The Caravan archive: Malegaon Acquittals, NIA’s Decline, and Sangh Parivar Terror Links

Welcome to The Backdrop, a selection of fine narrative journalism from The Caravan to put the news in context. The Independence Day Sale is now live. Last week, a special National Investigation Agency court in Mumbai acquitted Pragya Singh Thakur, a former member of parliament from the Bhartiya Janata Party, and six others in the… Read More The Caravan archive: Malegaon Acquittals, NIA’s Decline, and Sangh Parivar Terror Links

Dilip

Mumbai: St Xavier’s College cancels Stan Swamy lecture after ABVP protests

St Xavier’s College in Mumbai has cancelled its annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture, which was to be held on Saturday, after protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, reported The Free Press Journal. The ABVP is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The lecture, titled “Migration for… Read More Mumbai: St Xavier’s College cancels Stan Swamy lecture after ABVP protests

Dilip

A tribute to Rajmohan Gandhi, the writer with deep insights into India’s past

Rajmohan Gandhi, who just turned 90, edited a brave magazine during the Emergency and fought an election against Rajiv Gandhi Ramachandra Guha Mahatma Gandhi had four sons. He bullied the two oldest children, Harilal and Manilal, and condescended to the third, who was named Ramdas. But by the time his youngest son, Devadas, was born,… Read More A tribute to Rajmohan Gandhi, the writer with deep insights into India’s past

Dilip

Police arrest 474 people at protest over Palestine Action ban in London. Mass civil disobedience is the only way forward

Number of arrests was highest recorded in relation to single operation in past decade, according to police NB: Some advice to the brave protestors: fill the jails. Get the police to arrest thousands more of you. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been murdered with the help of the USA and UK, with its self-proclaimed… Read More Police arrest 474 people at protest over Palestine Action ban in London. Mass civil disobedience is the only way forward

Dilip

My sweet friend Awdah Hathaleen was murdered by a West Bank settler. May his memory be a revolution

A Palestinian activist, he helped his community resist Israel’s attempts to erase it. On Thursday, they buried him. Emily Glick I got the news last Monday afternoon: a text from Ali, a fellow activist, that simply read: “Awdah </3, Allah y’rahmo” – an Arabic blessing for the dead. I pulled over on the highway, jaw… Read More My sweet friend Awdah Hathaleen was murdered by a West Bank settler. May his memory be a revolution

Dilip

When will we finally admit: the Gaza death toll is higher than we’ve been told

How many people have been killed by Israel in Gaza since 7 October 2023? Arwa Mahdawi It’s an almost impossible question to answer but, as the likes of the New York Times publish atrocity-minimizing op-eds that argue Israel hasn’t killed all that many people really – certainly not as many people as it could kill if it wanted to… Read More When will we finally admit: the Gaza death toll is higher than we’ve been told

Dilip

Nehru built institutions. Modi built a brand, and it is cracking

Personality politics will not make up for the Global South’s mistrust of India’s purely self-serving strategic autonomy. Bharat Bhushan United States President Donald Trump’s near-daily targeting of India in his second term has left Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government stunned. His description of the Indian economy as ‘dead’ and accusations that it funds the Russian ‘war machine’ in… Read More Nehru built institutions. Modi built a brand, and it is cracking

Dilip

Duplicate voters, fake addresses: Rahul Gandhi claims fraud in Karnataka rolls

Rahul Gandhi alleged that fake people were being added to voter lists by the ECI in collusion with the BJP and attempted to validate his point by showing the Karnataka electoral rolls. By: Abhishek De In a no-holds-barred attack on the Election Commission (EC), Congress MP Rahul Gandhi alleged that the poll watchdog was colluding with the… Read More Duplicate voters, fake addresses: Rahul Gandhi claims fraud in Karnataka rolls

Dilip

The Satanic Nature of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

NB: Today is the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The USA and Israel are celebrating it with the continuing genocide of the Palestinian people. DS “The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint… But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried,… Read More The Satanic Nature of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Dilip