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Rude language and strong denial of atrocities define JNU Administration today. On March 14, JNU’s prospectus was allegedly leaked on social media. JNU Students’ Union called for strike against the alleged 300% fee hike. The leaked prospectus was found doing the rounds on social networks. The leaked prospectus mentioned the fees for General Category/EWS, OBC, SC/ST/PWD/BPL/Transgender to be Rs 1200,[Read More…]
23rd March, 1931! At 7:30pm, the British Government silently hanged three revolutionaries in Lahore Jail. Then through a pit smuggled the dead bodies to Ganda Singh Wala village (now situated in Pakistan). They burnt the corpses and threw the ashes into the river. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged 11 hours earlier than the allotted time. Those whom the[Read More…]
A public meeting was organized by Janhastakshep on The Challenges of 2019 and the Role of Media on 22 March 2019 at the Press club. Veteran journalist and columnist Prem Shankar Jha; Hartosh Singh Bal, the editor of Caravan and Professor Apoorvanand of Delhi University were the main speakers. Pankaj Srivastava, a member of the Punya Prasoon Vajpeyi’s team that[Read More…]
A Critique – by Dr. K. S. Sharma Chief Minister – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Policies – Programmes X-rayed is the Title of a mega-volume of 672 Pages in Kannada, traversing and x-raying the two decades of Narendra Modi’s Political travelogue. In order to provide a Bird’s Eye-view of this long travelogue, a concise summary in English has been sketched[Read More…]
23rd March, 2019 is the 88thanniversary of the martyrdom of three great revolutionaries, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who were hanged at Lahore for working to overthrow the British rule in India. The British government like any other colonial power thought that with the physical elimination of these freedom fighters their ideas and dreams of a secular and egalitarian independent[Read More…]
A-Z Reasons – Why No to Vote for Modi in 2019 Letter Reasons A Anti-Minority-Dalit-Women-Working Class – The BJP / RSS displays a clear Anti-Dalit-Minority-Working Class attitude as reflected in its policies and ideological leanings. B Big Brother – This is a government run by Mota Bhai (Big Brother), an unconstitutional figure who in connivance with another Big Brother (Prime[Read More…]
Wake Up India: Essays for Our Times – continued A democracy needs at least two big parties and to rotate them. Time to rotate and give the baton to the Congress and its allies now. Demonetisation failed to bring back any black money. In fact, the BJP government is being asked to give an explanation for the excess money it[Read More…]
A biopic and a web series on Narendra Modi scheduled for release in middle of general elections are indeed new and innovative ways of spreading propaganda. Whether it causes violation of model code of conduct in any ways is for Election commission to ascertain. With dates being announced it has the required apparatus at its disposal to enquire into the[Read More…]
Delhi is the ancient city of India. The city’s history bears testimony to settlements and also to ruins. This order of settling and deserting of the city has been going on since the Mahabharata period. In the medieval period, this city enjoyed eminence as a centre of power and this eminence endured for a long time. It is hardly surprising[Read More…]
18 March 2019 marks two years of the violent atrocious judgment sentencing 13 workers of Maruti Suzuki Workers Union to Life Imprisonment by the Sessions Court, Gurgaon. The 13 workers, the entire Union body of the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union – who spearheaded resistance against contractualization, brutal working conditions and for Union formation – continue to languish in Gurgaon Central[Read More…]
The present RSS/BJP rulers are using every dirty trick to hide the fact that blood thirsty criminal, perpetrator of the Pulwama massacre, Azhar Masood is roaming free thanks to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government which was ruling India in 1999. Instead of discussing who gave new lease of life to this sadist criminal who was also the master mind behind[Read More…]
The coming 2019 may prove to be a watershed in India’s political history, as were the 1977 elections forty-two years ago. In 1977, elections were held after a declared Emergency, during which the Constitution was suspended, political activity disallowed and opposition leaders and activists imprisoned. The success of non-Congress parties in those elections strengthened the electoral system in Indian democracy.[Read More…]
As the country is preparing for elections, all the politicians are trying to outsmart each other in promises and rhetoric. Amidst of the statements of leaders, some are really very disturbing. For instance, Sakshi Maharaj, MP, lok sabha said that the upcoming elections will be fought in the name of the country and there will be no elections after that.[Read More…]
An angry human being cannot think of anything sane and rational. He/She executes everything which ultimately leads to scattering off the foundation of humanity. Similarly, the India we’re living in is burning in anger. Anger over democracy and love for fascism. The citizens of this diverse nation today are cynic and ignores everything which can demolish diversity but concentrates on[Read More…]
Infrastructure is the catchword of our politicians and bureaucrats. But they are obsessed with creating infrastructure for the upper class, not for common people. The pedestrian bridge collapse in Mumbai last Thursday killing six people and injuring several others underscores the extremely anti-people nature of the Indian State. But it is not likely to learn any lessons unless massive public[Read More…]
No powerful ruler transfers power unless his/her reign is threatened and he/she can no longer continue. Allama Mashriqi’s private army of Khaksars in British India was indeed instrumental in bringing about the end of the British Raj in the Indian sub-continent. On March 19, 1940, a large number of Khaksar freedom fighters were massacred while marching in protest of restrictions[Read More…]
On February 28 the Supreme Court (SC) put on hold its February 13 order directing states to evict tribals and other forest-dwellers whose claims for land titles under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) have been rejected. The SC is hearing a batch of petitions filed eleven year ago by the forest conservation groups including Wildlife First, Nature Conservation Society[Read More…]
In his 1978 book ‘India Mortgaged’, T.N. Reddy predicted the country would one day open all sectors to foreign direct investment and surrender economic sovereignty to imperialist powers. Today, the US and Europe cling to a moribund form of capitalism and have used various mechanisms to bolster the system in the face of economic stagnation and massive inequalities: the raiding of public budgets,[Read More…]
The Supreme court had earlier in Oct 2018 closed down the firecracker industry to curb pollution. The court on March 12, 2019 took a relook into its order banning the existing firecrackers. A bench of Justices SA Bobde and S Abdul Nazeer asked the Centre whether any comparative study has been done to fairly establish that vehicles pollute more than[Read More…]
Rahul Gandhi has declared that his party would reserve 33% seats for women in Parliament and State assemblies as their representation is very low. He went a step forward and suggested that they would also ensure that 33% women are taken into Union government’s various services. These announcement are great for many but they also sound an alarm bell. Congress[Read More…]
Can you relate to the feeling of being trapped in a world where your identity is in your enemy? Can you relate to anger the accompanies when the language you speak and choice of god you pray to determine whether you’ll be able to put food on the table? Can you relate to the feeling alienation when babus and netas[Read More…]
In 2011 Swami Nigmanand died on the 115th day of his fast against illegal mining in Haridwar. Matri Sadan, the ashram with which he was associated alleges that he was killed by poisoning in the hospital at the behest of a mining mafia. Swami Gokulanand, who sat on first fast organised by Matri Sadan along with Swami Nigmanand in 1998,[Read More…]
I am a citizen of India. I consider it my duty to abide by the 11 Fundamental Duties that are laid down in Part IV-A, Article 51-A of the Constitution of India, because India is a constitutional democracy, where the Constitution of our nation is the supreme authority and we, the people of India, have given to ourselves this[Read More…]
The coming 2019 may prove to be a watershed in India’s political history, as were the 1977 elections forty-two years ago. In 1977, elections were held after a declared Emergency, during which the Constitution was suspended, political activity disallowed and opposition leaders and activists imprisoned. The success of non-Congress parties in those elections strengthened the electoral system in Indian democracy.[Read More…]
Even as I write, a new twitter trend #boycottSurfexcel is soaring. Depicting Hindu-Muslim unity-ish feeling the ad is now being trashed for its subservient Hindu sentiments as compared to those of Muslims; for promoting love-jihaad and being Hindu phobic. Coming in the backdrop of on-going strategic war with Pakistan, it is an understatement to say feelings of nationalism have touched[Read More…]
