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…]
Havoc and misery caused by recent floods in Bengaluru, Pakistan and Assam are not only natural disasters but are man made and due to climate change. Over exploitation of urban land and water resources by greedy private real estate developers perhaps the chief cause of floods. Media relentlessly focused on flooded upscale villas, their swanky automobiles of super rich in[Read More…]
The short answer: No, not even close! Nations of the world are only too aware that fossil fuels need to be phased out for two reasons. First, oil is a finite commodity. It’ll run out in time. Secondly, fossil fuel emissions such as CO2 are destroying the planet’s climate system. However, a recent study puts a damper on the[Read More…]
by Noam Chomsky and Raghav Kaushik This interview with world-renowned scholar and leading dissident Noam Chomsky has two goals. The primary goal is to understand America’s role in one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 21st century, the Syrian civil war. While there has been a lot of commentary on the Syrian civil war, there is confusion about the exact[Read More…]
Binu Mathew, the editor of Countercurrents.org and the editorial team have been working selflessly with minimal funds and accepting no advertisements. Besides CC abhors foreign institutional funding, corporate funding or government aid. It has been in existence for about two decades and standing on the side of the people and taking an anti-establishment stance. To that extent it is like[Read More…]
Today the mass media are controlled by powerholders and corporate oligarchs. And therefore to obtain a true picture of what is going on in the world, readers must turn to the alternative media. Citizens need the knowledge they obtain from the alternative media because, without it, a true democracy cannot function. Among the alternative media, Countercurrents is one of the[Read More…]
Dear Friends We are passing through difficult times. As sectarian nationalism is increasing its grip on the state and society intolerance is rising. The mainstream media has been taken over by the pro-state corporate sector. Its responsibility to audit the state policies has been replaced by media singing paeans to the rulers. It uncritically appreciates what the state is doing[Read More…]
This year has been one of the toughest. With the raging pandemic, climate crisis, wars, the failure in Glasgow….. We also have moments to celebrate with the victory of the farmers in India which was totally ignored by the mainstream media and they even tarnished the fighting farmers image and intent. We toil day and night for the betterment of[Read More…]
This year there was international outrage when a frail 84-year-old Jesuit priest with Parkinson’s disease, Stan Swamy, died after being held in an Indian jail in inhumane conditions, on flimsy charges. When he was eventually moved to hospital, he tested positive for Covid and went on to suffer a cardiac arrest. He had devotedly served the poor and defended their[Read More…]
Dear Authors and Readers of Countercurrents, You may all know Sheshu Babu an author for CC for long time. Most of our old authors may have received at least one thoughtful comment from him. In the early days, he used to read all CC articles and post a thoughtful comment for each article. Then one day, another CC author Emily[Read More…]
“Cow dung, cow urine didn’t work. Groundless argument. Tomorrow I will eat fish”. In mid-May this year, this simple Facebook post about the futility of bovine waste as a cure for Covid-19, was enough to get Kishorechandra Wangkhem, a journalist from Imphal, Manipur arrested for ‘sedition’ . The post upset members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as it came[Read More…]
Allahabad: The recent images of bloating human bodies floating on the Ganga, with crows and dogs picking on the carcasses have shocked the nation and made headlines around the world. Reports of burial of hundreds of dead bodies in riverside sand outside towns in Uttar Pradesh like Unnao and Kanpur have also surfaced. It is clear that most of these[Read More…]
When I founded Countercurrents.org in 2002, Disha Ravi who was arrested for sedition yesterday was a two-year-old toddler. In 2002, the CO2 level in the atmosphere was 370 ppm. Now it is 415 ppm. In just 19 years CO2 levels increased by just over 2ppm/year. The level of cumulative greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, including Methane, Nitrous Oxide etc is[Read More…]
The tug-of-war between Indian farmers and government over new laws facilitating corporate takeover of the country’s agriculture is getting uglier by the hour and likely to get quite bloody too. And when the blood does flow, it will not only be the hands of Indian corporates that will be drenched in red but also those of global investors backing them.[Read More…]
For nearly two decades now Countercurrents has provided millions of readers around the world with deep insights and analysis of news, events, trends that are usually ignored by mainstream media. A key quality of this unique information platform has been its eclectic and open minded choice of themes, ranging from caste, gender and communalism to issues related to ecology, rapidly[Read More…]
