A particular scene in Paatal Lok, which is a series in Amazon Prime used a racist and a sexist remark on a Khasi woman calling her a “Nepali whore” (in Hindi). This was followed by uproar and petitions from Nepalies across India demanding to mute that particular line followed by an apology for the same[i]. This recent incident further triggers[Read More…]
“It seemed that there was a need for a book that laid out the problem of patriarchy in plain language.” (Robert Jensen) While we’ve never met in person, Robert Jensen and I have known each other (in that internet kind of way) for decades. We have friends in common, often wrote on similar topics for the same websites, and even[Read More…]
Each year on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is commemorated. A commemoration in essence is an opportunity to reflect on the challenges, prove that progress can be made and celebrate victories. It is also a reminder of the obligations and the responsibility we all must own at both the private and the public[Read More…]
The Indian women farmer, almost never publicly acknowledged, reviled by superstition and patriarchy, and increasingly troubled by entrenched social and cultural mores and taboos bears the real burden of farm labour. Nearly 98 million Indian women have agricultural jobs, but around 63% of them, or 61.6 million women, are agricultural labourers, dependent on the farms of others, according to 2011[Read More…]
Nikita Azad is back with #HappyToBleed campaign once again. Last year, on November 21, 2015, #HappyToBleed campaign was launched as a counter attack against the sexist statement given by Devaswom chief Prayar Gopalakrishnan who had stated that women will be allowed to enter the famous Sabarimala temple in Kerala only after a machine to “check the purity of women”. Countercurrents.org[Read More…]
When a marriage is no longer sacrosanct, can assisting in getting a divorce be called profane?
Recently, I was tagged on Facebook to participate in something called the “80s Music Challenge.” I excitedly agreed but such social media shenanigans did not come without an ugly lesson. You see, when I contemplated which songs to post, I encountered many that contained horribly insensitive and misogynistic lyrics — by performers like Public Enemy, Van Halen, Beastie Boys, Ice[Read More…]
Over the last decade, a shift in approach towards domestic violence has taken place and several legal reforms have been directed to assist the survivors. The Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act is one of such law that has been enacted in the year 2005 to provide civil remedies to the survivors besides criminalizing domestic violence. While these legal[Read More…]
In a rule of law jurisdiction, the story of a victim of gang rape being raped by the same accused against whom court proceedings continue, might be outlandish. But, in India today, these are the common stories that confront anyone willing to see reality: A Dalit gang rape survivor has allegedly been gang raped again by the same five accused[Read More…]
There was a small news item in the Times of India dated 3rd July, 2016.It related to Bhopal .It read , ” 3 peons breach MPs-2 child norm ,sacked.” It stated that they were removed from service at Damoh District Court as the year long enquiry determined that they had more than two children.It went to to say that more peons would[Read More…]
The allegations came recently in newspapers that two transsexuals are brutally attacked by the police in Kochi. This is the current situation of transgender life in Kerala albeit the existence of the transgender policy the state triumphs. They are being faced discrimination continuously in various forms. Apropos to this incident the allegation is charged against those who should actually assure[Read More…]
Over the years, I’ve written a fair amount of autobiographical pieces but it’s only recently that I’ve begun to re-explore some of these episodes from a more critical, radical perspective. With that in mind, to follow is yet another revised memoir-of-sorts. Even though I grew up in a “tough” neighborhood and trained myself in hand-to-hand combat, I’ve never been eager[Read More…]
Hilary Wainwright, of the Transnational Institute and co-editor of Red Pepper magazine, made a lasting impression on the Commons Transition/P2P Foundation team with her panel presentation at the recent Commons Collaborative Economies event in Barcelona. During her presentation, Wainwright shared her insights on the hidden commons of care. “Women have been creating a Commons for a long time: the domestic[Read More…]
What the Women and Child Development Minister Ms. Maneka Gandhi, admitted on the floor of the Lok Sabha was startling, between 2012 and 2014, around 25,000 women either committed suicide or were killed due to dowry harassment; this vindicates the claim of women’s movement in India. Taunts, mental and physical abuse and ultimate death by murder or ‘forced-to-commit-suicide’ is an open fact of the Indian society
By J Nigam and Shalu Nigam Mature men and some women in mysterious black coats, a weary face listening, though with little attention, to these two segments arguing, fighting, abusing and shouting, and an allegorical lady justice with blindfolds balancing some scales- that’s a courtroom in my eyes as a four year old child! Though I had barely opened my[Read More…]
