Category Archives: Politics

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Politics, Right watch

Democratic Dogmas and Disquiets

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Democracy Dialogues Series 36

Organised by New Socialist Initiative

Theme :Democratic Dogmas and Disquiets

Speaker : Prof Niraja Gopal Jayal

Avantha Chair, Professor of Politics,

King’s India Institute , King’s College London

Livestreamed on : facebook.com/newsocialistinitiative.nsi

Abstract:

The erosion of democracy worldwide has placed all those who self-identify as democrats in a conundrum. We are loath to recognise the inherent imperfections of democracy because it is by championing democracy that we seek to challenge authoritarian rule. However, the failure to acknowledge the potential distortions of democracy has consequences, obliging us to confront the question of the ways in which democracy must be safeguarded, if necessary against itself.

About the Speaker :

Niraja Gopal Jayal joined King’s India Institute as Avantha Chair in October 2021. She was formerly Professor at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and presently also Centennial Professor (2019-23) at The London School of Economics, in the Department of Gender Studies.She has also held visiting appointments at, among others, Princeton University, King’s College, London, and the EHESS, Paris.

Her book Citizenship and Its Discontents (Harvard University Press and Permanent Black, 2013) won the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Prize of the Association of Asian Studies in 2015. She is also the author of Representing India: Ethnic Diversity and the Governance of Public Institutions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) and Democracy and the State: Welfare, Secularism and Development in Contemporary India (OUP, 1999). She has co-edited The Oxford Companion to Politics in India, and edited, among several others, Democracy in India (OUP, 2001) and Re-Forming India: The Nation Today. (Penguin Random House, 2019) Her most recent book is Citizenship Imperilled: India’s Fragile Democracy (Permanent Black).

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Law, Politics, Right watch

Bhagwat Puran of a Different Kind

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How to denigrate India’s historic freedom struggle and humiliate the sacrifices of martyrs, and keep sermonising happily ever after

Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

‘Though this be madness yet there is method in it…’

–‘Hamlet’, Shakespeare I.

The search for the real Independence Day has perhaps become longer in the Hindutva supremacist circles.

Close on the heels of the likes Kangana Ranaut, film actress and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament, who had (in)famously said that “India attained freedom in 2014 and 1947 was ‘bheek’”, or alms and Vikram Massey, another flop Bollywood hero, questioning the freedom of 1947 as “so-called” Independence, has come the news that the numero uno of the Sangh Parivar, Mohan Bhagwat, has joined the ranks.

Speaking on the first anniversary of the Ram Temple inauguration day in Indore (as per the Hindu calendar), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief underlined that this day of consecration should actually be celebrated as “true independence” of Bharat, which faced enemy attacks “parachakra” for several centuries.

As expected, Bhagwat’s remarks have received widespread condemnation in Opposition circles. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has even called it an act of “treason” and asserted that they were an affront to every Indian. He even underlined that the “[R]SS chief would have been arrested in any other country” for such controversial remarks.

Looking at the fact that Bhagwat happens to be the supremo of the ‘biggest cultural organisation in the world’, whose ideology drives India today, who has the complete liberty of sharing his pearls of wisdom whenever he deems it necessary, at times even boomeranging on the organisation, it is difficult to imagine that any action would be taken against him, or whether he will be censured for his controversial remarks, which are an attack on the sacrifices and historic legacy of the freedom fighters as also on the Constitution. ( Read the full text here :https://www.newsclick.in/bhagwat-puran-different-kind)

Debates, Media politics, Politics

Reflections on the Kafila Journey: Seventeen Years of ‘Beyonding’

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[This is the third of the “Reflection on the Kafila Journey” series. The first post in this series by Subhash Gatade can be read here and the second by Aditya Nigam can be read here.]

I started writing on Kafila in 2007. I met Nivedita at a conference in Delhi where she listened to my research on sexuality and development in Kerala; she took me by the arm gently, persuaded me to start writing in a non-academic but rigorous style, and showed me the possibilities of the new medium.