The ongoing siege of the national capital New Delhi by hundreds of thousands of farmers represents, perhaps, the biggest revolt against ‘Company Raj’ since India’s First War of Independence way back in 1857. While a century and half ago it was the rapacious British East India Company that was the target of the Indian masses this time their ire today[Read More…]
This article is based on the 25th Chandrashekar Memorial Lecture delivered on 20 September 2020. The original lecture was delivered in Hindi and the event was organized by Punashcha, the Indian People’s Theater Association (IPTA) and Koshish. Friends, comrades gathered here; I am very honoured to be invited to deliver the Chandrashekhar Memorial Lecture this year but I cannot say[Read More…]
Our planet is not a lump of inanimate matter circling the sun every year, providing humans free lodging, boarding and endless resources to exploit recklessly. She is a living, breathing, sentient Being, to be treated with love, care and deep respect. Revered in all ancient cultures around the world as Pachamama, Gaia, Bhumi or Mother Earth – She gives us generously but her respect needs to be earned too.
In recent times, the term ‘fascism’ has become so widely used that it has become difficult to define it precisely. It is often used as a metaphor by the fiercest critics of any politics. Historically, however, fascism refers to extreme right-wing, anti-democratic, ultranationalism that spread rapidly through Europe between the two world wars. Though it is commonly associated with Adolf[Read More…]
The COVID-19 has taught us that we are in an emergency. In 2019 a teenager named Greta Thumberg was crying hoarse that we are in an emergency and no one was listening. It’s time for us to take stock of the matter. Which is the greater emergency, this COVID-19 emergency or the climate emergency that Greta Thumberg was warning about?[Read More…]
I see a lot of peace building efforts in North East Delhi which was the hub of the recent riots. If these peace building measures happened before the riots the riots would not have happened! Too late too little! We have to be proactive. We should not wait for something untoward to happen to engage in peace building activities. The[Read More…]
A new freely downloadable book I would like to announce the publication of a book, which discusses the most serious dangers which the world faces today. The book may be freely downloaded and circulated from the following link: http://eacpe.org/app/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Linked-Dangers-to-Civilization-John-Scales-Avery.pdf Contrasting rates of change Cultural evolution depends on the non-genetic storage, transmission, diffusion and utilization of information. The development of human[Read More…]
On hearing the door bell ringing, Mr. Krishna Murthy got up from his reclining chair and walked to the front door with difficulty. He was experiencing cramps in both his legs for the last fortnight. On opening the door, he found two government officials with files and registers in hand and two policemen. The other two wore saffron kurtas and[Read More…]
by Karthik Ramanathan / Noam Chomsky An interview I did with Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, University of Arizona at his office in Tucson. Noam Chomsky taught at MIT for over 50 years and is a leading critic of US foreign policy and an inspiration for many generations of human beings. Audio can be a bit difficult, so best heard[Read More…]
Learn more about nuclear weapons and what you can do to stop them
By Forum for the Defence of the Indian Constitution For several weeks now, the people of India have hit the streets in a historic protest across the countryagainst the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens – both instruments of imposing fascism on India . Millions, cutting across religious, regional and caste identities have turned out in[Read More…]
Historic speech given by Chandrasekhar Azad on the steps of Delhi Jama Masjid “Jai Bhim! This is a bigger fight. CAA and NRC will break this country and we are standing with this nation. This fight is not just of the Muslims, this is a fight for everyone, and we will not let it weaken. I’m surrendering to the government,[Read More…]
I am writing from Bolivia just days after witnessing the November 19 military massacre at the Senkata gas plant in the indigenous city of El Alto, and the tear-gassing of a peaceful funeral procession on November 21 to commemorate the dead. These are examples, unfortunately, of the modus operandi of the de facto government that seized control in a coup[Read More…]
As the concentration of atmospheric CO2has risen to 408 ppm and the total greenhouse gas level, including methane and nitrous oxide, combine to near500 parts per million CO2-equivalent, the stability threshold of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, currently melting at an accelerated rate, has been exceeded. The consequent expansion of tropics and the shift of climate zones toward the[Read More…]
