Madhavan Palat: The Sengol Is a Symbol of ‘Divine Right’ to Power. It Does Not Belong in Parliament. सेन्गोल के रास्ते नेहरू की एंट्री | Sengol debate & Nehru’s return

NB: The RSS and BJP are inventing ever new avatars of communal politics, mixed with a generous dose of an Orwellian nightmare. A theocracy is the use of the state by religious leaders (self-styled representatives of God); and civil religion the use of religion by the state as in Japanese State Shinto. However, Caesaropapism (Caesar+Pope)… Read More Madhavan Palat: The Sengol Is a Symbol of ‘Divine Right’ to Power. It Does Not Belong in Parliament. सेन्गोल के रास्ते नेहरू की एंट्री | Sengol debate & Nehru’s return

28th May 202328th May 2023 Dilip

The Art of Monstrous People

The solution to the monstrous men of art, Claire Dederer argues, is not to smash our idols but to avoid making them idols in the first place. (Note: I have added some remarks on this which can be read at the bottom of this post) BY LAURA MILLER “Can I still listen to David Bowie?” That’s… Read More The Art of Monstrous People

11th May 202311th May 2023 Dilip

Review of Subaltern Studies (2001)

First posted June 23, 2014. Reposted here in memory of Ranajit Guha (23 May 1923 – 23 April 2023). RIP Ranjitda NB: This was written for the International Encyclopaedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences, 2001 edition. I had erroneously dated it in 2002). The review may also be read online here. An Indian school of… Read More Review of Subaltern Studies (2001)

1st May 20231st May 2023 Dilip

Terrifying implications of the Supreme Court’s Staines Judgement

First posted November 19, 2011 NB: I wrote this article in the aftermath of the January 2011 judgement by two Supreme Court judges on the murder of Graham Staines and his two sons in Orissa in 1998. The debate on religious questions is a secondary one. The first major point of my article is this:… Read More Terrifying implications of the Supreme Court’s Staines Judgement

20th April 20236th October 2025 Dilip

The Politics of Time

Dilip Simeon Beginnings and Endings Topology of Violence, by Byung-Chul Han Theodor Adorno – Education After Auschwitz (1966) Treason of the Intellectuals

22nd February 202322nd February 2023 Dilip

The Lady Vanishes

Gandhiji has been killed by his own people for whose redemption he lived. This second crucifixion in the history of the world has been enacted on a Friday – the same day Jesus was done to death one thousand nine hundred and fifteen years ago Father forgive us These lines in white on a black… Read More The Lady Vanishes

29th January 202329th January 2025 Dilip

The Broken Middle

First posted November 01, 2014 The violent events of 1984 signify the breakdown of consensual politics and the ideal of composite Indian nationhood. When communal animosity spreads across society, it corrodes the social conscience and (directly or subliminally) produces a genocidal consensus. In the aftermath of 1984 we also witnessed the decay of a reliable… Read More The Broken Middle

23rd January 20232nd February 2024 Dilip

In Naxalbari, forty-eight years later

First posted November 22, 2015 On November 6, 2015, I visited Naxalbari along with my old comrades, Rabindra Ray (Lalloo), who retired from the Delhi School of Sociology in 2013; and Achintya Barua, (Monju), proprietor of Wild Grass, a tourist resort at the wild life sanctuary in Kaziranga, Assam. Rabindra’s book, The Naxalites and their… Read More In Naxalbari, forty-eight years later

16th December 2022 Dilip

Gandhi’s Assassin. By Dhirendra K Jha

Deeply researched and lucidly written, Gandhi’s Assassin does a good job in its portraiture of Nathuram Godse and in reporting details of the plot to kill MK Gandhi NB: The murder of Gandhiji has been immersed in ideological sophistry ever since 1948. Thousands of Sangh Parivar allies celebrate his assassination on the one hand (especially… Read More Gandhi’s Assassin. By Dhirendra K Jha

10th December 202212th January 2023 Dilip

After the truth-shower

Philosophy, history, literature, current affairs, and other stuff. Posted by Dilip Simeon

Tag: Dilip’s notes and articles