All posts by Aditya Nigam

authoritarianism, Democracy, Education, Movements

Open Letter From Concerned Citizens to Police and Security Forces at Jantar Mantar

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Published below is an open letter to the police and security forces who were at the Jantar Mantar on Jul 20, 2026 and brutally attacked protesters, has been written in 16 languages by over 1800 concerned citizens across the country including students, teachers, parents of students, artists, social workers, homemakers, doctors, engineers, lawyers, software professionals, activists, traders, journalists and others. The signatories include Ratna Pathak Shah, Naseeruddin Shah, Kavitha Lankesh, Shabnam Hashmi, Vanita Mukherjee, Radha Kumar, Aditya Nigam, Jayati Ghosh, J Devika, Anuradha Kapoor, Devashish Makhija, Mohan Rao, Keval Arora, Meera Sanghamitra, Flavia Agnes, Sudha Bharadwaj, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Nisha Abdulla, Sumantra Ghosal, Nimi Ravindran, Cynthia Stephen, Sudha N, Kirtana Kumar, Devashish Makhija, Anita Cheria, Laxmi Murthy, Nisha Gulur, Bela Bhatia, Pankaj Rishi Kumar, Madhu Bhushan, Irawati Karnik, Arundhati Ghosh and so many others across various professions. The signatories condemn the police for violently attacking the peaceful student protesters urging them to recognize that the demand of the protesters seeking fair and corruption-free education impacts the lives of the children of the police as well. It calls on the police to refuse unethical orders, citing historical and global examples of security forces who chose conscience over command. Finally, it appeals to the officers’ humanity and shared struggles, asking them to protect citizens’ rights rather than serve as tools of state repression.

Open Letter from Concerned Citizens to the Police and Security Forces at Jantar Mantar, Delhi on July 20, 2026

Letters should start with a ‘dear’. But how can we write that for you after having witnessed the videos of your brutal attack on the student protesters at Jantar Mantar? As we watched the bones shatter, the skin rupture, the blood ooze and bodies fall we wondered whether you, holding up those lathis and bringing them down on the young people with such ferocity, were in your senses. Because if you were, how could you not see the faces of your own brothers, sisters, and children among the thousands who had gathered from across the length and breadth of this country at its capital seeking justice, demanding an education free of corruption and a future free of uncertainties! Video after video showed us how right next to you men in plain clothes wielded state sanctioned lathis, threw stones and beat up protesters till children as young as ten or eleven were screaming in pain. And you who have taken oaths to protect this country’s citizens went on a rampage on peaceful demonstrators shattering both your promise and our trust. Continue reading Open Letter From Concerned Citizens to Police and Security Forces at Jantar Mantar →

authoritarianism, Democracy, Development, Ecology/Environment, Movements

Condemn the Displacement of the people of Ken-Betwa Interlinking: CDNP

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We are publishing below a statement by the Campaign to Defend Nature and People (CDNP) condemning the attacks on the adivasis right to life and demanding cancellation of the project which will only benefit the political-contractor lobby. It also demands that the government compensate the people, and implement decentralized alternatives to make Bundelkhand water-secure, and also protect nature and livelihoods  – AN

Ken-Betwa Chita andolan, image courtesy India Today

As the Chita Andolan [funeral-pure movement] of people protesting against their displacement by the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project enters its 12th day, Campaign to Defend Nature and People (CDNP) expresses its solidarity with them. We condemn the interlinked illegalities and injustices that the Ken-Betwa project has become. This is evident in the clearance given to a project that is devoid of rationale, through a deeply flawed process, and its implementation through illegal coercive displacement. Continue reading Condemn the Displacement of the people of Ken-Betwa Interlinking: CDNP →

authoritarianism, Democracy, Movements, Right watch, Scams

Civil Society Appeal to Sonam Wangchuk and Others on Hunger Strike at Cockroach Janata Party Protest

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We are publishing below the Appeal by over 1821 artistes, writers, academics, social activists and other concerned citizens, to all friends sitting on Hunger Strike at the Cockroach Janata Party protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi for the last 17 days to withdraw their hunger strike. The signatories have appealed to Sonam Wangchuk and all the student hunger strikers to withdraw, recognizing that this is a heartless government that does not have a conscience. They have underlined their support to the demand of the protesters for the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, urging them to recognize that this is a longer fight and given this government’s intransigence, the need to is preserve their strength for future struggles. Please scroll down for the full list of signatories.