We entered the age of fake news long time ago and some intellectuals and scholars have started to call it an important branch of post truth. When did it started and when will it end, nobody has the accurate answers. There are different views about the beginning of the Post-Truth Age. Some say that it started with the[Read More…]
To, Shri Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India Dear Prime Minister, NREGA has been a lifeline for the poor, with one in every three rural households working in it. About 5 crore households access some employment under this Act every year. Even though most households are able to access their full guarantee to employment under NREGA, the programme has played[Read More…]
India has grown into a global powerhouse. Its economy is soaring but the picture on the ground is still quite arid. The green shoots that you see are only a patch of its landscape. Most Indians are hapless victims of inequity. India is one country where intense poverty abounds in the shadow of immense wealth. The Indian economy is projected to[Read More…]
As the month of march progresses, there is great pressure from the administration to intensify the works but does the government have money to make timely payments to the workers? Workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) across India gathered at their nearest police stations to lodge complaints against the Prime Minister of India for irregularities and[Read More…]
Ever since the attack in Pulwama by a suicide bomber killing 42 of India’s security personnel, the country has been on the edge fearing an all-out war with Pakistan. Any civilized person could see the barbarity of this dastardly terrorist act only with disgust and rage. However, a confrontation between these two nuclear powers is neither in the interest of[Read More…]
Where politicians of all hues vie with each other, but the BJP’s shenanigans ‘stand apart’! In its insatiable lust and a desperate bid for power, the BJP government is pulling no punches to use all the tricks in the trade to fleece masses so as to get back to the hot seat in Delhi in 2019. The latest one pertains[Read More…]
Chief Election Commissioner of India, Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi – 110001 Sub : Stop Politicization of Armed Forces by Political Parties Dear Sir, On behalf of a number of my colleagues from the armed forces veterans, this is Admiral L Ramdas – a former Chief of the Naval Staff – writing to share some of my concerns regarding[Read More…]
A WhatsApp-sponsored report, prepared in partnership with Queen Mary University, has raised the alarm that the 2019 elections in India, which already has cleavages on lines of caste, race, gender, religion, would be a fertile ground for damaging fake news. There was a time when ‘Good Morning’ messages were causing much “pain” to internet giants? It was the beginning of[Read More…]
1. The modern industrial civilization has witnessed two World Wars. The researchers of war have yet not been able to estimate the magnitude of casualties/deaths – both military and civilian – which occurred in these two World Wars. The estimated figure of people killed in both World Wars is between 10 to 15 crores. World Wars I and II were[Read More…]
The Pulwama attack, the aerial strike in response to it, the capture of an Indian Airforce Pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman and the aftermath of his return have evoked strong responses from the Indian public. While the patriotic quotient of such responses is justified yet it is necessary to highlight a problematic tendency inherent in them. For a large part of these[Read More…]
Since the 2000s, a large section of the rural population has been migrating to the urban centres in pursuit of employment and survival from life-threatening poverty& drought, as happiness is a long way to go. Rural Reporter P. Sainath warned that the migration from a rural economy to urban is “…perhaps the greatest distress-driven migrations we’ve seen in independent India”.[Read More…]
Arnab Goswami of Times Now/ Republic Tv needs no introduction. He is notoriously famous for his jingoistic temperament and equally known for building opinions of elite figures or so-called bigwigs on his show—that paddles noise than message. His problem roots in rigidity: That only his is gospel of truth. He loves to hear it from his con artists who keep[Read More…]
A year after Cobrapost did a sting operation on the premier media houses of the country and showed how they were willing to act as propaganda machines and even go to the extent of communal polarisation in exchange of money, it came out with Operation Karaoke, another sting operation which exposed some three dozen Bollywood actors as well as TV[Read More…]
Filing of FIRs against Prime Minister for fraud in NREGA wages of workers on 28th February, 2019, at – Police Station across the country Petition to Prime Minister of India and Minister of Rural Development for immediate release of Rs. 25,000 crores to NREGA Budget On 28th February NREGA workers across the country went to their local police station and[Read More…]
“Kasturba Gandhi is no more. She died at the age of 74 in British jail….I salute this great woman who was like a mother to Indians ….Kasturba was an inspiration for millions of Indian girls with whom she lived and met during the freedom struggle of our motherland. She was party to the many travails and tribulations of life with[Read More…]
The way India chooses to respond to the Pulwama suicide attack has consequences for its future and for its relationship with Pakistan. In light of the speech made by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan soon after the attack, India perhaps has a chance to consider responding to the offer made in his speech, although many Indians reasonably feel the speech[Read More…]
Many excesses of the police and military forces go unreported or partially reported. A recent incident of injuring hearing impaired has not been covered widely in mainstream media. According to reports in indian express (published February 26, 2019) , Pune City Police lathicharged agitators with hearing impairment when they tried to take out a rally from the Commissionerate of Social[Read More…]
Indian news channels turned into fish markets! Facebook became one big club of fools! And the whole plot of handshake between politicians and army is a predictable climax of a worse movie! ● While the Indian Foreign Secretary claims of many dead terrorists after the IAF air strike, Pakistan Foreign Secretary says, “No casualties found” and so the information has[Read More…]
As the reports of the Indian Air Force preemptive strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camps inside Pakistan territory came, there was a sense of gratitude for ordinary Indian who felt that the terror camps must be destroyed at all cost but the media and those who want to use these bombing to raise the political climate in their favor have[Read More…]
Co-Written by P,. K. Vijayan, and Karen Gabriel The past few months have witnessed the grand spectacle of Narendra Modi emerging as the Prime Minister of India, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finally achieving single-party majority in Parliament. The latter is a development of some consequence, since it means that the BJP’s programs and policies are no longer[Read More…]
There is hardly anyone in the country today – a consummate media observer, who is not denying the existence of professional ethics, integrity and honesty in main stream media. For a good chunk of end users – the consumers, there exists suspicion beyond doubt that what they are being served as news is largely propaganda and more of stenography that[Read More…]
Canada-based Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) came out with a strong statement on Sunday, February 24, against recent attacks on Kashmiris across India, The right wing Hindu nationalists started targeting innocent Kashmiris settled outside Kashmir state of India following a February 14 suicide bombing that left more than 40 Indian soldiers dead in Pulwama. The dead soldiers belonged to[Read More…]
Presence of mind and the ability to face criticisms with a smiling face are the vital qualities a politician should own. He or She should realise that a slip of tongue might come back and hit them like a boomerang. And sometimes, it might have very disastrous and devastating results. One of Kerala’s youngest MLA V T Balram is not[Read More…]
Kashmiri students, traders and workmen have suffered violent attacks in different parts of the country after a suicide bomber of jihadi terrorist oraganisation JeM killed more than forty CRPF jawans in Pulwama in Kashmir valley. Students in Dehradun, Ambala, Jaipur and Yavatmal were physically threatened and forced to leave. Two institutions in Dehradun have given a written undertaking to the[Read More…]
Guwahati High Court turned over the new rules of Government of Mizoram regarding changing the reservation category of Chakmas The single judge bench of Guwahati High Court declared unconstitutional to the new reservation rules 2016 of Government of Mizoram regarding the changes in the reservation category of Chakmas schedule Tribes in the State. This decision of the High Court will[Read More…]
