The Union government is nervous because the farmers are the only social group that has dared to take it on Bharat Bhushan The nervousness of the Union government over the farmers’ agitation from Punjab is palpable, as it exerts pressure on X (formerly, Twitter) to take down accounts and posts related to the farmers’ protest. These… Read More Farmer protests could upset BJP’s political calculations in North India
First posted September 17, 2012 “War begins in the mind, with the idea of the enemy” NB: John Mack (1929 – 2004) was an immensely insightful psychiatrist, and this essay is an example of the contemporary relevance of his ideas and his research. A short biography may be read here. DS There is a substantial,… Read More John Mack: The Enemy System
NB: Allahabad was my father’s birthplace and hometown; and that of his two sisters. It was the place where they went to school and college. My father’s closest friendships dated back to his childhood and youth in Allahabad. My grandparent’s home was located on 9, Kamala Nehru Road (once City Road); and I have fond… Read More Allahabad that is Prayagraj: The Politics of Erasure
GAZA casualties live statistics Mr. Secretary, you have provided the weapons and the political cover that enabled the murder of 65 members of my family, mostly women and children, over the past four months. In strikes in mid-November, three generations of my family were killed by missiles as they sought shelter and safety. I carry their… Read More Secretary Blinken, this is the uncomfortable truth about America and Israel
The episode reveals that when a strong executive decides it wants something, even something that is dangerous and unconstitutional, there is little resistance from within to stop it. Many will not know how diabolical the electoral bonds enterprise was, and it is for their benefit that this is being written. Aakar Patel India’s electoral bonds scheme… Read More Modi Government’s Tryst with Electoral Bonds Should Neither Be Forgotten Nor Forgiven
Arwa Mahdawi While liberal feminism (which is also often termed white feminism or corporate feminism or lean-in feminism) did fall out of favour for a bit, it feels like it’s trying very hard to make a comeback. It’s not just Barbie and Stanley cups; it shows up in the way multiple media outlets are currently… Read More ‘Self-empowerment and lots of spending’: our frustrating slide into Stanley cup feminism
Hegel’s World Revolutions; Richard Bourke An absolute will is bound to be an arbitrary one, since it would cease to be absolute if it respected laws and moral imperatives. The mere existence of something other than itself poses a mortal threat to it, and it ends up crushing everything that moves. Hegel sees the revolution… Read More Seeds of What Ought to Be: Hegel’s World Revolutions
Alasdair MacIntyre: An Intellectual Biography by Émile Perreau-Saussine Reviewed by Jonathan Rée Marx’s optimism proved to be ill-founded. The proletariat did not live up to expectations, leaving latter-day Marxists scrambling to find alternative superheroes. Hence, according to MacIntyre, the multitudes of ‘conflicting … political allegiances which now carry Marxist banners’, all expressing a well-founded hatred of capitalism but none offering… Read More Like a Top Hat
Akhtar Balouch; November 4, 2015 Jogendra Nath Mandal has the distinction of representing the Muslim League as minister in the 1946 pre-partition political setup of India. Later, he presided over the historic session of the Constituent Assembly on 11th August 1947, where Mohammed Ali Jinnah was sworn in as the first Governor-General of Pakistan. Jinnah… Read More Jogendra Nath Mandal: Chosen by Jinnah, banished by Pakistan’s bureaucracy
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
