting. The other caricature is about a Palestinian carrying the Palestinian flag facing an Israeli tank and the writing that he is a terrorist. Having in mind the unlimited[Read More…]
In 1947, when British India was bifurcated into Pakistan and India, the Muslim League leaders who fought for Pakistan declared their country as a theocratic state. In contrast, although the Hindus were in majority, Indian national leaders refuted the idea of Hindu Rashtra and gave shape to a liberal constitution that declared equality of all citizens, guaranteed the Right to[Read More…]
In areas that experience more political tensions including those relating to conflicts, environmental problems tend to be sidelined and neglected. This can lead to less remedial actions than in other comparable areas, while problems continue to increase. This can be seen in Jammu and Kashmir. While environmental problems have been widely discussed in the context of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh,[Read More…]
Melavalavu massacre, on June 30, 1997, is a landmark case that haunts Tamilnadu polity for over two decades, and hence merits a relook. Panchayat president Murugesan, vice president Mookan, along with five others (Murugesan’s younger brother K Rasa, Chelladurai, Sevugamoorthi, M Boopathi and Sountharapandi) were hacked and killed by the dominating communities (Thevars etc), for defying their warnings and winning[Read More…]
South Asians came together to pay tributes to those who laid down their lives during a peaceful protest against the British occupation of India in 1919, at the annual commemorative event held in Surrey on Wednesday, April 13. Organized by Mehak Punjab Di TV in partnership with Radical Desi, an online magazine that covers alternative politics, the vigil is aimed[Read More…]
It has been more than a year since Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar ‘desired’ to rename the Badshah Khan Hospital after Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Faridabad. As per the notification of Haryana’s director general health services, dated 3 December 2020, the chief minister ‘desired’ to change the name of the of the hospital. The director health sent that order[Read More…]
Political Democracy was never an ‘end’ for the leaders who carved out the ‘Idea of India’. They firmly believed that, political democracy should become ‘a means’ towards social and economic democracies. But both factual and counterfactual arguments on Indian society generates a common standpoint that – social inequality and injustice persist in contemporary India. Social engineering projects and trajectories related[Read More…]
A Great Way of Celebrating 75th Anniversary of Independence is to Release All Political Prisoners. Campaign Should Start Now to be Effective by August 1 In the course of India’s long and very courageous freedom movement, India became from time to time the country with perhaps the largest number of political prisoners in the world. These included many highly distinguished[Read More…]
in what can only be called a cowboy operation, less than a month ago billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. had taken over the operations of Future Retail and offered jobs to its employees after the Kishore Biyani-led group failed to make lease payments to landlords. Reliance Retail, the retail arm of the group had in August 2020 agreed to[Read More…]
One of the more serious allegations to emerge out of the Ukraine-Russian conflict is that the U.S. was cooperating with the Ukraine to develop biological weapons. While the evidence is circumstantial and strongly denied by the U.S. government, there is reason for concern and for optimism. Russian sources have claimed that there are US-funded biolabs in Ukraine that may be[Read More…]
Just before the release of the IPCC Working Group Three (WGIII) report on mitigation, this long time climate activist asked: Will the new IPCC report on mitigation detail and recommend supply-side pathways and policies to mitigate climate change? Will the report even mention regulating a phase out of fossil fuel production? Or will supply-side pathways and policies and their supporters[Read More…]
There is a reason why Israel is insistent on linking the series of attacks carried out by Palestinians recently to a specific location, namely the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. By doing so, the embattled Naftali Bennett’s government can simply order another deadly military operation in Jenin to reassure its citizens that the situation is under control.[Read More…]
Light in Gaza – Writings Born of Fire. Ed. Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing,, Michael Merryman Lotze. Haymarket Books, Chicago, IL, 2022. The actual history of Gaza can be readily researched – the dates, the actions, the numbers. What is not readily available is information beyond the Israeli narrative of Gaza being populated by terrorists. This current book, a collection of[Read More…]
During an extermination event – the first and only ever such event in the universe’s life – it is difficult to contemplate the relations between humans and the rest of nature. In 2021, Meral Cicek invited me to do precisely this through an essay for Jineoloji magazine, a publication of the women’s movement of Kurdistan. The pandemic, lethal as it[Read More…]
Tomorrow, 14th April 2022 marks the completion of two years of PUDR activist Gautam Navlakha’s surrender before the NIA. One of sixteen accused in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case, Gautam has been imprisoned in Taloja Central Jail, Navi Mumbai since 25 May 2020. For more than six months now, since 12 October 2021, the nearly 70 years old Gautam, an[Read More…]
As the United States, the UK and other NATO powers surge weapons into Ukraine, the NATO alliance is being transformed into a fighting force capable of directly waging wars with Russia and China. Using the war between Russia and Ukraine as a pretext, NATO has already mobilized its 40,000-strong rapid response force against Russia. But this is only the beginning[Read More…]
An OPEC decision on using oil related data indicate further development in ties between Saudi Arabia and U.S. A Reuters report said: ‘A decision driven by Saudi Arabia that OPEC+ should stop using oil data from the West’s energy watchdog reflected concern about U.S. influence on the figures, sources close to the matter said, adding to strain on ties between[Read More…]
Anti-conversion laws in India, ironically also known as Freedom of Religion Acts, are state-level laws that have been enacted to regulate religious conversion. To date, Ten states out of twenty-eight states have enacted these laws: Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Haryana, this February, has introduced an anti-conversion bill in the[Read More…]