Dear Friends who are sitting in Hunger Strike at the Jantar Mantar, Delhi, demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Cabinet Minister for Education in the Government of India,

We, the undersigned citizens of this country, fully support your demand and are immensely grateful to you for being our voices of protest, fighting this battle against a fascist government from the frontlines. We salute your sense of purpose, the determination, and courage with which you are spearheading this movement for students and youth across the country. But we are also very concerned for your health and well-being and the impact that this indefinite hunger strike can have on all of you.

We make this appeal because we all know that this government does not have a heart or a conscience. We have seen time again how they have behaved in the most inhuman and dastardly manner with protesters be they the women wrestlers, the farmers, Father Stan Swamy, wrongly jailed who requested for a straw to drink water, or GD Agarwal the IIT Professor and environmentalist who died in Rishikesh following a hunger strike to clean the Ganga and ban hydroelectric projects. We worry that their negligence in responding to your demands will only further worsen the already fragile state of health that many of you are in.

We request you to please consider ending this hunger strike immediately in the interests of the longer and more difficult struggle ahead. This battle is a marathon not a sprint and we need you, your strength and leadership in the days to come. We are also requesting all those in Delhi to join the Cockroach Janata Party’s March to the Parliament on July 20, 2026. We hope you will understand that our appeal to you is a testament of both our unconditional love and deep respect for each one of you and what you stand for. Zindabad to your spirit.

With love,
Concerned Citizens

Anuradha Chenoy, Academic, Delhi
Jayati Ghosh, Academic, Delhi
Tanika Sarkar, Academic, Delhi
Arundhati Roy, Writer, Delhi
Nivedita Menon, Academic, Delhi
Sanjay Kak, Filmmaker, Delhi
Lalita Ramdas, Peace and Human Rights Activist, Hyderabad
Kavita Srivastava, President PUCL, Rajasthan
Madhu Bhushan, Feminist, Bangalore
Jean Dreze, Economist, Ranchi
Ratna Pathak Shah, Actor, Mumbai
Naseeruddin Shah, Performing Artist, Mumbai
Aditya Nigam, Scholar, Delhi
Arundhati Ghosh, Cultural Practitioner, Bangalore Continue reading Civil Society Appeal to Sonam Wangchuk and Others on Hunger Strike at Cockroach Janata Party Protest →

Capitalism, Debates, Ecology/Environment, Left watch

Beyond Growth and Ruin – Socialist Experience, Environmental Breakdown and Ecosocialism: Atri Bhattacharya

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Guest post by ATRI BHATTACHARYA

[Given Kafila’s deep interest in the question of climate change, environmental crisis and the explorations of possible pathways out of it,  we publish this piece by Atri Bhattacharya who  attempts a synthesis of different kinds of thinking emerging on the Left, globally today, which point towards different kinds of postcapitalist imaginations.]

The contemporary environmental crisis presents what appears to be an existential paradox: how can human societies organize production, consumption, and habitation without systematically destroying the ecological systems that sustain them? The four texts under examination—Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro’s analysis of socialist states and ecosocialism, Amy Zhang’s ethnographic study of waste politics in Guangzhou, Sam Mickey’s philosophical meditation on whole earth thinking, and Mathew Lawrence with Laurie Laybourn-Langton’s ecosocialist manifesto—offer divergent yet potentially complementary responses to this question. Taken together, they reveal that the relationship between political economy and ecological degradation is neither simple nor uniform. While Engel-Di Mauro argues that socialist states demonstrated environmental records superior to their capitalist counterparts (Engel-Di Mauro 2021, 126-127), Zhang’s meticulous fieldwork exposes how Chinese state-socialism has produced what she terms “sustainability by dispossession” (Zhang 2024, 65). Mickey, approaching from a different trajectory altogether, suggests that ecological wisdom requires transcending the very categories of state and capital through what he calls “anthropocosmic” consciousness (Mickey 2015, 83-95). Lawrence and Laybourn-Langton, meanwhile, offer a practical political program—ecosocialism—that seeks to dismantle capitalist power while building democratic, planetary alternatives (Lawrence and Laybourn-Langton 2021, 80-102). Continue reading Beyond Growth and Ruin – Socialist Experience, Environmental Breakdown and Ecosocialism: Atri Bhattacharya →

authoritarianism, Culture, Debates, Democracy, Right watch

Citizens for Democracy Writes Open Letter to CJI Protesting “Cockroach” Remarks

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We are publishing below the Open Letter to the Chief Justice of India, written by Citizens for Democracy

Hon’ble Chief Justice of India
New Delhi.

