Tag: History

Michael Brenner: Lowering the Throne of America’s Delusion

The Afghan fiasco pales compared to the multi-dimensional tragedy created by the Iraq invasion and occupation. The scorecard: Hundreds of thousands dead, wounded, orphaned The fostering of sectarian blood-letting that institutionalizes the country’s political fragmentation. The massive destruction of economic infrastructure. The welding of ties between Shi’te majority governments in Iraq with Iran’s clerical regime… Read More Michael Brenner: Lowering the Throne of America’s Delusion

Dilip

Juan Cole: Jesus and Mary in Paintings of the Mughal Court

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Here’s a Christmas entry. The Mughal dynasty, originating in what is now Uzbekistan, ruled India from 1526 until the 18th century, though the dynasty continued under British rule until 1857. Some of the members of the royal family were remarkably open-minded about religion, being a Muslim minority in a sea… Read More Juan Cole: Jesus and Mary in Paintings of the Mughal Court

Dilip

Andrew Roth: Rights group’s closure is part of rapid dismantling of Russian civil society

In a terrible year for human rights in Russia, beginning with the imprisonment of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the closure of International Memorial stands out for its ruthlessness. Founded in the late 1980s by Andrei Sakharov and other Soviet-era dissidents, the group took the new freedoms offered under Mikhail Gorbachev and used them to reveal raw… Read More Andrew Roth: Rights group’s closure is part of rapid dismantling of Russian civil society

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रूस ने गुलाग इतिहासकार की सजा और बढ़ाई / Gulag historian, activist Yuri Dmitriyev sentenced to 15 years

रूस के गुलाग शिविरों पर शोध करने वाले इतिहासकार यूरी दमित्रियेव की जेल की सजा को 13 साल से बढ़ा कर 15 साल कर दिया गया है. उनके समर्थकों का कहना है कि उन्हें उनके काम की वजह से सजा दी जा रही है. 65 साल के यूरी दमित्रियेवके समर्थकों का कहना है कि उन्हें इसलिए निशाना बनाया… Read More रूस ने गुलाग इतिहासकार की सजा और बढ़ाई / Gulag historian, activist Yuri Dmitriyev sentenced to 15 years

Dilip

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: tributes paid to ‘a moral giant’ after anti-apartheid hero dies

Desmond Tutu, the cleric and social activist who was a giant of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, has died aged 90.  Desmond Tutu, giant in fight against apartheid South Africa, dies at 90 Desmond Tutu: A life in pictures Desmond Tutu, the first Black archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and who received… Read More Archbishop Desmond Tutu: tributes paid to ‘a moral giant’ after anti-apartheid hero dies

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Former student leader Gabriel Boric to become Chile’s youngest president after beating far-right rival

NB: This is a truly historic moment for the Chilean people; and for all of us who are old enough to recall the terrible history of the 1973 coup. I am very happy the wheel has turned full circle after 50 years. I still recall the horror we all felt at the CIA-instigated Chilean coup of 1973; and… Read More Former student leader Gabriel Boric to become Chile’s youngest president after beating far-right rival

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Memories of 1971

NB: December 1971 is a time I remember vividly. I was in Kolkata and travelled to Purnea in North Bihar to meet my dear comrade Lalloo, (Rabindra Ray). We were then amongst the last remaining comrades from amongst our collegiate group who were still in what was known as ‘the underground’. That story has been… Read More Memories of 1971

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Memorial and the liberating power of history. By Timothy Snyder

NB: Attempts to rewrite history with the use of political power are taking place in India as well. Ironically, the infamous habit has been connected to communist regimes, but is quite clearly popular with anti-communist ones as well. As George Orwell remarked in his dystopian novel 1984: “He who controls the past controls the future;… Read More Memorial and the liberating power of history. By Timothy Snyder

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Book review: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s masterpiece is finally appearing

In the mid-1970s, exiled from the Soviet Union for exposing its vast crimes against humanity, and having won the Nobel Prize in Literature for that endeavor, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) turned his back on the lionization that awaited him in New York and other cultural capitals of the West and instead settled with his family in… Read More Book review: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s masterpiece is finally appearing

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