Delhi Police Archive on RSS activity in October-December 1947

The documents contained in the link below are a replica of Delhi Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) files on RSS activity and plans October-December 1947. They are part of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library archive; and listed as (click for access): D P Records 5th Instalment Home-47 File 138 Among other places, the files have been cited… Read More Delhi Police Archive on RSS activity in October-December 1947

Infirm Logic: How the SIT report gave the Modi government a free pass on the 2002 violence

HARTOSH SINGH BAL IN JUNE THIS YEAR, the Supreme Court dismissed charges of criminal conspiracy against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others in relation to the 2002 Gujarat violence. Immediately after the judgment, the Gujarat police arrested the activist Teesta Setalvad and RB Sreekumar, a former director general of the state police. Along with the former… Read More Infirm Logic: How the SIT report gave the Modi government a free pass on the 2002 violence

Standing Still

The absence of justice for the Maliana massacre is a blot on our democracy PRABHJIT SINGH It has been thirty-five years since 72 Muslims were brutally killed in the small town of Maliana, in Uttar Pradesh, during communal violence in Meerut district. Their families still await even the first glimmer of justice. The Maliana case,… Read More Standing Still

Venue for a Speech on Tamas: A Chronicle of an Event That Should Never Have Happened

First posted December 5, 2011 By Dilip Simeon; published in Bruised Memories: Communal Violence and the Writer, by Tarun Saint (ed), Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2002 Early in the year of grace 1988 certain (dis)reputable members of the academic community in the University of Delhi organized a public address on an unspeakable subject by a reluctant speaker in an… Read More Venue for a Speech on Tamas: A Chronicle of an Event That Should Never Have Happened

Communist Party of India’s resolution on Pakistan and National Unity, September 1942

Pakistan and National Unity is an important position paper of the Communist Party of India, and a far-reaching text in the history of the Indian communist movement. The resolution dated September 19, 1942 contains an outline of the CPI’s support for what it called the ‘just essence of the Pakistan demand’; and the Report by Gangadhar… Read More Communist Party of India’s resolution on Pakistan and National Unity, September 1942

‘Is this how justice ends?’: Bilkis Bano’s question should haunt the Indian republic

NB: It should and will haunt some, but not the bulk of us. Rampaging across the media are battalions of ideologically infuriated fanatics who will indulge in shameless whataboutery and yet once more, abuse Gandhi, Nehru, liberals, communists, anti-national elements, etc. The Sangh Parivar and its allies are never at fault for anything at all,… Read More ‘Is this how justice ends?’: Bilkis Bano’s question should haunt the Indian republic

Bilkis Bano speaks: ‘Trusted highest courts, faith shaken, give back right to live without fear’

“Undo the harm” and “give me back my right to live without fear and in peace”. Breaking her silence for the first time after the release on remission of the 11 convicts who were convicted of gangraping her and killing 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, Bilkis Bano said on Wednesday that she was… Read More Bilkis Bano speaks: ‘Trusted highest courts, faith shaken, give back right to live without fear’

It is time for Punjabis to atone for the sins of 1947

no one speaks, really, of their own crimes. Seventy-five years on, the ruling political elites of all communities – Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims – and the governments of both nations show a complete unwillingness to acknowledge their own misdeeds.. NB: I salute Amarjit Chandan for fearlessly upholding truth and humanity. Thank you Amarjit sb. Dilip AMARJIT… Read More It is time for Punjabis to atone for the sins of 1947

Bloodied pen

Mukul Kesavan on Salman Rushdie and the violence on free thought NB: In case we forget what’s happened in India between 2013 and 2017: Four Indian intellectuals who were murdered for their ideas (2013-2017) In the decades since Khomeini’s fatwa overset Salman Rushdie’s life, his critics have sometimes suggested that he isn’t really a free speech icon because… Read More Bloodied pen