Although elaborate arrangements have been provided for eliminating iniquitous customs, practices and institutional arrangements, we need more than just laws to combat a problem as deep-rooted and multi-dimensional as casteism, which appears to have set in below the surface, and is corroding our moral fibre. A student holding a placard with the Preamble of the Constitution at a protest against[Read More…]
The tremors of the United States’ tensions with Russia playing out in Europe are being felt in different ways already in Asia. The hypothesis that Ukraine is a part of Europe and the conflict is all about European security is delusional. From Kazakhstan to Myanmar, from the Solomon Islands to the Kuril Islands, from North Korea to Cambodia, from China[Read More…]
Why the Corporate Czars are Silent over increasing attacks on Social Fabric and rising Communalism Celebrity actors and players share an interesting commonality in this part of South Asia. Their moral compass normally veers towards the ‘righteousness’ of the rich, powerful and the influential. Lynching of innocent people on the streets for their faith, social and governmental hounding of lovers[Read More…]
The recent communal clashes reported during the Ram Navami festival from the different parts of the country suggest that the Hindu zealots have taken over the law order in their hands. They unleashed a reign of terror on the Muslim minority and there is none to stop them from doing so. This suggests that India has outsourced law and order[Read More…]
On 18 Feb 2022, Sunil Kumar Dhanwanta, an IPS officer, took help from the Police in Jaipur, Rajasthan, to take his wedding procession. Sunil’s bureaucrat’s position becomes redundant in the eyes of upper castes Hindus because he belongs to the Scheduled Castes (SC) community (commonly known as Dalits). In 2018, a similar case was highlighted in UP’s Kasganj District. Sanjay[Read More…]
Protecting the Ganga river is a cause dear to the heart of all Indians. Nowhere is the need for protection greater than near the origin of the Ganga river or Gangotri, in Uttarakhand Himalaya. So it is shocking to know that thousands of trees face the threat of being axed here in the near future. A strong national campaign is[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Americans have been shocked by the death and destruction of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, filling our screens with bombed buildings and dead bodies lying in the street. But the United States and its allies have waged war in country after country for decades, carving swathes of destruction through cities, towns and villages[Read More…]
The Metro rail network is failing miserably in different cities. In Bangalore steps to check the falling ridership of Namma Metro are not helping. Its daily pass scheme too has drawn poor response. In a city of millions, only four people bought a three day pass costing Rs 400 on April 5. With the pass you can travel any number[Read More…]
Regular readers of Countercurrents may recall a recent article I wrote entitled, “Japan’s Concealed Past, Condemned Future” ( https://countercurrents.org/2022/04/japans-concealed-past-condemned-future/). In that article I argued that because the Japanese people had been, in the postwar era, deliberately deceived into believing that the military, not Emperor Hirohito, had been responsible for the war, they were likely to be condemned to go to[Read More…]
Finland and Sweden are set to join NATO as early as this summer, extending the organization’s borders alongside Russia by hundreds of miles, U.S. officials told the British newspaper the Times. Finland is expected to submit its application for membership in June, with Sweden to follow. During talks among the organization’s 30 member nations last week, U.S. officials said that NATO membership[Read More…]
According to a newspaper, this time the RSS is going to do a big program to connect the Dalits. According to this, for the first time on Ambedkar Jayanti, flowers will be offered on photographs in branches across the country. On Ambedkar Jayanti i.e., on April 14, especially those statements of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar in which Hindutva is strengthened with[Read More…]
A revolutionary slogan by climate scientists “1.5C is Dead – Climate Revolution Now!” emblazoned the streets of the world on April 6th spawned by the Sixth Assessment Report, Mitigation of Climate Change, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released April 4th. Overnight, civil disobedience by climate scientists erupted in 25 countries on every continent enraged that the IPCC report was[Read More…]
As the world heats up with climate change, urban areas with their dense habitations, traffic congestions, higher pollution levels and excessive cement and concrete invariably heat up more than rural areas. What is less realized is that within a single city certain areas can heat up much more than others, and the difference can be as high as 10 degrees[Read More…]
Let me say first that Ahmed Manasra story is not unique. Since the 1967 occupation, the Zionist occupation forces have arrested 50000 Palestinian children, according to the Palestinian Prisoner commission. In addition, (the international movement to defend Palestinian children) mentioned that the Israeli occupation forces had killed 2,070 Palestinian children since 2000 as part of a series of continuous crimes[Read More…]
What was it that they thought to own? Decades, centuries kept intent intact. And, still it calls us, stone by stone, To eke out meaning from mere fact. Observatory, temple, some Cheops’ whim, Or shaman’s riddle in which power hid? To appease the gods—or find them? They worshipped trees; dancing, they understood. We are mute questioners–beguiled; Token pilgrims properly impressed.[Read More…]
Flag waving nationalism is growing across the globe along with reactionary market fundamentalism which collaborates with religious politics to access state power. Flag waving nationalism is not a nation building exercise. It neither provokes patriotism nor help to build unity among people. It is a sign of deep anxiety created by capitalism. It is also a response to capitalist crisis.[Read More…]
Anti-Muslim noise raised in Karnataka is just a mild indicator of this being a part of certain right-elements’ communal campaign ahead of coming elections. Not much needs to be said about this being directed towards gaining media attention as well as hoping to please top most leaders holding similar communal views. Karnataka is scheduled to face Assembly election in around[Read More…]
The government has recently announced a very fast schedule of spreading rice fortification in India. According to this schedule the supply of fortified rice to ICDS, mid-day meals, other nutrition and welfare schemes as well as to the vast public distribution system is to be completed by the year 2024. The capacity of the government to achieve this is much[Read More…]
