Famed Iranian director sentenced to prison over Cannes Film Festival screening

Famed Iranian director Saeed Roustaee has been sentenced to six months in prison, according to local reports, after presenting his most-recent film at the Cannes International Film Festival last year. Roustaee screened the film “Leila’s Brothers,” a movie about a family in Tehran trying to make ends meet, in competition for the Palme d’Or, the… Read More Famed Iranian director sentenced to prison over Cannes Film Festival screening

Jadavpur University ragging row: A failure to safeguard higher education institutions

Despite official campaigns against the practice, ragging has never been an issue in campus politics. Far less does it figure in the larger political arena, where ideological debates are similarly oblivious to gender discrimination, hate crimes, all generated by the same psychopathology of violence linked to the exercise of power Supriya Chaudhuri On the night… Read More Jadavpur University ragging row: A failure to safeguard higher education institutions

Manipur to Mewat: Empowering the mob, disempowering the State

The shift in nomenclature from Amrit Kaal to Kartavya Kaal has been marked by a complete dereliction of duty by the country’s top political leadership Sushant Singh From Manipur to Mewat, Narendra Modi’s new India doesn’t portray a pretty picture. It is a holy mess. The shift in nomenclature from Amrit Kaal (auspicious period) to… Read More Manipur to Mewat: Empowering the mob, disempowering the State

Judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial

The judge who heard the US’s first constitutional climate trial earlier this year has ruled in favor of a group of young plaintiffs who had accused state officials in Montana of violating their right to a healthy environment. “I’m so speechless right now,” Eva, a plaintiff who was 14 when the suit was filed, said in a statement. “I’m… Read More Judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial

Trump is doomed

By BRIAN KAREM Finally. Donald Trump’s depravities are laid bare for all to see in a court of law. With the latest felony indictments handed down by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury, former president Donald John Trump is accused of leading the “Fulton 19” — a loose assemblage of accused criminals also known as… Read More Trump is doomed

‘Gangster tactic’: the true aim behind Hong Kong’s pursuit of overseas dissidents

Police targeting pro-democracy activists abroad have questioned their family and put out bounties, but there is a broader, more chilling, objective behind the operation Helen Davidson in Taipei In recent weeks, Hong Kong national security police have embarked on a tactic more commonly associated with their counterparts in mainland China. In early July, Hong Kong police announced arrest… Read More ‘Gangster tactic’: the true aim behind Hong Kong’s pursuit of overseas dissidents

David Bergman: As Bangladesh court reaffirms Islam as state religion, secularism hangs on to a contradiction

First posted April 01, 2016 NB: This issue relates to the centuries-old debate about civil religion, a matter dealt with extensively by Ronald Beiner in his excellent book Civil Religion: a Dialogue in the History of Political Philosophy. After 1789, nationalism emerged as an alternative civic religion and patriotism became a political form of prayer. So zealotry… Read More David Bergman: As Bangladesh court reaffirms Islam as state religion, secularism hangs on to a contradiction

Donald Trump indicted in Georgia 2020 election subversion probe

The 13 charges against Trump himself include racketeering, forgery and perjury. NB: Despite my severe misgivings about the American polity, I must acknowledge its deep rooted acceptance of the concept of accountability. No one should be above the law, even Presidents and ex Presidents. It is a concept that has singularly failed to take root… Read More Donald Trump indicted in Georgia 2020 election subversion probe