I have now been a journalist for 40 years. The forces ranged against my profession have never been so powerful

Once, I believed that humanity’s problem was an information deficit. Now, I know you can’t speak truth to power if power controls your words.. But perhaps the ground is shifting. Citizen journalism is flowering, through the Bylines network, openDemocracy, Double Down News , Novara, Declassified and DeSmog, and in particular at the local level.  George Monbiot The BBC I joined on my first… Read More I have now been a journalist for 40 years. The forces ranged against my profession have never been so powerful

Mukul Kesavan: Delhi University and the purging of Ramanujan

First posted October 27, 2011 ‘The essay is a marvellous account of the hundreds of ways in which the Ramayana has been told, complete with examples of this narrative diversity. I can’t imagine that the vice-chancellor, a member of that urbane cohort, the Class of ’75, wanted the essay removed because he agreed with the Akhil Bharatiya… Read More Mukul Kesavan: Delhi University and the purging of Ramanujan

Revolutionary upsurge in Nepal; as govt lifts social media ban. 19 killed in protests against corruption. All political parties under attack

Young protesters clash with police after breaking barricades outside the Federal Parliament in Kathmandu, on September 8, 2025. Demonstrators rallied against corruption and the government’s social media shutdown, while security forces responded with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets. Photos: Skanda Gautam/THT Nepal has lifted a ban on social media platforms following mass protests against systemic… Read More Revolutionary upsurge in Nepal; as govt lifts social media ban. 19 killed in protests against corruption. All political parties under attack

To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement 

Dan Shortridge Benjamin Nathans logged on to the Pulitzer Prize live announcement feed in early May just in time to hear his name read as a finalist. A split-second later, he heard his name read again, as the general nonfiction winner of one of the United States’ most prestigious arts-and-letters prizes. “It came as a complete… Read More To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement 

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

Professor Rashid Khalidi Slams ‘Crushing Repression’ at Columbia, Cancels Course to protest Trump Settlement / How Trump and Miller are rewriting US higher education to shut out international students 

The last thing I want to say is this is not just a capitulation to the Trump administration. This was an inside job. There was a fifth column, members of the Board of Trustees, senior members of the faculty of some of the professional schools, and a clutch of donors, who have been beating the… Read More Professor Rashid Khalidi Slams ‘Crushing Repression’ at Columbia, Cancels Course to protest Trump Settlement / How Trump and Miller are rewriting US higher education to shut out international students 

Trump. Epstein. Maxwell. Intelligence. Immunity. A multinational enterprise of leverage and silence

‘Because this isn’t just about Trump. It’s about a transnational, state-backed criminal enterprise that trafficked girls, laundered billions, and rewired democracy for the benefit of the rich, the ruthless, and the politically untouchable. We are all victims of this machine. The girls whose names we know, and the ones we never will. The families silenced.… Read More Trump. Epstein. Maxwell. Intelligence. Immunity. A multinational enterprise of leverage and silence

Seeking Justice for Lynching, Demolitions Not a Crime: Former Civil Servants Group on Mahmudabad / ‘You don’t need him, you need a dictionary,’ SC tells SIT probing professor

The Constitutional Conduct Group, a group of former civil servants, on Wednesday (May 28) released a statement of solidarity with Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad who was arrested over his posts on Operation Sindoor. “We are greatly distressed by the grave criminal charges levelled against Mahmudabad and his subsequent arrest,” the statement said, calling… Read More Seeking Justice for Lynching, Demolitions Not a Crime: Former Civil Servants Group on Mahmudabad / ‘You don’t need him, you need a dictionary,’ SC tells SIT probing professor

After Singer Neha Singh Rathore, FIR Against Dr. Medusa Over Posts on Pahalgam Attack

Both the FIRs, against folk singer Neha Singh Rathore and Dr. Medusa, have been lodged under multiple charges including “endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India” New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh police have registered an FIR against folk singer Neha Singh Rathore under multiple charges including “endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”. Shortly… Read More After Singer Neha Singh Rathore, FIR Against Dr. Medusa Over Posts on Pahalgam Attack