Freedom of speech became a debatable issue in India during the regime of Modi government. From 2014, criticism against any government policy or step becomes the activity of anti-national. Nobody dares to speak against the authority. Even in Indian constitution, article 19 guarantees the right “to freedom of speech and expression.” However, the constitution also allows the government to limit freedom[Read More…]
Part 1: Summary of Actions Steps to re-establish India’s global role as a champion of human rights, peace and demilitarisation, and ecological wisdom, including through the revitalisation of the United Nations and support to people’s democratic access to global decision-making, and advocacy to make trade and other economic agreements subservient to human rights and environment ones. Talisman for every public[Read More…]
From, Admiral L Ramdas (retd) PVSM AVSM VrC VSM Former Chief of the Naval Staff Maharashtra Gaurav Puruskar Magsaysay Awardee for Peace To, The Honorable President Rashtrapati Bhavan New Delhi-‐110011 Dear Shri Kovind ji, This is Admiral Ramdas -‐ former Chief of the Naval Staff, writing to you yet again – this time on the tragic deaths of Central[Read More…]
‘Kashmir Handicrafts Exhibition’is put up on Baba Kharak Singh Marg (BKS Marg)at a venue sandwiched between a Masjid and Pracheen Shiv Mandir every year in winter. BKS marg has all the state emporiums and is a street in Delhi with places of worship of all the major religions. It has few Hindu temples (Hanuman mandir, Shiv mandir and Ganesh mandir),[Read More…]
The Pulwama attack on CRPF convoy on 14th February which left 42 CRPF personnel dead left the entire country numb with shock and pain. The families of the martyrs are still struggling to come to terms with such loss. The immediate response from the government and the opposition of putting a united front in favour of national security was a[Read More…]
Many years ago, I read a moving book appropriately titled “ Cry the beloved Country”. Written by Alan Paton, well-known author of the time, It was set in apartheid-era South Africa. But it could well have been set in India. Every time, I open my newspaper, I read the story of someone or the other who has been denied justice[Read More…]
Even though police have imposed severe restrictions and taken some of their leaders into custody thousands of farmers have gathered at Nashik’s Mumbai Naka for their second historic long march. They are aiming to reach Mumbai on February 27, covering a distance of 180 kilometres. The call for the Kisan Long March was given by the All India Kisan Sabha[Read More…]
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in New Delhi for a 2-day visit on Tuesday evening. He was warmly received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport with a hug. The visit will be closely-watched for talks between the two leaders on terrorism and trade. Amid India’s efforts to diplomatically isolate Pakistan as punishment for Pulwama terror[Read More…]
All Indians are devastated by the massacre of 40 para-military personnel and maiming of many of them by the notorious, Azhar Masood led Jaish-e-Mohammed [JeM] who tops Security Council’s list of most wanted terrorist. The most heinous part of this carnage was that the victims were not on the battle-front but travelling. As was expected PM Modi strongly condemned the[Read More…]
There is war talk all around. The war cries that have been an intrinsic feature of some television studios for about the past five years have become shriller during the past couple of days. Calling for a full-fledged war including the use of nuclear weapons is expected of some television anchors, hatemongers and shouting brigades know for screaming, screeching and[Read More…]
Kashmir. The tragic, “cowardly” attack is nothing but a mirror reflecting on the Indian state’s policy, the Indian identity and the Indian conscience: bloodthirsty, no regard for the common life, neither soldier not terrorist, no. The pathological hatred we’ve harboured for our own ancestors; the vile venom spread in the name of love of the nation; the call for war[Read More…]
Dear All, A lot of people are very angry. But I hope we will all think very carefully before we call on our leaders for war or any extreme measure. India is indeed great. And a great nation can endure acts of free speech, including criticisms of the government. We can endure and appropriately handle acts of terrorism without resorting[Read More…]
When the whole of the nation bid an emotional farewell to its 44 brave soldiers, who lost their lives in the Pulwama terror attack, dozens of students from the Kashmir valley studying in Dehradun stayed closed inside their rooms fearing attack from a violent mob gathered outside their place of residence. It is exasperating to learn that the right-wing Hindu[Read More…]
As if the people of northeast (NE) India became more conscious about India’s constitution, rule of law and its secular image abroad. So groups of people, including politicians, civil society group representatives, media personnel etc came to hit the streets raising strong voices against the Union government’s proposed citizenship amendment initiatives. The move by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)[Read More…]
People’s Union for Democratic Rights expresses outrage over the terrorist attack in Pulwama which killed over 40 CRPF personnel on February 14, 2019 and expresses condolences to the families of the deceased. However, the aftermath of Pulwama has shown rising attacks on Kashmiris in different states, a situation which is extremely worrisome and dangerous, despite a notification advisory by the[Read More…]
Friends and Comrades, There is a situation developing across many cities and towns post the Pulwama attack and killings. While we all condemn the killings and terror acts, we also have a responsibility to make sure that the situation is not allowed to turn against Muslims in general and Kashmiris in particular. Already violence is being reported from several towns[Read More…]
The terror attack on the CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir is the most ghastly among all such attacks that so far has happened in the restive state. Every Indian’s heart goes out to the families of the security personnel who were killed or injured in that dastardly attack. The family members of the victims of this barbaric[Read More…]
The Pulwama attack is not a time for revenge as is already happening in many parts of the country. Yesterday, vehicles from Kashmir valley were attacked and set on sire. Curfew was declared in Jammu. Today, students from Kashmir valley were attacked in different parts of the country. Let me make it clear at the outset that Kashmiris in general[Read More…]
While the nation mourn the deaths of 42 Jawans of the CRPF and rightfully so standing with these people, sons of the farmers and Bahujan communities. The fact is it is the poor who face the challenge but brahmanical elite in India enjoy the money in the TV studios with their pathetic discussions and deliberate provocations. Rather than questioning the[Read More…]
The PUCL strongly condemns the attack on Indian Army personnel in Pulwama, Kashmir, which led to the killing of about 40 CRPF personnel. The killings happened in the most brutal and dehumanised way, with a RDX filled SUV ramming into the Bus which was part of a convoy carrying the army personnel on the Jammu Srinagar highway. The resulting blast[Read More…]
The Maharashtra government and the municipal corporation in Mumbai have starved and crippled India’s once premier bus service BEST and now there is a move to further humiliate the bus service and its users. A Shiv Sena corporator has proposed to the civic body that old BEST buses be used as mobile toilets ostensibly for use of commuters caught in[Read More…]
The terror attack in Pulwama (J & K) which killed more than 40 CRPF personnel is a grim reminder of the fact that these things are not possible if the ‘friendly’ regime in Pakistan deal with them seriously. The Pakistan based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed the responsibility of this suicide attack. We know that on both the sides of[Read More…]
The mystery on the Rafale Aircraft Deal is standing right there even after the deal has been moving around the governments and their leaders of India and France, various governmental institutions and their officials on both sides, weapon companies and their masters, media and independent journalists, civil society activists etc. Rather there is a over casting of darkness in the[Read More…]
After the central Government has reserved 10 percent seats to the castes of general category the Andhra Pradesh Government brought out a GO allocating 5 percent of the seats and jobs to only Kapu community of the state. The remaining 5 percent is meant for the other unreserved castes. As it is well known that the Kapus have been fighting[Read More…]
Recently Bhartiy Janta Party (BJP) has got through a bill in Lok Sabha for 10% reservation on economic basis, Constitution has been amended and consent of the President of India has also been obtained. It is also worth mentioning that it got support from all the political parties. The Central government has issued a government order and states like[Read More…]
Remember what happened to the Indian telecom sector after Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Mobile was launched? Jio offered dirt cheap call and data tariff. It destroyed many telecom companies. Some disappeared for ever, some merged to stay afloat. Government has advised the state run BSNL to think about the possibility of closing down! Same thing is going to happen in Cable[Read More…]