Esteemed Sir,

Citizens for Democracy (CFD) strongly protests your comment equating environmentalists, RTI activists and others with cockroaches and parasites

While hearing a petition filed by a lawyer seeking designation as a senior advocate, you said in the court on May 15, 2026, “There are already parasites of society who attack the system, and you want to join hands with them?… There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment or have any place in profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists, and they start attacking everyone.”

Your comment generated heat and anger among the activists following which you tried to clarify your position the next day: “I am pained to read how a section of the media has misquoted my oral observations made during the hearing of a frivolous case yesterday. What I had specifically criticised were those who have entered professions like the Bar (legal profession) with the aid of fake and bogus degrees. Similar persons have sneaked into the media, social media, and other noble professions as well, and hence, they are like parasites. It is totally baseless to suggest that I criticised the youth of our nation. Not only am I proud of our present and future human resource, but every youth of India inspires me. It is not an exaggeration to say that Indian youth have great regard and respect for me, and I too see them as the pillars of a developed India.”

This is a lame explanation as your comment does target activists who you have presumed that if they are young, and have become activists they must have failed to get “any employment”. In short, using a context of a lawyer seeking the designation as ‘senior lawyer’ you tried to cast aspersions on all those who speak for the ordinary citizens of the country.  We wonder, if you, from the chair of a judge would accept such an explanation. It would have been proper for you to withdraw your uncharitable remarks and apologize for your inadvertence.  What was the judicial rationale behind your comment? Continue reading Citizens for Democracy Writes Open Letter to CJI Protesting “Cockroach” Remarks →

Countryside, Culture, Ecology/Environment, Everyday Life

Wastelands of Rajasthan: Aman Dedhia

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Guest post by AMAN DEDHIA

It has been a while since my time in Rajasthan. It took a while to collate and make sense of everything I saw, understood and documented during my time there. I have tried to write down the major parts of it in this not-so-short document. To set some context, in the two weeks I was there, I met the people from the Oran padh yatra, people from KRAPAVIS and other organisations and, most importantly, stayed in a few villages in Jaisalmer where the people were kind enough to show me around. What started with an urge to understand orans, conservation and their problems with solar projects, took me on a journey that at its core was about understanding wastelands and autonomy.

Nilgais grazing

Orans

I’d like to begin by shedding some more light on what orans (also known as deobani or rundhs) are, since they’ve been at the centre in the attempts to protect the region. Orans are sacred groves that belong to the temples of the villages and are protected ecosystems spread out across Rajasthan in every village you go. They’re basically community conserved desert forests holding a significant religious value. I came across herds of neelgai, peacocks, gazelles, huge herds of cows and goats, all grazing in these orans. They are protected in the sense, they are not used for agriculture and are mostly community conserved, being used as grazing grounds and for non-timber forest products. That is not to say that there are no encroachments on these lands. Many villagers have encroached on the boundaries of these orans for farming, borewells, shops and other establishments. A lot of people, especially in western Rajasthan do depend on these orans for livelihood. Regions that are mostly dry and on the fringes, which is a huge part of Jaisalmer, only have seasonal farmlands, if any, dependent on the short monsoon rains. A decent amount of people here are primarily dependent on pastoralism. Orans are a major part of the grazing lands supporting their pastoralism and in turn, their livelihood. There are roughly 25,000 orans across Rajasthan, accounting for roughly 6 lakh hectares of land.[1] Another important thing to note is that all of these orans have some sort of water body, mostly made and maintained by the people, that plays a key role in making the ecosystem thrive, providing an oasis for the fauna and flora of the region. Continue reading Wastelands of Rajasthan: Aman Dedhia →

