Bernie Sanders says Big Oil must pay for ‘extraordinary damage it has caused’

Jake Johnson Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday reiterated his call for the Biden Justice Department to take legal action against the fossil fuel industry, arguing that oil companies have violated a range of federal laws in their campaigns to mislead the public about climate change. “Like the tobacco industry before them, the fossil fuel companies’ actions represent… Read More Bernie Sanders says Big Oil must pay for ‘extraordinary damage it has caused’

A brief neocolonial history of the five UN Security Council permanent members

John P. Ruehl One of the underlying principles of the UN Charter is the protection of the sovereign rights of states. Yet since 1945, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Soviet Union/Russia, France, UK, U.S., and China) have consistently used military force to undermine this notion. And while acts of seizing territory… Read More A brief neocolonial history of the five UN Security Council permanent members

Lock Step

The Modi government’s dangerous politicisation of the Indian Army SUSHANT SINGH The scenes were unusual, the response extraordinary. At around 2 pm on 24 June, an army column arrested 12 members of a Meitei separatist group, the Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup, in Itham, a village in Manipur’s Imphal East district. Among them was Moirangthem Tamba,… Read More Lock Step

Fire and Blood

How the BJP is enabling ethnic cleansing in Manipur Greeshma Kuthar “I DIDN’T shut up. I asked them how they can behave like this with another woman,” an 18-year-old Kuki woman told me, recalling her abduction and assault, in which Meira Paibis had played a major part. The Meira Paibis—the name translates to “torch-bearing women”—are a… Read More Fire and Blood

Donald Trump indicted for efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat / Trump’s latest indictment will reverberate for years to come

“The United States of America v. Donald J. Trump” instantly became one of the most consequential documents in American history. Special counsel Jack Smith unveiled his case alleging that former President Donald Trump broke several laws in his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, with a grand jury indictment returned Tuesday that illustrated the depth and breadth of the federal criminal… Read More Donald Trump indicted for efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat / Trump’s latest indictment will reverberate for years to come

Consequences of mishandling Manipur could be grave

Bharat Bhushan Addressing only violence against women, terrible though it was, will not resolve the Manipur conflict. Ignoring the extreme social polarisation and civilian militarisation will have grave consequences both for India and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). So far, the Nagas of Manipur have stayed aloof from the Meitei-Kuki conflict. But they must be… Read More Consequences of mishandling Manipur could be grave

‘We are all implicated in this system’: A philosopher’s advice for surviving unethical times

There are no softballs in Arianne Shahvisi’s “Arguing for a Better World: How Philosophy Can Help Us Fight for Social Justice.” Instead, the Kurdish-British author, ethicist and academic sets up the reader with exactly the sort of provocative questions many of us heard from our most whataboutist friends and family members. “Has ‘political correctness’ gone too far?” she asks in one… Read More ‘We are all implicated in this system’: A philosopher’s advice for surviving unethical times

Tipping point

Mukul Kesavan The violence in Manipur exhibits two symptoms – The impunity with which Meitei mobs have been allowed to loot police armouries and the instrumental use of rape to announce the end of Kuki citizenship Meiteis make up more than half the population of Manipur. They see themselves as Manipur’s defining majority and their claim… Read More Tipping point

MN Roy was to Marxism what Vivekananda was to Hinduism. He separated spirit and form

DENNIS DALTON When Michael Borodin baptized Roy into Marxism in 1919, Roy came from Indian nationalism to the new faith with the zeal commonly found amongst fresh converts. ‘Marxism is a wonderful philosophy, is it not?’ he exclaimed to a fellow comrade in 1923. ‘It has made of history such an exact science. Roy’s first… Read More MN Roy was to Marxism what Vivekananda was to Hinduism. He separated spirit and form