The Supreme Court has stayed the Uttarakhand High Court order of 20 December 2022 on the immediate land eviction – or rather, land bulldozing in Banbhoolpura, Haldwani. For the people to be affected, this may be a relief – perhaps only a temporary relief, if you are cautious enough. The Supreme Court underlined the need to consider the humanitarian aspect[Read More…]
Imagine, if voting for the Himachal and Gujarat Assemblies was to take place on the same day, let’s say on 12 November or 1 December or 5 December – and not on these three separate days! Do you think the outcome of the voting would have been the same, as these have turned out to be? Or if not, then[Read More…]
Do you remember 10 March 2022? What happened that day? The results of the elections to the five state assemblies were declared wherein the BJP won in four of the five states, with the fifth, Punjab going to AAP. What happened then? Almost immediately, the Prime Minister flew to Gujarat which was the next state slated for elections, though still[Read More…]
The key messages of Bharat Jodo Yatra are – “peace and nonviolence”, “against division and hatred” and the issue of “jobs and price rise”. These messages, strangely reminded me of Martin Luther King Jr and the March on Washington on 28 August 1963. The key slogans of that March were -“jobs and freedom”, “civil and economic rights” and an “end[Read More…]
A few interesting and politically significant developments have taken place in the country in the last few weeks. One, for the first time in many years, it is the opposition which is setting the agenda, somewhat stunning the national ruling party, its IT cell and the Godi media which are struggling to respond and catch up. Such an equation hasn’t[Read More…]
In the November 1937, an article titled “Rashtrapatiji” was published in a Calcutta-based monthly journal “Modern Review”. Founded by Ramanand Chatterjee in 1907, the journal had good readership among the Indian intelligentsia with a diversity of writers contributing essays, informing or analysing the debates and issues around the country’s freedom movement. The paper “Rashtrapatiji”, written by one Chanankya, drew considerable[Read More…]
A few weeks ago, communication from a friend who, citing a few immediate reasons which were widely known, suggested that he was in depression. In the last several months, there have been other similar personal mails or sharings in private conversations. Let me confess that I too have not been free from this mood visiting me occasionally. And I can[Read More…]
Yesterday, 22 February, was Kasturba Gandhi’s 78th death anniversary. Kasturba died in 1944 and at the time she was in prison, arrested on 9 August 1942, the first day of the “Quit India Movement”. Gandhiji had already been arrested the previous evening, and both of them along with some of their closest colleagues were imprisoned at the Agha Khan Palace[Read More…]
Elections to the Vidhan Sabha in five states – Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur – took off, with the first round in Uttar Pradesh on 10 February. And a month later, we will have the results out on 10 March. These elections are being considered very critical – not just for the political parties and individuals in the[Read More…]
On 15 January, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) met at Delhi’s Singhu border, to review the progress made by the government on its promises made at the time of the repealing of the three agri laws. Following Parliamentary and written assurances, the farmers had suspended their movement and lifted their occupation of the Delhi borders. At the review meeting, it[Read More…]
Barely a few days are left to go now and all eyes, certainly of the farmers and their supporters, are on 15 January – the day Sunyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) is to reassemble in Delhi. There, SKM will seek to evaluate the progress made on the promises made by the government following the repeal of the three agri-laws in November[Read More…]
The Kisan Andolan is closing in on nine months – braving deeply disturbing times, braving weather extremities, braving police brutalities, braving government’s insouciance and subterfuge, braving the dark Covid clouds, braving the despair of over 500 compatriot deaths. Nine months! Displaying a clear understanding on the subject and its issues, and a clearer sense of purpose. Not for a day[Read More…]
A white head-scarf, a white flowing beard, a faint smile and an impish twinkle in the eyes – Sunderlal Bahuguna’s was one of the more recognizable public faces in the country and certainly the most amidst the ecologists and environmentalist across the world. He breathed his last today (21 May 2021) at 1205 hrs at the All India Institute of[Read More…]
On 1 August 1920, Asahyog Andolan or a Non-cooperation Movement, the first of the three major Satyagrah in the course of the country’s freedom movement, was launched by the Indian National Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. As part of this, the people would stop cooperating in the functioning of the government – give up their government jobs, titles[Read More…]
I was born and bred in Dehra Dun. Then, in search of job and a future, for some years of my life I worked and lived in Delhi and Ahmedabad. In the twelve or so years at the time, no one in Delhi nor Ahmedabad ever called me a “migrant”. Today many young women and men, having studied engineering, medical,[Read More…]
The End Stage of American Empire 
End the culture of impunity and arrest accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh now 
Brasilia summit: Lula and Maduro reboot regional integration 
Steaming Ahead: Sikkim’s First Rail Project to Boost Connectivity by 2024 
Five years behind bars for five activists 
Five Years Since The First Arrests In Bhima-Koregaon Case 
Diluted Sovereignty: A Very Australian Example 
Conflict, Migration, and Demography in Russia and Its Border Regions 
Railway Safety Has Been Short of Funds, Needs Early Increase 
Notes on two recent sensations 
A shocking picture of health apathy….. 
Railway accident in Odisha- Are the Railways ready for high-speed trains? Who is to be blamed? 
Teaser of Film on Savarkar: Lies Galore 
Preserving India’s Heritage: The Power of International Collaboration for Natural and Cultural Conservation 
Looking for Home in an Overheating World – If Emissions Continue, Will We All Be Migrants Someday? 
From Ploughshares to Swords—Sudden Militarism of Those Who Once Stood for Peace 
Transreality 
Australia stands to benefit from India only if Indian democracy survives, not from rallies 
Whether Rhetoric or Serious, Arab Diplomacy Can’t Be Ignored! 
Unleashing the Power of Sports: How Sporting Events Drive Tourism Growth 
Black Panther and the need to dream for a better world 
Mexico’s Zapatistas Warn Chiapas Is on “the Verge of Civil War” 
Why distress from railway accidents may be much higher than is commonly believed 
Stop Plastic Pollution as We Commemorate 50th World Environment Day 2023 
Modi Regime should be Called to Account for the Deadliest Triple Train Collision at Balasore 
Thoughts on World Environment Day 
Nuclear Fusion: Eternal Energy = Eternal Damnation 
Why There Should Be A Treaty Against the Use of Weaponized Drones 
Protests in Germany after Anti-fascists sent to five years in prison 
Women Wrestler’s Protests: Exposing Beti Bachao Slogan 
Inauguration of Parliament Building: Coronation Ceremony? 
FBI appears to be continuing investigation of Julian Assange 
And We Are Much More Than Our Uterus. (In Solidarity With the protesting wrestlers) 
Strike ends in Belsonika with reinstatement of 10 suspended workers 
A Man Without a Strategy: How Netanyahu Is Provoking Armed Intifada in the West Bank 
The Ancient Patterns of Migration 
Seven Reasons Why the Present Phase of Imperialism is the Most Dangerous Ever 
Unmasking Tourism’s Roadblocks 
Metro authorities humiliating ordinary commuters 
PLI Scheme- Do subsidies to profit-earning private manufacturers yield commensurate societal benefits? 
Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
