By Katrin Bennhold He has inspired MAGA culture warriors in America and nationalist populists in Europe. But after 16 years in power, Viktor Orban conceded defeat. The main reason was the abysmal state of the Hungarian economy. Once the darling of foreign investors after the Cold War, Hungary is now one of the poorest countries in… Read More Orban and the populist paradox
NB: Our sympathy for the Iranian people suffering from Israeli-American imperialist attacks cannot blind us to the fact that the ruling establishment of Iran is a brutal theocratic tyranny. DS The health of jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi is critical after she suffered a heart attack last month, supporters said on Wednesday.… Read More Jailed Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi in critical condition, supporters say
NB: Our RSS/BJP rulers, who trumpet their greatness to the whole world, who have given us a VishwaGuru leader; do not want us to hear the last voice of a six year old Palestinian girl, pleading for help, murdered by a genocidal regime to which they have now come to owe allegiance. By so doing,… Read More Filmmakers, Activists, Israelis, Indians Condemn ‘Unlawful’ Ban on ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’
By Gautam Bhatia EQUATOR March 14, 2026 Many years ago, in a Western university that shall remain nameless, I was prescribed an academic article that compared approaches to freedom of expression in the US and Europe. The principle governing constitutional free speech doctrine in the United States, the article grandly proclaimed, was that of “liberty”.… Read More Germany’s erosion of constitutional dignity
NB: India’s current ruling establishment does not even have the courage to say, “we will not let you speak becuase we do not like your ideas.” They resort instead to phrasemongering about ‘technical reasons’. Indian democracy is being strangled before our eyes. DS The Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women’s University in Mumbai has cancelled its 16th Neera… Read More SNDT University cancels lecture by feminist historian Uma Chakravarti
Farmers’ groups and trade unions have called for nationwide protests on March 10, linking the ongoing tensions in West Asia with concerns over India’s economic ties with the United States. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), along with a joint platform of central trade unions (CTUs) and several sectoral federations and associations, announced that demonstrations will… Read More Indian peasants and workers’ unions to hold nationwide protest on March 10 over West Asia conflict
What lakhs of citizens of India are undergoing with SIR is, to borrow from the political theorist Hannah Arendt, “fearsome, word-and-thought-defying.” Suraj Gogoi Sitting at the edge of the Arabian Sea, I, like many others who were gathered on the warm afternoon at the Kozhikode Literature Festival on January 24, 2026, had the good fortune… Read More The Banal Acts of a Nation That Citizens Have Grown to Fear / ‘You are making me an outsider’: Bishop’s College principal questions EC roll revision
By Dilip Simeon Ideology is the most devilish variation of the lie: Hannah Arendt To speak of reaction is to counterpose it with progress. This terminology is not helpful. Stable issues of political life, such as legitimate authority, justice, transparent government, clarity on the means vs ends problem; along with issues of character such as… Read More Domination and chaos: India’s radical conservatism
NB: A much needed reminder: the loudspeakers for Lokpal fell silent after the AAP and BJP came to power in their respective bastions; the AAP’s own internal Lokpal was unceremoniously dismissed; and the party kept a safe distance from all issues of communal strife during the Delhi riots of 2020 (including opposing bail for Muslims… Read More Kejriwal Should Realise the Allure of Jantar Mantar is Misplaced
Leaving this world in an age of lies and cruelty, my last message is simple: don’t give up on truth Carlos Hernández Photo: Alberto Di Lolli Dear reader, for the first time since I became a journalist, I have to tell you I wish you weren’t reading what I’ve written. Because if you’re reading this,… Read More If you are reading this it is because I’m dead: here’s what I want to tell you about how to live
After the truth-shower 