Being female in this world means having been robbed of the potential for human choice by men who love to hate us. One does not make choices in freedom. Instead, one conforms in body type and behavior and values to become an object of male sexual desire, which requires an abandonment of a wide-ranging capacity for choice… Andrea Dworkin[Read More…]
On achieving independence in 1947, it was expected and believed that India will become a nation wherein there will be no place for any kind of seclusion, exclusion and suppression in the name of caste, religion, sex or language. With the same objective, the founding fathers of our nation gave us a Constitution which guarantees the values of equality, equity[Read More…]
Punjab is a predominantly patriarchal agrarian society . Men head the family and women playing a subordinate role . Sikhism and Hinduism are the major religions , with Muslims and Christians as Minorties . What are Punjabis thoughts on Sex , Sexuality , Transgender and Homosexuality ? Punjabi people are deeply religious and religion dictates sexual attitudes . Kam /[Read More…]
A communal organization derives its ideology, base and support from religion and tradition, that is, from the past or the existing social order, and functions as a bridge between religion and politics. Tradition is the continuation of the ‘glorious past’ as perceived, and projected, by the ideologies of such organizations, which may or may not bear any resemblance to historical[Read More…]
There is a fine line between prevention and normalisation of any entity. When an event manifests itself through the acceptance of society , passively as an everyday occurrence or something that is unavoidable, it already is nurturing a dysfunctional repressed violent idea. One of the celebrated deviant normalcy in the Indian society is that of a Rape. What imparts it[Read More…]
By Shobha Aggarwal & Dr. P.S. Sahni “If there are two daughters born in the home, and the third child born is also a daughter, then she is told, now I want a son, so get another wife. Even if the fault is with the man, the entire burden of the fault is on the woman’s head, and so our[Read More…]
There is a long history of social critics and progressive thinkers offering critiques of human society. Among those who are better known, Karl Marx offered a critique of capitalism, anarchists have critiqued the state, Mohandas K. Gandhi offered a critique of industrial society, Sigmund Freud and Herbert Marcuse offered critiques of civilization, and feminists have critiqued patriarchy. In addition, critiques[Read More…]
A Love Story in a Turbulent Time 
It’s the economy, stupid! Or is it the stupid economy? 
About half of Oklahoma is Native American land, rules U.S. Supreme Court 
Fetishising ‘The Number’: How Not To Govern Pandemics, Climate and Biodiversity 
Caste Atrocities in Tamil Nadu in the wake of Covid-19 Pandemic 
The Hypocrisies of Recognition: The Supreme Court, Native Americans and the McGirt Case 
Sharjeel Usmani, another Muslim student leader, falls victim to Hindutva State 
The Tremendous But ‘Secret’ Success Of Socialist Vietnam 
Corona, caste discrimination and the lives of Sanitation Workers 
JCPOA: The Deal That Wasn’t 
The Dogs Of Empire! 
Trump, Tulsa, and the Rise of Military Dissent 
Veterans Statement On India – China Stand-Off 
Introducing The African Cheetah In India: A Risk Worth Taking? 
Letter To Prime Minister On Coal Auction 
Indo-China Conflict And USA 
COVID-19: Infection Rate Per Million Population In Select Countries, Provinces And Countries – 4 July 2020 
A Look At The Past, Present And Future Of The China –Indian Border Dispute 
Elderly and the Culture of ‘Adda’ 
The Coronavirus Republic: Three Million Infections and Rising 
ICMR Exhumes, Revives Nazi Era Template For Vaccine Trials 
Neoliberal Psychological Romanticism: From The Primal Scream To The Collective Unconscious – Part II 
On Israel’s Bizarre Definitions: The West Bank is Already Annexed 
China achieving its Military Objectives in Ladak de-escalates tension 
The ‘Invaluable’ Bud 
Donald Trump 
Industrial Peril- An ongoing phenomenon in India amidst COVID 19 pandemic 
Party building, the way of the Communists and the Congress 
The Pandemic Must Transform Our Agriculture 
The Unbecoming of Indian Women 
Lal koul : The lost treasure 
Who got U.S. Paycheck Protection loans? They include Hedge funds and Kanye West 
Shadow of Laxmanpur Bathe on Bihar Election 
Kerala: Urgent Need for Review of Cost-Benefits of Proposed Semi High-Speed Train Project 
Netanyahu’s Annexation Drive 
Buffalo Soldiers and House Niggas 
Desperation As Art: 50 Years Of Güney’s ‘Hope’ 
The United States has set out to fish in the muddy waters of the Indo-China conflict 
Wistful Memories: The dying Shitalakhya River 
Turkey: Hagia Sophia should not be converted to a Mosque 
Today, the Republic of India faces its gravest moment since it was born seventy years ago. What has hit the second most populous nation in the world – just in the last few months itself – is nothing short of a crisis of Biblical proportions. An untreatable viral epidemic, a debilitating lockdown, a collapsed economy, hunger stalking every corner of[Read More…]
