Suhas Palshikar: There are many ways India mirrors the Emergency now

Recently, Lal Krishna Advani, one of the leaders imprisoned by Indira Gandhi’s Emergency regime, rang a warning bell. He said we, as a country, are still not Emergency-proof. This could be seen as a strange statement because post-1977, many safeguards have been created in the Constitution to ensure a repeat of 1975 does not happen.… Read More Suhas Palshikar: There are many ways India mirrors the Emergency now

Anil Nauriya: Intolerance through the years, 1934 to 1975 to 2015 / Mahatma Gandhi’s Statement on Bomb Incident June 25, 1934

INTOLERANCE THROUGH THE YEARS: 1934 to 1975 to 2015 By Anil Nauriya Day Against  Intolerance – 25 June 2015 The 25th  and 26th of  June mark  not only the declaration of  the internal  Emergency at the behest of the Indira Gandhi regime   in 1975.  June 25 is also the  day in 1934 when a lethal bomb was… Read More Anil Nauriya: Intolerance through the years, 1934 to 1975 to 2015 / Mahatma Gandhi’s Statement on Bomb Incident June 25, 1934

GoI reluctant to declassify ‘sensitive’ 1947 Kashmir papers

Anisha Dutta India may prevent the declassification of papers from 1947 related to Kashmir as it fears the “sensitive” letters could affect foreign relations, according to internal government documents seen by the Guardian. The letters, known as the Bucher papers, are believed to include political and military arguments for why India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, called… Read More GoI reluctant to declassify ‘sensitive’ 1947 Kashmir papers

‘Notes on the Death of Culture’ by Mario Vargas Llosa

The Nobel laureate argues that we have reached a time in which there is no culture The intellectuals, the supine media, the political class have abandoned substance and discrimination and with treacherous enthusiasm adopted the idea of the image as truth. The liberal revolution of the 1960s, especially the events of 1968 in France, and… Read More ‘Notes on the Death of Culture’ by Mario Vargas Llosa

Seymour Hersh on Witnessing American War Crimes in Vietnam

In a wide-ranging discussion, the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist ponders why other journalists were hesitant to report on the notorious My Lai case. Seymour Hersh’s work has been published in numerous publications, including The New Yorker and The New York Times. He won a Pulitzer for his reporting on the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. His book… Read More Seymour Hersh on Witnessing American War Crimes in Vietnam

Freudian trip: psychoanalyst’s London home recreated in Dublin for major film

Dalya Alberge The north London home of Sigmund Freud is being recreated in Dublin for a major feature film in which Sir Anthony Hopkins, the Oscar-winning actor, will star as the Austrian founder of psychoanalysis. It will include the study, complete with reconstructions of his famous psychoanalytic couch and other possessions. Freud had meticulously arranged… Read More Freudian trip: psychoanalyst’s London home recreated in Dublin for major film

Christopher Bollas: The fascist state of mind (1992)

the core element in the Fascist state of mind (in the individual or the group) is the presence of an ideology that maintains its certainty through the operation of specific mental mechanisms aimed at eliminating all opposition. But the presence of ideology (political, theological, or psychological) is hardly unusual; indeed it is quite ordinary. The… Read More Christopher Bollas: The fascist state of mind (1992)

Wilhelm Reich’s classic essay: Listen, Little Man! (1945)

The author forcefully points out that the price of quiescence is tyranny, war, and a distorted and deprived sexual life, and he exhorts the average man and woman to assume a personal responsibility for themselves and their children. Supplemented in this edition by William Steig’s humurous drawings, Listen Little Man! bears witness to Reich’s unceasing and passionate search for a… Read More Wilhelm Reich’s classic essay: Listen, Little Man! (1945)