authoritarianism, Democracy, Politics, Right watch

The Missing Link – How the Great Democracy Robbery Was Conducted

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A fundamental mistake is being made by many well-meaning people with respect to the West Bengal election results, For instance, many people are comparing the votes deleted in the farcical “SIR” exercise with the loss of roughly that same amount of votes in TMC’s “final” tally. The closeness of these two figures  – 27 lakhs in the case of deletions (under the logical discrepancy category, though the actual figure should be much higher), and the decrease in TMCs vote  – still falls far short of the BJPs 2.92 crores or so. If one goes by the “final figures” provided by the ECI, the TMC got only 2.60 crores in comparison suggesting that the BJP would have won hands down, even without “SIR”.
Of course all those trying to normalize the big fraud that elections have progressively become since 2019, intentionally or innocently,  also routine resort to such so-called “final figures”. The Godi Media is the biggest player in this heist of the public mind and it has been ably playing this role this time too.

Continue reading The Missing Link – How the Great Democracy Robbery Was Conducted →

Debates, Development, Ecology/Environment, Everyday Life

Heat in the Indian Cities – A Reality More Complex than Tree Cover: Soumya Dutta 

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Guest Post by SOUMYA DUTTA

Delhi, my current ‘home town’ for over 30 years, increasingly looks like a City that is learning to sweat, as  it slowly descends into a  Humid Heat environment, from a largely dry and hot summer.
Delhi Green cover Heatwave Days and Humidity
For a tad over three decades, I have lived through Delhi’s summers. I distinctly remember a time when heat here had a certain clarity – harsh, yes, but mostly dry. Except the occasional breaks by a storm or ‘aandhi’,  which brought the temperatures down, but left it mostly dry.  The afternoons scorched, the loo winds burned your skin, and yet early mornings and  evenings offered a measurable  respite from the high temperatures. Sweat quickly evaporated in the dry air, allowing our bodies to naturally cool down by the loss of heat of evaporation. Nights cooled, at least enough to sleep – because the dry rocky surface quickly re-radiated heat back to space. And that heat had a much clearer escape route, as the atmospheric  air had much lower moisture, a powerful heat trapping green house gas .

Continue reading Heat in the Indian Cities – A Reality More Complex than Tree Cover: Soumya Dutta  →

Culture, Genders, Islamophobia, Politics, Right watch, Sex, Violence/Conflict

Statement in Protest of the Violent Meme targeting Mamata Banerjee and the Muslim Community

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Following is a statement signed by 1815 people protesting against the violent anti-Muslim and misogynist meme that had been circulating, targeting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

We, the undersigned people from different walks of life, express our deep revulsion and anger at the vicious meme, targeting the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, which has been circulating in social media on this day April 27, 2026. We are attaching with this statement, a blurred image of the meme, along with the profile of the person who circulated it – they call themselves a “Rightwing Nationalist” based in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh – so that our compatriots know what we are protesting against.

The meme is not only violent and misogynistic, it is also viciously anti-Muslim. It depicts the Muslim – perhaps the “Bangladeshi Muslim” – as passing through Mamata Banerjee’s open legs and is titled “This is Momta Culture” – while of course, giving us a splendid view of the meme creator’s own sanskari culture.

Through this statement we want to appeal to the people of this country, our compatriots, and to those in the judiciary, and elsewhere in the system, who still stand in defence of minimum standards of probity in public life. We want to underline that this is a challenge to our justice system that such hate speech against an entire community and a woman politician can be aired and shared with complete impunity.

We also want to underline that it is the culture of rape and misogyny that has been encouraged by the ruling party at the centre that has led to this situation that anybody can air whatever comes to their hate-filled minds. We have not forgotten the release of the rapists of Bilqis Bano, the killing of the Hathras rape victim, the destruction of the entire family of the Unnao rape victim; nor have we forgotten the Kathua rape or the killing of Ankita Bhandari for failing to provide “special service” to a senior leader of the ruling party or giving an election ticket to sexual harassment accused former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India. In all these cases, we have witnessed complete silence from the top leaders of the ruling party including the prime minister and home minister.

