Salman Rushdie has again instructed us in a profound lesson: great literature will always be a matter of life and death

NB: Iran’s vicious theocracy has never withdrawn the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. The practice of placing monetary rewards on persons heads, i.e., offering money for death, is repulsive and barbaric, no matter who does it. Contract killings are murder, and to for so-called believers to claim this is done for Almighty God is despicable. God… Read More Salman Rushdie has again instructed us in a profound lesson: great literature will always be a matter of life and death

Salman Rushdie on ventilator after being stabbed onstage at New York state event

Sir Salman Rushdie remains on a ventilator after being attacked onstage at an event in western New York state on Friday morning. Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and torso as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. Rushdie, 75, was… Read More Salman Rushdie on ventilator after being stabbed onstage at New York state event

High Court of Jammu & Kashmir upholds Sanjay Tickoo’s petition for protection of religious places and castigates communal versions of nationalism

First posted October 10, 2013 NB: The operative aspect of this case may be seen in the highlighted part of para 1 (emphasis added). It is well-known that a large number of temples all over the Kashmir Valley have been desecrated and/or abandoned. According to Sanjay Tickoo, President of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti the figure runs into… Read More High Court of Jammu & Kashmir upholds Sanjay Tickoo’s petition for protection of religious places and castigates communal versions of nationalism

Prashant Bhushan: Another ‘Arresting’ Judgment in Favour of BJP and Narendra Modi

The arrest of human rights activist Teesta Setalvad and R.B. Sreekumar, the former additional director general police, by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad on the basis of a first information report (FIR) that copiously draws on the Supreme Court judgment in the Zakia Ehsan Jafri case is patently malafide. The arrest came close on the heels… Read More Prashant Bhushan: Another ‘Arresting’ Judgment in Favour of BJP and Narendra Modi

Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy support free speech; condemn hate speech, death threats / Media coverage of IMSD Statement

NB: To this timely statement I will add just one observation directed at all those groups and individuals who seem to derive their meaning of life via abuse, hatred, machismo and what in north India we call rangdaari. I have commented on this useless controversy here – read it if you can still engage in rational… Read More Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy support free speech; condemn hate speech, death threats / Media coverage of IMSD Statement

Totally illegal, says ex-CJ of Allahabad High Court; bulldozer cases in limbo / Owaisi's questions for Yogi govt

NB: Our honourable senior judges may kindly let us know if they have totally abandoned their constitutional duty to exercise oversight on the actions of the executive. In face of their silence, may we assume that this kind of hooliganism by the Yogi government will be allowed to continue with impunity? Should we also assume… Read More Totally illegal, says ex-CJ of Allahabad High Court; bulldozer cases in limbo / Owaisi's questions for Yogi govt

What the Veneration of Gandhi’s Killer Says About India. By Yasmeen Serhan

Imagine an America in the not-so-distant future. A right-wing populist politician has just been reelected president of the United States, stirring a wave of ethnonationalism not seen since the Trump presidency. Amid the country’s nativist turn, a cult of personality forms around John Wilkes Booth, the actor who fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s… Read More What the Veneration of Gandhi’s Killer Says About India. By Yasmeen Serhan

Express editorial: Troubling questions about law and order in the Kashmir Valley

The killing of yet another Kashmiri Pandit in Budgam district of Kashmir Valley is a disturbing development, and further evidence that the J&K administration has been unable to prevent such targeted killings. Last month, a Kashmiri Pandit was injured when militants shot at him in Kulgam. Before that, another killing shook a small Rajput community… Read More Express editorial: Troubling questions about law and order in the Kashmir Valley