HARTOSH SINGH BAL This is an edited excerpt from a keynote address delivered at Stanford University, on October 10, 2023; while accepting the Shorenstein Journalism Award on behalf of The Caravan. I know that I speak against the backdrop of the horrors unfolding in Israel and Gaza. At such a time, there is little reason to stress the… Read More The Broken Compact
DOCUMENTS: BOOKS: IMAGE & SOUND: Editor’s Picks: (Cover Artwork Credits: Red and Black by Masanari Murai)
Incidentally, there is no IPC section which criminalises ‘insults’ against individuals, regardless of what position they hold or have held. ‘Insulted’ individuals have the right to file a defamation case if they wish but third parties or the police cannot do so. Pune police have filed an FIR (first information report) against journalist Nikhil Wagle… Read More Bharat Ratna to Advani, Free Speech Ban for Critics as Police File FIR Against Journalist Nikhil Wagle
In this weird India, bizarre scenes are witnessed daily. Words of wisdom come from a villager in Haryana. He says what a scholar could have said: “Modi ji, Hinduism continued to survive centuries of foreign rule because religion was not associated with the ruler. If it were associated with a Prime Minister or President or King,… Read More Modi’s Strange India of Celebrations and Superstition
Philippe Buc, Holy War, Martyrdom, and Terror: Christianity, Violence, and the West; 2015 Reviewed by Warren Brown “The medievalist Philippe Buc discerns Christian tropes of holy war and martyrdom in seemingly secular movements with terroristic potential. A brilliant and disturbing interpretation of the religious origins of redemptive violence in the West, this is a book… Read More Christianity, Violence, and the West
NB: Much as I dislike the political tradition which celebrates the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi; I disagree with the habit of taking police action against persons like Dr Shaija. Isn’t hatred for Gandhiji and celebration of his murderer a widespread stance in India? What exactly does the professor mean by “proud of Godse for saving… Read More Calicut professor booked for Facebook post praising Godse. (Withdraw the case)
GAZA casualties live statistics B. Michael One of the most puzzling and saddening spectacles of the past few days is the sight of Jewish protesters at the Kerem Shalom crossing and the Ashdod Port, fighting like lions to ensure we do not fail in our inhumanity. They have joined the experts on evil on the… Read More God Forbid Israelis Show Any Humanity to Innocent Palestinians in Gaza
A centuries-old mosque was razed in south Delhi’s Mehrauli area during an encroachment drive, with the Delhi High Court ordering a status-quo on the land. The Masjid Committee said they were not given prior notice and “treated like criminals” by the authorities. The Delhi High Court directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to maintain the… Read More ‘Treated us like criminals’: Masjid committee after Delhi authority razes mosque
मध्यमार्ग का अवसान : दिलीप सिमियन (Translated by Suman Keshari)The Broken Middle 1984 की हिंसात्मक घटनाओं को मुख्य रूप से सहमति की राजनीति और साझा भारतीय राष्ट्रवाद के आदर्श के विघटन के रूप में देखा जाना चाहिए। जब साम्प्रदायिक शत्रुताएँ समाज में व्यापक रूप से फैलती हैं, तो वे (प्रत्यक्षतः अथवा अवचेतन ढंग से) सामाजिक चेतना को छिजाते… Read More मध्यमार्ग का अवसान: दिलीप सिमियन (EPW, November 2014)
There are moments in history that appear to drive wave after wave of people in a great torrent of catharsis, ecstasy, emotion and an elevated group mood that almost all conventional analysis, historical categories, moral measures and political prognosis seem beside the point. It would be foolish to deny that the pran pratishtha of Ram Lalla… Read More Pratap Bhanu Mehta: What January 22 is, what it isn’t
After the truth-shower 