Unveiling the RSS

Felix Pal December, 2025 For decades, two parallel understandings of the Sangh have been allowed to proliferate. The first sees the different constituents of the Sangh as inchoately and fuzzily connected, strung together only by a shared ideological goal… The second, on the other hand, understands the Sangh as, in fact, less shaped by conformity… Read More Unveiling the RSS

AI is devoid of meaning and humanity. That’s why its vapid voice suits this political moment

Nesrine Malik The liar’s punishment is, not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else: George Bernard Shaw For ease and speed, we are degrading our ability to connect and to organise our societies. We must assert our trust in humans over machines Here is a nightmare scenario… Read More AI is devoid of meaning and humanity. That’s why its vapid voice suits this political moment

Cancer is now a story of the good, the bad and the ugly – but also hope

Devi Sridhar Cancer causes nearly one in six deaths worldwide every year, some 10 million all told. That is a stunning number, but it also masks the reality that some cancers are more deadly than others. We have become remarkably good at detecting and treating melanoma and prostate cancer, for example, and today five-year survival rates for those cancers… Read More Cancer is now a story of the good, the bad and the ugly – but also hope

Linguistic cruelty and beyond

How unemployment, addiction, and frustration are turning youth into society’s unwanted category. by Ashraf Zainabi Every modern society has two lists. The first list contains creatures it wants to protect, dogs, butterflies, pandas, dolphins, snow leopards, motivational speakers, billionaires pretending to be simple, and occasionally trees, but mostly on environment day. The second list contains creatures… Read More Linguistic cruelty and beyond

Exam Mess: Can IAF, PM Rebuild Trust ? / First NEET, now CUET: The growing crisis of trust in India’s entrance tests

Bharat Bhushan In the wake of the NEET-UG question paper leak, the state’s response has been astounding. The Union HRD Minister has said that the help of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be sought for the secure transportation of examination question papers ahead of the re-exam on June 21. And the Supreme Court has… Read More Exam Mess: Can IAF, PM Rebuild Trust ? / First NEET, now CUET: The growing crisis of trust in India’s entrance tests

HRIC Statement Calling for the Protection of Human Rights Defender Dong Guangping

HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA May 27, 2026 Human Rights in China (HRIC) urgently calls on the South Korean government and the international community to protect Chinese human rights defender Dong Guangping, who arrived in South Korea on the night of May 25 after crossing the Yellow Sea in an inflatable boat to seek political asylum. He… Read More HRIC Statement Calling for the Protection of Human Rights Defender Dong Guangping

Hope Against Hope

Generations of organisers and dissidents have kept the Iranian struggle alive Sahar Delijani Source: EQUATOR A protest in Tehran against mandatory veiling, 1979 / Courtesy Hengameh Golestan and Archaeology of the Final Decade 1. A few hours after I was born, my mother and I were taken back to prison. It was September 1983, four… Read More Hope Against Hope

LASZLO LADANY: The Communist Party of China and Marxism 1921-1985: A Self-Portrait (1988)

Presented below is the Foreword by ROBERT ELEGANT. And this is an excellent review: Simon Leys: The art of interpreting non-existent inscriptions written in invisible ink on a blank page. Book review As his seventieth year approached, Laszlo Ladany decided to retire from the strenuous tasks of periodical scholarship to which he had voluntarily subordinated himself since… Read More LASZLO LADANY: The Communist Party of China and Marxism 1921-1985: A Self-Portrait (1988)

Book review: Souls in the Kalyug

Beyond remittances: A rare insight into the everyday lives of migrant workers Social anthropologist Shankar Ramaswami’s ‘Souls in the Kalyug’ is a rich, multi-layered text that provides a window into workers’ lives in India, including some hopeful strands within the destructive churnings of global capitalism.  Sapan BookshelfSouls in the Kalyug: The Politics and Cosmologies of Migrant… Read More Book review: Souls in the Kalyug