To Smt Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Dear Smt Sitharaman, Please refer to my letter dated 6-3-2022 addressed to you on the manner in which the proposed LIC IPO would do gross injustice to the policy holders of the LIC, largely belonging to the SCs/STs/OBCs (https://countercurrents.org/2022/03/lic-ipo-gross-injustice-to-the-smaller-lic-policy-holders-especially-those-belonging-to-the-scs-sts-obcs/) As apprehended by me in my letter, it appears that not more than 8[Read More…]
“The farmer also wants to live, sir! But he is forced to take a loan. This is done not once, but over and over again. First, to sow the crop, one has to take a loan. Then a loan has to be taken to eliminate weeds, to apply medicines, to apply fertilizers. If the crop is ruined, then you have[Read More…]
The Script: Evil Persecutor, Innocent Victim, Rescuing Hero Brzezinski’s Baiting of the USSR Cold War Truth and Propaganda Russian Fears US Greed and Biases of the Policymaker Breed Shallow Analysis Double Standards Consequences of Believing the Script Compassion for Ukrainians victimized by Russia’s violence demonstrates that human hearts care. However, beneath the visible current of compassion there’s an alarming, dangerous[Read More…]
In 1900, Representative George Henry White of North Carolina, the sole Black law maker in Congress at the time, dared to introduce legislation (HR 6963) that would make lynching a hate crime. To back his case, he submitted an anti-lynching petition from New Jersey residents protesting the lynching of Black Americans for alleged offences, from the most fleetingly minor, to[Read More…]
Global food prices jumped to a historic high last month on grain and edible oil supply woes brought about by the conflict in Ukraine, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday. The FAO said in a statement: “World food commodity prices made a significant leap in March to reach their highest levels ever, as war in the[Read More…]
Rahul Gandhi’s speech on the occasion of the release of book ‘Dalit Truth’ edited by Dr K.Raju, and published by Penguin India, has gone viral as Darbari media has again launched offensive against him while the BJP trolls have started picking up hole in it. Jawahar Bhavan conference hall, where the Book was launched was completely packed. The invite that[Read More…]
Politics of the Few Criminals waits for Dark Future The lingering suspicion unfolds a reasoned impression that Imran Khan – the hurriedly ousted PM’s failure is the net success of the nine skeleton grouped parties – “Democratic Front.” This Front is not formed by the people but by the few discontented figures eager to grab political power by any means.[Read More…]
The Hindutva euphoria in legitimizing authoritarian state power with the help electoral democracy is another success story in the history of fascism. The liberal, constitutional and secular democracy is falling apart with the ascendancy of authoritarian waves led by Hindutva politics of hate. The Brahminical social contract based on Hindu caste order, propaganda, populism, relentless indoctrination led religious polarization, and[Read More…]
On April 8th at Sangrur the Kirti Kisan Union, Punjab Students Union, Naujwan Bharat Sabha and Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Commitee raised a protest demanding unconditional release of all the political prisoners who have been framed by the Indian state. A march was staged of around 100 persons to the District Collectors office. It comprised of students, youth, intellectuals farmers dalit[Read More…]
There is no doubt that atrocities have been committed in Ukraine, seemingly by Russian attacking forces, and in a perfect world those who so acted would be held responsible. But the world is highly imperfect when it comes to accountability for international crimes. When the International Criminal Court in 2020 found it had authority to investigate alleged crimes committed by Israel[Read More…]
Karnataka Government has passed the Anti-Conversion Bill in the Assembly despite stiff opposition from civil society and political parties. The Bill is expected to be tabled in the upper house to be made into a law. The Anti-Conversion Laws affect Christians, Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis and Women. It restricts the rights of an Indian citizen to choose one’s religion. It violates[Read More…]
Yesterday, the 9th of April, the Israeli forces killed the Palestinian freedom fighter Ahmed Al-Saadi in a military campaign in Jenin camp. It also wounded 19 people with various wounds. Then measured the house of the young Palestinian Raad, who earlier this week attacked the Zionists in Tel Aviv to blow up the house. The law for demolishing the home[Read More…]
In Sri Lanka, the issue of people going missing during the country’s long civil war is an open wound as evinced by the struggle of Tamil mothers seeking news about their loved ones. For the past five years Tamil mothers have been protesting in the North and Eastern Provinces in hot sun dust and rain demanding to know what happened[Read More…]
“Five bouts of mass bleaching since 1998 have turned the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) into a checkerboard of reefs with very different recent histories, ranging from two percent of reefs that have escaped bleaching altogether, to 80 percent that have now bleached severely at least once since 2016.” (Source: T. Hughes, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies: 98%[Read More…]
As each day of war increases sufferings of people of Ukraine and creates new possibilities of escalation of wider conflict, the first priority, the overwhelming priority should be to end the war as early as possible and secure immediate peace. However several forces and leaders which are in the forefront of the debate on this highly regrettable invasion do not[Read More…]
An immediate ban on imports of Russian oil and gas into Germany is not feasible, Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Wednesday, although he added he was all in favor of an energy embargo. “If I could follow my heart,” there would be a ban on Russian oil and gas in Germany, Lindner said in an interview published by German weekly[Read More…]
When Russian and Ukrainian delegations meeting in Turkey on March 29 reached an initial understanding regarding a list of countries that could serve as security guarantors for Kyiv should an agreement be struck, Israel appeared on the list. The other countries included the US, the UK, China, Russia, France, Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy and Poland. One may explain Israel’s political[Read More…]
In certain historical circumstances the US dollar received the status of world reserve currency at the end of the Second World War. It is a very privileged and special position. It gives very sweeping control and benefits relating to international finance, payments, banking and trade. However with power comes responsibility and the USA certainly has a special responsibility to[Read More…]
