Month: September 2021

Theocratic Christianity has come to Texas / Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams Texas GOP governor's 'deep ignorance' on abortion

The anti-choice movement is just one part of a larger effort by Christian fundamentalists to covertly turn the U.S. into a more theocratic state. Anti-choice politics are driven by a small and shrinking group of hard-right white evangelicals who wish to foist their religious views on the majority, in violation of the First Amendment-enshrined value of free… Read More Theocratic Christianity has come to Texas / Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams Texas GOP governor's 'deep ignorance' on abortion

Dilip

Under Xi Jinping, the private life of Chinese citizens isn't so private anymore

Even for a powerful authoritarian state, the speed and extent to which the Communist Party is expanding its reach into private lives in China has caught many off guard. Since celebrating its centennial with great fanfare in July, the party has imposed a flurry of regulations telling Chinese people, especially the younger generation, how to… Read More Under Xi Jinping, the private life of Chinese citizens isn't so private anymore

Dilip

Pratap Bhanu Mehta: The little farce of Brahmin welfare schemes is a sign of India’s great tragedy

The Andhra Pradesh government has a Veda Vyasa Scheme for Vedic Education. Let us, for a moment, put aside the question of whether there is a secular pedagogical argument for the state supporting Vedic education. But who is eligible for this education? Students should belong to the Brahmin community by birth. Similarly, the parallel schemes… Read More Pratap Bhanu Mehta: The little farce of Brahmin welfare schemes is a sign of India’s great tragedy

Dilip

ANDREW O'HEHIR – Beyond the crisis of democracy: Does anyone still believe in liberalism?

NB: Although this essay focuses on American politics, it has broader relevance. There are two major points I would make: it does not provide an adequate definition of liberalism, a word that originates in ‘liberty’; and that it does not address the matter of the global domination of capital over economic and political life. There… Read More ANDREW O'HEHIR – Beyond the crisis of democracy: Does anyone still believe in liberalism?

Dilip

Wealth behind stealth: New Eastern Europe

‘New Eastern Europe’ dedicates its summer issue to Ukraine, including: Russia’s underhand colonization of the Crimean peninsula; the geopolitics of gas; and Odessa’s urban mismanagement. In March 2020 a large part of Crimea acquired the status of Russian border territory by presidential decree, making it illegal for ‘foreigners’ to own houses and plots of land… Read More Wealth behind stealth: New Eastern Europe

Dilip

Tuğba Özer – Losing ground and doubling down: Police violence on increase in Turkey

The covid crisis has hit Turkey hard and made its mark on the government’s approval ratings. The country already has the highest number of police officers per capita in Europe and the regime is clamping down on dissent with increasing force – be it Pride marches or women’s protests for the Istanbul Convention. Thousands of women… Read More Tuğba Özer – Losing ground and doubling down: Police violence on increase in Turkey

Dilip

Massive show of strength at farmers’ UP mahapanchayat

Hundreds of thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra gathered for a kisan mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar on Sunday, months ahead of assembly polls in the first three states, demanding that the central government roll back three contentious farm laws passed by Parliament a year ago. Addressing the event organised by… Read More Massive show of strength at farmers’ UP mahapanchayat

Dilip

Mani Shankar Aiyar – Partition: What does the prime minister want us to remember?

NB: ‘Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’ – Big Brother, in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four. DS What is the purpose of remembrance? Revenge? Remorse? Restitution? Reconciliation? Rekindling the dying embers of mindless hate? Reapportioning blame? Remembering? Or, reminding oneself, “never again”? Before asking our prime minister to… Read More Mani Shankar Aiyar – Partition: What does the prime minister want us to remember?

Dilip

Women stage protest in Taliban-controlled Kabul

A group of Afghan women activists staged a small protest in Taliban-controlled Kabul Friday calling for equal rights and full participation in political life, CNN has confirmed. In spite of the risk, a group called the Women’s Political Participation Network marched on the street in front of Afghanistan’s Finance Ministry, chanting slogans and holding signs… Read More Women stage protest in Taliban-controlled Kabul

Dilip

Albert Einstein and Lev Landau: Scientific geniuses as well as anti-capitalists and anti-Stalinists

Almost everyone knows the name of Einstein, but that of Lev Landau is familiar only to a few followers of the exact sciences. And yet, both of them share several common features: They occupy first-rank positions in the short list of the greatest geniuses of the past century. They distinguished themselves by their freedom of thought and… Read More Albert Einstein and Lev Landau: Scientific geniuses as well as anti-capitalists and anti-Stalinists

Dilip