First posted January 24, 2017 The Captive Mind (1953) has been compared to the two most revealing and penetrating works on the same subject previously published – Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon (1940) and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). Milosz was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1980. Read an interview with him in 2003, the year before he died. The… Read More The Captive Mind revisited
Narendra Modi’s communally provocative statements are important in spreading an anti-Muslim animus among the electorate, especially among Dalits whom the BJP fears might vote along with the minorities against the BJP Bharat Bhushan In his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a reporter “the day I do Hindu-Muslim, I will be unworthy of… Read More What is behind Modi’s campaign doublespeak?
The watchdog must reclaim its autonomy and backbone to safeguard democracy’s “soft guardrails”. VAISHNA ROY Newt Gingrich, the Republican politician from the US mostly credited with beginning the right-wing dominance of the House of Representatives, once told his partymen to stop using “Boy Scout words”. “You are fighting a war,” he said. “It is a… Read More The fall of the Election Commission
A few simple but deeply philosophical sentences by one of India’s most outspoken journalists. Ravish stands out, but there are many other courageous reporters, and we must be grateful to them all. Listen to his talk here, it was delivered yesterday. He uses the word talkhi to describe the atmosphere sought to be created and… Read More Ravish Kumar: आपके पास सत्ता है पर ताकत नहीं.. बहुतों को डराया जा सकता है.. उस डर का आप क्या करेंगे जिससे आप खुद डरे हुए हैं..
By Nectar Gan, CNN A Chinese citizen journalist who has been behind bars for four years over her reporting on the initial Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan is due to be released Monday after serving her sentence, according to supporters and a court verdict. Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer, was one of the few independent Chinese journalists reporting in Wuhan… Read More Chinese journalist imprisoned for her Covid reporting due to be released after four years. But will she be free?
What the two laws have in common is desire to silence Israel-Gaza war critics Seth Stern The White House rightly said it was “concerning” when Israel’s parliament laid the groundwork to shut down Al Jazeera within its borders in April. On Sunday, Israel made its move. The Foreign Press Association called it a “dark day for democracy”. If the… Read More Israel is banning Al Jazeera, America is banning TikTok. We know why
Bharat Bhushan The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)‘s preoccupation with grander victories in every election seems to be feeding the worst standards of democratic conduct. Does pressure on Opposition candidates to stand down suggest narcissism, or does it reflect an element of nervousness? Take the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat. It has been a pocket borough… Read More Hunt for grand victories and impact on democratic culture
As the bad news continues to pile up, the Modi regime has decided it is not enough to deny it. The solution: if India is falling in global rankings, it must come up with its own. P. Raman Throughout the buildup to G20, the Narendra Modi regime had repeatedly used the catchphrases ‘mother of democracy’… Read More ‘Vishwaguru’ Is Realising the World Does Not Dance to His Tune
How Climate Change Could End Washington’s Global Dominion BY ALFRED MCCOY Once upon a time in America, we could all argue about whether or not U.S. global power was declining. Now, most observers have little doubt that the end is just a matter of timing and circumstance. Ten years ago, I predicted that, by 2025, it would… Read More What Does It Take to Destroy a World Order? (2019)
Book Launch: Tuesday May 7; 5.30 pm; Jawahar Bhawan; Rajendra Prasad Road Gandhi’s Assassin. By Dhirendra K Jha ‘The Poets of Rapallo’ Review: Ezra Pound’s Fascist Paradise Theodor Adorno’s Minima Moralia is a warning against resurgent fascism Christopher Bollas: The fascist state of mind (1992) Walter Benjamin: Capitalism as Religion (1921) Against homogenisation: Advancing diversity through Democratic Confederalism Ten Theses… Read More गांधी का हत्यारा गोड़से: नाथूराम की ज़िंदगी और उसके सपनों का भारत
After the truth-shower 