Below is the speech delivered by the well known journalist and documentarian John Pilger to the rally to free Julian Assange held by the Socialist Equality Party of Australia on Sunday, June 17 in Sydney’s Town Hall Center. Thank you for coming for Julian and thank you to the SEP for organizing this very important rally. The persecution of Julian[Read More…]
This lecture by Mirza Yawar Baig is take on India as it is today and the challenges that face us in the immediate future. He says “It is my address to my fellow citizens to say that it is time we accepted the role of citizenship and understand that it means to take responsibility for the welfare of our nation[Read More…]
We hope many of you have watched this remarkable documentary “Four Horsemen”. Although the film vouches for capitalism, it calls for bloodless revolution. Moreover, it calls for the cooperation of humanity to over ride the coming crises. It’s a remarkable film that connects all the dots of all the crises humanity faces collectively, a task that Countercurrents.org has been doing for[Read More…]
A documentary on the plight of the Rohingyas For them, dignity – safety – well-being are pious words. For them, it’s a constant struggle – of their bare existence or, survival. The Rohingya has been a victim of denial and deprivation for ages, over occasions. The world requires to step up, to come forward, be part of the global ethics.[Read More…]
This week Just Asia begins with India, where the Supreme Court passed a historic judgment last Friday, ordering the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe into the allegations of ‘fake encounters’ by uniformed personnel in the conflict ridden state of Manipur. To ensure an impartial investigation, the Court ordered that no member of the Manipur police will be a part[Read More…]
This week Just Asia begins with Pakistan, where police brutality and violence continues. Three videos show how law enforcement officials regularly transcend their authority and abuse ordinary citizens, with a complete lack of accountability. In the most recently surfaced video, a group of police officers are baton charging unarmed women mill workers in Muzaffargarh, Punjab. Next, three journalists have been[Read More…]
“…most modern conflict has been grounded in the use of terror to control and silence whole populations. Those abusing power typically refuse to acknowledge their dead victims, as if they had never existed and were mere wraiths in the memories of those left behind. This denial, and the impunity of those who maintain it must be challenged if survivors are[Read More…]
I once stayed up all night reading a book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip Dick. The book was made into the movie Blade Runner. The main character in the book, Rick Deckard, has to figure out something that seems like quite a challenge: is he a human being, or is he a “replicant”? Replicants are artificial beings[Read More…]
Are you confused about climate change/global warming: is it real, or is it fake news? And if it is real, what can be done about it? I have just published (April 2017) a peer-reviewed article on this subject and what we can do about it in the (relatively new) journal “Class, Race and Corporate Power” on this very subject, and[Read More…]
I want to share a story with you today that I’ve not shared before on this blog. I was moved by something I saw on Twitter to the effect that the future will not remember Trump, but the future will remember the remarkable things done by those mobilising to oppose him. It really resonated with me. I wanted to share[Read More…]
It seemed an unnecessarily grand gesture, but the English Premier league discovered last week that Manchester United had appointed its own counterterrorism manager. The person is said to be a former inspector from Greater Manchester Police’s specialist research unit. As with everything else in matters of security, such a move will stir and spark discussion: if they have one, why[Read More…]
Poromboke is an old Tamil word meaning shared-use community resources like waterbodies, seashore and grazing lands that are not assessed for tax purposes. Today, it has become a bad word used to describe worthless people or places. Chennai Poromboke Paadal is part of a campaign to reclaim the word and restore its worth. Credits: Featuring TM Krishna Concept: Nityanand Jayaraman[Read More…]
“The Inheritance” is a compelling fictional narrative of a young man who is sucked up by the whirlpool of caste system. This short fiction depicts with conviction how even educated young people of lower castes are tragically drowned by the inheritance of their own caste. Rahul Pagare, a student of ITI-Electrical believed in Ambedkar’s message of ‘Educate Organise Agitate’. Grown[Read More…]
The workers in the unorganised sector are hit hard by the note ban. They can’t find work. With the introduction of new Rs 2000 notes, a new malady is upon them. They can’t find change for these notes. Auto-rickshaw drivers tell their woes of #Demonetisation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE0zoAoREdM&feature=youtu.be Video by Aabha Joshi, Neethu Saji and Kritika The patience of the common people is running out. Despite standing in queues outside banks, day after day, people are unable to find change, resulting in a huge crisis in their everyday sustenance. On one hand, the food intake in the houses have gone down and on the other hand, huge[Read More…]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaIKBcBbjbc&feature=youtu.be Video by Aabha Joshi, Neethu Saji and Kritika As the large population of the country is standing in long queues, an old woman of 75 years of age describes her current situation while waiting for her turn outside KYS bank, branch Govandi in Mumbai. She has been waiting for her chance since morning and this video was shot at[Read More…]
https://youtu.be/uj2edB3U5SA Video byAabha Joshi, NeethuSaji and Kritika Nine days has passed since Modi government has declared a ‘war’ against ‘black money’ by demonetizing Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes, claiming lives of almost 55 people. As the days pass by, the queues do not seem to get any shorter and the lives of the common people seem to have[Read More…]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CpwW77R9UQ&feature=youtu.be Video by Aabha Joshi, Neethu Saji and Kritika As the Modi government, in a bold step, by demonetizing 500 rupee and 1000 rupee currency notes has promised to recover ‘black money’ and combat ‘terrorism’, the horrors of this move have shaken the entire country, especially the most vulnerable section of the society who earn their living through daily wages[Read More…]
