To the world India is known as the largest democracy in the world. If you considered holding elections at regular interval as the only criteria of being a democracy you can give this tag. But, the dismal condition of freedom of speech and the right to dissent in the country is a real cause of concern for the activists and[Read More…]
As India celebrates its anniversary of independence from the British rule it, is worthwhile to ask when the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur will get freedom from the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act 1958 (AFSPA) which is no less than being living under the colonial rule. The law that the British conceived in the wake of quit[Read More…]
Irom Sharmila’s withdrawal of her fast has come as a blow in varying degrees to many. There are also many others who welcome her decision to end her fast instead of sticking on to it at ridiculous levels. I am thinking of the many NGO leaders who invested their energy and money on Irom with the hope that their[Read More…]
Year 2000: Irom Sharmila Chanu started her hunger strike in Imphal, Manipur when she was 28 years old. It is started just after ‘Malom Massacre’ where soldiers of Assam Rifles opened fire on persons who were standing on a bus stop and around 10 people were killed in this firing including a 12 year old bravery award winner and a[Read More…]
Irom Sharmila’s decision to end her fast is a welcome step. This would be the end her 16 year long non-violent resistance against a violent state. She had started her fast following the shooting of 10 Manipuris at a Bus stand in 2000. One cannot get a better image of resistance, opposition and struggle than the one displayed by Irom[Read More…]
Press Release by Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign New Delhi, 27 July 2016: Save sharmila Solidarity Campaign welcomes decision of Irom Sharmila to break her fast in coming days. SSSC believes that it is a befitting reply to Government’s ignorance of her sixteen years of fast where an extra ordinary example of non violent appeal was made with the govt with[Read More…]
Imagine a war that goes on for almost six decades. A war that nobody notices, even though it would be counted as the thirteenth longest war in human history. This is a conventional war, where ‘enemy’ territory is looted, its women are raped, its men killed. With only one difference. In this war, the enemy, technically, belongs to the same[Read More…]
In a historic ruling, Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice U.U.Lalit of the Hon’ble Supreme Court have spoken out in favour of democracy. The judgment came on a plea by hundreds of families in the north-eastern State of Manipur for a probe by a Special Investigation Team into 1,528 cases of alleged fake encounters involving the Army and the[Read More…]
New laws will steal food from the plates of Indian farmers 
Global Warming “Solutions” 
In Search of America 
Shaping Palestinian politics: The UAE has a leg up on Turkey 
Termites 
André Vltchek’s Sudden Death 
Hegemony or Survival 
Muzzling the dissent 
The tradition of incriminating of Muslims in India goes back decades 
Comrade Rabindra Behera; The Reminiscences of a Revolutionary 
Who is Arun Ferreira and why is he in Jail? 
The tomato field 
Learning In Times Of COVID-19: Busting myths about the success of e-schooling 
Tribute to S P Balasubrahmanyam : Music and art transcends regions and boundaries 
Cinema of Insurrection – Rebels, Gentlemen and Other Players 
Farmers Protest Across India Against Anti-Farmer Laws 
Democracy without debate 
Communist Guerilla Leader of 1971 Bangladesh Haider Juno is in Life Support 
The Death of Andre Vltchek, a Passionate Warrior for Truth 
Democracy or ‘Kakistocracy’? 
Reform monarchy, demands biggest protest in years in Thailand 
Assange’s Thirteenth Day at the Old Bailey: Mental Health, Managed Risk and Publication Chronologies 
The Legend of Bhagat Singh: In Conversation with Prof Jag Mohan Singh 
Uphold the Constitutional Right of Farmers to Protest 
John Hersey, Hiroshima, and the End of World 
Imagine Trump or Biden In Church Praying For Yemeni Children Facing Starvation and US missiles? 
Film Screening On Kandhamal And Webinar 
Hyderabad Police Action (1948 Sep 13-17, Part-2) : The Screen Play and the Heroes 
What If Preventing Collapse Isn’t Profitable? 
Breonna Taylor protests erupt across the U.S. and 2 police officers shot 
The Ecological Impact Of Militarism 
Need for enhancing old age pension and other pension benefits under NSAP 
Assange’s Twelfth Day at the Old Bailey: Autism, Suicide and Prisons 
Palestinians Are Not Numbers: On the Future of the Palestinian Discourse 
Andrei Tarkovsky, Satyajit Ray And Mani Kaul 
How old is the Kashmir Dispute? 
Our duty is to ensure that our young ones survive 
The Dying Planet Report 2020 
The US is using the Guardian to justify jailing Assange for life. Why is the paper so silent? 
Andre, friend 
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…]
