The outcry in Bareilly last month over students singing an Iqbal poem reminds us that we live in a hyper-nationalist time, where leaders glorify territorial nationalism beyond measure and deliberately concoct insidious ancillaries anchored in religion, language, race or colour. As I read about the furore in Bareilly over Iqbal’s poem “Bachche ki Du’a” (“A… Read More A child’s prayer. By C. M. Naim
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett A baby looking at a Christmas tree in a shopping mall in Shanghai, China, 25 December 2020. Photograph: Alex Plavevski/EPA This mad, chaotic singular year, I have felt the meaning of Christmas more than perhaps any other. I am the very essence of joy to the world, peace on earth, good tidings etc,… Read More I’ve always felt a tug of sadness at Christmas – until this year
NB It is evident that the Taliban’s version of orthodox Islam treats women as second class beings, as children of a lesser God. All believers ought to either renounce these beliefs as inhuman, or hang their heads in shame. DS Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women,… Read More Taliban ban Afghan women from university education
Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem Late on Sunday night, like almost every other night in Jenin, the fighting started. The Israeli army said it entered the occupied West Bank city to arrest three suspected Palestinian terrorists and militants responded by throwing firebombs and opening fire. According to two members of her family, 16-year-old Jana Zakaran ventured up… Read More Fears of full-blown Israeli-Palestinian conflict grow after bloodiest year since 2005
First posted September 23, 2019 NB: Thank you Ayush. You are a brave and conscientious boy. Many of us are proud of you – DS Ye kisne kahaa aapse aandhi ke saath hun // Main Godse ke daur me Gandhi ke saath hun If the Danish child who swam against the adult tide to speak the truth about… Read More Ayush Chaturvedi: Main Gandhi ke saath hun / Samar Halarnkar: A search for Hindus who will stand with Gandhi
Helena Smith in Athens Thousands of people have joined protests in Athens, Thessaloniki and other Greek cities to commemorate the fatal police shooting of a teenager, hours after violence erupted over a similar incident in the north of the country. Police estimated more than 11,000 protesters had joined protests on Tuesday amid fears of renewed clashes as… Read More Thousands take to streets in Greece in protest over 2008 shooting of teenager
First posted January 23, 2012 Irena Sendler (1910-2008) was a Polish Catholic social worker who served in the Polish Underground and the Żegota resistance organization in German-occupied Warsaw during World War II. Assisted by some two dozen other Żegota members, Sendler saved 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, providing them… Read More Remember this lady. In memory of Irena Sendler
First posted December 22, 2015 Patrick Kingsley On Tuesday, the number of asylum seekers to reach Europe this year passed 1 million. Nearly half of them did so via the beaches of this Greek island As an institution, the Greek Orthodox church is often considered a bastion of nationalism and conservatism. Some of its priests have… Read More Lesbos is swept by wave of compassion as refugees continue to arrive by sea / ‘Love has no religion’ – priests and pastors reach out to refugees
First posted November 10, 2019 Belle Puri A pot of fresh borscht simmers on the stove. The aroma fills Karolina Rybka’s two-bedroom apartment in Kelowna, B.C. The walls are adorned with frames full of colourful needlepoint the great-grandmother did herself. Everywhere there’s something to see — arrangements of dried flowers, knick-knacks and endless family photographs. Karolina Kucharski Rybka lived in Balachadi, a… Read More ‘He saved our lives’: Canadian woman among a thousand Polish children adopted by Indian maharaja during World War 2
Akhtar Balouch Published March 23, 2015 First posted May 29, 2015 NB – This is a beautiful and moving story. It provides yet another example of human goodness, and reminds us how quick we are to pass it by, to overlook it, because we are so accustomed to negativity, denunciation and animosity. Beneath it (in the original) are scores… Read More Daya Ram Gidumal of Sindh: A silent servant, a silent sufferer. A good man
After the truth-shower 