NB: Anyone concerned about the intellectual health of their country should recall what Mao’s regime did to China’s academic life under the so-called Cultural Revolution in the late 1960’s. This was Mao Zedong’s motivated assault on academics, intellectuals and on his critics in the Communist Party leadership. Professor Frank Dikotter’s research study of this momentous… Read More Where Are the ‘Don Quixotes’ of Indian Academia?
GAZA casualties live statistics United Nations Documentation on the Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem Settler Extremists plan to defiantly settle in Gaza Israeli settlers in the illegally occupied territories continue to wreak havoc on the Palestinian residents, stealing their land, demolishing their homes, assaulting them on a daily basis, and stealing their live-stock.… Read More Israeli settler extremists plan to defiantly settle in Gaza
Despite the prevailing climate of hostility and intolerance, a significant segment of Kashmir’s majority population remains committed to standing in solidarity with Kashmiri Pandits. Driven by compassion, justice, and humanity, these individuals acknowledge the injustices and suffering faced by their minority counterparts and seek to be allies in their pursuit of justice, dignity, and peace.… Read More Sanjay Tickoo on the threat to Kashmiri Pandits: An analysis from ground zero
First posted July 17, 2013 A Brief History of the Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan (1984-1993) NB – This history has been prepared by some activist participants, and may be liable to correction, revision and improvement over time. It is presented here after having been placed on Facebook about a year ago as a Note on my… Read More A Brief History of the Sampradayikta Virodhi Andolan; Movement Against Communalism (1984-1993)
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)
After the truth-shower 