Carceral Imperialism BY MAHA HILAL “To this day I feel humiliation for what was done to me… The time I spent in Abu Ghraib — it ended my life. I’m only half a human now.” That’s what Abu Ghraib survivor Talib al-Majli had to say about the 16 months he spent at that notorious prison in Iraq after being… Read More Torture, Abu Ghraib, and the Legacy of the U.S. War on Iraq
My voting life began in a republic deformed by the Emergency and Mrs Gandhi’s experiments in communalism. Her party’s complicity in the pogrom of Sikhs created precedents that changed the republic forever Mukul Kesavan I’ve lived continuously in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency for the last sixty years. My parents were employed by the government… Read More Election memories
NB: The title of this post is inspired by a lecture on Gandhi’s ideal of resistance to oppression, delivered by my old friend Professor Bhagwan Josh. Please find below some words of advice to student protestors in the context of the global resistance to genocide. They are also relevant to all of us who resist… Read More Stand Up, Say No
NB: I am proud to say I belong to the 1968 generation. 1968 was one of a very few moments of radical utopia in the twentieth century. We protested the imperialist war in Vietnam then; and those of us still alive will protest injustice today. I salute the students in the USA and all over… Read More In 1968, protests forced Columbia University to change graduation. Here’s what happened next
A Delhi court today framed sexual harassment charges against BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a case lodged by women wrestlers, observing there was “sufficient evidence” against him. ********************************** Apoorva Mandhani: Judge Loya’s Confidants Died Mysterious Deaths Constitutional principles go for a toss in the criminal law… Read More ‘Enough material’: Court charges BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in sexual abuse case
First posted August 29, 2013 Robespierre Edited by Colin Haydon and William DoyleReviewed by Hilary Mantell In the two years following the taking of the Bastille, he pursued an impeccably liberal and far-sighted agenda. He spoke for manhood suffrage and against a property qualification for voters; against slavery; in support of civil rights for Jews; against capital punishment; and… Read More Hilary Mantell: Springtime for Robespierre
GAZA casualties, live statistics Odeh Bisharat Sometimes I wonder why we don’t see demonstrations in American against Russians because of Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, or why we don’t see demonstrations against Chinese because of China’s designs on Taiwan. The first thing that comes to me, and this of course is a partial answer, is that… Read More Israel Has Become a Burden to the Jewish People
NB: The Iranian regime is a tyrannical theocracy, which permits no criticism, no deviation from so-called divinely sanctioned modes of behaviour. To punish people with flogging and imprisonment for speaking truth about corruption is itself a criminal act. It should never be forgotten that the regime’s leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa for the execution… Read More Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging
Simon Tisdall The latest twists and turns in negotiations to end the war in Gaza appear labyrinthine and confusing. But it’s really not that complicated. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, must compromise on the outstanding details of the proposed ceasefire deal and Hamas’s weekend counter-offer – and immediately halt Israel’s criminal bombing of Gaza and reckless military incursions… Read More There’s one thing standing in the way of a ceasefire: Netanyahu’s refusal to compromise
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
After the truth-shower 