Articles by: Aviral Anand

Dhamma not Dharma – Ambedkar’s definitive turning away from the Hindu fold

Dhamma not Dharma – Ambedkar’s definitive turning away from the Hindu fold

From Yeola in 1935, when Dr. Ambedkar announced that he would not die a Hindu, to Nagpur in 1956 when he converted to Buddhism, is a considerable distance in time. But, there was in him a need to make a public announcement in 1935 about moving away from Hinduism. It was a testament to the depth of his feelings of the futility of[Read More…]

by 14/10/2021 Comments are Disabled India
 Bengal was the sky the BJP tried to spit on

 Bengal was the sky the BJP tried to spit on

Some political commentators have wondered why the BJP made the Bengal elections such a big deal. Former minister Yashwant Sinha puts forth the opinion on the NDTV site that it was done to nip Mamata Banerji’s national ambitions in the bud. Others felt that it was a crucial event for Amit Shah to “cement his position as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s[Read More…]

by 08/05/2021 Comments are Disabled India
 How Narendra Modi out-Bolsonaroed Brazil’s Bolsonaro

 How Narendra Modi out-Bolsonaroed Brazil’s Bolsonaro

It will be considered no mean feat to outdo the likes of President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil. At every step of the corona crisis, he maintained a head-in-the-sand, denialist attitude. He pooh-poohed covid protocols and repeatedly  played down the threat from the pandemic. He invested little to no resources in Brazil’s testing and vaccination campaigns. As a result, Brazil experienced devastating[Read More…]

by 01/05/2021 Comments are Disabled India
Academic freedom and what the loss of Cornel West means for an institution

Academic freedom and what the loss of Cornel West means for an institution

Cornel West is a very well-known African-American scholar. In fact, he should be better described as a scholar-activist, one of a rare breed of people in the world today. His advocacy of a wide variety of global issues, including that of Palestine, is well known. In fact the author of this piece first met Dr. West at a rally for[Read More…]

by 19/03/2021 Comments are Disabled World
End of Election of American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of US of A

End of Election of American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of US of A

As the world watches in fascinated horror, the US’s election-results fiasco drags on. Donald Trump, who now presides over the greatest UnReality Show, has been unequivocally told, “You’re Fired.” Yet, he continues in some La-La-Land of Denial, playing hooky on international zoom conferences, and golf. His mastiff-like pugnaciousness and refusal to acknowledge reality  in the face of overwhelming evidence reminds one[Read More…]

by 25/11/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Moving away from Petitions and Webinars – Protest and Activism Beyond Digital Jantar-Mantars

Moving away from Petitions and Webinars – Protest and Activism Beyond Digital Jantar-Mantars

Sep 28 marks important days in the lives of two revered icons of revolutionary action in India – Bhagat Singh and Shankar Guha Niyogi. Both exemplified a sense of identification with the issues of the masses and sought to join the struggle while on the frontlines. Niyogi worked shoulder-to-shoulder with mine workers in Chhattisgarh. Both paid with their lives for[Read More…]

by 28/09/2020 1 comment Life/Philosophy
The New Hindutva – An outline of the new avatar of Hindu nationalism

The New Hindutva – An outline of the new avatar of Hindu nationalism

The BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP,  Swapan Dasgupta, in an opinion piece titled The rise of the proud, global Hindu which appeared after the Aug 5 Bhoomi Pujan at Ayodhya, mentioned  “the new Hindutva” that seems to have emerged in recent times. He contrasted it with the older Hindutva, identified with V. D. Savarker, describing that as “too ideological for popular[Read More…]

by 17/08/2020 Comments are Disabled India
 Shaheen Bagh – the irrelevance of ideology, the temptation of appropriation

 Shaheen Bagh – the irrelevance of ideology, the temptation of appropriation

One of the most distinguishing features of the Shaheen Bagh protests, all around the country in their various manifestations, was their lack of any overt ideology. The first encampment in Delhi was largely spontaneous, beginning in mid-December 2019 and composed of local women from the Shaheen Bagh area. Though they had local university students managing the logistics, the frontlines of[Read More…]

by 07/06/2020 Comments are Disabled India
Being Kashmir – From Janta Curfew to Total Lockdown 

Being Kashmir – From Janta Curfew to Total Lockdown 

On Tuesday Mar 24, prime minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day total lockdown across India to “break the chain” of the coronavirus spread. The lockdown kind of a feeling has been slowly sinking in for most Indians. Many people sensed the oncoming bad times and stocked up on all manner of goods they could lay their hands on, emptying grocery[Read More…]

by 25/03/2020 Comments are Disabled India
Curfewed Days and Curfewed Nights – Let us all be Kashmiris, even for a day?

Curfewed Days and Curfewed Nights – Let us all be Kashmiris, even for a day?

We cannot be absolutely sure if the “Janta Curfew” (People’s Curfew) advocated by PM Narendra Modi in his speech to the nation about the corona-virus is in earnest (for the good of the people!) or a foretaste of the kind of curfewing that the citizens have to get used to if the corona pandemic continues. Or if it is some[Read More…]

by 20/03/2020 Comments are Disabled India
YESterday once more: Yes Bank, Harshad Mehta, and the ravages of Finance Capitalism

YESterday once more: Yes Bank, Harshad Mehta, and the ravages of Finance Capitalism

  The stories of Yes Bank’s troubles, close on the heels of the crisis in DHFL, come as traumatic reminders to many of us. Add to this the cases against Nirav Modi and the involvement of the public sector bank PNB, and the issues with ICICI bank (its top management once again) – and it is hard not think of[Read More…]

by 08/03/2020 Comments are Disabled India
Socialism by another name?  Aam Admi Party and the case of Bolivarian Venezuela

Socialism by another name?  Aam Admi Party and the case of Bolivarian Venezuela

One can probably sense the cynicism and the scoffs right away, given that the title of this piece seems to make almost a preposterous comparison. But, patience is requested, and some good humour. It is interesting to note that what the AAP has made available to the citizens of Delhi, in terms of subsidized electricity and water, and improved –[Read More…]

by 23/02/2020 Comments are Disabled India
 In Solidarity with Shaheen Bagh – From another winter, from another protest 

 In Solidarity with Shaheen Bagh – From another winter, from another protest 

When Winter Came, the Power of the People Blazed On The brave protesters at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi have been on protest since Dec 15 after the brutal attack on Jamia students. They have been sitting in solidarity with the protest of the students and against the various steps that the central government threatens against citizenship criteria, like the Citizenship[Read More…]

by 29/12/2019 Comments are Disabled India
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