We lost Gauri Lankesh to terrorism on 5th September 2017. This terrorism has a context. In this article I’ll be trying to put Gauri’s martyrdom into global context. When I started Countercurrents.org in 2002, the CO2 level in atmosphere was 370 ppm (parts per million). 17 years later now it is at 420 ppm. Recently scientists released a data that[Read More…]
Over 1.9 million people have been left out of the final National Register of Citizens or NRC – a list intended to identify legal residents and weed out illegal immigrants from Assam. Those left out of the NRC can appeal to the Foreigners Tribunal within 120 days. After that those left out will be sent to Detention Centers! Are we[Read More…]
It won’t be an exaggeration to say Kashmir is the worst conflict area in the world. Look anywhere else in the world where there are conflicts, there is no communication crack down. From Gaza to West Papua, from Hong Kong to the Yellow Vests in France….. the world knows what’s happening there. However in Jammu and Kashmir of India, we[Read More…]
We spent five days (9-13 August 2019) traveling extensively in Kashmir. Our visit began on 9 August 2019 – four days after the Indian government abrogated Articles 370 and 35A, dissolved the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into two Union Territories. When we arrived in Srinagar on 9 August, we found the city silenced and desolated by curfew, and[Read More…]
In this post, I will attempt to break down the constitutional changes to Article 370, and highlight some key legal issues surrounding them. In essence, to understand what has happened today, there are three important documents. At the heart of everything is Presidential Order C.O. 272, which constitutes the basis for everything that follows. The second is a Statutory Resolutionintroduced in the[Read More…]
It looks like India is becoming a police state. With the passage of three amendments to existing laws the central government is impinging upon the powers delegated to the states, becoming opaque and transgressing upon the rights of individuals. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act amendment bill which was passed by the Lok Sabha gives the government the power to designate[Read More…]
Rahul Gandhi has finally resigned. His resignation letter is a brutally frank one. In this letter he has confessed of being betrayed by his party mates and fighting a lonely battle. He has also pointed out the institutional takeover of the fascist Sangh Parivar. He also committed to work towards an inclusive India as a loyal party member. In close[Read More…]
Today in India the fascist BJP Government at the Centre announced that henceforth all District magistrates in all States of India have the power and are encouraged to track and investigate putative foreigners. Despite the fightback by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against the Muslim-hating Hindu Nazis who today are in power at the Centre and in most States,[Read More…]
Eid Mubarak! I’m writing this article on the eve of Eid. Two weeks after the Modi 2.0 government was installed in India. When the election results came out on May 23 I was baffled. How come a government which put India through enormous pain through its anti-people policies like Demonetisation which killed over 200 people and destroying small scale industries[Read More…]
Immediate action is needed to save the future The central problem which the world faces in its efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change is a contrast of time scales. In order to save human civilization and the biosphere from the most disastrous effects of climate change, we need to act immediately. But it is difficult to mobilize public opinion behind[Read More…]
In the times we live in, where smoke and mirrors are the world’s two chief weapons of war, fiction is a better guide to contemporary events than ‘facts’ presented by governments and media. A case in point are the horrific Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, that killed over 250 and maimed scores of people, and has sparked fears of[Read More…]
The Sri Lanka Easter bombings that killed more than 350 people including foreign nationals raise several pertinent questions Why did the bombings received far less foreign media coverage than Christ Church terrorist attack and Notre Dame fire? Why was the intelligence warning which came on April 4 was ignored and even withheld according to Sri Lankan minister Lakshman Kiriella It[Read More…]
K.P Sasi is one of the unsung heroes of Indian parallel cinema movement. His repertoire of films are amazing. From feature films , music videos to a plethora of documentaries that touch every aspect of our lives. His films are a collectors delight. A Package of 21 Films Directed by K.P. Sasi Are Available. All these films are social issues[Read More…]
I would like to announce the publication of a new book entitled “We Need An Ecological Revolution”. The book can be freely downloaded and circulated from the following link: http://eacpe.org/app/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/We-need-an-ecological-revolution-John-Scales-Avery.pdf If printed copies are desired, they are avilable from Lulu.com Our present crisis of civilization is unique Does history repeat itself? Is it cyclic, or is it unidirectional? Certainly many[Read More…]
