It was early evening, and people had gathered at a local pandal in Moe Dar Lay village, in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region, to prepare for a Buddhist novice ordination ceremony the following day. Just as they began to cook, fighter jets appeared in the sky. Then the sound of explosions boomed through the air. “The jets… Read More Myanmar junta increases airstrikes on civilians
Denise A. Herd As the video goes public of Black police officers in Memphis beating Tyre Nichols to death, it is a stark reminder of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. That set up the largest protests in U.S. history and a national reckoning with racism. But beyond any protests, every police killing – indeed,… Read More Pain of police killings ripples outward to traumatize Black people and communities across US
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
There is always music, that deathless hope First posted January 22, 2013 When Barbara sings “Dis” to an absent lover, she is not just asking when he’ll return. She is showing she can get by without him. Alone is not that bad. There are other consolations. There is always music, that deathless hope. The post-war… Read More ‘But children are the same, In Paris or in Goettingen’: the song that made history. Will someone sing for us?
First posted January 29, 2015 Ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam ca // samanyam etat pasubhir naranamdharmo hi tesam adhiko viseso // dharmena hinah pasubhih samanah (Hunger, sleep, fear and sex are common to men and animals / What distinguishes men from animals is the knowledge of right and wrong) (Bhagwadgita; Tr S. Radhakrishnan, 1948, 1971, p 79) For the Hindi version… Read More The Abolition of truth
NB: There are millions of decent peace loving American citizens. But there have been more mass shootings this year, even before January is complete, than in any comparable period; and now this. This kind of behavior makes one realise that the impulse toward cruelty has overtaken American state and civil society. I can only hope… Read More Beaten to death for a traffic violation: the irredeemable brutalisation of America
Israeli forces have killed nine Palestinians in a West Bank raid, officials in the occupied territory said, while the Israeli military said troops traded fire with Islamist militants during a “counter-terrorism operation”. The Palestinian health ministry accused Israeli forces of deliberately firing teargas inside a hospital’s paediatric ward, leaving children choking, a claim denied by… Read More Palestinians say nine killed in Israeli raid on Jenin refugee camp
THE THIN EDGE | The BBC documentary on Narendra Modi Ruchir Joshi The recently broadcast first part of India: The Modi Question, BBC’s documentary on Narendra Modi and the Gujarat killings of 2002, makes for curious viewing. For any Indian engaging with the news since 2002, much of the material is familiar, the ground the film explores… Read More Lingering shadow
Bharat Bhushan The airing of part one of a BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question” has raised political hackles in India. It suggests that the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi was directly responsible for the riots, which left 2,000 people dead, mostly Muslims. It has since been taken down from YouTube and other social media… Read More Gujarat riots documentary: BBC’s motives are less clear
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
After the truth-shower 