a day after this tragedy, I noticed a serpentine line of students waiting to enter the very college where Samarveer had taught for over 5 years… the college was having its annual cultural festival. The irony of this temporal juxtaposition was presumably lost on the college authorities. Or maybe it is a sign of times… Read More Suicide of a teacher: Chronicle of a Tragedy Foretold
Mortaza Behboudi, an Afghan-French journalist, had been drawn back to Afghanistan, which he had left aged 21, to report on the deteriorating humanitarian conditions and situation for women. “He has a passion to give voice to people who had their voices taken from them, which is why he went back to Afghanistan,” says Aleksandra Mostovaja, Behboudi’s… Read More ‘We can’t remain silent’: journalists refuse to give up despite Taliban terror
पहलवानों-पुलिस की धक्कामुक्की के बाद PC करते हुए रो पड़ीं Vinesh Phogat Shocked and appalled by the boorish behaviour of the Delhi Police towards protesting wrestlers late Wednesday evening, an emotionally distraught star wrestler Vinesh Phogat said they were not criminals and did not deserve such disrespect. “If you want to kill us, then kill… Read More Protesting female wrestlers allege physical assault by Delhi Police
By Olivia Rosane / Common Dreams Workers from Japan to France took to the street on Monday for the largest May Day demonstrations since Covid-19 restrictions pushed people inside three years ago. Marchers expressed frustration with both their nations’ policies—such as French President Emmanuel Macron’s raising of the retirement age in March—and global issues like the rising cost… Read More In Largest May Day Turnout Since Pandemic, Workers Around the World March for Better Conditions
First posted June 28, 2019. Reposted in memory of MayDay The majority of people on this planet labour in the informal economy, or are subject to labour relations that are greatly informalised. According to the International Labour Oganisation, 85.8% of total employment in Africa, 71.4% in Asia and the Pacific, 68.6% in the Arab States… Read More Alessandra Mezzadri: Informal labour, the majority world and the need for inclusive theories and politics
First posted June 23, 2014. Reposted here in memory of Ranajit Guha (23 May 1923 – 23 April 2023). RIP Ranjitda NB: This was written for the International Encyclopaedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences, 2001 edition. I had erroneously dated it in 2002). The review may also be read online here. An Indian school of… Read More Review of Subaltern Studies (2001)
770,000 Indian students went abroad to study in 2022 alone Pulapre Balakrishnan In a recent article (IE, April 12, “The path of excellence”), R Subrahmanyam, a former secretary, higher education, addresses the issue of what is holding back India’s universities. The views of civil servants, publicly expressed, are important, for bureaucrats exert a significant influence… Read More India’s universities are coming apart, political class ignores damage caused by the exit of the ablest from the country
Indian Wrestlers Demand Action Against Sexual Harassment, Raise Concerns Over Safety Of Accusers While pressure is growing on the BJP to take action against its Kaiserganj MP and Wrestling Federation of India president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, over allegations of sexual exploitation and harassment of wrestlers, the party has held out for four months. And, it might not… Read More BJP still in Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s corner despite several knocks
Nationalistic propaganda in Russia has intensified noticeably since the invasion of Ukraine last year, and the country’s 17.7 million schoolchildren have not been spared. Vera Akhalaya That said, it’s impossible for the Kremlin to control every teacher – and some are risking prison and their careers to tell their students about the realities of the… Read More How teachers are resisting the Kremlin’s war propaganda in Russian schools
Harry Belafonte obituary NB: He sang songs of plantation workers in the Caribbean, I remember hearing them through my childhood. What a great man. RIP Harry Belafonte (1927-2023) Harry Belafonte in a recording studio in the late 1950s. Photograph: Pictorial Parade/Getty Images Day O! The Banana boat song Day-o, day-oDaylight come and we want go homeDay,… Read More Harry Belafonte’s staggering musical and screen career
After the truth-shower 