It’s exam time in India. A time of deep tension for students and parents. All that you’ve learnt in a year will have to reproduced in a two hour written exam and the student will be assessed by what she has written in those two hours. If you fail to answer a few questions you’ll be at a loss and[Read More…]
Last night my 11 year old son asked me, “Abba, if war breaks out between India and Pakistan can we go to some other country? What will we do if they drop a nuclear bomb?” I told him that it’s not possible to go to another country. They won’t accept us. However, I assured him that there will be no[Read More…]
Notwithstanding the claims and counter-claims of India and Pakistan, one thing is now acknowledged from both sides that the Indian Air Force planes entered the Pakistani territory and returned back safely. That is pretty embarrassing for the Pakistani authorities – both the Prime Minister Imran Khan who, only a few days back, promised retaliation and the Army Chief, General Qamar[Read More…]
When Kashmiris are being attacked across India, let me telly you a story about Kashmiriyat. Last summer I was in Kashmir with my family. We were coming back from Sonamarg. The road to Sonamarg goes through Zojila Pass, one of the highest motorable road in the world. It’s a desert land for dozens of kilometers. Even in summer the temperature[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…]
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…]
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…]
Binu Mathew is the heroic and dedicated editor of the Internet journal “Countercurrents”. He lives in the Kerala Provence of India, which has recently been hit by enormous floods, despite which he continues to publish his vitally important journal every day. An interview with Editor Binu Mathew, in which he describes his early life, his education, and how he became[Read More…]
Modern industrial societies are having a catastrophic effect on the planet, accelerating contamination of the air, water, and soil, the destruction of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, mass extinction of species, and runaway climate change. A global economic systemfixated with exponential GDP growth at all costs is now not only damaging the natural systems on which we depend, but pushing them towards irreversible[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…]
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…]
Dear David, I have long admired your dedicated and heroic life-long work for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons. You did me the great honour of making me an Advisor to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). You are both the Founder and the President of the NAPF. Could you tell us a little about your family, and your early[Read More…]
Binu Mathew, Editor of Countercurrents.org interviews Andre Vltchek BM: You are one of the foremost critics of imperialism. Can you tell us how you came to be who you are? Can you tell us about your formative years? AV: Formative years… There were many of them, and actually, I feel that I am still evolving, until now. People always do,[Read More…]
John Scales Avery: Dear friend and colleague in the peace movement, dear highly respected and admired Editor Binu Mathew, can you tell us about your childhood and education? What are the influences that led you to become the Editor of Countercurrents.org, one of the world’s most important and influential alternative news websites? Binu: I hail from Kerala state, India, the[Read More…]
The vast array of consumer products available in the modern markets, needs of a large mass of compulsive buyers that merry-go-round in a spending spree. The great engine that produced the consumer goods, was born with the industrial revolution of the 19th-century. The industrial revolution and the phenomenon of mass consumption were preceded by the feudal age household economics and[Read More…]
This is a speech I prepared to deliver at the Solidarity Media Awards This award was bestowed upon Countercurrents.org and me for the courageous interventions in human rights and citizen’s rights. Let me make it very clear, I do not have any such claims. I’m doing whatever little I can in my limited capacity for humanity and other species on[Read More…]
Countercurrents.org has been awarded this year’s Solidarity Media award initiated by Solidarity Youth Movement. Countercurrents receives this special award for ‘its courageous interventions in upholding Human Rights and Citizen’s Rights’. Countercurrents editor Binu Mathew will receive the award on October 31, 2018 at Press Club Hall, Thiruvananthapuram from veteran journalist Thomas Jacob. The award carries Rs 10,000 and a plaque.[Read More…]
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has stated that the agitation to prevent entry to women of all ages to Sabarimala temple as per the order of Supreme Court of India is an ‘upper caste conspiracy’. No one has made more truer statement and realistic assessment about the situation in Sabarimala than the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister also categorically stated[Read More…]
