the public is increasingly sceptical about the legal processes and their outcome. The press conference by four supreme court judges about the state of the apex court in 2018, the behaviour of former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi in the sexual harassment case against him, his eager acceptance of a Rajya Sabha nomination, the non-judicial rationalisations… Read More The political impact of Rahul Gandhi’s legal woes
In a revealing interview with The Wire, Meitei MLA Nishikant Singh Sapam, Chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Ethics in the Manipur Legislative Assembly, stated that the conflict primarily revolves around land. It becomes evident that labelling Kukis as ‘terrorists,’ ‘narco-terrorists,’ ‘illegal immigrants,’ or ‘foreigners’ serves no purpose other than undermining their legitimacy, subjecting… Read More Manipur Conflict: Echoes of History & Perils of False Narratives
Bharat Bhushan With an eye on the general elections, the government’s communication policy has diversified from TV and print media to include social media influencers. Individuals with large followings on social media will get government funding to promote the government’s leadership and programmes either directly or through advertisements. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology… Read More Govt employing influencers: Death knell for professional news media?
Bhubaheswar: More than 80 retired civil servants, including at least four ex-IAS officers of Odisha cadre, have sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention to put an end to alleged harassment of voluntary organisations under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The group of 86 former civil servants of the All India and Central Services, which… Read More 86 Ex-Civil Servants Including Former Odisha Cadre IAS Officers Write To Amit Shah; Allege Harassment Of NGOs Under FCRA
Apoorvanand What happened to Professor Tejaswini Desai of Kolhapur can happen to anyone in the teaching community. It tells you of the perils of being a teacher in India of our times. Teachers can no longer assume that the class is over after the stipulated period of 55 or 60 minutes. Whatever transpired in the… Read More Witch-hunt against Tejaswini Desai highlights dangers of being a teacher in India today
How Hedgewar spurned Bose and his own protégé’s call to join the freedom struggle DHIRENDRA K JHA ON 7 JULY 1939, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar was convalescing in the mansion of a rich colleague at Deolali, on the outskirts of Nasik, when an old associate visited him. This was Gopal Mukund Huddar, also known as Balaji. When… Read More The Great Betrayal
the spectacle is the guardian of sleep: Guy Debord Tom Bunyard The Society of the Spectacle was written, as Guy Debord once put it, ‘with the deliberate intention of doing harm to spectacular society.’ Following the book’s publication in 1967, he and the Situationist International (SI) declared that it sought ‘nothing other than to overthrow… Read More History and revolution in Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle
By Nectar Gan, CNN A series of high-profile domestic violence cases in China, including a killing carried out in broad daylight that was captured on video and circulated widely on social media, has sparked outrage – and reignited a debate among young people about the pitfalls of marriage. The killing in the eastern province of Shandong… Read More Shocking cases of domestic violence are leading young Chinese to question marriage
There are claims that the roots of democratic institutions can be found in ancient India. Studies have shown that such institutions have existed not only in India but also in other parts of the world. No one society can claim it was the ‘mother’.… There were two mutually contradictory strains in Western thought about India… Read More Was India the Mother of Democracy?
NB: Is India an empire? The British Raj certainly was, and the RSS/BJP ideologues who constantly denouce the Macaulay tradition in education; don’t seem to mind the continuance of colonial police codes and the divide and rule method of governance. Do they imagine that a combination of communal ideology and colonial policing will keep them… Read More Modi preaching peace abroad as Manipur burns reinforces historical alienation of the North East
After the truth-shower 