Tell us something about you and your band; how you started your journey in music and how did you come together? Dr Rajesh Anuragi : I was born and raised in a small town of Hamirpur, district of UP. My father is a musician and a table player. Since school days I was always a bright student. I started[Read More…]
“In the shade of fallen chinar” is a short documentary that was shot in kashmir valley a few days before the current unrest began, It takes a peep into the lives of a group of young kashmiri artist’s who are also University students. It talks about the factors that inspires their art and how it takes the form of resistance[Read More…]
(Rome) The world has lost its anchors. The concept of permanence no longer exists anywhere. What were once perceived as anchors of security have transformed into uncertainty and darkness, to fear and terror,. Everything people thought of as integral is today disjointed, and once significant words themselves empty and meaningless. Everything has changed. Love has lost its power to dominate[Read More…]
The EU is a precarious subject these days. Both backers and detractors are subject to harsh criticism, and those wanting to leave the EU are habitually considered populists or nationalists. However, this Europe, with its undeniable capitalist and neoliberal penchants, isn’t MY Europe, or at least not the Europe I once pictured it to be. That is why, as it[Read More…]
Philando Castile, another African-American, a 32-year-old school cafeteria manager, was killed during a traffic stop near St. Paul, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota where his distraught girlfriend broadcast his final moments in real time on Facebook. As blood soaked through Castile’s shirt Wednesday night, his girlfriend, Diamond “Lavish” Reynolds, began broadcasting live video to her Facebook page, saying on camera that[Read More…]
Two major news stories here in the U.S., both chilling, point out how readily U.S. authorities will murder people based on race and the slightest possibility of a threat to those in places of power. On July 5th Baton Rouge police killed Anton Sterling in a Louisiana parking lot. Sterling was a 37-year-old Black father of five selling CDs outside[Read More…]
(PHOTO: Albert enjoys a canoe ride in Austin, TX.) Since Albert’s release on his birthday, February 19th, a few short months ago, he’s been really busy… After nearly a month of visiting with family and friends in New Orleans sharing more birthday cake than he’s been able to consume in over forty years, Albert has been catching up with his[Read More…]
A documentary by Vidya Bhushan Rawat on the Ayodhya issue and how it affected the communal harmony of India. It is being republished in the context of resurgent Hindutva programme in India which catapulted Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India. This documentary is all the more significant in the context of the coming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Bhagwan Das is one of the most prominent faces of Ambedkarite movement. He worked with Baba Saheb Ambedkar and brought out the unpublished work of Baba Saheb : Thus Spoke Ambedkar. An excellent narrator, Bhagwan Das wrote numerous books including his famous ‘ main bhangi hoon’, narrating the conditions of person from manual scavenging community. In this conversation with Vidya[Read More…]
On Tuesday, June 14th, NATO announced that if a NATO member country becomes the victim of a cyber attack by persons in a non-NATO country such as Russia or China, then NATO’s Article V “collective defense” provision requires each NATO member country to join that NATO member country if it decides to strike back against the attacking country. The preliminary[Read More…]
The End of Title 42 and the Triumph of the Border-Industrial Complex 
A New Direction for the World Bank? 
Conspiracy! Whose Conspiracy? 
Wrestlers’ struggle for justice : Will it endure? 
‘Digital India Bill’: Some things to worry about 
Electricity wasted in Mumbai as energy supply is cut off for hours in towns 
Samalkha Nestle Workers Union stage protest against preventing formation of Union 
Odisha rail accident- BSNL’s commendable performance- Should India diminish its public sector, allow private oligarchs to profiteer? 
Wildfire Smoke Chokes Canada and Eastern US 
Terracidal But Ignored Carbon Debt From Gas Exploitation By The World & Climate Criminal Australia 
China and Palestine: No To ‘Piecemeal Crisis Management’ 
Can China and the United States Establish Mutual Respect to Lessen Tensions? 
How Empire Fabricates Atrocities 
For Balanced Progress, Indian Railways Must Get Their Priorities Right 
Determining Scheduled Area: An Update 
The new Parliament house may be dangerously undemocratic 
Ranajit Guha: A duality of literature and history 
DIPAM’s hasty moves to disinvest the government’s residual share in HZL highly imprudent and against the public interest 
A Climate of Betrayal 
Deserving Each Other: The PGA Tour-LIV Golf Merger 
The World Economy Is Changing—the People Know, but Their Leaders Don’t 
Tribute to Chris Hani on 30th martyrdom Anniversary 
Proper Treatment of Rail Accident Victims Demands Long-term Commitment and Support 
What the Kailasa Con Job Reveals About the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case 
The writing is on the wall: Farmers warn Parliamentarians 
The End Stage of American Empire 
End the culture of impunity and arrest accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh now 
Brasilia summit: Lula and Maduro reboot regional integration 
Steaming Ahead: Sikkim’s First Rail Project to Boost Connectivity by 2024 
Five years behind bars for five activists 
Five Years Since The First Arrests In Bhima-Koregaon Case 
Diluted Sovereignty: A Very Australian Example 
Conflict, Migration, and Demography in Russia and Its Border Regions 
Railway Safety Has Been Short of Funds, Needs Early Increase 
Notes on two recent sensations 
A shocking picture of health apathy….. 
Railway accident in Odisha- Are the Railways ready for high-speed trains? Who is to be blamed? 
Teaser of Film on Savarkar: Lies Galore 
Preserving India’s Heritage: The Power of International Collaboration for Natural and Cultural Conservation 
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…]
