Fierce anti-government protests in Bangladesh, 39 dead; thousands injured

Incensed crowd facing riot police set BTV building on fire as students demand end to discriminatory job quotas NB: What is needed now is international democratic solidarity, across frontiers, age, language and religion. Solidarity for justice, peace, and renewed communication. Stand up for the embattled students of Bangladesh. In 1971, General Yahya Khan sent tanks… Read More Fierce anti-government protests in Bangladesh, 39 dead; thousands injured

Two die and thousands hurt in crackdown on Bangladesh student protests

The situation was further inflamed by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who referred to the students protesting using the derogatory slur “Razakars”, meaning those who betrayed the nation by collaborating with the enemy, Pakistan, during the war of independence in 1971. “If the grandchildren of freedom fighters don’t receive quota benefits, should the grandchildren of… Read More Two die and thousands hurt in crackdown on Bangladesh student protests

Colonial Reality of India’s Criminal Laws Remains Despite the New Hindi Names

NB: The rendering permanent of an ’emergency’ was the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt’s contribution to the jurisprudence of tyranny. For him, ‘sovereign is he who decides the state of exception‘; and politics was defined in its essence by the ‘friend-enemy distinction‘. I have developed this argument at length in my 2023 essay on the demolition… Read More Colonial Reality of India’s Criminal Laws Remains Despite the New Hindi Names

Indira Jaising on implications of the Modi years. Report on a talk at SOAS

NB: A perceptive talk by one of India’s most experienced constitutional lawyers. I will add that there are certain grievous matters that democratic-minded persons the world over should take note of, viz., the regular deployment of mob violence and political assassination in India (as also the rest of South Asia), which has been ongoing for… Read More Indira Jaising on implications of the Modi years. Report on a talk at SOAS

Entire Mainstream Media Spoke as BJP Spokesperson: Yogendra Yadav

NB: Never a truer word has been spoken about India’s mainstream media under the BJP/RSS government. The question is why? Fear and intimidation and blackmail in some cases, yes; but can everyone be bought or scared? Clearly not, as the independent YouTube channels have persisted in critical reporting. But if powerful corporate owners can force… Read More Entire Mainstream Media Spoke as BJP Spokesperson: Yogendra Yadav

Unsolicited thoughts from an elder citizen

Questions, observations, suggestions. The addressees should be able to recognise themselves अहंकार व्यक्ति के अज्ञान और मूर्खता का परिचायक  है : गीता (३ / २७) The spectacle is the guardian of sleep: Guy Debord Good is self-existent, evil is not. It is like a parasite living in and around good. It will die of itself when… Read More Unsolicited thoughts from an elder citizen

Trump is no outlaw, just a grubby, sad criminal

NB: Sure, that’s what Trump is, a failing mafiosi. Meanwhile Biden has just completed abetting the murder of over 128,000 Palestinians (killed, maimed or missing), which includes over 10,000 murdered children. Many children who are still alive are amputees, (after operations conducted without anaesthesia); traumatised for life, and orphaned. Had a tiny fraction of these… Read More Trump is no outlaw, just a grubby, sad criminal

विचारधारा का संकट

 जनमत कभी विचारधारा विहीन नहीं हो सकता लेकिन हमारे अंदर दार्शनिक साहस न हो तो हम खुद को नष्ट कर लेंगे दिलीप सिमियन This essay first appeared in Outlook magazine on April 11, under the title The Crisis of Ideology क्या हम उस युग में पहुंच चुके हैं जिसमें विचारधारा का अंत हो चुका है?… Read More विचारधारा का संकट