Articles by: Ramnik Mohan

Students’ Arrests amidst COVID-19 and the Lockdown : Issues worth Pondering

Students’ Arrests amidst COVID-19 and the Lockdown : Issues worth Pondering

At a time when another large democracy of the world, the United States of America, is in the throes of a crisis, it is relevant to recall, for all protesters and resisters struggling for their rights, what Martin Luther King (Jr.) had said: “The non-violent resister is not physically aggressive towards the opponent. But his mind and emotions are always[Read More…]

by 05/06/2020 Comments are Disabled Human Rights
Indo-Pak People-to-People Peace Efforts need a Close Look

Indo-Pak People-to-People Peace Efforts need a Close Look

Indo-Pakistan relations have almost never been all-smooth, least of all since the 1990s if not earlier, post the worsening of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. This was also the decade when collective efforts for people-to-people contact gained pace, with peace activists on both sides of the border coming together at forums like the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace[Read More…]

by 28/08/2019 Comments are Disabled South Asia
Remembering Asma Jahangir : A Legacy to Cherish

Remembering Asma Jahangir : A Legacy to Cherish

It is now more than a year since Asma Jahangir left us. As August 14-15 approaches, one cannot but recall her, for she was someone who worked tirelessly for human rights as well as better and smoother, peaceful Indo-Pakistan relations. People like her (characterised as an icon and a crusader) and the work they do retain their relevance for not[Read More…]

by 01/08/2019 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
The Pulwana Effect on Kashmiri Students and  the Way Out

The Pulwana Effect on Kashmiri Students and  the Way Out

The suicide-bomber attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir has been hogging the headlines over this past one week. This is in the fitness of things, for such a major attack of a similar nature has taken place after a long period of time in the strife-torn state and it involves the loss of more than[Read More…]

by 20/02/2019 Comments are Disabled World
My Tryst with Kashmir and What it Means to Me

My Tryst with Kashmir and What it Means to Me

News of violence and unrest coming from any part of the country – nay, the world – is disturbing. All the more so if it lasts and continues over long periods of time. And yet there are parts of the country that are special in a special way, and such news coming from there has a qualitatively altogether different effect[Read More…]

by 25/10/2018 2 comments Kashmir
The Youth Today : Caught in a Bind and Yet Daring to Dream – and Act

The Youth Today : Caught in a Bind and Yet Daring to Dream – and Act

It was a performance “to narrate and retell the stories of women of Delhi who have been resilient in the face of adversities….. [and] have changed/ altered some parts of their lives by being their true selves.” A performance that more or less seamlessly “flowed into” what is characterized as “Playback Theatre” in which, after the main performance, someone from[Read More…]

by 29/09/2018 Comments are Disabled Life/Philosophy
Of ‘Mulk’, and the ‘Garm Hava’ of the Times we Live In, waiting for the ‘Naseem’ to Blow

Of ‘Mulk’, and the ‘Garm Hava’ of the Times we Live In, waiting for the ‘Naseem’ to Blow

The iconic poster of that memorable film ‘Garm Hava’(hot winds), with the inimitable Balraj Sahni’s grim face and downcast, apparently moist eyes reflecting a quiet determination, has these lines on it in comparatively small print: ‘…. every pain of mine,                           I hid even from myself.’ The recently released ‘Mulk’, in some ways reminds one of ‘Garm Hava’- and these[Read More…]

by 15/08/2018 3 comments Arts/Literature
Indian Education- Suicide--Madura beats

Another Life Ended Raising Questions on ‘What is Education?’

Another suicide at the altar of so-called Education. The news report about a fortnight back shook one to the core – so much so that the tragedy stays in the mind all these days after the happening, knocking at the door of conscious thought every now and then. A young girl seeking admission to the M.Sc. (Chemistry) Course in Maharshi[Read More…]

by 17/07/2018 3 comments Life/Philosophy
Freedom of Movement for Girls : A Significant Victory in a Small Place and the Larger Issues Involved

Freedom of Movement for Girls : A Significant Victory in a Small Place and the Larger Issues Involved

  Rohtak may not be a prominent city on the map of India but is, all the same, an important city and major hub of education in Haryana. In the very recent past it was witness to an unprecedented development on the campus of one of the foremost universities of the state, once again forcing one to think about the[Read More…]

by 01/03/2018 1 comment Patriarchy
Kashmir’s Youth In Haryana: Worrisome Developments That Need Sensitive Handling

Kashmir’s Youth In Haryana: Worrisome Developments That Need Sensitive Handling

Within the span of not more than ten days there have been two incidents of Kashmiris being beaten up in Haryana. The first news came from Mahendergarh around the last weekend, and the second just a couple of days back from Mullana in Ambala district. In 2016 there were similar reports of Kashmiri youth being beaten up in a private[Read More…]

by 11/02/2018 Comments are Disabled Kashmir
The Departure Of Anand Prakash, An Extra-Ordinary Crusader Who Stood Up For Justice

The Departure Of Anand Prakash, An Extra-Ordinary Crusader Who Stood Up For Justice

The news of the demise of the unassuming, down-to-earth Anand Prakash, who led the struggle for justice for Ruchika Girhotra tirelessly for 26 long years once again brought to my mind the words of a young woman relating the story of her fight for justice to me – “Power and pelf hold sway and ordinary folk like me stand no[Read More…]

by 15/01/2018 1 comment Life/Philosophy
Social Work : How Much Is Fine And Where To Draw The Line – And What Its Different ‘Avatars’?

Social Work : How Much Is Fine And Where To Draw The Line – And What Its Different ‘Avatars’?

A thoughtful, sensitive and sensible, socially aware youngster raised this question during the course of one of our conversations. It set me thinking, for I had seen all sorts of people involved in social work – those whose families got neglected, others who were able to strike a balance, still others whose relations with friends and family tottered on the[Read More…]

by 08/12/2017 2 comments Life/Philosophy
Crimes Against Women: The Real, Substantive Solutions

Crimes Against Women: The Real, Substantive Solutions

  The Banaras Hindu University episode of lathi-charge on students protesting against inaction of authorities at the molestation of a girl-student forces us, once again, to think where we are headed. The December 2012 ‘Nirbhaya’ episode, the epic struggle of the girl for survival after the brutally inhuman assault on her and the subsequent protests leading up to the Justice[Read More…]

by 27/09/2017 2 comments India, Patriarchy
Of Martyrdom – And Education

Of Martyrdom – And Education

A Facebook friend’s post set me thinking the other day. Her son, while memorizing an essay on the Independence Day, and reading the names of Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, the Rani of Jhansi and Mahatma Gandhi listed as martyrs, raised the query – “Gandhi died after Independence. Why, then, has he been characterized as a martyr?” The[Read More…]

by 19/09/2017 2 comments India