We are happy that the Chhattisgarh police have dropped our names from the chargesheet in the murder of Shyamnath Baghel. We hope that the many hundreds of innocent adivasis and all others who have been falsely implicated and are languishing in jail will also soon get justice. We are grateful to our lawyers, friends and all those who helped us[Read More…]
“They are but beggars that can count their worth ” . William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet) Whenever poorly- clad, dirty and expectant people gathering major road junctions, bus – stands, temples, mosques or churches, rail- stations, etc pleading for a coin or two are seen, they are either abused or evaded or some coins are thrust into their empty bowls[Read More…]
Disturbing to see how the government of the day want to maintain the Universities campuses ‘apolitical’ though jingoism, irrationality and Hindutva’s toxic thoughts are being encouraged and promoted by the state apparatus. When Akhilesh Yadav, who is President of the main opposition party in Uttar Pradesh and a former chief minister, is invited to speak at a student gathering, then[Read More…]
A campaign is gathering steam against MIT inviting BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for a conference on February 16. ‘We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides — on many sides,” – Donald Trump on Charlottesville violence The year was 2017 when the Charlottesville violence happened, when White Supremacists –[Read More…]
The damaging report published by The Hindu Newspaper provides the clinching evidence that PMO was hobnobbing with the negotiations in the purchase of Rafael aircraft from France. In other words it’s the PM who was presiding over the act of corruption using his high office. ‘The Hindu’ reportage by N. Ram that “Government waived anti-corruption clauses in Rafale deal” and[Read More…]
NAPM extends full solidarity to the protesting students at Jamila Milia Islamia and demands inquiry and action against ‘harasser’ HoD 11th Feb, 2019: National Alliance of People’s Movements extends full solidarity with the students, mostly women, of the Jamia Millia Islamia University, in their struggle against the HoD of Applied Arts Department, who they allege is responsible for multiple reprehensible[Read More…]
On Feb 9th,2019 activists from various Tamil movements and Tamils who gathered in Bangalore to protest against The Hindu and Mahinda Rajapaksa were arrested. Mahinda Rajapaksa was invited to deliver inaugural address to “The Huddle” conclave organized by The Hindu. To condemn this protest was organized by Dravidar Vidudhalai Kazhagam and May 17 movement in Bangalore. Though the police gave[Read More…]
It’s about time Rahul Gandhi impressed upon his flock, including his chief ministers, that the Congress cannot return to power by trying to be the ‘B’ team of the BJP The more things change in India, the more they seem to remain the same. How else would one explain the slapping of draconian National Security Act against three Muslims in[Read More…]
First phenomenon : Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s team has succeeded in projecting the political debate from the ground on to the virtual world. The political and intellectual class has played a pivotal role in the last three decades in the crystallisation of this successful endeavour of Modi. As political and intellectual discussions began taking shape in a manner which[Read More…]
Many analysts have pointed out the ‘ interim’ budget as ‘ populist’ and promising ‘sops’ to many sections of society. Most of these promises are, in actuality, the need of the hour to weaker sections which have been long overdue. But, will these promises be kept after elections? Unanswered While presenting the budget, many crucial questions remained unanswered. The rate[Read More…]
“The only way we’ll get freedom for ourselves is to identify ourselves with every oppressed people in the world”. ~ Malcolm X From more than seventy years of our Independence, the Parliament is being ruled by the leaders who cannot lead without the help of a vague support. The vague support can be religion, caste, gender or class. They need[Read More…]
This opinion emerged out of my discussions on Caste among Muslims, with my ‘Ashraf’ friends. In general, Ashraf Muslims evade ‘Caste debate within Muslim community’, for Caste has no theological recognition in Islam. Nonetheless, the Ashraf having prefix’s like Syed, Khan, Pasha, Mirza, Sheikh, Siddiqui, Farooqui, in their name, argues for the idea of equality in Islam, and blame ‘diffusion[Read More…]
I am not a fan of Mamata Banerjee’s rhetorical politics nor do I believe that BJP cant gain in West Bengal. The problem in India is that everything is between the parties and the real issues somewhere are left because those who are sitting on our discussion tables too dont want certain things to come out. When institutions have failed[Read More…]
The Central Government has forgotten that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee ACT is an employment generation programme and not merely a rural asset generation scheme. The idea of MGNREGA was conceived, based on the fact that the planning and implementation of the schemes will be done in a decentralized manner, which will honor the local and traditional knowledge[Read More…]
In contemporary literary theory nothing seems to put breaks on the ever-complicating thematics of fluidity, arbitrariness or the slipperiness of the signified in human languages. The complexities of language, its inherent tendency to generate a series of ambiguous meanings when words, like that of a nuclear fission reaction, collide with each other in a vast system of signification, and its[Read More…]
The Indian State may be a modern entity, claiming to be governed by a liberal-secular constitution, but the mindset of its rulers is frozen in the feudal and colonial past. One glaring example is that of bestowing awards or sinecures to its favourites which was common practice with the feudal lords and the British masters when they ruled India. They[Read More…]
Thousands of NREGA workers across Jharkhand spilled to the streets today to express their anger at the continued denial of their entitlements. In over 30 blocks of the state, workers raised their voice against the abysmal wage rate, acute shortage of work, increasing delays in payment of wages, and violation of several other rights. They also demanded work and submitted[Read More…]
Co-Written by Sandeep Pandey and Rahul Pandey Narendra Modi’s ascension to power was accompanied with jubilation and expectation. His supporters were expecting an end to era of corruption and initiation of good governance which was described as Achche Din. His party’s adherence to idea of nationalism was believed to make India a vibrant country and guide India to be a[Read More…]
This past January when India marked its 70th Republic Day, some Sikh and Kashmiri separatists burnt Indian flags in UK and US to protest against mistreatment of minorities in the world’s so called largest democracy. Unable to tolerate this, the Indian government objected and raised the issue with foreign governments. While the Sikh separatists have been campaigning for a separate[Read More…]
On the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Hindu Mahasabha did something embarrassing and vicious to the democracy and prosperity of the nation: they shot the poster of father of the nation with bullets from point blank range and to make it look more real they applied blood to the image exhibiting the ongoing fascism culture of the nation which makes[Read More…]
Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination on January 30, 1948, was a culmination of a vicious campaign launched by Hindu communal groups in post-Independence India. It is far too early to dismiss the possibility of a future Hindu State in India. However, the possibility does not appear a strong one. The secular state has far more than an even chance of survival in[Read More…]
At the beginning of this month, several Members of the Parliament, activists, former bureaucrats, academics and leaders of farmers’ movements wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister to highlight the chronic underfunding of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). By the end of December, 99 per cent of the central government’s NREGA fund for 2018-19 was exhausted. Within[Read More…]
A proposal sent to the Finance Minister by 60 eminent economists a few weeks ago. The proposal consists of raising the central contribution to social security pensions from the current measly Rs 200 per month to Rs 500 per month, and providing for maternity entitlements of Rs 6,000 per child as prescribed by the National Food Security Act. This modest[Read More…]
Let’s take stock for a moment, as indeed we should. Seventy-one years ago, Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by Naturam Godse, a member of the RSS. Godse thought that Gandhi was too soft to the Muslim population especially as regards Partition. With three bullets, Godse mowed down one of the greatest people in modern history, more responsible than any other individual[Read More…]