Continue reading Reflections on the Kafila Journey: Seventeen Years of ‘Beyonding’ →
Capitalism, Democracy, Ecology/Environment, Movements, Politics

Stop Arbitrary Detentions and Intimidation, Save Ecology & Uphold Democratic Rights in J&K and entire Himalayan Region: Statement by 250 organizations and individuals

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Following is a statement issued by 250 organizations and individuals, including the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) against arrests and intimidation of activists raising concerns regarding the ecological impact of so-called “developmental” projects. The statement was issued on 13 November 2024

Stop Arbitrary Detentions and Intimidation of Social & Environmental Activists in Jammu & Kashmir

Save Ecology & Uphold Democratic Rights in J&K and entire Himalayan Region

National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), along with other people’s organizations and concerned citizens from across India strongly condemns the arbitrary detention of social and environmental activists in Jammu & Kashmir under the Public Safety Act (PSA). Those detained under the provisions of J&K Public Safety Act, 1978, include Mohammad Abdullah Gujjar (resident of Sigdi Bhata), Noor Din (resident of Kakerwagan), Ghulam Nabi Choppan (resident of Trungi – Dachhan), Mohammad Jaffer Sheikh (resident of Nattas, Dool) and Mohammad Ramzan (resident of Dangduroo – Dachhan), trade union leaders from Kishtwar district.

Continue reading Stop Arbitrary Detentions and Intimidation, Save Ecology & Uphold Democratic Rights in J&K and entire Himalayan Region: Statement by 250 organizations and individuals →
Capitalism, Centre watch, Democracy, Government, Politics

Democracy and the Logic of Capitalism: The recent Indian Experience – Professor Jayati Ghosh

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Democracy Dialogues Lecture 34 :

Speaker: 

Professor Jayati Ghosh

Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

Time and Date: 

Sunday, 17 th November 2024l, at 6 PM (IST)

Topic : ‘Democracy and the logic of capitalism: The recent Indian experience

Abstract :

Many analyses of the recent erosion of democracy in India have dwelt on political and social forces. I will examine the role of economic forces unleashed by a particular form of capitalist development, and how they may have contributed to this process in recent decades.

About the Speaker

Professor Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst,  a member of the Club of Rome’s Transformational Economics Commission and Co-Chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation, Formerly a Professor with the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU, Delhi, has also worked as a Consultant with the Planning Commission of India. Recipient of many awards including UNDP Award for Excellence in Analysis 2005, she has authored- co edited  around twenty books on Economics.

Here is a list of a few of her recent books :

-Women, Gender and Work (Volume 2): Social choices and inequalities, (volume coedited with Mark Lansky, Dominique Meda and Uma Rani, 2016, Geneva: International Labour Office.

-Interpreting the World to Change It: Essays for Prabhat Patnaik (volume co-edited with C. P. Chandrasekhar), New Delhi: Tulika books, 2017.

– Demonetisation Decoded (with Prabhat Patnaik and C. P. Chandrasekhar) New Delhi: Routledge Taylor and Francis India, 2017.

– Indian Banking: Current challenges and alternatives for the future, AIBOC, Chennai, 2018.

– Informal Women Workers in the Global South: Policies and Practices for the Formalisation of Women’s Employment in Developing Economies, (edited volume) Routledge, 2020

– The making of a catastrophe: The Covid-19 pandemic and the Indian economy, New Delhi: Aleph Book Publishing, Forthcoming 2021.

– Development: A collection of articles from the International Labour Review, ILO Centenary Volumes, Geneva: ILO, forthcoming 2021 (co-edited with Uma Rani)

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Law, Politics

न्यायपालिका और हिन्दुत्व वर्चस्ववादी परियोजना 

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दुनिया में जनतंत्र पर मंडराते खतरों की तरफ हाल के समय में बार-बार लिखा गया है। जानकारों ने इस बात को साफ किया है कि किस तरह जनतंत्र का कवच साबित होने वाली उसकी संस्थाओं को अंदर से कमजोर करके, कार्यपालिका, विधायिका या न्यायपालिका को अंदर से खोखला करके या इन सुरक्षा कवच ( guardrails of democracy) का अपहरण करके भी इसे बखूबी अंजाम दिया जा सकता है।

भारत में जहां हम कार्यपालिका का, अर्थात उसकी विभिन्न संस्थाओं को प्रभावहीन बनाने या उन्हें सत्ताधारी पार्टियों के मातहत करने की परिघटना को बारीकी से देख रहे हैं, मगर अभी तक न्यायपालिका में आ रहे बदलावों की तरफ हमारी निगाहें कम गई हैं।