We do not want to address the creators of the meme for we know that they are products of this frightful hate machine that “Rightwing Nationalism” (their appropriate self-description) is. Rather, we are interested that our institutions of democracy and justice play the role that they should be playing in order to ensure minimum standards of probity in public life. Continue reading Statement in Protest of the Violent Meme targeting Mamata Banerjee and the Muslim Community →

Colonialism, Debates, Democracy, Politics

The Indian Nation State and Its Discontents: Ravindra K. Jain

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Guest post by RAVINDRA K. JAIN

ABSTRACT

The nation-state that is the Indian Union comprises a diversity of socio-cultural minorities and a ruling majority. The decoupling of nation and state highlights a contradiction rather than the integration of socio-cultural diversities and political functions of governance. This contradiction is marked by a double deficit of democracy, namely, authoritarianism and citizenship. A potted history of three phases of modern India explores the roots, symptoms and provenance of this democratic deficit in the present conjuncture.

Keywords Apologetic patriotism; nation state and state-nation; late colonial, early post colonial and Hindutva phases; nationalism and social polity; caste, class and power.

I analyse the Indian State sociologically in three phases of continuous chronological succession: A. The Late Colonial, B. The Paternal post-colonial and C. The current Hindutva. Each phase is characterized by a dual deficit: authoritarianism and citizenship. In order to elucidate the origin and perpetuation of this dual deficit, I would delve into the potted history of each phase. Continue reading The Indian Nation State and Its Discontents: Ravindra K. Jain →

Capitalism, Debates, Democracy, Movements, Violence/Conflict

‘Our wages were stolen and we forced a correction’ – NOIDA workers: Anumeha Yadav

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Guest post by ANUMEHA YADAV

NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh: At 8 am, an hour before factories would start work. Maina Devi* waited for her company bus on the sidewalk next to a large warehouse in Phase 2 of Noida’s industrial area.

Way to NOIDA SEZ, image Anumeha Yadav/The Migration Story

It had been a week since she and hundreds of workers from multiple factories on the borders of Delhi stopped work for four days protesting low wages and difficult work conditions. Several factories still had visible damages. Amid the continued police presence, fresh notices on factory gates reassuring workers of revised wages, Devi was heading to work, her thumb in a fresh bandage.

Maina Devi before rushing off to work, image Anumeha Yadav/ The Migration Story

Continue reading ‘Our wages were stolen and we forced a correction’ – NOIDA workers: Anumeha Yadav →

Colonialism, Debates, Decolonizing Theory, Empire/ Imperialism, Knowledge, Violence/Conflict

Theory After Gaza: Decolonizing the Political

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[The essay below is based on a presentation at a recent workshop on Theory from the Global South and a part of a longer work. Some of its claims are therefore, necessarily tentative. – AN]

Gaza, December 2024, Courtesy Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

What is happening to Gaza/Palestine today is a horrible genocide, the likes of which has rarely been seen. Yet, it must be asserted that not exceptional or unique – but entirely of a piece with the history of the colonial expansion of the West over five centuries. Gaza reveals, in a flash, the long-erased histories of settler colonialism and genocides; it reminds us that that history is very much part of our living present. Gaza strips the mask of “civilization” donned by the “enlightened West” that has long portrayed us in the global South as lesser, uncivilized beings worthy of being enslaved, used as cannon fodder and ultimately, exterminated. That was what we saw in the unrepentant colonizer’s speech by US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference. But in stripping off the masks of “civilization” from their faces, Gaza shows up how repeatedly, over and over again, the same script has been played, regardless who was in power in the Axis of Evil countries of Europe, UK and the US.

But more importantly, Gaza forces us to retell the whole story of the past five centuries by setting aside the received mythologies of “the political” and of “Enlightenment”. Gaza demands that we put at the centre of our narrative, not states and nations but those millions of dispossessed by settler colonialism, driven to death in imperialist wars and thrown around from one part of the world to another as “stateless” people, “refugees” and “minorities”.  Even though, in the interim, Palestine must have its own sovereign state to survive in this world of armed state, Gaza/Palestine demands a complete overturning of the very possibility of a repetition of another Gaza/Palestine ever again. It demands of us that we dismantle the entire theoretical edifice undergirding dominant narratives; it demands that we start telling the story from the vantage point of the people at the receiving end of that hallowed thing called “modernity” – that most people in the global South experienced as coloniality and what has been called “war capitalism” by historian Sven Beckert – which I will discuss below. Continue reading Theory After Gaza: Decolonizing the Political →

