The proceedings of the highest court sounded more like the chatter of uncles or an exchange between a headmaster and parents on whether a boy was well-behaved. It was understood that national interest trumps all rights, that a nation at war brooks no dissent, not even a nuanced articulation of the country’s stand… Positing nationalism… Read More The nationalism we forgot
we may very gently suggest that if Mahmudabad used his analytical mind to issue such an incredibly subtle dog whistle that we need three police officers to tell us where the whistle was and who the dogs were, then it was very clearly a really terrible dog whistle. You might as well close the case… Read More Tell me why; and how to read a sentence
Sanam Vakil Nineteen months on from the 7 October Hamas attacks and the war in Gaza, Israel is under a new wave of international pressure and increasingly isolated from its partners and allies. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government recently announced its intention to reoccupy Gaza yet again, and called up Israeli reservists. In tandem, the illegal expansion… Read More International opinion has rounded on Israel, but it’s not enough to force Netanyahu’s hand
“The British people are not taught the dark history of our responsibility for this mess.” Speaking at a mass march in central London on Saturday, Scottish historian William Dalrymple delivered a powerful speech condemning Britain’s historic and ongoing role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. The demonstration, marking the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, drew… Read More William Dalrymple’s speech on how colonialism led to the genocide in Gaza
Ashoka University academic’s arrest shows how rapidly universities, once spaces for debate and discussion, are pushed towards restraint and silences. Deepanshu Mohan Wilhelm von Humboldt, a great liberal reformer and a humanist, once defined the university as “nothing other than the spiritual life of those human beings who are moved by external leisure or internal pressures… Read More Criminalising thought?
The signal sought to be sent to Muslim intellectuals is clear: their right to free expression disappears if they criticise the government. If you are a Muslim, you may have the right to breathe – but even that is not guaranteed. What is certain is that you do not have the right to express your… Read More The Sole Reason Behind Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad’s Arrest Is That He Is a Muslim
“It is preposterous that we have come to such a pass in India that even praising the army, albeit while criticizing those who clamour for war, can now invite such targeted harassment and attempted censorship,” read the letter signed by 1,200 academics. Mekhala Saran It should not matter that Ali Khan Mahmudabad is an empath, a friend… Read More Professor Ali Khan’s Arrest Raises Critical Questions on Free Speech, Liberty and the state of Indian Law & Justice
DOCUMENTS: BOOKS IMAGE & SOUND Editor’s Picks: Books of Note: https://mainstreamweekly.net/article15766.html
Vanguard and fringe Mukul Kesavan The zombification of right-wing publicists in contemporary India is a small but significant part of our intellectual history. When the Bharatiya Janata Party’s turn at the top comes to an end and the bruised republic shuffles back to the centre, historians of this political moment will explain why Right-leaning commentators… Read More Spinning the Yogi
We conclude that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, including mass killing, arbitrary detention and torture, meets the legal threshold for the term… Israel has now killed more than 52,000 Palestinians in its attack on Gaza, an estimated 15,000 of whom are children. In 2024, we co-authored a report concluding that Israel’s actions met the international definition of genocide. On Thursday, we issued… Read More We are human rights lawyers. Our new report is clear: Israel perpetrates apartheid
After the truth-shower 