China’s recent economic woes suggest there is something seriously amiss

Underlying longer-term weaknesses in the economy are bound up with Beijing’s repressive political system George Magnus At a Politburo meeting last month, China’s leaders referred to the economic recovery this year as “torturous”. You won’t often hear such candour coming from a Chinese Communist party institution, let alone such an elevated body. They were referring… Read More China’s recent economic woes suggest there is something seriously amiss

University Of Kashmir Removes Works Of Agha Shahid Ali, Basharat Peer From MA English And BA Courses

Professor Neerja Mattoo writes: “Though Shahid was not based in Kashmir after he left to do his Masters in English from Delhi University, Kashmir stayed close to his heart. His regular visits to the land of his birth kept him in touch with his friends and the developments here. The events of the nineties, the… Read More University Of Kashmir Removes Works Of Agha Shahid Ali, Basharat Peer From MA English And BA Courses

No peace without freedom, no justice without law

The following transcript was provided by Documenting Ukraine, Institute for Human Sciences (IWM). The Speech to Europe is an annual event jointly organized by the IWM, the ERSTE Foundation, and Wiener Festwochen in cooperation with the Jewish Museum Vienna. On Europe Day, Oleksandra Matviichuk, Ukrainian human rights defender and director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Center for Civil Liberties,… Read More No peace without freedom, no justice without law

PM Modi speaks in the Lok Sabha / Rahul Gandhi on PM Modi: दिल्ली दरबार में डर.. रूकने को तैयार नहीं राहुल !

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke for 2 hours and 13 minutes in reply to the no-confidence motion that was defeated with the Opposition walking out. Modi spoke on Manipur for around 5 minutes and 30 seconds… The ‘record-breaking’ blah-sphemy: PM Modi speaks for 2 hours and 13 minutes in the Lok Sabha Some Right-wing social… Read More PM Modi speaks in the Lok Sabha / Rahul Gandhi on PM Modi: दिल्ली दरबार में डर.. रूकने को तैयार नहीं राहुल !

West Bank crisis: How Israel occupied itself

Juan Coleand / TomDispatch On July 24th, the Israeli Knesset passed a measure forbidding the country’s High Court of Justice from in any way checking the power of the government, whether in making cabinet decisions or appointments, based on what’s known as the “reasonability” standard. In the Israeli context, this was an extreme act, since right-wing parliamentarians… Read More West Bank crisis: How Israel occupied itself

Manipur conflict drags ‘messiah of the poor’ Narendra Modi down to earth

Michael Safi During his near-decade in power, as India has convulsed with sectarian riots, mass protests at government policies, or popular rage at heinous crimes, Narendra Modi has hewed closely to playbook: say nothing, and stay above the fray. The Indian prime minister has never taken questions at a press conference in the country, declines interviews with critical… Read More Manipur conflict drags ‘messiah of the poor’ Narendra Modi down to earth

Death of the heart

Modi is an architect of fractures, that’s the credo with which he has marched since he deciphered, with diabolical clarity, the dividends of Gujarat 2002 Sankarshan Thakur There is a vice greater than the vice of bigotry and its attendant ills. It is the vice of giving it a free pass, the vice of collaboration.… Read More Death of the heart

Superflous people: Rahul Pandita’s ‘Our Moon has blood clots’

First posted May 05, 2013 NB: My review of Pandita’s book was posted on May 4, 2013, on the online journal North East Review. DS Superflous people Normal men don’t know that everything is possible: David Rousset, The Other Kingdom Rahul Pandita, Our Moon has Blood Clots: The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits Random House India, Noida, 2013 Introduction… Read More Superflous people: Rahul Pandita’s ‘Our Moon has blood clots’

Files reveal Nixon’s role in plot to block Allende from Chilean presidency

John Bartlett in Santiago Days before Salvador Allende’s confirmation as Chile’s president in 1970, US President Richard Nixon met with a rightwing Chilean media mogul to discuss blocking the socialist leader’s path to the presidency, newly declassified documents have revealed. The documents, published in a new Spanish edition of the Pinochet files by archivist and writer Peter Kornbluh, include… Read More Files reveal Nixon’s role in plot to block Allende from Chilean presidency

Is Nuh demolition targeting a particular community? Punjab and Haryana HC

QUESTIONING THE demolition drive in Nuh following communal violence last week, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Monday asked whether properties of a “particular community” were targeted “under the guise of a law and order problem”, and an “exercise of ethnic cleansing” was being conducted. Pointing to reports that demolition orders and notices were not… Read More Is Nuh demolition targeting a particular community? Punjab and Haryana HC