गौरतलब है कि भारत में ऐसे बहुत कम कानून के विद्वान हैं या वकील हैं जिन्होंने भारत की न्यायपालिका के गति विज्ञान को बारीकी से देखा है और उसके रास्ते हमारे सामने रफ्ता-रफ्ता नमूदार हो रहे ख़तरों की तरफ इशारा किया है। जनाब डॉ. मोहन गोपाल, का नाम ऐसे लोगों में शुमार है।

कानून के यह आलिम और प्रैक्टिशनर हिन्दुत्व वर्चस्ववादी ताकतों के नज़रिये के बारे में और उनकी रणनीतियों के बारे में बारीक समझ रखते हैं और संविधान के हिसाब से एक धर्मनिरपेक्ष, लोकतांत्रिक, समाजवादी और संप्रभु भारत को हिन्दू राष्ट्र में तब्दील करने के उनके इरादों के बारे में बताते हैं कि ‘वह संविधान को उखाड़ फेंक कर नहीं बल्कि सर्वोच्च अदालत द्वारा उसकी एक हिन्दू दस्तावेज के रूप में व्याख्या करके’ अमल में लाना चाहते हैं।

कुछ वक्फ़ा पहले ‘लाईव लॉ’ द्वारा आयोजित एक प्रोग्राम में बोलते हुए उन्होंने उसके गतिविज्ञान को साफ किया था। ( Read the full article here : https://janchowk.com/beech-bahas/judiciary-and-scheme-of-hindu-dominance/)

Debates, Democracy, Mirror Worlds, Politics, Violence/Conflict

Beyond ‘Islamists vs Awami League’ – The Political Reality of July Uprising of Bangladesh: Sohul Ahmed

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Guest post by SOHUL AHMED

Students protesting in Uttara, Dhaka, August 2, 2024. Photo: Ashraful Alam

Sheikh Hasina, often labelled as fascist and autocratic leader in Bangladesh, was forced to flee the country following a popular uprising in July-August 2024. Many writings have appeared exploring the character of the movement and the consequent developments. Recently, renowned Indian historian and journalist Vijay Prashad published an article titled ‘Will Bangladesh be another Egypt?’, where he expressed the concern that Bangladesh could follow a path similar to Egypt’s. Vijay presents the  popular uprisings as both a continuation and, to some extent, a counter-response to the Shahbagh movement, while drawing parallels to the Arab Spring. However, his disregard for certain political realities in Bangladesh—such as the country’s long tradition of democratic movements and the presence of major centrist parties like the BNP—makes his comparison uneven and incomplete in some respects.

Continue reading Beyond ‘Islamists vs Awami League’ – The Political Reality of July Uprising of Bangladesh: Sohul Ahmed →
Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Democracy, Law, Politics, Religion, Right watch

Who is Entitled to Hurt Religious Statements ?

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The judiciary in Karnataka is once again the focus of discussion in the national media.

The judiciary in Karnataka is once again in the news.

The latest case in a series of such cases is the Karnataka High Court’s recent judgment saying that shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ inside a mosque does not outrage religious feelings.

In an ambience where Right-Wing forces are hell bent upon creating more discord in the society, this judgement can easily be used by those who wish to further vitiate the atmosphere in the country. There are instances galore when such elements have tried to mount atop religious places of ‘other’ communities and deliberately create tension.

There is a feeling of sadness and surprise that despite the incident being caught live on CCTV, where the duo was seen entering a mosque late at night on their motorcycle, the courts did not look into the intention behind their act.

No doubt legal eagles in the country or civil liberty activists would be looking into the Karnataka HC judgement to formulate a suitable response and possibly challenge it at higher levels. For example, at the immediate level, it is being argued by analysts that the single-judge bench’s comparison of this issue with the highest court’s ruling in ‘Mahendra Singh Dhoni vs. Yerraguntla Shyamsundar’ case was notably different. ( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/who-entitled-hurt-religious-sentiments)

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Government, Politics

Goodbye Welfare State ? Welcome ‘Labharthis’

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Ahead of Maharashtra Assembly polls, announcement of schemes like the Ladki-Bahin scheme reduce citizens to being ‘subjects’ rather than persons with basic constitutional rights.

Image Courtesy: PTI

Times have definitely changed.

There was a time earlier when a postcard sent by an ordinary citizen had spurred the judiciary into action, not any more.

One does not know whether the legal notice sent by a conscientious journalist to the Maharashtra government will similarly have any impact or not.

