Articles by: Neha Saigal

Linking Climate Action to Decolonization and Degrowth

Linking Climate Action to Decolonization and Degrowth

  Billion-dollar disaster was the term used to describe the climate breakdown that rocked our world last year. Floods in Pakistan droughts in China and Europe and tropical cyclones in other parts of Asia and America. India in the month of October last year experienced extreme weather events on 30 out of 31 days according to India’s Atlas on the[Read More…]

by 17/03/2023 Comments are Disabled Climate Change, Counter Solutions
Finding new and unfamiliar voices to tackle the climate crisis

Finding new and unfamiliar voices to tackle the climate crisis

“I always thought that we are the root cause of the pollution and climate change we are experiencing, now more than ever these days”, words of 17-year-old Poonam from Karauli district in Rajasthan. Poonam is one of the girl leaders of Rajasthan Rising, a young movement led by girls who primarily belong to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, OBC and minority[Read More…]

by 14/08/2022 Comments are Disabled Climate Change
Rajasthan Rising: Movement of young girls challenging patriarchy  

Rajasthan Rising: Movement of young girls challenging patriarchy  

by Neha Saigal & Saumya Shrivastava Earlier this year, on a pleasant afternoon we made our way from the walled and very beautiful city of Jaipur to the narrow and uneven lanes of Karauli district. We were there to meet members of Rajasthan Rising, a relatively young movement led by girls, between the ages of 14-24 years, belonging to Bahujan[Read More…]

by 31/08/2021 Comments are Disabled Patriarchy
An Honest Memoir On Traveling Through The Kashmir Valley

An Honest Memoir On Traveling Through The Kashmir Valley

I am a wanderer and an explorer, I will travel to any corner of this planet if it intrigues me or catches my fancy. Somewhere in 2017, I decided that I must travel to Kashmir, maybe I was attracted to the place as it was a boiling cauldron of careless politics and tragic lives. It is strange to think about[Read More…]

by 31/01/2018 Comments are Disabled Kashmir
Rohingya refugees wait for the food to be distributed by local organisations near Balukhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, September 13, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Violence & Peace Are Not Defined By Religion

A couple of weeks ago I was in Dhaka, Bangladesh, it was at the time when several news agencies were reporting the Rohingya crisis unfolding in Myanmar.  There was social media frenzy around the atrocities by the Myanmar security forces and the radio silence from Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. This international uproar was a result of 100,000s[Read More…]

by 07/10/2017 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
New Delhi : A participant shows a placard during a silent protest "Not in My Name" against the targeted lynching, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI Photo by Shahbaz Khan(PTI6_28_2017_000215B)

Introspection on Urban Activism

I grew up in one of the big cities of India and recall celebrating every festival with family and friends. To be honest my young eyes never really differentiated between Holi, Eid, Easter, Ramadan or Christmas. I should be grateful to the wonderful upbringing by my parents who probably believed that India is defined by so many religions, cultures and[Read More…]

by 01/08/2017 1 comment India
“When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer As A Young Wife”: Moving Beyond Data To Tackle Domestic Violence

“When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer As A Young Wife”: Moving Beyond Data To Tackle Domestic Violence

The experience of violence that women face behind closed doors is a global disease. There are no boundaries, cultural or social, for this violence, as it is deeply ingrained in a society that is patriarchal. Domestic Violence is a phenomenon that is usually accepted within families and is brushed under the carpet as a matter that is personal, so others[Read More…]

by 05/07/2017 1 comment Arts/Literature, Patriarchy
Wake Up: India Is Changing Faster Than We Can Imagine

Wake Up: India Is Changing Faster Than We Can Imagine

Ever since the Rajasthan High Court judge made public, his suggestions on declaring the cow, the national animal of India solely based on his inner voice and also went a step further to enlighten us on his knowledge of the non-existence of sexual intercourse between peacocks and peahens, social media is in a frenzy with memes and jokes on the[Read More…]

by 03/06/2017 1 comment India
We Can Learn To Express More Boldly From Manto

We Can Learn To Express More Boldly From Manto

If the great Urdu writer, Saadat Hasan Manto was alive today, he would have been 105 years old. I wonder whether his spectacled and now old eyes would be surprised at how the world had further degraded in values of humanism. On second thoughts I doubt todays India or Pakistan with its ever increasing intolerance, extremism and gender inequality would[Read More…]

by 13/05/2017 1 comment Arts/Literature
Every Story Has Two Sides: Kashmir Is No different

Every Story Has Two Sides: Kashmir Is No different

http://www.amazon.in/Scattered-Souls-Shahnaz-Bashir/dp/9352641248 I recently finished reading Shahnaz Bashir’s “Scattered Souls”, which is a collection of powerful short stories depicting the price that ordinary citizens living in Kashmir are paying because of excessive militarization. The Indian Government may justify this as much needed policing against the Kashmiri insurgents, to maintain internal security. But with all due to respect to the National Security[Read More…]

by 28/04/2017 2 comments Kashmir
Yoga & Yogi Have Nothing In Common

Yoga & Yogi Have Nothing In Common

As Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, I am convinced that many Indian citizens like myself saw an idea of India completely vanish before our eyes. This quite obviously has not happened overnight. The cries for help to save this idea of India have been visible in the protests across the country since the Lok[Read More…]

by 21/03/2017 1 comment India
It’s Time The MHA Crack The Whip on Child Trafficking

It’s Time The MHA Crack The Whip on Child Trafficking

I had just finished reading Anita Nair’s recent novel, “ Chain of Custody” which gives a glimpse into the dark, convoluted business of child trafficking, when I also came across a video of Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher talking about the same issue at the US Senate. Kutcher talks about a horrifying video clipthat has been doing the rounds on the[Read More…]

by 24/02/2017 1 comment Human Rights
Mahila Shakti Kendras: Yet Another Well Worded  Scheme, With No Teeth

Mahila Shakti Kendras: Yet Another Well Worded  Scheme, With No Teeth

A few kilometers outside Ahmedabad in Gujarat, I visited a Mahila Shakti Kendra about a year ago. I was amazed at what I saw and heard. In a community building, right in the center of a buzzing market, was a decent sized room. There were info graphics on the wall, a group of women of all ages having a charcha.[Read More…]

by 10/02/2017 1 comment Patriarchy
Lessons On Analysis, Experience And Instinct For The Modi Government, Courtesy Aristotle

Lessons On Analysis, Experience And Instinct For The Modi Government, Courtesy Aristotle

I stumbled upon a book about Alexander the Great and his strategies on the battlefield. I was not particularly keen to finish the book, instead my curiosity took me to research about his teacher Aristotle, who claimed by many, is the reason for Alexander’s success. The western philosopher who was highly influential in the middle ages (5th to 15th century)[Read More…]

by 16/01/2017 1 comment India