Delhi celebrates Pakistani play ‘Kaun Hai Yeh Gustakh’ (2013)

First posted January 19, 2013 Once again art pushed the boundaries of diplomacy, just that much further. Pakistani theatre group Ajoka, who many believed had packed their bags and gone home, performed Saadat Hasan Manto’s Kaun Hai Yeh Gustakh to a packed auditorium on Saturday. At the end of the play, audience and members of the crew broke… Read More Delhi celebrates Pakistani play ‘Kaun Hai Yeh Gustakh’ (2013)

GoI reluctant to declassify ‘sensitive’ 1947 Kashmir papers

Anisha Dutta India may prevent the declassification of papers from 1947 related to Kashmir as it fears the “sensitive” letters could affect foreign relations, according to internal government documents seen by the Guardian. The letters, known as the Bucher papers, are believed to include political and military arguments for why India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, called… Read More GoI reluctant to declassify ‘sensitive’ 1947 Kashmir papers

Mani Shankar Aiyar – Partition: What does the prime minister want us to remember?

NB: ‘Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’ – Big Brother, in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four. DS What is the purpose of remembrance? Revenge? Remorse? Restitution? Reconciliation? Rekindling the dying embers of mindless hate? Reapportioning blame? Remembering? Or, reminding oneself, “never again”? Before asking our prime minister to… Read More Mani Shankar Aiyar – Partition: What does the prime minister want us to remember?