Putin once saw advantage in giving writers a degree of freedom, even to be critical. Those days are long gone, and Russia’s artists are fleeing William Fear As much as Russia is the country of Tolstoy and Rachmaninov, it is also the country of Stalin and the Lubyanka prison – a nation built as much on beauty… Read More As the Ukraine war grinds on, Russia is becoming a cultural wasteland
The contentious issues of eviction of forest villages, Meiteis demanding ST status and the breakdown of talks on autonomy with the Kukis coalesced, creating an explosive situation Bharat Bhushan The volatile situation in Manipur will no doubt be brought under control by the large-scale deployment of the Army and Central paramilitary forces. However, that will… Read More Shielding governance failure will not resolve Manipur’s problems
Since Euromaidan and the first Russian invasion in 2014, Ukrainian filmmakers have been prolifically recording the impact of war on society. The result is an immensely powerful and varied body of work across genres and styles. A survey. Barbara Wurm ‘What power does art have in wartime?’ asks the poster for Iryna Tsilyk’s multiple award-winning… Read More Anthropology of war
Mortaza Behboudi, an Afghan-French journalist, had been drawn back to Afghanistan, which he had left aged 21, to report on the deteriorating humanitarian conditions and situation for women. “He has a passion to give voice to people who had their voices taken from them, which is why he went back to Afghanistan,” says Aleksandra Mostovaja, Behboudi’s… Read More ‘We can’t remain silent’: journalists refuse to give up despite Taliban terror
Nationalistic propaganda in Russia has intensified noticeably since the invasion of Ukraine last year, and the country’s 17.7 million schoolchildren have not been spared. Vera Akhalaya That said, it’s impossible for the Kremlin to control every teacher – and some are risking prison and their careers to tell their students about the realities of the… Read More How teachers are resisting the Kremlin’s war propaganda in Russian schools
A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré; ed. Tim Cornwell by Peter Hitchens John le Carré, whose real name was David Cornwell, was Britain’s greatest novelist of the late twentieth century. He was also a sneaky government nark, who spied on his friends for the state. He sent damaging reports on them to the… Read More The double life of John le Carré
Olivier Bancoult US military personnel live in my birthplace, the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, but I am not allowed to. Since I was four years old, my people, the Chagossians, have lived in impoverished exile, while the US military has been enjoying the fruits of my homeland. The plight of my people has… Read More The US and UK stole our homes. 50 years on, we’re still being denied justice
IF even the Chinese are not safe here in Pakistan, who is? Because of CPEC and Pakistan’s national interest, the Chinese are the most privileged and protected of all foreigners. Multiple layers of police and specially created army units keep them from harm’s way. Also, they are advised to keep a low profile and minimise… Read More Pervez Hoodbhoy on Islamist radicalism in Pakistan
NB: I have argued in a recent article that the rule of law in India (and indeed in all of South Asia) has been replaced by the rule of ideology. Those who celebrate lawlessness in the name of nationalism should bear in mind that this is the first step towards social and political disintegration. But… Read More Mahua Moitra on the killing of Atiq Ahmed: This is mobocracy
Once crime was as solitary as a cry of protest; now it is as universal as science. Yesterday it was put on trial; today it determines the law. Albert Camus; The Rebel (1956) Bharat Bhushan Support for harsh penal policies is often the result of two interconnected phenomena. One, viewing criminals as those outside of… Read More Death by ‘encounter’: Yogi Adityanath’s penal populism
After the truth-shower 