NB: There is another comment on the recent election in the same portal, by Ashutosh, which avers that the RSS will be happy with Mamata’s victory because it wants to Hinduise Indian political culture. This is how he puts it: “Modi and BJP are political entities. Their endgame is winning elections, forming governments. But for… Read More Swati Chaturvedi: It Was BJP Who Made It Mamata vs Modi. Too Far
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 ongoing kisan struggle has… Read More 1938: the year Indian workers fought for themselves
NB: The only caveat I have to make on this incisive comment refers to the (admittedly conditional) phrase: “instances that must haunt any ruler left with an iota of conscience.” Our rulers do not have an iota of conscience. Within days of the latest lockdown, the RSS general secretary was talking about anti-national forces conspiring to… Read More Suhas Palshikar: A monumental failure of governance // ‘There should be no clampdown on information, people can voice grievances on social media’: Supreme Court
NB: It is unusual that we be required to thank judges for doing their duty; the reason is that over the recent past, we have become accustomed to the opposite. Spineless behavior has become the norm, broken only occasionally, as in the release order on Disha Ravi, or the Delhi HC’s order to the Delhi… Read More Election Commission responsible for spreading Covid-19, should probably be booked for murder: Madras HC // Bharat Bhushan on the departing CJI: Good riddance
First posted February 19, 2020 NB: Premen Addy passed away on January 15, 2020, coincidentally exactly a year after the death of my old friend and comrade Rabindra Ray. He was my kaka – my late father E.J. Simeon‘s maternal cousin. His father, Kiron Chandra Addy, was my granduncle, whom my father had nicknamed ‘Mejo’. He was… Read More In Memoriam. Premen Addy PhD; June 26, 1938 – January 15, 2020
First posted March 29, 2021 NB: The authorities of a self-respecting university or college are expected to defend their staff and students. That was the case, anyway, when I was a student over 50 years ago. But Ashoka’s Founders were so infuriated by Professor Mehta’s criticisms of the Modi government that they not only pushed him… Read More Mukul Kesavan: An Ashoka for our time / Navneet Sharma & Prakrati Bhargava: No space for liberal education
NB: A very thoughtful piece by Jawed Naqvi. It would be welcome if the intellectuals who once were supportive of the BJP government and who have now turned critics of this regime, could tell us what they thought of the RSS in 2013 and why. Meanwhile I believe we must rethink our understanding of ‘parties’. We have… Read More Jawed Naqvi: Thank the left for the right
“My public writing in support of a politics that tries to honour constitutional values of freedom and equal respect for all citizens, is perceived to carry risks for the university… It is clear it is time for me to leave Ashoka. A liberal university will need a liberal political and social context to flourish. I… Read More Founders made clear I was political liability for Ashoka University: Pratap Bhanu Mehta
NB: This is some information – kindly sent to me by a friend – on the implications for Indian agriculture and Indian livelihoods, of the governments’ plans. It provides clues as to why critics and opponents are being defamed, intimidated and arrested. This is the altar of ‘muscular’ nationalism and pseudo-patriotism at which our democratic… Read More COLIN TODHUNTER: Farmers’ Protest in India: Price of Failure Will Be immense // Global Corporations' plans for India's agriculture
NB: After the violent events on Republic Day, the central and UP governments have launched a massive drive to arrest farmer leaders and push out the gatherings at the Ghazipur border. Six journalists and a Congress MP have been charged with sedition. The Chief Minister of Delhi has claimed that police are framing people, whilst the… Read More Popular resistance to undeclared Emergency// Ghazipur Border: Rakesh Tikait के लिए यूपी -हरियाणा से रातों रात आ गए किसान
After the truth-shower 