The only code of law for Hindus is Manu Smriti. IX.3 of Manu Smriti says “Na stree svaatantryam arhati” (a woman does not deserve freedom). Manu Smriti is the code of the four fold Varna system, namely Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vysya and Shudra. Hinduism is in fact is rooted in this pyramidal varna system, Brahmins being at the top. Manu Smriti[Read More…]
This article is based on a talk delivered in Hyderabad on 7th October 2018 as part of the 9th memorial meeting of ‘Remembering Balagopal’, an annual event commemorating the late social activist K Balagopal It is a truly a great privilege for me to be here today to speak to all of you at this meeting to remember Prof.[Read More…]
A month has passed since the mammoth Kerala floods. I’ve travelled through many flood affected areas and talked to many affected people. The loss is huge many of them are irreparable. Even after one month many people haven’t come out of the psychological trauma caused by the floods. Many say they feel a heaviness in their heart. They feel weak[Read More…]
In the light of the devastating floods of 2018 many people are coming forward with suggestions for the future of Kerala’s development. I too came up with a ten point agenda for Kerala. 1. All Dams in the Western Ghats, including Mullaperiyar Dam should be decommissioned 2. Determine the Flood Zone of the Rivers 3. All homes created in the[Read More…]
On August 6 a team of climate scientists led by Will Steffen of Australian National University published a paper in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Science and issued a stern warning to humanity. The paper which has come to be known as “Hothouse Earth” warns, “We explore the risk that self-reinforcing feedbacks could push the Earth System[Read More…]
Ten days of incessant downpour has turned Kerala into a theatre of destruction. 483 deaths, thousands of homes inundated, over a million and a half people in relief camps, roads and the major airport flooded and damaged- an unparalleled tragedy in the history of the state renowned for its high social indices and progressive political ambience. The Kerala deluge[Read More…]
Naomi Klein coined the term ‘Disaster Capitalism’. After the devastating flood of Kerala the fascist BJP and their parent organisation RSS are coining a new term, ‘Disaster Fascism’. It’s nothing new to them. This is a tried and tested method for them. Awaaz – South Asia Watch Ltd in a report pointed out in a report, titled ”In Bad Faith?[Read More…]
Dear Friends, We hope you remember the grave communal genocide in Kandhamal in Odisha, which happened in 2008. Barely after eight days after celebration of Independence day, India witnessed the biggest organized communal attack against the Christians in the last few centuries. Since 2009, people of Kandhamal and outside have been organizing 25th August as Kandhamal Day.each year This year[Read More…]
Gandhi is not well-known for his views on the environment. Indeed, in his vast output, there is little explicit mention of the environment. Yet, in Gandhi’s views, one finds a lot that is relevant to environmentalism. Like most great thinkers, Gandhi’s views are flawed; however we learn a lot by studying his views critically. Let us begin by examining Gandhi’s[Read More…]
Over sixty organizations have released a poster demanding the release of Dalit activist and Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ who is incarcerated in Saharanpur jail. Azad is in prison since June 2017, put away as a threat to ‘national security’ for championing the cause of India’s Dalits – a community repeatedly subjected to racist violence, rape, inhumane untouchability practices,[Read More…]
We the following writers, film makers, artists, students, academics and social movements express our deep concern over the continued, unjust imprisonment of Dalit activist and Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ by the Uttar Pradesh government. Azad is in prison since June 2017, put away as a threat to ‘national security’ for championing the cause of India’s Dalits – a[Read More…]
Dear Countercurrents family (present and future)— 2017 was a tough year all around. Hot and cold wars continue, the environment further degrades and Trumpism/Putinism/Modiism reigns. One can get depressed- forlorn even- by the array of monsters to fight. Humanity in many ways appears to be stepping backwards, embracing narrow and racist nationalism, further eroding the rights of women, reveling in[Read More…]
I am working on a book with the title “THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY: Two time scales”. A pdf file of a first draft of the book can be freely downloaded from the following link: http://www.fredsakademiet.dk/library/climate.pdf I urge you to download this file and to send the link or file to friends who might be interested. Also, if you have a website,[Read More…]
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it Evelyn Beatrice Hall Durga pooja and Dussehra may be a day of celebration of Brahmanic Hindus of India. But not for the Adivasis. It is also the day when their ancestors/gods are killed and their killing is being celebrated. But not anymore.[Read More…]
There is another Bullet Train.
