Leave Truth to the police and us; we know the Good; We build the Perfect City time shall never alter; Our Law shall guard you always like a cirque of mountains… (p 266) But ideas can be true although men die, And we can watch a thousand faces Made active by… Read More Journey To A War by W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood (1939) // W. H. Auden 'In Time of War' (1939)
Press Release: Indians condemn Paris beheadings, deplore outrageous statements by Muslim religious and political leaders Well over a hundred prominent Indians from diverse backgrounds have today issued a statement condemning the Paris beheadings and deploring the outrageous statements by Muslim religious and political leaders. Among other things the statement read: “No God, gods, goddesses, prophets or… Read More Indians condemn Paris beheadings, deplore outrageous statements by Muslim religious and political leaders
Around 1905 or 1906, Sigmund Freud wrote an essay, unpublished in his lifetime, called “Psychopathic Characters on the Stage.” The essay addressed the question of what we, as spectators, get out of watching people go crazy. Freud’s theory was that we’re fascinated by crazy characters because they help us express our own repressed impulses. Drama,… Read More Book review: The Hamlet Doctrine: Knowing Too Much, Doing Nothing
For generations, a parable involving outside intervention has circulated in Guyana, formerly British Guiana, in South America. The story goes that soldiers sent in to suppress the independence movement fixated on homes flying red flags, believing them to be a sign of Communist allegiance. Instead, they were Hindu prayer flags. I’ve encountered this tale in… Read More Gaiutra Bahadur: In 1953, Britain openly removed an elected government, with tragic consequences
NB: Nothing more need be said about the AAP’s democratic credentials than the fact that they wanted to keep Devangana Kalita in jail for an indefinite duration, and that too for such a flimsy reason and on scant evidence. DS… The Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed AAP government’s appeal against the bail granted to Pinjra Tod activist… Read More SC dismisses AAP govt plea against bail to Pinjra Tod activist Devangana Kalita in riots case
First posted April 21, 2020 That Majed stayed as Ahmed Ali in Kolkata for two decades suggests that Indian intelligence agencies probably knew about him and that he may have been under their protection. A good indication of their complicity is the fact that Majed’s presence in Kolkata was not politicised. This is in contrast… Read More Bharat Bhushan: A hanging in Dhaka, courtesy Delhi
First posted March 09, 2017 Mohan K. Tikku The most outstanding figure in 20th century Kashmiri literature has also been the least published poet of his generation. To his many readers and admirers, Dinanath Nadim has been a bit of a paradox. In a literary career extending over half a century, Nadim (1916-89) wrote a… Read More Dinanath Nadim: Kashmir’s forgotten poet
After the truth-shower 