Vishnupriya (in the photo), aged 27, a woman police officer of DSP rank, dalit by birth, was found hanging at her official residence in Tiruchengode (Tamilnadu) on 18th September 2015. She was a single woman and was the Investigating officer (IO) in the sensational Gokulraj (dalit-born) murder case, discussed earlier in the series. This incident of suicide of this DSP,[Read More…]
Letter to the Prime Minister on involving the CPSEs with a good track record in investing in Sri Lanka in the context of the economic crisis faced by that country To Shri Narendra D Modi Prime Minister of India Dear Shri Modi, I welcome the timely help being provided by India to Sri Lanka at this crucial hour,[Read More…]
Long, long ago — a very clichéd way to start a narrative — but none the less, long ago, I remember there was a time when my grandfather would graft roses in his garden in Delhi. White and red were his favourite combination. Eventually, the roses would blend together to become a pink. Some would retain their shades distinctly, but[Read More…]
In 1994, Miguel Díaz-Canel began a new position in Santa Clara, not far from his birthplace of Placetas, as the provincial secretary of the Cuban Communist Party. He set aside the air-conditioned car given to him and went to work each morning on his bicycle, his long hair and jeans defining him. Díaz-Canel organized rock concerts, spent time with his[Read More…]
A Historical Feast of Death and Destruction from the Peloponnesian Wars to Late Tomorrow Night Excuse me if I wander a little today — and if it bothers you, don’t blame me, blame Vladimir Putin. After all, I didn’t decide to invade Ukraine, the place my grandfather fled almost 140 years ago. I suspect, in fact, that I was an[Read More…]
One of the many qualifications for the role of president of the United States is to never miss an opportunity to praise the greatness and courage of our men and women in uniform. A second and far weightier requirement is to always, or nearly always, finish a public address with these sacred words: “May God bless our troops.” They are,[Read More…]
Is it possible to suggest a solution for climate change which does not mention the words fossil fuels even once? Before you dismiss this suggestion, kindly spare just two minutes for the very short viewpoint below. Very briefly, I recommend six changes to be taken up in the next decade as a top priority. Firstly, we have to take a[Read More…]
On 14th April we commemorate the 50th death anniversary of Student martyr, George Reddy who was slain by ABVP goondas.George virtually carved out a new epoch in the student movement. Today we need a George Reddy to be reborn to challenge our slavish educational system when Hindu Communal fascism, Brahmanical casteism consumerism and imperialism. We need to introspect the spiritual[Read More…]
by Dr Anupam Bhandari & Tristan Partridge Introduction The Chipko Movement is one of the most well-known popular movements in India, if not the world, and is frequently cited as an influence on subsequent activist groups – marking something of an environmental revolution in India. At root, it was the movement for saving trees in the Himalayan regions of Uttarakhand.[Read More…]
By Ashish Singh & Akash Singh Both countries have extremely close relations since 1947, despite India being a member of the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) India followed a five year planning. In the 2nd Five Year Plan of India 8 out of 16 heavy industries were set up with the assistance of USSR. In 1971 the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace and[Read More…]
PUCL condemns the arbitrary travel bans on Rana Ayyub and Aakar Patel, prominent critics of the Government. On 6th April, 2022, Aakar Patel, well known human rights activist and journalist, was prevented by Immigration authorities in Bengaluru airport from catching a flight to the US and forced to turn back. Aakar Patel was on his way to speak at various[Read More…]
Over 3 million trees are cut in a year to pave the way for public infrastructure projects, according to official estimates. While replying to a question in Parliament in March the Environment Minster responded that nearly 31 lakh ( 3.1 million) trees were cut down for construction and development of public infrastructure projects across India in year 2020-21. He added[Read More…]
Anti National: Oh! The prices are rising. It will get difficult in the coming days. Buying necessities itself will be a challenge. People should awaken and fight with the government on the price issue. Bhakt: What you are concerned with prices. Hindus are in danger. And you talk about prices. We Hindus must arm ourselves. They are going to attack[Read More…]
Marital Rape Exception: In pronouncing the end of the marital rape exception, the Karnataka High Court has delivered a nuanced judgment Over the last several months, arguments challenging the constitutionality of the marital rape exception in Section 375 of the IPC had gripped the Delhi High Court. While the judgment in those petitions is still awaited, in one clean swoop[Read More…]
The Ukraine conflict will have “enormous economic repercussions in Ukraine and beyond.” This was warned by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a House panel Wednesday. She added that the rising price of energy, metal, wheat and corn that Russia and Ukraine produce “is going to escalate inflationary pressures as well.” An AP report — Yellen: Russia’s invasion will have[Read More…]
The death of former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has elicited lavish but utterly false praise from US Alliance politicians, journalists and academics. The horrible reality is that Albright was a major US Government official and thence influencer from the 1970s onwards, and was heavily complicit in the active and passive American mass murder of millions of non-European children[Read More…]
Pakistan came into existence in 1947 after the partition. When Pakistan and India came into being, massive migration took place. People from Pakistan moved to India and vice- versa (Stump, 2008). As everyone knows that Pakistan is a Islamic country and its rules and regulations are based on Islamic constitution. Hindus including Dalits in Pakistan are in minority. According to Prof Saswati Sarkar, based[Read More…]
Recent reports on Gautam Navlakha’s appeal to change his jail term when the case just drags on on health grounds once again revive nagging doubts on the fabulous Maoist conspiracy case against a miscellaneous group of lawyers,social activists and human rights workers on the basis of documents allegedly retrieved from the laptop of some of the accused.The case is hanging[Read More…]
If further clues were needed as to why AUKUS, the security pact comprising the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, was created, the latest announcement on weapons would have given the game away. Australia, just as it became real estate to park British nuclear weapons experiments, is now looking promising as a site for hypersonic missile testing, development, and[Read More…]