Democracy, Government, Identities, Movements, Politics

Bangladesh in Transition – Understanding Election in the Aftermath of the July Uprising : Sohul Ahmed

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Guest post by SOHUL AHMED

[We bring for our readers, this essay by Sohul Ahmed, which details the context and background of the recently held Bangladesh election. Though a cacophony of voices from the Right to the Left in India had already pronounced their  shared judgement of an “Islamic takeover” of Bangladesh via the July Uprising, what this essay details the extremely significant political process through which the July Charter was formulated, signed on to by 33 parties, and how the most orderly and peaceful election was held in the country just two weeks ago.  This article rebuts the general impression created by this Right-Left propaganda in India that supreme chaos reigns in Bangladesh. Since this article was written, a new government has been formed with a Hindu  and a Chakma-Buddhist face each, in the cabinet. The main Islamic party has been trounced in the elections. So much for all the doomsday prophesies about post-July Bangladesh. That does not mean everything is fine – and Ahmed explains the complications that still exist. – AN]

Bangladesh elections, representational image, courtesy Reuters/ BBC

Bangladesh stands at a crucial juncture in its political transition following the July Uprising. The country witnessed its national election almost one and a half years after the ousting of Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic regime – an election widely regarded as one of the most consequential moments in the country’s political history. Our characterization of this election as “crucial” or even “historic” has deep roots in Bangladesh’s recent electoral experience. Continue reading Bangladesh in Transition – Understanding Election in the Aftermath of the July Uprising : Sohul Ahmed →

authoritarianism, Countryside, Development, Everyday Life, Right watch

वीबीग्रामजी रद्द करो,  मनरेगा बहाल करो : कार्यकर्ताओं और संगठनों की मांग

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[निम्नलिखित बयान साठ से ज़्यादा ऐसे संगठनों और कार्यकर्ताओं की तरफ़ से 15 फरवरी को जारी किया गया है  जिनका मनरेगा  के कार्यान्वयन से संबंध रहा है। ]

हम, नीचे दस्तखत करने वाले एक्टिविस्ट्स, जो भारत के कोने-कोने में मनरेगा मजदूरों के साथ काम करते हैं, महात्मा गांधी राष्ट्रीय ग्रामीण रोजगार गारंटी अधिनियम (मनरेगा) को खत्म करने की कड़ी निंदा करते हैं, जो माँग पर मिलने वाला ‘काम के अधिकार‘ का प्रोग्राम था।

हमारा मानना है कि:

– मनरेगा महाराष्ट्र की रोजगार गारंटी योजना से सीख लेकर भारी समर्थन और बातचीत के बाद शुरू किया गया था।

 

– पहली बार हर परिवार को 100 दिन का काम मिलना पक्का किया गया था। Continue reading वीबीग्रामजी रद्द करो,  मनरेगा बहाल करो : कार्यकर्ताओं और संगठनों की मांग →

Democracy, Movements, Politics

Bangladesh Beyond the Ballot – The Struggle Begins Now: Sohul Ahmed

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We are reproducing an article written by SOHUL AHMED on the eve of the Bangladesh elections, earlier published in Bengali in Prothom Alo, Dhaka. The English version was published in Ahmed’s Substack, yesterday, 12 February. A researcher on genocide and democratic politics, Sohul Ahmed is already familiar to Kafila readers. We publish this piece here because it helps us understand the current elections as but a moment in the larger process of transformation unleashed by the July Uprising of 2024.  An important reason for publishing this piece here is because Bangladesh’s difficult struggle for democratic transition holds significant lessons for us – in our struggles in the times to come. – AN

Image courtesy Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters

After fifteen years of autocratic rule, Bangladesh is re-entering an electoral phase. This election is significant for two primary reasons: first, it reactivates a stagnant electoral process and initiates a transition toward a competitive system; and second, it seeks to establish a sustainable political settlement that institutionalizes this process.