The focus of this legal notice is on the recent scheme launched by the Maharashtra government, called Ladki Bahin, under which women will be given Rs 1,500 per month. Launched on the eve of the elections to the state, the notice raises issues of the scheme’s timing, the claim that Rs 1,500 given to women would be sufficient; how such doles create a dependency culture and how it effectively punctures the whole idea of a welfare state. (Read the full article here :https://www.newsclick.in/goodbye-welfare-state-welcome-labharthis)—————————-

Here is a Hindi version of this write-up :https://janchowk.com/pahlapanna/citizens-as-beneficiary-the-achievement-of-the-amrit-kaal-of-the-republic/

Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Identities, Politics, Religion

हिंदुत्व की दक्षिण की नई प्रयोगशाला !

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नरम हिन्दुत्व या ‘सेकुलर’ दलों की लड्डू पॉलिटिक्स?

Credit: PTI photo

(क्या आंध्र प्रदेश दक्षिण में हिंदुत्व प्रयोग की नई प्रयोगशाला बनाने जा रहा है।  दक्षिण के अग्रणी अख़बार डेक्कन हेराल्ड ने पिछले दिनों इस मसले पर विशेष सामग्री पेश की थी ा गौरतलब है कि इस सूबे की आंतरिक गतिविधियों पर शेष मुल्क की तब निगाह पड़ी, जब तिरुपति के लड्डू के मसले को सुर्खियां मिली . मगर ‘हिंदुत्व लाइट’ का यह सम्मोहन महज वहीं तक सीमित नहीं है )

सियासत भी अजीब होती है। अकसर इस बात का अंदाजा भी नहीं लग पाता कि कैसे वह शैतानों के सन्त में रूपांतरण को मुमकिन बना देती है और कैसे अन्य समुदायों के जनसंहारों को अंजाम देने वालों को ‘अपने लोगों’ के हृदयसम्राट या रक्षक के तौर पर स्थापित कर देती है।

शायद इसी विचित्रता की यह निशानी है कि अमेरिका के पूर्व राष्‍ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प  द्वारा हैती से आए आप्रवासियों को लेकर फैलायी जा रही झूठी ख़बरें कि वे कुत्तों का भक्षण करते हैं, अमेरिका की आबादी के अच्छे-खासे हिस्से को अविश्वसनीय नहीं लग रही- जिनका लगभग अस्सी फीसदी हिस्सा साक्षर है। इन झूठी और नफरती ख़बरों को लेकर हैती से जुड़े समूहों को ही अदालत का दरवाजा खटखटाना पड़ रहा है।

जहां दुनिया का सबसे ताकतवर जनतंत्र कुत्तों को लेकर पैदा किए गए एक विवाद में उलझा दिखता है, वहीं खुद को दुनिया में डेमोक्रेसी की माता कहलाने वाले भारत में लड्डू के इर्द-गिर्द खड़े किए गए इसी किस्म के एक फर्जी विवाद में पिछले दिनों लचीले हिन्दुत्व की राजनीति के नए रणबांकुरे उलझे दिखे थे । ( Read the full article here : https://junputh.com/open-space/soft-hindutva-and-laddoo-politics-of-naidu/)

Capitalism, Debates, Government, Movements, Politics

The New Janus of Sri Lanka: Revolution at the Gate? Maya John

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Guest post by MAYA JOHN

[Maya John has been part of the Left Movement for the past two decades and this piece is in response to ongoing dialogues with Sri Lankan comrades.]

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, photo courtesy AP News

The recent presidential election has installed Anura Kumara Dissanayake (“AKD”) from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance as the new president of Sri Lanka. This victory is seen as a result of rising popular hostility towards mainstream parties and rogue dynasts. Consequently, we find that AKD garnered an overwhelming share of the votes from those same electoral constituencies which had earlier voted in bulk for the corrupt Rajapaksas. Prior to this presidential election, the frustrated Sri Lankan masses, plagued by growing economic and political crises, generated the powerful people’s movement – the janatha aragalaya – that ushered in a huge legitimacy crisis for the ruling elites.

Continue reading The New Janus of Sri Lanka: Revolution at the Gate? Maya John →
Culture, Debates, Democracy, Politics, Right watch

Fascinating Hindutva Lite

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After the ascent of Hindutva Supremacists at the Centre, avowedly secular parties also seem to be falling prey to it under mass pressure for short-term electoral gains.

Politics is a strange beast.

It looks incredulous how at times it helps Satans being metamorphosed into Saints and biggest murderers of hapless communities emerging as the defenders or ‘heartthrobs’ of their ‘own people.’