It was a spectacular rally in the pre-historic city of Guwahati on 23 January last that strongly opposed the Indian Union government’s latest initiative to amend the country’s citizenship act in favour of religious asylum seekers from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Organized by All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) along with 30 indigenous groups at the historic Latashil play ground of[Read More…]
The National Call for 2 minutes Silence at 11.00am & 5.17 pm is being held from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and from Kohima to Kutch! The National Initiative to Commemorate the Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi is now a People’s Movement! ———————————————————————————————————————————-Mumbai: Silent March from Mani Bhavan to August KrantiMaidan. We will Commemorate, pay homage and stand in Silence for 2 minutes[Read More…]
2019 Elections are upon us. It is clear that NDA led by Modi is facing an uphill battle. Policies like Demonetisation and haphazard implementation of GST has left Indian economy in shambles. Agrarian distress and curbs on cattle economy are pushing rural population to penury. Constitutional institutions have been compromised and rendered toothless. Federalism is on the brink of collapse[Read More…]
People’s Initiative to Commemorate the Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi on the 30th of January for Communal Harmony, Non-Violence & Peace. National Call for 2 Minutes Silence at 11.00am & 5.17pm to pay our respects and Homage to Mahatma Gandhi, is being held from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and from Kutch to Kohima.The National Initiative to Commemorate the Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi[Read More…]
As expected, the announcement of the national awards for 2019 again brought forth a storm of controversy in India. This time it has drawn special attention due to the fiddly criteria used for selection. However, politics of awards is as old as the constitutional history of India. Saffronisation of awards is also a part of this history of ‘give and[Read More…]
Former President Pranab Mukherjee has been awarded Bharat Ratna along with Nana Ji Deshmukh and Bhupen Hazarika. Obviously, many people have heart burn with this as there is a long list of well deserved people who should have been acknowledged by the state. Apart from Bharat Ratna, hundreds of other awards are presented by the government every year as mark[Read More…]
#GoBackModi is trending once again in twitter. This time it’s happening in a crucial time when Modi is coming to Madurai to lay the foundation for the AIMMS hospital and also to kick start the 2019 Lok Sabha election Campaign. In April 2018, when the Modi government did not follow the Supreme courts orders to form the Cauvery Management Board[Read More…]
Finally, Mayawati, the Chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) struck an alliance with Samajwadi Party (SP) and amicably sorted out the sharing of seats for the forthcoming 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. Recently, advice by Ram Das Athawale of Republican Party of India, currently sitting in the lap of Manuwadi, anti-Dalit Party, to Mayawati to join the BJP than the SP[Read More…]
The problem with India is not just about something as simple as defeating the BJP in 2019 elections. This is definitely a must but the major problem is exemplified by the fact that “where there is no vision the people perish.” To put it more clearly, the RSS, the BJP and its satellites have a vision for the country, a[Read More…]
“If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end”~ Bayard Rustin For people[Read More…]
The Supreme Court has today issued notice in a PUCL PIL challenging the constitutional validity of Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, read with Rule 419-A of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951, as well as Section 69 of the Information Technology Act 2000 together with the Information Technology (Procedure for Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information)[Read More…]
Co-Written by Badre Alam and Sanjay Kumar The recent press conference which was addressed by jointly the BSP chief Mawawati and the SP president Akhilesh Yadav in the Lucknow on 12th Jan 2019 is to be considered as a historical and futuristic in nature, ahead of the 2019 general election. This alliance tries to put-forward the new phase of radical Dalit-Bahujan[Read More…]
University of Delhi is replete with ad-hoc teachers as it presently employs around five thousand teachers who work in the ad-hoc capacity. Year after year, a hire and fire policy is adopted with regard to their employment by the college administration for every academic session. In this process, an ad-hoc teacher often finds himself/herself being turned into a guest teacher.[Read More…]
While major contribution to implementation of social welfare schemes is through social volunteers and anganwadis, nurses, teachers, etc .their economic and social condition remains pathetic. Their problems have not been addressed either by governments or other welfare organizations for many years. Devalued The social and economic progress depends upon providing basic services. The teachers, Anganwadi workers, nurses, panchayat secretaries or[Read More…]
-A Skit by MK Adithya The jarring sound of alarm from my old time-piece woke me up at 5am. It was quite late last night by the time I was back home. And our editor told our team we should be ready early to cover people’s responses on Republic Day even before the official ceremony begins. Sleepy, I pulled on[Read More…]
Unrest among farmers over delayed and part payment by often take a violent turn, especially, between sugarcane farmers and mill owners.Delay in payment to sugarcane farmers has become a big issue in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, the two highest sugarcane producing states. Sugarcane grows all year round, in addition to also being in demand throughout the year for sugar production[Read More…]
Is primary education in government sponsored schools no more reliable to the parents of urban as well as rural Bengal? Pupils’ strength in government sponsored primary schools is remarkably decreasing. It is evident that primary education in government sponsored schools is absolutely free. A student gets educational materials and allied support along with mid-day meal regularly, while quality of[Read More…]
#Sarcasm #AcheDin # TukdeTukdeGang # KanhaiyaKumar #ShehlaRashid #2002Gujarat #AntiNational #PuducherrykoVanakkam! #Demonetisation#MunnkiBaat This fledgling attempt at writing is a tribute to the flexibility of our language in general and in particular to the words that have been newly minted crisped dried suuned and presented for use for the general consumption of our ever gullible public. Since 16th of May, 2014, our[Read More…]
It was a symbolically brilliant moment in October last year, when a policeman in Uttar Pradesh hid behind a tree and shouted ‘thain! thain!’ during a live encounter with criminals, after his gun jammed. The policeman’s attempt to replace real bullets with mimicked sound was considered by many as another laughable case of a poorly prepared Indian police force. In[Read More…]
In past two Octobers, Professor Prabhat Patnaik made two importantcontributions to theorisation of Fascism and ways to defeat it. One was Published on 17.10.17 in The Telegraph[1], “Finding a way out: The current upsurge of fascism”and the other in last year, “The Left and Opposition Unity: How Fascism Can Be Defeated in 2019” published in The Wire on 9.10.2018[2]. Firstly,[Read More…]
The true teachers are those who help us think for ourselves –Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan The building blocks of a nation are the citizens of its tomorrow. The way these seeds will sprout will always depend on the way you choose to water them. India’s education sector is one of the largest sunrise sectors in the economic and social development of the[Read More…]
Indian billionaires saw their fortunes swell by Rs. 2,200 crore a day last year, with the top 1 per cent of the country’s richest getting richer by 39 per cent as against just 3 per cent increase in wealth for the bottom-half of the population, an Oxfam study said on Monday. Globally, billionaires’ fortunes rose by 12 per cent or[Read More…]
Even as the general elections are round the corner, the Narendra Modi Government makes it a point to use religion and culture as effective tools to sustain itself in power, beyond 2019. This is done in an orchestrated manner deploying strategies of both ‘soft power’ and ‘hard power’ in the domestic, regional and international settings. The latest in a[Read More…]
Introduction by Edward Curtin Today India, a country of nearly 1.4 billion people, nearly a fifth of the world’s population, is a nuclear armed state ruled by leaders who have vociferously rejected the non-violent legacy of Gandhi, the leader of India’s independence movement and the Father of the Nation. When he was assassinated on January 30, 1948, his death sent[Read More…]
After the Ayyapa jatara ended on January 14 with the so called ‘Makara Jyothi’ appearing for the devotees at Sabarimala, Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of the Left front government, emerged a skillful social reformer and good administrator. The Narendra Modi government deployed its Kerala wing to push him against a wall by opposing the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment in 2018 lifting the ban[Read More…]