A 7.65 Calibre Make in India model
that passes through stations with
strange names like Kulburgi South
Pansare West and Dhabolkar Central
Its destination set in Bangalore
where it rockets through a pulsating heart.
Dear Gauri, It is 10 days since I wrote to you…2 days ago- September 15th was the International Day of Democracy with the theme Democracy and Conflict Prevention focusing on strengthening democratic institutions to promote peace and stability through strong leadership, strengthen civic society and empower women…it goes on. Somehow this day as many other days, I miss you…want to[Read More…]
When rationalists are murdered by obscurantists, secularists by religious zealots, and humanists by fascists, people typically react in one of four ways: 1. Mentally register the murder and then move on as though nothing has really changed; 2. Empathize with the victim’s family by mouthing some pieties and then move on as though nothing really changed in their lives;[Read More…]
I don’t know if you came across a piece of news from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, published a few days back in several national dailies. No wonder you might have missed it, it was (purposely) snug in one tight corner of most papers like a hibernating animal, meant to be left untouched. Well, the news was that a twenty-seven-year-old, hungry man, Sunil[Read More…]
The cat is out of the bag. The data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proves that as was predicted Narendra Modi’s demonetisation was a ‘monumental disaster’. The data shows that 99 % of the demonetised currencies returned to the system. Of the 15.44 lakh crore demonetised money, 15.28 lakh crore returned to the banks. A simple question rises,[Read More…]
The morning papers bring me the news that Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest person in the world. Actually he overtook Bill Gates for a few hours on Thursday as the richest person on earth as the Amazon share prices rose. Bill Gates regained his position as the richest person later in the day. So what the[Read More…]
The second book from Countercurrents.org publishing is out. It is a book on the cow politics in India and the resultant lynchings that’s happening around the country. It is titled “The Political Economy Of Beef Ban”. This volume contains 57 articles on beef and the politics around it, how it has affected the social fabric of India and the people,[Read More…]
Our call for #An Hour For Communal Harmony has got wonderful response from around the country. As our first event, blood and organ donation camps will be held in major cities/towns in India in the first week of August. New Delhi, Kolkotta, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Trivandurm, Kochi, Calicut have come on board. The slogan of the campaign is “India United[Read More…]
What happened in Baduria and Basirhat of West Bengal is a warning. What is happening in Darjeeling is a warning. What is happening in Jammu and Kashmir is a warning. When people are getting lynched for their food choices, it is a warning. What is happening to dalits, adivasis and other minorities in present day India is a warning. Can you[Read More…]
Junaid this is for you. Junaid this is to assure you that your death will not go in vain. You are a martyr for the idea of India. You are not a martyr in the conventional sense, that you laid down your life with full consciousness of what you are doing. But your life was snatched away from you in[Read More…]
When I was in school we used to say a pledge in the morning assembly. It began this way, “India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters….”. This was the India we dreamed of when we were children. But, is this the India we are living now? Distressing news are coming from all around India. From Kashmir[Read More…]
I have a facebook group. It is called “Life in India is cheap, Damn cheap”. I started the group after seeing the death stunts of a circus group without any protection gears in a local festival. Yes, hundreds of thousands of lives in India are lost which could have been prevented if government took proper measures to tackle it. As[Read More…]
Today is Ambedkar Jayanti. It would be appropriate to take a re-look at Ambedkar’s idea of nationalism in the face of virulent Hindutva nationalism in India and also on the global context