Less than a week after the start of Russia’s military intervention, Juan Sebastian Gonzalez, senior director of Western Hemisphere affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, in an interview with Voice of America (a State Department asset), stated that “the sanctions against Russia are so robust that they will have an impact on those governments that have economic affiliations with Russia, and[Read More…]
by Josh Klemm & Eugene Simonov Not only does hydroelectric power fail to prevent catastrophic climate change, but it also renders countries more vulnerable to climate change while emitting significant amounts of methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases. A river is a spectacular living corridor that feeds forests, fisheries, coastal ecosystems, and farmlands; transports life-sustaining organic matter and nutrients;[Read More…]
An exclusive interview with Sandip C Jain about Darjeeling and its tea industry Darjeeling tea is known worldwide for its delicate taste and for being one of the most expensive teas. Despite this, when we look at the tea laborers we find how little their condition has changed over time. They still have to protest for days to increase[Read More…]
22nd April 2022 will be the 52nd year since the observation of Earth Day. A day that marked the birth of the modern environment movement across the West in the back drop of protests against war and Rachel Carlson’s Silent Spring. Earth Day in the 1990s became a global call for action drawing attention of the world to the developing[Read More…]
A rapid increase in mental health problems has been reported by several studies among children and adolescents (roughly the age-group 7-17) in several rich countries, particularly during the last decade or so. Such a trend is visible even in studies that end in early or mid-2019, or before this, and hence entirely exclude any COVID impacts. At the same time,[Read More…]
(The Corona war) revealed many things, first and foremost of the greed of Western countries, especially with regard to providing vaccines for poor countries in the third world. It also revealed that globalization which said to have made the world a small village has become questionable issue. The borders of countries were closed and each country had to rely on[Read More…]
According to the Fermi’s Paradox, the apparent absence of radio communication between technical civilizations can be attributed to their inevitable short-term self-destruction, a consequence of uncontrolled invention of toxic substances, contamination of air, water and land, and construction of deadly weapons. On Earth this includes saturation of the atmosphere by greenhouse gases and production of nuclear weapons. The most extensive[Read More…]
by Bharat Dogra and Madhu Dogra 21 Most Memorable Songs of Immortal Love in Hindi Cinema Love and romance being the eternal theme of Hindi films, it is not surprising that we have so many great love songs here, but by songs of immortal love we refer specifically to those songs which speak of love as a very deep lifelong[Read More…]
When a gruesome six-minute video of Ukrainian soldiers shooting and torturing handcuffed and tied up Russian soldiers circulated online, outraged people on social media and elsewhere compared this barbaric behavior to that of Daesh. In a rare admission of moral responsibility, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian President, quickly reminded Ukrainian fighters of their responsibility under international law. “I[Read More…]
In his 1905 book, The Life of Reason, George Santayana famously wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If one accepts there is a degree of truth in these words, one question to be asked is, “What happens to those who had their country’s past concealed from them?” Aren’t such misled people even more likely[Read More…]
What Would It Take for Military Spending in America to Go Down? A Thought Experiment on the Military-Industrial Complex I have a question for you: What would it take in today’s world for America’s military spending to go down? Here’s one admittedly farfetched scenario: Vladimir Putin loses his grip on power and Russia retrenches militarily while reaching out to normalize[Read More…]
Amidst the maze of lanes and by-lanes, it’s an obscure alley in North Calcutta, close to the famous Sobhabazar and Sutanuti, with its incredible, inherited kaleidoscope of architecture with unique aesthetically crafted doors, balconies and windows, across the river Ganga. Ships and boats still float on the river that descends from Gaumukh and Gangotri in the Himalayas all the way[Read More…]
Twelve kilometres from the India-Myanmar border in the Patkai hills of Arunachal Pradesh, is the last Indian town that goes by the name Nampong. The town appears crucial in India’s Act East Policy for being located on the historic Stillwell Road built during World War II, which starts from Ledo (in Assam), passes through Nampong (in Arunachal Pradesh), and several[Read More…]
The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, intends to link demographic and biometric information with the identification of citizens in an attempt to make all the natural citizens of India to be looked at as ‘suspects.’ The law is draconian and against the principle of civil liberties human right and against the tenets of Indian constitution. It is apparent that with[Read More…]
I had been in different jails, first in Sorda Sub-Jail, then in Brahmapur Circle Jail and later in Bhanjanagar Special Sub-Jail of Odisha, from mid-2011 to 2015, approximately three and half years, under false charges of ‘sedition’. I was arrested again in 2019 for the second time in connection to an eight-year-old case that was utterly false and fabricated and[Read More…]
There has been a great surge of united actions by tribal communities against the Par-Tapi-Narmada River Link Project following which the central government and the Gujarat state government have suspended the project for the time-being. Apart from protests by tribal communities, the fact that the Congress party has extended its support to the opposition of this river-link project and that[Read More…]
In a historic move, the NDP government in Victoria has recognized April as Dalit History Month. Responding to an application moved by Radical Desi, an online magazine that covers alternative politics, the provincial Attorney General and the Lt. Governor signed the proclamation declaring April 2022 as “Dalit History Month”. Dalits, the oppressed community of India, are often treated as “untouchables”[Read More…]
A new freely downloadable book I would like to announce the publication of a new book, which discusses the causes of war, and how they may be eliminated. The book may be downloaded free of charge and circulated from the following link: https://eacpe.org/content/uploads/2022/04/Eliminating-the-causes-of-war-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf The danger of nuclear war War was always madness, always immoral, always the cause of unspeakable suffering,[Read More…]