National Executive Committee Meeting, Nasik (Maharashtra),6 January 2019 Political Resolution The SPI would like to remind the citizens of India that the Indian Constitution is passing through the crisis of a serious threat from the ruling establishment of the country. The present government is not only destroying the basic values of socialism, secularism and democracy embedded in the Constitution, but[Read More…]
Narendra Modi, the present incumbent to the Prime Minister’s chair, had a little break the other day for an award ceremony. Well, little different from the usual award ceremonies — where the Prime Minister presents awards and gives some pep talk, here Modi himself was presented with the ’First-ever Philip Kotler Award’. Perhaps looking at Modi’s much-publicised workaholic nature (if[Read More…]
It is shocking to learn that Jharkhand Government has decided to reduce the number of weekly eggs in school midday meals from three to two. Earlier, the government allotted Rs 4 per egg. With increase in price of eggs, it has revised the allotment to Rs 6 per egg. But instead of increasing the total budget commensurately with the inflation[Read More…]
Harappa! We are all your descendants You shepherded the first civilization You built the first city in the East You domesticated the early animals Goat, sheep, buffalo, dog and donkey. You made the first pot, brick, bronze tools You built the first tank, boat and building. You were God’s Own Man. Brahma came and burnt all your civilization Indra damaged[Read More…]
The election campaigns in North India would have passed uneventful had Yogi Adityanadh not uttered at Alwar, Rajasthan during the last phase in November 20018, the impulsive feeling that Hanuman was only a Dalit forest dweller and servant of Raja Sri Ram. It was the inner[Read More…]
The quota bill providing 10% reservation for the ‘general’ category of people has been passed by the Rajya Sabha yesterday with opposition parties like Congress, Samajwadi Party, AAP and left parties . The AIDMK walked out of the Parliament so had the stand of DMK as Tamilnadu already have 69% quota. The question is whether this act will not be[Read More…]
Mr. Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, Member Parliament, on 8th January 2019, seek a reply from Government of India, Ministry of Scial Justice and Empowerment to the question (No. 4475) on ‘Reservation for Poor’. Mr. Reddy’s question was : (a) whether the Government is exploring the scope of providing reservation for poor candidates from forward communities for education and employment; (b) if[Read More…]
Imagine a pool of 100 candidates. You have 10 vacancies to appoint them. Now tell them that 9 wil be appointed on merit and 1 will be under reservation, but all 100 are eligible to apply for the 1 reserved seat. Conduct a written test and select 10 who scored most. First 9 gets in the merit list and the[Read More…]
By passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 in the Lok Sabha the Narendra Modi government at the Center has taken up another step towards the contempt of the Constitution. The Bill provides that six non-Muslim communities – Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi – of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan will be granted citizenship of India in the event of religious[Read More…]
Our Akhila Bharata Sahitya Sammelana is an annually occurring lavish ritual literally like a school annual day celebration. This time it’s being observed in Dharwad. The expenditure for these Sammelanas has been increasing by the crores, year after year. It was 8 crores for the Sammelana held in Mysore last year, 7 plus crores for the one before that in[Read More…]
PUCL Maharashtra expresses shock and dismay at reports that the BMC and BEST administration have chosen to invoke draconian provisions of the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) against striking BEST employees, instead of taking steps to respond to their demands and alleviate their grievances at the earliest. PUCL Maharashtra learns that the BEST administration has issued eviction notices to[Read More…]
Tens of millions of workers throughout India yesterday joined the second day of a 48-hour national protest strike against the hated pro-investor economic “reforms” of the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP)-led government. While the capitalist media largely tried to black-out the strike, it was supported by broad sections of the working class, both in the so-called formal and informal[Read More…]
( All characters and incidents, referred in this piece are fictional) The rural India, today is governed by the urban technocratic mindset which is not always very helpful and often dangerous. While we often relate under development to the lack of awareness among the rural communities, the truth is the urban awareness on rural lifestyle and culture is negligible and[Read More…]
Over 180 million workers began a two-day general strike across India yesterday in protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big business assault on the working class. Tens of thousands of workers defied threats of sacking and pay cut by state governments to join the national walkout. The huge strike, which is continuing today, is a powerful indication of the mass[Read More…]
The entry of two women devotees, Bindu and Kanakadurga, into the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala temple on January 2 led to widespread violence in the state of Kerala. The violence, which erupted during the bandh call issued by the BJP and allied organisations on January 3, saw not just damage of public property but also the loss of a[Read More…]
Anupam Kher’s film ‘Accidental Prime Minister’ has targeted Dr. Manmohan Singh who served for two terms and may be again acceptable for the job if his party regains power. But his tormentor Narendra Modi seems to be out of breath even before his first term is over. Disillusionment with him is so widespread and deep that people of India may[Read More…]
As reported in the media that the BJP led Union Cabinet on Monday 7th Jan 2019 has approved 10 reservations for economically weaker upper castes in the government jobs and education. For giving the reservation, the government has underlined the criterion for deciding economically weaker section, would be based on the size of ‘land holdings’ and the income of the respective[Read More…]
‘Hinduism’s suitability for the modern world lies in many ways in its recognition of non Dogmatism and uncertainty’ Good Hindu Dr. Shashi Tharoor in ‘Why I am Hindu’ pg 287 ‘I am all for women empowerment but the issue is of sanctity. The entry of two women inside the premise of a temple shrine is an unnecessarily deliberate and[Read More…]
10% reservation quota for Upper castes people in the government jobs is ever biggest gimmick of the Modi government after Rs.1.5 million to very citizen of India and 2 crore new jobs per year. Today’s Union Cabinet decision of 10% reservation to Upper castes people and tomorrow a bill-proposal will put up by the Minister in Parliament for bringing constitutional[Read More…]
The decision of the Centre to provide for an additional 10% quota for the economically weaker section among upper caste in jobs and education is a misrepresentation of the idea of representation. Measuring social deprivation by economic standards is a caste-blind approach that usurps the spirit of positive discrimination to the socially and educationally backward caste for decades. The government[Read More…]
To Shri Pinarayi Vijayan Chief Minister of Kerala CC To: President of India, Chief Justice of India, Governor of Kerala Over 200 women’s activists, dalit activists, adivasi activists, human rights groups, social organisations, cultural personalities and well known citizens demand the dismissal of the priests in Sabarimala over violation of constitutional rights and return the shrine to adivasis. Sir, Adv.[Read More…]
“Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from co-mingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of the mind.” When Ambedkar inscribed this line for millions of Dalits of India, he rejected the dictatorial theology and power[Read More…]
They are demanding better wages, better employment opportunities, better social security and democratic rights for the workers while opposing price-rise. They have also declared that they are opposing the “pro-corporate, anti-national and anti-people policies” of the BJP Government by Mr. Modi, which have spelled misery for the workers. These demands are just and we support the same along with their[Read More…]
Barely a week into 2019 I am still trying to figure out what exactly is so ‘new’ about this New Year that is upon us. The balance in my bank account has not changed for the better, nor has my weight, nor the cost of living, while the future all around looks depressingly same as a smog-struck Delhi winter day.[Read More…]
Pre-View: When you fail to understand & resolve your own problems, then, those who suffer by your ‘inaction’ will certainly approach others for their resolution. Triple divorce is such a topic that has been over-discussed & talked through in India since decades drawing the attention of the Muslim Personal Law Board (MPLB) & Indian Muslim leaders to find a remedy to stop[Read More…]