I’m at the home of one of the greatest living intellectuals on earth. In the cold, windy Copenhagen weather as we ring the bell John Scales Avery opens the door and welcomes me and my friend John Graversgaard warmly into his home. He serves us coffee and we talk. I’m stunned by his humility and breadth of knowledge. John Avery[Read More…]
7 in the series JatiIndia: A Flag of Atrocities Caste, Present and Future For more than a quarter century, journalist/activist Teesta Setalvad has worked tirelessly to ensure that India’s Constitution serves the people. Her most well-known work involved exposing, through her group Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), the atrocities committed by Hindutva extremists in Gujarat in 2002. As part[Read More…]
I’m not a hot off the shelf book reader. Most of the books I read are suggestions from my friends or found during my reading or research. When Teesta Setalvad’s memoir “Foot Soldier of the Constitution” appeared I simply could not resist. Her indomitable spirit in spite all the wild allegations, smearing of reputation, false cases, public humiliation, personal attacks[Read More…]
It was always the worst kept secret in India, but has now finally become official – those who run the Republic of India do not need the Public of India at all. What is worse, they in fact see the latter as a grave threat to their very existence. All this was amply evident on Republic Day this year, as[Read More…]
Much later, historians in the 22nd Century would call it a ‘close shave’ for Indian democracy and a ‘hair razing’ experience for millions of citizens. And yet, when it happened real-time -everyone was simply lost for words. The year was 2018 and in an emotional address on primetime TV, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had exhorted his countrymen to[Read More…]
A Cashless, Corruption-free, Cow-friendly India that also Cares for the Poor. As the Narendra Modi regime shoots forth silken promises like buttered popcorn from a hot oven – it is time to remember India’s long history of using colourful fiction to rip-off the public and carry out caste oppression. Let me explain. For over a millennium one of the recurring[Read More…]
A dear friend of mine from USA sent me this mail regarding the demonetisation in India. Somebody in your country needs to organize something like Gandhi’s salt march against the monetary situation. They need to go to government sites and protest peacefully. Look at Boston. If we can do this, so can people in India! Mobilize, I recommend! This is[Read More…]
I read George Orwell’s ‘1984’ in 1985 when I was a 15 year old. Although the ‘Big Brother’ appearing on screens to announce what people should be doing looked like a science fiction in an 80s India, it made a nightmarish impact on me, even when I was awake. As a 15 year old I never thought that it could[Read More…]
Dear Friends- I am sure we can all agree that we live in strange times. For most of us, education and intellectual progress were based on hard mental work, the exercise of logic, and the seeking of not only nuggets of truth but the interconnections between these nuggets. We understood the importance of knowledge; to put it in the modern[Read More…]
Political analyst Devinder Sharma tweeted that angry farmers in Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh are dumping tomato on highways. The reason? They are getting 50 rupees for a 100 kg batch of tomato. That means they are getting 50 paise for a kilogram of tomato. Ironically, 50 paise is practically out of circulation in India. Angry farmers in Ramgarh dist in[Read More…]
The abrupt demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes by the Narendra Modi regime is a drastic move that is staggering in its scale, ambition and repurcussions. The only other figures in modern history one can think of, devious or stupid enough to attempt something similar, are the likes of Marcos, Suharto, Idi Amin and Pol Pot. For all its[Read More…]
At the stroke of midnight November 9, 2016, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi imposed an undeclared economic emergency on India. With a stroke of pen he wiped out Rs 15 lakh crores in cash from the system. What prompted this drastic step? What will be the fall out of the action for Indian economy is a billion dollar question.
