First posted October 24, 2011 the shifting space, the stepoutside, away into another lifeon a street next to mine that drew me to itself, you and hera few bricks, some wood, a littlewithered grass, and children, shriekingas they played so save the hours, the days, the monthsthat you dreamt of a new spinein the universe,… Read More Salaam comrade
First posted March 01, 2015 his interview has appeared in Scroll.in. The two parts may be read here and here. The Modi government has issued a special coin to commemorate the 175th birth anniversary of the Tata Group founder, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. In honouring him, what is the message the government is seeking to convey to the people? The… Read More Democracy and workers’ movements – stories from Jamshedpur
First posted May 1, 2021 NB: Today is International Labour Day, May 1, 2021. As a tribute to India’s workers, I post a chapter from my monograph on the history of the labour movement in Jharkhand during the 1930’s. It was titled The Politics of Labour Under Late Colonialism: Workers,Unions, and the State in Chota Nagpur, 1928-1939. The… Read More 1938: the year Indian workers fought for themselves
Opinion by John Avlon NB: As to why this political analyst fails to mention the glaring assaults on global democracy by the USA and UK, is something only he can answer. And as regards the fate of democracy in his own country, supposedly the leader of the ‘free world’, the less said the better. There’s a… Read More The tide is turning against autocracy
NB: A recent article headed The Right is Writing Now, celebrates unsung warriors, and (if the report is correct) criticises the ‘Left’ for ignoring them. It is unfortunate that history has become a battleground and that aristocratic warfare seems to be the sole focus of those historians who choose to identify themselves as ‘Right’. (Judging… Read More P. Sainath: ‘The Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom’
Webinar Link: https://youtu.be/m16ytCnXfBg About the Lecture: Ours is an age of ideology. Ideology is a means of submerging everyday existence into a dream-like waiting room. Ideologically-sustained life is a relentless deferral of presence on behalf of a hoped-for glorious future. Our gaze is prompted backward and forward, the future being the domain wherein the past may be… Read More The Disappearing Present: Reflections on Ideology: Webinar on October 16, 2020
First posted October 03, 2019 NB: This article appeared today in the Deccan Chronicle, as part of a series commemorating Mahatma Gandhi’s 150 birth anniversary. This is an audio-visual recording of a talk with the same title, given on October 4, 2019, under the auspices of the Raza Foundation. DS The Compass Gandhi’s life-work combined a complex of ideals, concepts and practical… Read More The Compass
First posted July 20, 2012 I as a German prefer much more to see India under British Government than under any other…I must not connect the fate of the German people with these so-called ‘oppressed nations’ who are clearly of racial inferiority. Adolf Hitler, Mein KampfNB: I placed these comments on a Facebook site called Lets Speak India,… Read More Hitler’s annihilation of the Romanis
First posted January 17, 2018 NB: Amidst the fanfare of the Israeli Prime Ministerial visit to India, and the warmth being displayed towards him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it may be of interest for Israeli citizens to know the ideological roots of India’s current ruling dispensation. DS Briefly put, it’s simple: their icon, V.… Read More Some information for Israelis (and the rest of us)
First posted Hiroshima Day, August 6, 2014 NB: This article was written for an edited volume on contemporary terrorism, more specifically, terror in the name of Hindutva. I disagree with the habit of approaching terrorism with a prefix, but nevertheless wrote it, in order precisely to make my point more explicitly. It was completed more than… Read More A matter of time
After the truth-shower 