India’s Working Class people have a tremendous history of showing their built-up anger and collective bargaining strength time and again through General Strikes. Since the arrival of the disastrous policies of neo-liberalism in 1991, the working class of India have embarked upon a General Strike 17 times. Last time when we struck work in September 2016, an unprecedented 180 million workers took part[Read More…]
If we talk to reductionists who are die hard Hindu upper caste and usually upper caste about the Other that is Muslim they come up with some interesting observations that can be summed up in the amusing and alarming sentence ‘all Muslims are potential terrorists as all terrorists are Muslim.’ This is followed by statements that stem from fear like:[Read More…]
Advancement of technology, more than benefiting masses, is becoming dangerous in the hands of miscreants. Increase of smart – phones and computers have spread the use of social media platforms. Instead of using the platforms for messaging information or decent discussion, it is becoming a medium to spew hatred, upload incidents of human rights violations mostly by perpetrators themselves with[Read More…]
Courtesy ANI, Narendra Modi has clarified his position on both the Triple Talaq Bill as well as the Sabarimalatemple entry movement. Though problematic on its face it’s a remarkable effort in defense of the indefensible. While he classified the former as a tool for ensuring equal rights for Muslim women, he ended up contradicting himself when it came to talking[Read More…]
“It is no doubt ironic that the motor car, superstar of the capitalist system, expects to live rent-free” – WOLFGANG ZUCKERMAN. It is true even very rich motorists all over the world do not like to pay for parking. That is bad enough. What is alarming is that in India this insistence on the right to park free, grab public[Read More…]
Kerala still appears to have been languished in a self-imposed prison of hartals in spite of all efforts to terminate the snowballing menace of social disruption and public nuisance caused by its reckless ‘declaration.’ It was only recently that nearly three dozen trade organisations got together to declare that 2019 would be a ‘hartal-free year.’ However, 2019 began with the[Read More…]
Modi As A Hindu Nationalist PM Modi is the only occupier of a constitutional post in the history of Independent India who declared himself to be a Hindu nationalist. He made this declaration in 2013 in an interview to two Reuters journalists, Ross Colvin and Sruthi Gottipati, on July 12 as CM of Gujarat.[i] Modi glorified his Hindu nationalist identity[Read More…]
In the recent backdrop of the electoral results, finally the hangover of 2014 elections seem diminishing if not ending. Though it would be a hasty statement to predict the national electoral outcomes based on state electoral results as these elections vary in many aspects. But, once again these electoral outcomes brought the importance of alliance and coalition at the forefront[Read More…]
After the historic ‘Women’s Wall’ that challenged Brahmanic Patriarchy two young women entered the Sabarimala temple early morning today. Bindu and Kanaka Durga, both in their early 40s, entered the hilltop shrine around 3.45 am. This is the first entry of women after the Supreme Court ordered the end of a decades-old ban on women of menstrual age entering the[Read More…]
Since the BJP government came into power in 2014, it has initiated and purposed to make legislation on Muslim women mainly around the instant Triple talaq. Just few days back, Bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha where BJP has majority. However, opposition’s parties belonging to the Left, Congress and including Muslims political parties (AIMIM) led by Mr. Asaduddin[Read More…]
About 3-5 million women formed a wall across Kerala to protect to protect Kerala’s renaissance values and for women empowerment. About three million women stood shoulder to shoulder across Kerala and formed 620 KM “wall” from Thiruvananthapuram to the northern district of Kasaragod. They also pledged to protec the renaissance values of Kerala. The wall was organised against the backdrop[Read More…]
While we every other day listen to boastful claims that the country India is developing fast. It has become very difficult for most of us to accept the brute reality that our people die because of hunger. Yes, death due to[Read More…]
West Bengal in its contemporary form is a new territory. One that came into existence at the helm of the midnight hour on August 15,1947. Prior to that, it was simply Bengal. Bengal whose geography was once distorted by Britishers who used the blade of divide and rule to slit it in 1905 into East and West Bengal based on[Read More…]
The Narander Modi led BJP govt passed the Muslim women ( Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017.The reworked bill to make triple talaq or instant divorce among Muslims a punishable offence was passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday, 27th of December 2018. The Triple Talaq Bill states that the offence of pronouncing triple talaq is a cognisable and non-bailable[Read More…]
Editorial of the current issue of Frontier, Kolkata The long battle over. 61 Mott Lane is over. What is not over is the trauma faced by the employees of Frontier in the morning of December 17, 2018. Finally Frontier will have to vacate this place in a week or two. It all started way back in 1985 when Samar Sen[Read More…]
On 6th December, 1992 the news of demolition of 464 years old mosque by Hindu Fanatics, Kar Sevaks, at Ayodhiya UP organised by BJP & VHP through their Rathyatras & speeches, cast a gloom over the entire 180 million Indian Muslim population. It was the forecast of more communal poison & violence in the lap of ever-increasing wave of palengenetic Hindu[Read More…]
It would have been more pertinent and meaningful if this piece had been written by a journalist friend. Actually, I had waited for some time hoping that one or another journalist friend would turn his attention to this subject and write about it. But unfortunately, journalists who would look into the changing face of Delhi metropolis and speak about the[Read More…]
The successive governments have depended heavily on technology to deal with service delivery and leakages and the use of technology has almost become indispensible in the modern day governance approaches. As a result one can observe the mobile apps, websites, MIS data being the popular talking points among the top officials and technology has become a one stop solution to[Read More…]
The dubious performance (failure) of genetically engineered Bt cotton, officially India’s only GM crop, should serve as a warning as the push within the country to adopt GM across a wide range of food crops continues. This article provides an outline of some key reports and papers that have appeared in the last few years on Bt cotton in India. In[Read More…]
Socialist Party, on the occasion of 95th birthday of Justice Rajindar Sachar, founder member of the party, organized a one-day seminar on 22 December 2018, on the topic ‘How to Save Constitutional Institutions and Values?’ in Jalandhar city of Punjab. Citizens from different parts of Punjab reached Jalandhar to pay their homage to Justice Sachar on this occasion. The seminar[Read More…]
If one questions — what do women know about farming and agriculture, the answer will be pretty much everything. Women’s contribution to agriculture all across the world is exemplary. According to United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation, if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30%. Nevertheless women continue[Read More…]
Qazi Zainus Sajidin, the city Qazi of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, has an added responsibility these days. Anyone who listens to his sermons, gets a surprise when nearing the end of his takreer (speech), he underlines the importance of vaccinations and how a timely dose can save the lives of children. Qazisaab is not the only cleric in the region who has[Read More…]
The spring of hope has arrived at last. The Bharatiya Janata Party and its powerful propaganda machine had pitched this as a contest between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi — Namdar versus Kamdar (the entitled one vs someone who has worked his way up). And the voters have spoken what they think of the performance of Kamdar! The Indians have[Read More…]
In rural Andhra Pradesh, there is a proverb that is reportedly used by rapists against their victims, “Allow me to rape you — or I’ll cut my own organ [presumably, the penis].” The saying reflects deep-seated misogyny and chauvinistic tendencies. The threat of self-immolation now emerging from Thiruvananthapuram against the Supreme Court order that allowed women of all age groups[Read More…]
Much has been discussed in main stream media about the BJP’s war cry of Congress Mukt Bharat, the popular slogan that itself occupies the position of nothing more than a footnote in the BJP’s larger imagination of a Hindu Rashtra. However, the same vigor is missing when it comes to discussing riddance from BJP & RSS’ politics of hate. The[Read More…]
Dr BR Ambedkar was right in saying that capitalism and brahmanism are the two evils the workers of the country had to deal with. By the passage of time, it has been converted to neo-liberalism and Hindutva. As education became a constitutionally guaranteed right, the Hindutva brigade had to become friends with the neo-liberalism to stop the students from marginalised[Read More…]