It’s over a year since I wrote a note of this sort. So many things happened in this period, some good, some very bad. Global warming is alarmingly tottering on the very dangerous mark. The past year so record breaking monthly heat records, disastrous floods, droughts and storms. 400 ppm is the new normal now. The resource wars have broken[Read More…]
Kandhamal is not a new subject to me. Countercurrents.org had published an article on 2nd November 2003 by Angana Chatterjee “Orissa: A Gujarat In The making”. It was five years before the worst communal violence against Christians in modern India happened in Kandhamal in 2008 in which 93 people were killed, over 350 churches and worship places which belonged to[Read More…]
I call the process we are in an “Oil Pearl Harbour”, taking place in a kind of eerie slow motion. This is no longer retrievable. Within roughly ten years the oil industry as we know it will have disintegrated. The GIW is presently defenceless in the face of this threat
Day 8. Kashmir is curfewed. At least 43 civilians are killed. All of them have been identified by the local media. More than 2200 persons are seriously injured, out of which at least 100 on the verge of losing their eyesight permanently after being hit by the lethal pellet guns. Yes, it is a war-like situation in curfewed Kashmir. Despite[Read More…]
This three-part post was inspired by Ugo Bardi’s recent post concerning “Will Renewables Ever ReplaceFossils?” and recent discussions within Ugo’s discussion group on how is it that “Economists still don’t get it”? It integrates also numerous discussion and exchanges I have had with colleagues and business partners over the last three years. Introduction Since at least the end of 2014[Read More…]
Recent research by IISc reveals startling numbers on Bangalore’s reckless urbanization and its consequences: during 1973–2016 (1005% concretization or increase of paved surface) has had a telling influence on the natural resources, such as decline in green spaces (88% decline in vegetation), wetlands (79% decline), higher air pollutants and a sharp decline in groundwater table.
An equal level of consumption for everyone around the world at the level of today’s Cuba offers the possibility of substantially lowering human impact on the biosphere while at the same time maintaining a rather decent standard of living for all.
“In Bastar, a man dies once, but a woman dies twice, once when she’s stripped of every ounce of her dignity, paraded, brutalized by a gang of uniformed mercenaries; and later, by a bullet. And yet these Adivasi women and girls, prefer to go out and face the consequences rather than sending their menfolk out to die like an[Read More…]
As a concerned and responsible citizen of India, we not only stand in solidarity with Teesta and others at the Sabrang Trust but we would also like to donate so that the various activities undertaken by the Trust runs smoothly. We would also like to appeal the fellow citizens. The NRIs who still retain their Indian passports can donate as well.
A wave of the left in Kerala has caught many people by surprise. Perhaps, ten days before the state assembly elections, nobody could predict that the people of Kerala would express such major support to LDF in this manner, though the possible success was predicted by many. What was more welcome was also the list of promises which the LDF[Read More…]
A presentation made at London School of Economics on 16th June 2016 in the conference organised by Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhists organisations, UK in collaboration with London School of Economics to commemorate 100 years of Dr Ambedkar’s association with London School of Economics. It is a privilege to be able to speak to you on this historic occasion to[Read More…]
I woke up the next morning to the atrocious news of gangrape and murder of Madkam Hidme, an Adivasi girl in Sukma district’s village Gumpad. She was picked up from home, gangraped and then shot in cold blood by a gang of bloodthirsty, estrogen shooting men, dressed in an attire given by government that miraculously shields them against all legal shenanigans. Two days before this, a 12 year old child was similarly raped by a policeman in the same district. This is happening everyday in these villages. Every single day.
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Concept of Gram Swaraj (‘Village Self-Reliance’) and Its Increasing Relevance for Our Times Indian Democracy & Chaos in Parliament! 
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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…]
Caste, Class and India’s Covid Catastrophe
Covid-19 patients dying on the streets gasping for oxygen. Hundreds of wailing, desperate folks searching for hospital beds to access treatment. Even the dead denied dignified funerals, their bodies dumped unceremoniously in the rivers of India. Much has been written about the reasons for the Indian government’s abysmal failure to prepare for the devastating surge in Covid-19 cases in India[Read More…]