Author: Dilip

I'm a scholar, writer and teacher; and my blog is designed for intellectual exploration. It carries no advertisements and requires no cash subscription

Manipur conflict drags ‘messiah of the poor’ Narendra Modi down to earth

Michael Safi During his near-decade in power, as India has convulsed with sectarian riots, mass protests at government policies, or popular rage at heinous crimes, Narendra Modi has hewed closely to playbook: say nothing, and stay above the fray. The Indian prime minister has never taken questions at a press conference in the country, declines interviews with critical… Read More Manipur conflict drags ‘messiah of the poor’ Narendra Modi down to earth

Dilip

Stop funding hate, IIM-Bangalore faculty tell corporates

In an open letter, 11 present and six retired IIMB faculty members said India’s internal security is ‘fragile…with an increasing risk of violent conflicts in the country’. Rashmi Belur A section of current and retired faculty members of the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIMB) have asked corporate leaders to “de-fund the spread of misinformation and… Read More Stop funding hate, IIM-Bangalore faculty tell corporates

Dilip

Death of the heart

Modi is an architect of fractures, that’s the credo with which he has marched since he deciphered, with diabolical clarity, the dividends of Gujarat 2002 Sankarshan Thakur There is a vice greater than the vice of bigotry and its attendant ills. It is the vice of giving it a free pass, the vice of collaboration.… Read More Death of the heart

Dilip

Superflous people: Rahul Pandita’s ‘Our Moon has blood clots’

First posted May 05, 2013 NB: My review of Pandita’s book was posted on May 4, 2013, on the online journal North East Review. DS Superflous people Normal men don’t know that everything is possible: David Rousset, The Other Kingdom Rahul Pandita, Our Moon has Blood Clots: The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits Random House India, Noida, 2013 Introduction… Read More Superflous people: Rahul Pandita’s ‘Our Moon has blood clots’

Dilip

IAS, IPS and IFoS: Is India stifling criticism by retired bureaucrats?

The Indian government has brought in new rules that allow it to cancel pensions of retired bureaucrats who have served as high-ranking officers in some of the most coveted government jobs… Julio Ribeiro, a retired police officer said the new rules send the message that an officer should “not speak up and be pliant”. “They… Read More IAS, IPS and IFoS: Is India stifling criticism by retired bureaucrats?

Dilip

Perpetual wars and the ‘greatest fighting force in human history’

William Astore I still remember how, soon after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush boasted that this country had “the greatest force for human liberation the world has ever known.” I also remember how, in a pep talk given to U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2010, President Barack Obama declared them “the finest fighting force that the world has… Read More Perpetual wars and the ‘greatest fighting force in human history’

Dilip