The IPCC on Monday released its latest report, which found that nations are falling short of their pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avert catastrophic climate change. While the technology exists to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) of average global temperature increase — the goal that virtually every nation agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement and[Read More…]
Major countries in Europe are now engaged with expulsion of diplomats. The move was initiated by NATO-camp countries. Russia has warned of’ symmetrical’ response to Western countries’ expulsion of Russian diplomats A Reuters report said: ‘Russia will respond proportionately to the expulsion of its diplomats from a number of Western countries, Russian ex-president and deputy head of Security Council Dmitry[Read More…]
Much has been said and written about media bias and double standards in the West’s response to the Russia-Ukraine war, when compared with other wars and military conflicts across the world, especially in the Middle East and the Global South. Less obvious is how such hypocrisy is a reflection of a much larger phenomenon which governs the West’s relationship to[Read More…]
Each year, Japan’s Foreign Ministry releases a Diplomatic Bluebook, a guide to the government’s views on the world. Kyodo News, a reputed Japanese wire service, reports that the 2022 Bluebook will have strong language against Russia. This Bluebook will be released to the public before the end of April, but Kyodo News’ reporters have seen a leaked text. The text that the news agency[Read More…]
In mid-February this year the police in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh registered a case against Kisan Gupta a resident of the city’s Vallabh Nagar slum. The case against him is an example of the rising tensions in the state due to the dire economic condition of poorer citizens in the state due to the impact of the Covid[Read More…]
Sri Lanka’s past 74 years of political history since independence in 1948 is marked with rules by eighteen Prime Ministers and by seven Presidents from 1978 after the late J.R. Jayawardene introduced the powerful executive system of government which has now grown like a banyan tree with roots and branches encompassing the Rajapakshes’ family and pedigrees. The Presidential powers have[Read More…]
Understanding what has commonly been viewed as dysfunctional or repressed sexuality is now coming to light, at least among youth. As per the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), an Asexual is a person who does not experience sexual attraction, and Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity. It may be considered a sexual orientation or[Read More…]
An interview with Dr Sonam B Wangyal regarding how Darjeeling came into being and assumed its present state We all know about Darjeeling tea but little do we know about its history. The story of the establishment of Darjeeling has many twists and turns. There are only few works which are done on this topic and hence we have very[Read More…]
In recent years, and particularly after the 2019 General Elections, there have been growing concerns regarding the fairness of the election process in India. These have ranged from highly technical issues concerning the EVMs to the systemic corruption and lack of transparency in election bonds, the amassing of huge funds by the ruling party and its misuse. A new book[Read More…]
To Shri A K Jain Union Coal Secretary Dear Shri Jain, The 2021 coal crisis has severely impacted the power sector, especially the performance of the DISCOMs operating within the State sector. As a result of the shortfalls in coal supplies, the DISCOMs were forced to import coal at exorbitant prices, which in turn escalated the price of electricity. As a[Read More…]
Karnataka Government has passed the Anti-Conversion Bill in the Assembly despite stiff opposition from civil society and political parties. The Bill is expected to be tabled in the upper house to be made into a law. The Anti-Conversion Laws affect Christians, Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis and Women. It restricts the rights of an Indian citizen to choose one’s religion. It violates[Read More…]
The first who invented the idea of manipulating history in the modern era were the Zionist Jews—their occupation of Palestine and the expulsion of most of its people based on two grounds. The first is that the Jews have been in Palestine for two thousand years, which is ridiculous logic, and the second is that the Jews are hated in[Read More…]
The Metro railway in Mumbai may at some later date prove a success. But as of now it seems to fit the mindset of megalomaniacs obsessed with power and delusions of grandeur. It is perhaps a cruel coincidence that the monumentally expensive network was opened by the chief minister on the Hindu new year day on April 2 when millions[Read More…]
The recent assembly elections in five states have shown that Dalit politics has once again failed miserably. In this election, the BSP, as a symbol of Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh, was badly defeated and got only one seat. In the recent elections, the BSP has got two seats in Uttarakhand, while in Punjab it did not get a single[Read More…]
A historic speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered even 55 years later as one of the most courageous speeches ever made. This speech stated those truths which no other leading political leader or even leading activist was willing to state in such a clear and sharp way. The reference here is of course to the speech delivered[Read More…]
Dear Colleagues, comrades and friends, We are writing to you on an issue of urgent concern regarding Professor Walden Bello. Recently, a political party founded by Sara Duterte (daughter of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte), incumbent Mayor of Davao City, and now vice-presidential candidate for the 2022 national elections—unfoundedly and maliciously labeled Walden as a “narco-politician.”This attack is clearly intended to silence dissent[Read More…]
It does not pay to be too moralistic in politics. Self-elevation can lead to tripping up. Sermonising even as your stable needs cleaning can enfeeble the argument. But Bidenism, this gaffe-prone ideology currently doing the rounds in a barely breathing administration, has identified the simplest of binaries to work with. In his State of the Union address, US President Joe[Read More…]
Michael Lynk is the UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied after the 1967 nakba. He is Associate Professor of Law at Western University in London, Ontario, where he teaches labour law, constitutional law and human rights law. [1] His report, “Israel’s 55-year occupation of Palestinian Territory is apartheid – UN human rights[Read More…]
