NB: Saleem was a dear personal friend and colleague at Ramjas College, in the University of Delhi. Both of us were also alumni of St Stephens College, albeit separated by a couple of years. He was a gentleman to his core and a brilliant historian. On the rare occasions he spoke in Staff Council meetings,… Read More Goodbye Saleem / सबके मेंटर थे सलीम किदवई
Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan. Working for Reuters since 2010, Siddiqui covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Rohingya refugees crisis, the Hong Kong protests and Nepal earthquakes. Siddiqui was part of… Read More Danish Siddiqui: Remembering India's Pulitzer prize-winning photographer
He was the star of my favourite film, Madhumati (1958). It was the first film shot in the Kumaon hills near our town of Nainital. For a few weeks, all of us in school strained our ears, above the teachers’ unending lessons, to hear the song, Aaja re pardesi, reverberating down in the valley, where… Read More Mrinal Pande: Goodbye Dilip Kumar, creator of our first dreams of love
Poet, folklorist, orator, teacher, legislator, administrator and co-founder of the Dalit movement in Karnataka, Siddalingaiah’s many-layered engagement with the life of the state defies easy characterisation. Indispensable for a historian of contemporary morality in Karnataka, Siddalingaiah’s work is an elaboration of a rich vision of humanism. His debut book of poetry, Holey-Maadigara Haadu (The Song of… Read More Chandan Gowda: The humanism of Siddalingaiah (1954-2021)
It is customary, at times like these, to gloss over the failures and foibles of recently deceased officials: to paint a portrait in broad brush strokes about their achievements and qualities and public service. In the case of the newly departed Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary who led the catastrophic war in Iraq, this would be… Read More Rumsfeld’s much-vaunted ‘courage’ was a smokescreen for lies, crime and death. By Richard Wolffe
Today, 1 July, is the centenary of the police firing in Dharwar during the movement for Non-violent Non-co-operation with the Colonial Government in India 100 years ago. The firing started around 8.20 at night when non-co-operators were picketing market toddy and liquor shops. At least 42 bullets were fired, killing 3 and injuring around 39 persons.… Read More Anil Nauriya: July 1, 2021 is the Centenary of the Dharwar Firing
Pro-democracy activist Chow Hang Tung has been arrested by Hong Kong police on the 32nd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Ms Chow is vice chairwoman of the Hong Kong Alliance which organises : annual vigils for victims of Beijing’s deadly crackdown on democracy protesters. She has been arrested for promoting unauthorised assembly. It comes… Read More Tiananmen: Hong Kong vigil organiser arrested on 32nd anniversary // Louisa Lim: By banning Tiananmen vigils in Hong Kong, China is trying to rewrite history
Colonel Ivo Pinto Lobo (1929-2021), retired of the Bombay Sappers breathed his last this morning May 29, 2021. My mother‘s younger brother, Col Ivo P Lobo, who was in the Bombay Sappers, passed away this morning. He was 92. He was commissioned in the very first batch of the Indian Military Academy in independent India… Read More Lt Colonel Ivo Pinto Lobo (1929-2021). Farewell beloved Uncle
Today, May 27, is Jawaharlal Nehru’s 57th death anniversary. Jawaharlal (1889-1964) was an anti-fascist activist, fighter for India’s freedom, Mahatma Gandhi’s chosen political heir, India’s first & greatest Prime Minister &, above all, a decent human being. I recall being a 14 year-old schoolboy, in Sainik School Kunjpura, on a trek to the Pindari glacier, when… Read More Jawaharlal Nehru's 57th death anniversary / ‘हिंद के जवाहर’ का जाना…
शुक्रवारकोसुंदरलालबहुगुणाकेनिधनकेसाथहिमालयमेंपर्यावरणीयसंघर्षऔरचेतनाकेएकअध्यायकासमापनहोगया. 93 साल के सुंदरलाल कोरोना से पीड़ित थे और पिछली 8 मई को उन्हें ऋषिकेश के एम्स में भरती किया गया था. बहुगुणा को सत्तर के दशक में उत्तराखंड में चले चिपको आंदोलन से जुड़े होने के कारण “चिपको” नेता के नाम से जाना जाता है लेकिन आमजन और पर्यावरण के लिए उनके संघर्ष… Read More Hridayesh Joshi: चिपको आंदोलन से बहुत बड़ा है सुंदरलाल बहुगुणा का संघर्ष / Jagdish Krishnaswamy: Sunderlal Bahuguna had wide political acceptance
After the truth-shower 