Bharat Bhushan: Who destroyed India's vaccine self-sufficiency? // Top Virologist Shahid Jameel Quits Covid Panel After Criticising Government

On May 8 the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court while hearing a PIL wondered why India, a pioneer in vaccine production before the current pandemic and a big exporter of vaccines, had to rely on just two private domestic manufacturers–Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech–to produce Covid-19 vaccines. It has also baffled… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Who destroyed India's vaccine self-sufficiency? // Top Virologist Shahid Jameel Quits Covid Panel After Criticising Government

Dilip

Chris Hedges – Israel's big lie: This isn't self defense, it's a war crime, aided and abetted by the U.S.

Nearly all the words and phrases used by the Democrats, Republicans and the talking heads on the media to describe the unrest inside Israel and the heaviest Israeli assault against the Palestinians since the 2014 attacks on Gaza, which lasted 51 days and killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, including 551 children, are a lie. Israel, by… Read More Chris Hedges – Israel's big lie: This isn't self defense, it's a war crime, aided and abetted by the U.S.

Dilip

Gujarati Poet Parul Khakkar Blames 'Naked King' for Corpses Floating in the Ganga

NB: Thank you Parulben for reminding us of the humanity and decency of the Indian people. No matter how much abuse and how many threats are hurled at you, remember that you speak and write for all suffering people. We are with you. Charan-sparsh. DS दया धर्म का मूल है पाप मूल अभिमान, तुलसी दया… Read More Gujarati Poet Parul Khakkar Blames 'Naked King' for Corpses Floating in the Ganga

Dilip

Ravi Bhoothalingam: Coronavirus and the Mandate of Heaven (March 13, 2020)

NB: This thoughtful essay appeared a year ago. I planned to post it then, but it seems much more appropriate to be read now. It reads like a prophesy. DS    The Mandate of Heaven is an ancient Chinese philosophical doctrine evolved during the Zhou dynasty in the first millennium BCE, to confer on an… Read More Ravi Bhoothalingam: Coronavirus and the Mandate of Heaven (March 13, 2020)

Dilip

Statement of Solidarity with Hindus for Human Rights, USA, by Academics and Scholars

We stand in solidarity with Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) and deplore efforts to silence an important alternative and inclusive Hindu voice in the diaspora.    We are alarmed by the news that Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), specifically co-founders Sunita Viswanath and Raju Rajagopal, have been sued by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF). They, along… Read More Statement of Solidarity with Hindus for Human Rights, USA, by Academics and Scholars

Dilip

Allah Baksh’s 60th death anniversary: May 14; 2021. By Anil Nauriya

Allah Baksh versus Savarkar    Soon after the assassination of the legendary Allah Baksh on May 14, 1943, a young Sikh in Lahore wrote an elementary biography of the murdered leader. The first part of the title of the book by Jagat Singh Bright was “India’s Nationalist No 1”. Today, 60 years after the killing, India… Read More Allah Baksh’s 60th death anniversary: May 14; 2021. By Anil Nauriya

Dilip

A Call for National Mourning and a Proposal for a National Government. By Anil Nauriya

I would like to highlight a few considerations from a political and Constitutional angle. Perhaps these would strike a chord also with Democratic Socialists of various persuasions. 1.  There needs to be  until the current public health  crisis lasts. This would emphasise in a formal way to all in the Indian state and outside it… Read More A Call for National Mourning and a Proposal for a National Government. By Anil Nauriya

Dilip

Yair Wallach: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal

Judaism, as it developed in antiquity and the middle ages, is a religion shaped by the absence of the Temple – destroyed by the Romans in 70CE. And while Jewish prayers speak about yearning for its reestablishment, the biblical practices associated with the Temple (such as animal sacrifice) are antithetical to the praxis and spirit… Read More Yair Wallach: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal

Dilip

Meredith Tax: Biden is supporting Turkey’s Bounties on Kurdish Leaders / American silence over Israeli land encroachments and attacks on Palestinians

In April 20, the State Department renewed multimillion-dollar bounties on three senior leaders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK): Cemil Bayık, Duran Kalkan, and Murat Karayılan. Bayık and Karayılan are founding members of the PKK and Kalkan is a senior commander. The Kurdish freedom movement sees these men as instrumental in the defeat of ISIS, but to some this… Read More Meredith Tax: Biden is supporting Turkey’s Bounties on Kurdish Leaders / American silence over Israeli land encroachments and attacks on Palestinians

Dilip