Russia’s brutal war upon the nation of Ukraine should remind us that, for thousands of years, great powers have used their military might to launch military assaults upon smaller, weaker societies. Since World War II alone, these acts of aggression have included France’s colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria, Britain’s military intervention in the Middle East and Africa, the Soviet[Read More…]
This comment is not about the history and politics related to the Chandigarh- dispute between the states of Punjab and Haryana that began in 1966. There was a statement by the Central Government through its Home Minister regarding the proposed changes in the administrative system of the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The journalists/analysts have stated that the Resolution once again[Read More…]
Cesare Zavattini, a screenwriter, film theorist and proponent of Italian Neorealism, writes cinema should penetrate more and more into the manifestations and essence of reality. Nagraj Manjule’s Bollywood debut film Jhund is precisely trying to assert this. The film starts with a woman scolding her husband for irresponsibly drinking, simple yet engrossing, camera pans and we see Don, Ankush approaching.[Read More…]
by Thomas Klikauer and Meg Young Increasingly, societies have to put up with a new form of capitalism: platform capitalism. As a counter-model to platform capitalism, some suggest platform cooperativism. This is having the idea of cooperatives applied to platforms. Unlike the mega-corporations of platform capitalism, such as Amazon, Deliveroo, etc. platform cooperatives are democratically-owned and representatively-governed semi-business organizations that[Read More…]
Massive protest lodged by BKU Ekta Ugrahan demanding action against Lathi charge on farmers demanding compensation for loss to cotton crop A large number of farmers, including women, under the banner of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) in a massive protest near the Muktsar District Administrative Complex (DAC) demanding the departmental action against the Deputy Commissioner, Malout SDM and[Read More…]
Agriculture is the only sector of the Indian economy that posted a positive growth of 3.4% in the pandemic year of 2020–21. But this stability in production did not reflect in agricultural prices, especially food prices. The pandemic brought about unprecedented volatility in food prices in both 2020–21 and 2021–22. Besides supply disruptions caused by the lockdowns, some other factors[Read More…]
Chinese leaders have brushed back pressure from the EU to take an anti-Russia stance in the Ukraine conflict, warning that cooperation between Beijing and Brussels is needed to prevent long-term damage to the global economy. Speaking by videoconference on Friday in a summit meeting with EU leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly said it could take years or even decades[Read More…]
There is a growing psychosis sweeping the U.S. around the Russian bombardment of Ukraine, and it is being triggered by the legacy news media. The steady stream of biased, often erroneous or incomplete information spewing from the establishment press is leading people to quickly choose sides in a complicated international conflict, waving flags in support of “their side,” fawning over global leaders, and[Read More…]
Will the new IPCC report on mitigation detail and recommend supply-side pathways and policies to mitigate climate change? Will the report even mention regulating a phase out of fossil fuel production? Despite the increasing severity of climate impacts and the daunting timeline for mitigation needed to have even a fifty-fifty chance of staying climate safe? Or will supply-side pathways and[Read More…]
The wood-pellet industry has full-scale operations smack dab in the heart of British Columbia’s Inland Temperate Rainforest, the last rainforest of its kind in the North. The fabled rainforest contains cedars of up to 12-15 feet in diameter and up to 2,000 years old. Its extraordinarily rich ecosystem is home to 2,400 plant species and numerous wildlife species. It is[Read More…]
For more terrestrially grounded people, writing about cricket can be seen as an exercise in distant planetary speculation. The Nobel laureate Harold Pinter did not think so, calling this old English game “the greatest thing that God ever created on earth.” Others might disagree with mild disgust, finding it archaic, jargon heavy and slow. In the early 1990s, one figure[Read More…]
The Westphalian capitalism and all its structures, agencies and mouthpieces have promised a world without poverty, inequalities and instabilities. The neoliberal variant of the Westphalian ideology has promised a world of prosperity, stability, peace, social and economic inclusion; the trickle-down effect. Reform not revolution was the fundamental principle on which Westphalian state managed to accommodation the aspirations of people within[Read More…]
A Program Based on Justice, Equality, Peace, Harmony and Environment Protection Introduction In the middle of unprecedented world problems and many-sided internal distress, India must find a firm path based on equality, justice, meeting basic needs of all, strengthening creative livelihoods, social harmony and peace. As its present path is far from being such a path, there should be very[Read More…]
For decades, U.S. policy in the Middle East has relied on coordination with the Saudi-led Gulf states, Israel, Egypt and Turkey. Since the Obama administration, however, relations between Washington and its core regional allies in the Middle East have floundered, confounding the United States’ ability to manage Middle Eastern crises and formulate consensus in the region. Washington’s troubled relations with its Middle[Read More…]
The West’s actions against Russia since the war in Ukraine could signal an emerging new order that shuns the U.S. for weaponizing the dollar and Western control over the global financial system. Do the Ukraine war and the action of the United States, the EU and the UK spell the end of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency? Even with the[Read More…]
Movement Generation educates activists on the dynamics of social and environmental justice. In the mid-2000s, when the documentary featuring former Vice President Al Gore, “An Inconvenient Truth,” first alerted viewers that human activity was drastically altering the environment, and global warming would insidiously thaw the North and South poles and raise the sea levels, urban organizers like Mateo Nube heard[Read More…]
The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things but their inward significance – Aristotle When you illustrate a novel, what you should do – illustrate some special moment or happening in each chapter of that work, or imbibe the comprehensive thematic landscape portrayed in it? Either way, it should have a distinctiveness that is attached[Read More…]
Pakistan’s opposition is trying to overthrow Prime Minister Imran Khan with a no-confidence motion. Khan says the US sent him a threatening letter and he has proof of foreign funding for a regime-change operation, aimed at reversing his independent foreign policy – like his alliance with China and Russia and support for Palestine. While the world’s attention is understandably focused[Read More…]