The upcoming election serves as both a national vote and a referendum. Far more than a simple contest for power, it is a fight to reclaim the essential democratic entry points lost over the past fifteen years. By functioning as a referendum, this process seeks a mandate for the structural reforms and political settlements necessary to build a truly democratic foundation for the country. Continue reading Bangladesh Beyond the Ballot – The Struggle Begins Now: Sohul Ahmed →

Democracy, Empire/ Imperialism, Feminism, Movements, Violence/Conflict

Support the Rojava Revolution, Condemn Syrian Interim Government’s and IS Offensive: Kurdish Women’s Foreign Relations Office

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We are publishing this statement by the KURDISH WOMEN’S FOREIGN RELATIONS OFFICE in support of the valiant struggle of the Rojava Revolution to defend itself.

Rojava Revolutionaries, image courtesy ‘Women Defend Rojava’ (womendefendrojava.net)

The Syrian Interim Government under interim president al-Shaara, has declared war on the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and its achievements for women. Since 6 January, the situation in the region has been escalating. After militias of the so-called Syrian Interim Government launched a military attack on predominantly Kurdish neighbourhoods in Aleppo, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to flee and committing brutal massacres, they turned their attacks towards northern and eastern Syria, surrounding them on all sides. Through a genocidal campaign of destruction against the Kurdish people – especially women – the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, a democratic project based on women’s liberation, grassroots democracy, ecology, and pluralism, is now under threat of destruction.

These attacks represent a massive escalation of systematic violence against women and their hard-won rights. Jihadist groups driven by a deeply misogynistic and patriarchal mindset are targeting, killing, kidnapping and subjecting women to sexual violence. In doing so, they are terrorising women as a means of destroying entire communities. In recent days, we have received horrific videos and reports from the region showing women’s bodies being deliberately desecrated by being thrown from houses and mutilated. Continue reading Support the Rojava Revolution, Condemn Syrian Interim Government’s and IS Offensive: Kurdish Women’s Foreign Relations Office →

authoritarianism, Democracy, Ecology/Environment, Government

Deal With the Problem, Not the Activists; Control Polluters, Not Those Demanding Accountability! – NACEJ

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The National Alliance for Climate and Environmental Justice (NACEJ) strongly condemns the raids, searches, and intimidation of climate activists Harjeet Singh and Sanjay Vashisht by Indian enforcement agencies.

Recent actions by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and allied agencies—reportedly based on alleged violations of foreign exchange regulations, vague claims of threats to “energy security,” and unsubstantiated intelligence inputs—have been carried out without transparency or disclosure of credible evidence. Public reporting indicates reliance on anonymous official briefings, rumoured intelligence reports, and speculative allegations, with officials unwilling to come on record. Continue reading Deal With the Problem, Not the Activists; Control Polluters, Not Those Demanding Accountability! – NACEJ →

authoritarianism, Democracy, Politics, Right watch

“SIR” Is a Process of Mass Disenfranchisement

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The Solution

After the uprising of the 17th June Election of 2024

The Secretary of the Writers Union Prime Minister’s Office

Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee the message sent out via Nagpur

Stating that the people

Had forfeited the confidence of the government

And could win it back only

By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier

In that case for the government

To dissolve the people

And elect another? – [Courtesy Bertolt Brecht]

The way things are going with the SIR, we are heading for the regime “electing its people” – with the full participation of the Opposition parties, who despite the knowledge of the process, have become unwilling participants. Not knowing how to respond, they seem to be running around like headless chickens. “Vote Chori” and the so-called “Special Intensive Revision” (SIR) are closely tied together and though Rahul Gandhi seems to have got the import of what this means, reports suggest that RSS “sleeper cells” within and outside the Congress Party are hyperactive now, trying to undermine the campaign against vote chori. Some INDIA bloc parties have even openly distanced themselves from it. Continue reading “SIR” Is a Process of Mass Disenfranchisement →

Government, Identities, Politics, Technology

Beware of Aadhaar – A Warning on India’s Biometric Identity Model: Statement by Organizations and Concerned Individuals

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Following is a statement issued on 10 December 2025, by over 50 organizations and 200 plus individuals on the reported adoption of the “Aadhar model” by some other countries.

We, concerned Indian citizens and organisations, are alarmed to note that efforts are being made to promote biometric identity systems similar to Aadhaar in other countries.

