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

Professor Ali Khan’s Arrest Raises Critical Questions on Free Speech, Liberty and the state of Indian Law & Justice

“It is preposterous that we have come to such a pass in India that even praising the army, albeit while criticizing those who clamour for war, can now invite such targeted harassment and attempted censorship,” read the letter signed by 1,200 academics. Mekhala Saran It should not matter that Ali Khan Mahmudabad is an empath, a friend… Read More Professor Ali Khan’s Arrest Raises Critical Questions on Free Speech, Liberty and the state of Indian Law & Justice

Dilip

This artist is painstakingly recreating mysterious ancient rock art

academic thought has shifted to see southern African rock art as more often reflecting spiritually and culturally significant images and motifs, according to the British Museum. Some images have been understood to reflect visions seen by shamans when they entered trance-like states to perform communal tasks like healing the sick. “When they painted, they were not just… Read More This artist is painstakingly recreating mysterious ancient rock art

Dilip

The New Icon? Savarkar and the Facts. Purushottam Agrawal & Arun Shourie

In this podcast, Purushottam Agrawal interviews Arun Shourie on his latest book “The New Icon: Savarkar and the Facts?“. Along with the book, they also discuss Savarkar – his ideas, his hatred for Gandhi and what he thought of himself. Prof. Purushottam Agrawal is a writer, historian, political commentator, public intellectual, former member at UPSC… Read More The New Icon? Savarkar and the Facts. Purushottam Agrawal & Arun Shourie

Dilip

Our soldiers won the war for us – but politics and the media have undone their good work

Avay Shukla Going beyond the nit picking about the number of “assets” lost by India and Pakistan, it is now clear that we have inflicted significant losses on the latter. In doing so our defence forces have also demonstrated the technological and air power to enforce the Prime Minister’s stated resolve to extract a heavy… Read More Our soldiers won the war for us – but politics and the media have undone their good work

Dilip

Spinning the Yogi

Vanguard and fringe Mukul Kesavan The zombification of right-wing publicists in contemporary India is a small but significant part of our intellectual history. When the Bharatiya Janata Party’s turn at the top comes to an end and the bruised republic shuffles back to the centre, historians of this political moment will explain why Right-leaning commentators… Read More Spinning the Yogi

Dilip

We are human rights lawyers. Our new report is clear: Israel perpetrates apartheid

We conclude that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, including mass killing, arbitrary detention and torture, meets the legal threshold for the term… Israel has now killed more than 52,000 Palestinians in its attack on Gaza, an estimated 15,000 of whom are children. In 2024, we co-authored a report concluding that Israel’s actions met the international definition of genocide. On Thursday, we issued… Read More We are human rights lawyers. Our new report is clear: Israel perpetrates apartheid

Dilip