Since March 2020 the Covid pandemic has created great misery around the country, whether due to repeated lockdowns or the havoc wreaked by the second wave in May last year. However, during this dark period there were also some positive stories to tell. One of them is from Danavav village, situated in the foothills of Mount Abu, in Sirohi district[Read More…]
(1) Internal discord in the party has intensified after Congress’s dismal performance in the five assembly elections held in February-March 2022. Political pundits, leaders of other parties and politically aware citizens are questioning the role of the Congress for future politics. Among those who put in question there are many people who have reasonable expectations from the Congress as an[Read More…]
Since the conclusion of recently-held assembly elections in five states, the fuel prices have undergone nine hikes in the last ten days, pushing the cost of petrol, diesel, and LPG to a record high. These prices were last revised in the month of November 2021, when the price of petrol had reached ₹100 per litre. Beyond the obvious concern of[Read More…]
by Thomas Klikauer and Meg Young Our world is rapidly moving towards the rather inevitable global insect apocalypse unless we stop the three enemies that got earth into a life-threatening trouble: a) the destruction of the natural habitat of insects – the concreting of nature; b) Big-Agro-Business’ rampant Über-use of insecticides and other deadly chemicals, i.e. no more chemical warfare[Read More…]
Using the pretext of Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has banned several political parties and undermined labour and trade union rights. Ukrainian socialist group Sotsyalnyi Rukh (Social Movement) criticised the actions as undemocratic and warned they risk undermining popular resistance to the invasion. Zelensky “temporarily suspended the activities” of 11 parties with alleged links to Russia on March 19.[Read More…]
Even the workers in the Constitutional Convention process are themselves organizing a union. On March 13, 2022, two days after Gabriel Boric was sworn in as the president of Chile, Minister General Secretariat of Government Camila Vallejo told 24 Horas during an interview that her duty is “to accompany and support the constitutional process,” when asked about the government’s priorities during 2022. These two[Read More…]
Rupa Marya, a physician and musician, studies how social structures impact health. She says colonial capitalism fractures the critical relationships that keep us healthy. A widespread culture of isolation and disconnection from our bodies, each other and the planet is negatively impacting the mental and physical health of people in America and beyond—and this was true long before the pandemic. Our relatively new human social structure that[Read More…]
Introduction The increased involvement -direct and indirect- of China in Africa is seen as one of the more significant developments on the continent, especially over the recent decade. The relations between China and Africa are also an apparent contradiction to the widely pushed idea that certain African countries as well as China face international marginalization as opposed to the significant[Read More…]
Young People Should Not Be Starting Life Saddled With Big Debts Young people should be able to start life on a note of freedom and liberty. They should be entirely free to act according to the voice from their heart regarding what is the most promising and satisfying work for them. They should be able to choose work where they[Read More…]
The recent Indian movie on the conflict zone of Kashmir can be best described as a propaganda tool of apologists for the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP government in New Delhi. Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, who is known for his pro-BJP stance, The Kashmir Files is not really a true and complete story of Kashmiri Hindus, who were forced to[Read More…]
Appeal to withdraw the notification for the public hearing for the proposed Sijimali Bauxite Mining Project 
“Making a thriller from grain” 
Key Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) Likely To Collapse In 2025-2095 
Global Biofuel Alliance at G20: Land vs Water vs Food Security- Has the government addressed the trade-offs? 
The Nijjar Murder and Indian Government’s alleged “involvement”: Reactions and Reflections 
France Will Pull Out Its Diplomats And Military From Niger, Says Macron 
Imperial Footprints in Africa: The Dismal Role of AFRICOM 
Hunger in Africa has its roots in a History of Colonialism and Neo-colonialism 
The Climate March: Magnificent and Misdirected 
Imagining a Progressive Pentagon 
“Lost Voices of Fentanyl” Rally at the White House 
Indian Government Must First Evict Dalai Lama & his Followers before Admonishing Canada for Separatist Activities 
Peasant-rebels: lineages of insurgency 
Mission to Free Assange: Australian Parliamentarians in Washington 
Bayer-ICAR Collaboration Raises Serious Concerns Regarding Indian Farm Policy 
Place of Minorities as Allotted by Savarkar, Golwalkar and Upadhyaya 
What is in the name? Attempt to stop the usage of ‘India’ by the Government 
Poona Pact: A Reappraisal 
Hate Speech Inside Parliament: Reaching a New Low 
Criminal Justice And Freedom of Speech 
75,000 Climate Protesters Marched In New York With Demand To End Fossil Fuels 
On the Dark Side of the Moon.. 
Avoiding the War on Terror would have saved over 10 million lives at home and abroad 
The Angertainer Steps Down: Rupert Murdoch’s Non-Retirement 
Climate Emergency Update, September 2023 
My appeal to Meta’s Oversight Board: Palestinian political and resistance organizations & individuals are not “terrorists” as classified by Israel 
Artificial Intelligence: Profit Versus Freedom 
How Can We Understand the Passage of Time? 
Pre- and Post-Soviet Language Policy in the East-Baltic States 
Breadcrumb 
Three Indian Movies win TIFF 2023 Awards 
Ukrainian president holds crisis talks in Washington amid failure of “spring offensive” 
Zelensky Faces Difficult Time In Washington D.C. 
Stumbling Towards Old Age And Looking for Someone to Lean On 
Tolstoy’s Dilemma 
Ukraine Peace Activists Protest During Zelensky White House Visit 
“Our world is becoming unhinged”: Antonio Guterres 
How Chances of Direct War between the USA and Russia Are Increasing G20 Biofuel Alliance threatens Food security 
Thousands Of Auto Workers Strike In Three U.S. Plants, Face Financial Hardship 
My Amma (Malayalam word for Mother) passed away on August 22, 2023 at 3.10 AM. It is always difficult to deal with the passing of a parent, that too one’s mother. I thought the grief would go away. No it didn’t. All those bitter sweet memories won’t go away. At night I lie awake for hours. My friend, guide and[Read More…]