Aadhaar is India’s unique identity number, linked with a person’s biometrics (fingerprints, iris and photograph as of now). The number was rolled out with fanfare from 2009 onwards. The use of this number, and of Aadhaar-based biometric authentication (ABBA), was promoted to the hilt by the Indian government in close collaboration with the IT industry. Aadhaar was supposed to be voluntary, but it quickly became clear that living without it would be very difficult for most. Today, it is as good as compulsory. Most social benefits are out of reach without Aadhaar.

Aadhaar was rolled out in an explicitly “evangelistic” mode from day one. In recent years, it has been projected as a grand success by its promoters. Their friends in high places (like Davos, the World Bank, and the B&M Gates Foundation) are on board. There is an attempt, partly successful already, to project Aadhaar as a model and “export” it to other countries. Continue reading Beware of Aadhaar – A Warning on India’s Biometric Identity Model: Statement by Organizations and Concerned Individuals →

Countryside, Debates, Ecology/Environment, Government, Violence/Conflict

Wildlife-Human Conflict – Non-intervention is No Longer a Choice: Sandeep Menon

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Guest post by SANDEEP MENON

[Earlier this year, Kerala government sought the permission of the central government to kill wild animals that “post a threat to life and property”, declaring human-wildlife conflict a state-specific disaster.  As wildlife-human conflicts rage with a new intensity across different parts of India, the author underlines the need to go beyond knee-jerk reactions and put in place proper policy measures. The issue itself is highly controversial and even emotive and we present this essay here to put things in perspective and proposes some measures that are currently being debated among wildlife enthusiasts. – AN]

Photo courtesy Biplab Hazra and Think Wildlife Foundation

On the 24th of Nov 2025, a 70-year-old Adivasi woman was tending her goats on revenue lands near Masinagudi in Tamil Nadu, when she was killed and dragged into the bushes by a Tiger. It paid little heed to the shouts of witnesses who saw it moving the body to a nearby waterhole. Between late October and November, multiple attacks on people and livestock were reported from the Nugu region near Nagarhole in Karnataka, leaving 3 farmers dead and one critically injured. Including one farmer who had just recovered from a broken hip bone caused by an earlier elephant attack. In response to intense public pressure, over 23 tigers (including many cubs) have been captured from non-forest areas in a span of one month. A huge number for a small rural landscape around two sanctuaries. In many cases, operations were hindered by mobs, who screamed and pelted stones upon sighting the animal, leading to heightened aggression. One of the tigers was found to have a festering snare wound, while another was the mother of 5 healthy cubs. Things took an interesting turn, when experts found it hard to match one of the Tigresses to existing wildlife databases. Raising the possibility that she might have been completely raised outside protected areas. Nor were they all transitionary, weak or infirm animals. Some of them were found to be healthy individuals, simply finding new spaces to eke out a living. It is unclear what the department intends to do with all the captured tigers and cubs. If they end up in captivity, that would be a tragic outcome that serves neither the individual animal nor the species. Continue reading Wildlife-Human Conflict – Non-intervention is No Longer a Choice: Sandeep Menon →

Debates, Democracy, Education, Knowledge, Politics

The Day the Colloquium Fell Silent – Bureaucratic Diktat and the Fate of Thought: S. M. Faizan Ahmed

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Guest post by S. M.  FAIZAN AHMED

Image courtesy The India Forum

The resignation of Professor Nandini Sundar from the convenorship of the seminar colloquium at the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, has left an emptiness that language struggles to fill and words can barely cover. The seminar she was to host, titled Land, Property and Democratic Rights, was to be delivered by Dr. Namita Wahi, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and one of India’s most thoughtful legal scholars on land rights.

The event formed part of the department’s long-standing Friday Colloquium series—among the oldest and most cherished intellectual traditions in Indian academia. Over the decades, nearly every major figure in the social sciences has presented a paper here at least once. More than a seminar, it has been a ritual of conversation—one that has weathered political shifts, personal rifts, intellectual disagreements, and institutional flux, sustaining across generations a living legacy of thought, dialogue, and learning. Continue reading The Day the Colloquium Fell Silent – Bureaucratic Diktat and the Fate of Thought: S. M. Faizan Ahmed →