Mumbai | 17th Dec: Last night, the people, who were protesting at Azad Maidan against their failed rehabilitation at #MumbaisToxicHell Mahul, were forced by the police to leave the ground. As there was no substitute Mahul residents had to be spent the night at platform no. 18 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Since thousands of people were asked to adjust[Read More…]
Congress leader Sajjan Kumar has been found guilty and has been sentenced to life in jail for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots by the Delhi High Court, which cancelled an earlier court order acquitting him. Sajjan Kumar, 73, was convicted in the killing of five members of a family in Raj Nagar in Delhi. He has been asked[Read More…]
After the recent reverses BJP suffered in the assembly elections, many scions of so-called liberal media have got busy theorizing the loss as anti-incumbency. Arguments are repeatedly being made across liberal platforms that people in the three states BJP lost power, voted on local issues and against their respective state government. It appears a full-fledged campaign has been initiated, and to[Read More…]
A recent inglorious defeat of Modi/Shah combine in three Indian states: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and victory of Rahul Gandhi, once labeled immature, part-time politicians by the BJP/RSS, shows that no leader or government can befool the intelligent Indian voters for a long time. Insulating day and night Gandhi family from the public platforms by Modi/RSS/VHP/Bajrang Dal made sick[Read More…]
Every one of our policy makers of government, quasi government and private or other sectors in India says proudly about sustainable development or they plan towards achievement of sustainability of the particular programme. But their desired expectation is theoretically a mouthful word. It is perhaps a political demand, and it is only a politically correct concept because practice tells different[Read More…]
Gandhi’s vision of the ideal society was that of a non-violent and democratic social order in which there would be a just balance between individual freedom and social responsibility. He had a very high regard for the place of ideals in human life. Without ideals, he said, life could have no meaning because there would be no goals towards which[Read More…]
My previous essay in this series of Essays for Our Times addressed to India got three hundred shares on fb. This surprising fact has made me keep quiet for a long time, wondering what to write next. It was on “why I am an Indian.” Meanwhile, while I go on reifying the definitions of nation, India and what it means[Read More…]
First the Bhartiya Janata Party led government in Delhi was very enthusiastic about conducting the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam on the premise that this process will identify all the illegal migrants from Bangladesh who entered Assam after 24 March, 1971, the date of creation on Bangladesh, who could then be sent back to Bangladesh. The assumption was[Read More…]
The recent defeat of the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in three important assembly elections in India has refreshed hopes for the ouster of Hindu supremacists from power next year. The ruling BJP suffered humiliating defeat in the provincial elections held in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The party was in power in these[Read More…]
In a crucial election to five assemblies in what is billed as a semi final before the 2019 general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ultra Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party drew a blank. It lost massively in Chattisgarh, a state where it held power for four consecutive terms. The Chief Minister Raman Singh was defeated in his constituency too. In[Read More…]
Beneficiaries given documents by the CM while launching the scheme are yet to receive land Unkept promises during polls is nothing new for the Indian public. But implementation of land reforms which have been at the fulcrum of a promise to socio-economic justice since the end of the Raj refuses to die down. No wonder, the issue found its echo[Read More…]
Adopted by an assembly representing the farmers of India on the occasion of the historic Kisan Mukti March organised by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee Delhi, 30 November 2018 WE, THE FARMERS OF INDIA, The producers of primary agricultural commodities; Including Women, Dalit, Nomadic and Adivasi farmers; Landowners, Tenants, Sharecroppers, Agricultural Labourers and Plantation Workers; Fishworkers, Milk Producers,[Read More…]
Rrecently a video of a police officer from Maharashtra, Bhagyashree Navtake had gone viral wherein she is seen bragging about how she files false cases against Dalits and tortures them and Muslims. It represents a crude but true picture of social prejudices in India’s police force. After all our police men come from the society, hence the police organisation is the true[Read More…]
Bhadrachalam: A dawn of the new state of Telangana doesn’t seem to have done justice to the tribal cause. Activists aver the situation has only worsened. The State governments ‘Haritha Haram’ scheme to bring more areas under green cover seems to have affected them directly. The tribal activists aver the laws like the Forest Rights Act 2005 which was brought[Read More…]
The Socialist Party believes that the Modi government has brought the issue of AgustaWestland chopper deal as a rebuttal of the Rafale aircraft deal, and not to fight corruption. The BJP leaders, including the PM, have explicitly stated that extradition of James Christian Michel will pose a serious crisis for the Congress and its Gandhi-Nehru family. People should understand that[Read More…]
“It is a curious people. With them, all life seems to be sacred except human life.” – Mark Twain on Indians A single quote sometimes remains the sole memory of a leader. Giriraj Kishor, VHP leader, can be considered a classic example to demonstrate this who had rather (in)famously said “Cow is considered more sacred than human beings in Puranas[Read More…]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 6, 2018. in a short video posted on his personal Twitter handle to mark the 62nd death anniversary of Ambedkar, said the “mantra of sabka saath, sabka vikas has been inspired by the late leader”. He said Ambedkar pitched for equality before law, equality in opportunities and equality in rights. The prime minister said[Read More…]
“It may be pronounce that they will not construct a temple at the disputed site because this issue had have assisted BJP to polarise people for electoral purpose” Demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 by mob is considered as[Read More…]
My tentative thoughts on the likely political scenario unravelling itself. Today is the BLACK DAY when the saffron forces consisting of RSS/BJP/Shiv Sena/ VHP /Bajrang Dal etc. demolished the Babri Masjid in December 1992 with the complicity of the State. It is clear as daylight what the saffron forces are conspiring to accomplish now and in future. They are hysterically[Read More…]
Raising the slogan for justice, the students of Punjabi Department unite against the blatantly dishonest, anti-student administration! Today, the Punjabi department of Delhi University has presented before us an example of how the administration can turn its back on its students.Days after giving assurances to fulfil the demands raised by students who united against an apathetic administration determined to have[Read More…]
Violence has always been a tool of oppression, suppression and subordination. Though every form of violence is illegal according to the law of the land, dominant social forces (upper castes/classes) often justifies employing certain forms of violence as they believe that they are essential to keep the supposedly holy and sacred religious, social and cultural systems and customs alive[Read More…]
India is going through a phase of unparalleled hatred to one another according to their religion, caste, culture, linguistic affiliation etc. It need not be that way. We are all human beings with common origins. It’s history that divided us. We can break these human made barriers if we accept that we are one family. Hundreds of thousands of Indians[Read More…]
Third of the three interviews by Subhasis and Arijit from the cradle of the revolutionary uprising, which dispel many distorted analyses on Naxalbari Aneek, an independent, radical Baanglaa monthly from Kolkata, India, in its 53rd years of publication, interviewed three leaders of the Naxalbari Uprising. The leaders with working class background were organizing armed struggle of the poor-landless peasantry[Read More…]
Around 100,000 farmers from across the country converged and marched to the parliament of India in New Delhi demanding a special session to discuss their problems. They were stopped near Parliament Street Police station in the national capital, where their leaders addressed the protesters. The farmers, who have been camping at the Ramlila ground since Thursday, began their march to[Read More…]
BJP government has been destroying each and every institutions of this union brick by brick ever since they entered into the office. Cultural institutions and Educational institutions such as Pune Film Institute, Indian Council of Historical Research, Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla, Indian Council of Historical Research etc, bureaucratic institutions, Economic institutions, nothing has been left out in[Read More…]