Perhaps it is a sign of this weirdness that Donald Trump’s vitriolic speeches targeting Haitian immigrants – that they eat pets — have not appeared incredulous to a large section of the US population, which is 79% literate, as the records show. Finally, Haitian groups themselves had to approach the courts to expose “racial animus against Haitian immigrants” over the years.

Interestingly, while the strongest democracy in the world is in the midst of a manufactured controversy around pets, the biggest democracy in the world, is witnessing another fabricated controversy around Laddoo – a spherical sweet from the Indian subcontinent — thanks to the intervention of what can be called as ‘new converts’ to Hindutva Lite politics. ( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/fascination-hindutva-lite-among-opposition-parties)

Debates, Democracy, Politics, Violence/Conflict

A Misguided Narrative – A Response to the Lemkin Institute’s Statement on Bangladesh: Sohul Ahmed

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Guest post by SOHUL AHMED

Crowds outside the prime minister’s office during the Uprising. Photograph by Dipu Malakar, courtesy Prothom Alo

The statement issued on 24 September 2024 by the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention titled ‘Statement on Threats to Democracy in Bangladesh’[1] has drawn our attention not only due to misrepresentation of facts but also because it aligns more with the narrative of the ousted autocratic regime led by Sheikh Hasina and her party Awami League than with the aspirations of the people of Bangladesh. The statement has failed to capture the complexities of the situation in Bangladesh and thereby presents a misguided narrative about the uprising and its aftermath. Under the circumstances we feel obligated to respond to set the record straight and point out the inaccuracies in the statement.

Continue reading A Misguided Narrative – A Response to the Lemkin Institute’s Statement on Bangladesh: Sohul Ahmed →
Capitalism, Centre watch, Debates, Politics, Right watch

Would Agniveer Ever Be Scrapped ?

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It is a plan to militarise civilians a la Israel.

Representational Image.

Truth, as they say, has an uncanny ability of bursting out into the open, unannounced. This seems to have happened with the controversial Agniveer Scheme – the introduction of contract based employment in the military for four years – which even cost the ruling dispensation a few seats in the recent parliamentary elections.

What Prafulla Ketkar, who has been editor of ‘Organiser’ for the last eleven years, underlined in an event merits close attention in this connection. To a pointed question where he was asked ‘[w]hether India should prepare civilians for situations similar to those faced by Israel’, he specifically mentioned that ‘[t]he Agniveer scheme was introduced for this purpose only. The scheme aims to train military-ready individuals who can be deployed during crises.’

It has been more than four days since Ketkar made this explosive statement, which obviously contradicts what the government wants us to believe. But there has been neither any denial of the statement from the highest level nor has he been reprimanded by top bosses of the Sangh Parivar for making such outrageous statements.

( Read the full article here : https://www.newsclick.in/would-agniveer-ever-be-scrapped)

Culture, Debates, Democracy, Education, Law, Politics, Right watch

Dr. Ambedkar’s  Interpretation of Present  National Crises

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Prof Sukhdeo Thorat

Professor Emeritus, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 

Theme :Dr. Ambedkar’s  Interpretation of Present  National Crises

Number of scholars have tried to explain the present crisis by drawing insights from  the experience of Fascism of Hitler in Germany 1930’s and/or  similar viewpoints . Without undermining these attempts, I feel that  Ambedkar’s  theoretical perspective on Indian history presumably helps us more to grapple with the  present crisis .In Ambedkar’s view it is continuation of the non-stop efforts from ancient times to bring back Brahmanism . Ambedkar observes that “that there was in ancient India, a great struggle between Buddhism and Brahmanism. It is not even a struggle but a quarrel over some creed ,The Buddhism  was revolutionary and while Brahminsm  was  counter-revolutionary. It was a revolution and counter revolution in doctrine by a revolution in political and social philosophy”. The present attempt is an on-going legacy of the ancient Indian where it began , and carried through the medieval to British and to the present time with tenacity and stubbornness to maintain the privileges that the Brahmanical ideology bestowed on  those who coined this ideology .The lecture will try to bring insights on Ambedkar’s perspective .

About the Speaker
Prof Sukhdeo Thorat, Professor Emeritus, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi ; former Chairman of University Grants Commission and former Chairman of ICSSR (Indian Council of Social Science Research) is a leading economist, educationist and writer.
A renowned Ambedkar scholar Prof Thorat graduated with a B.A. from Milind College of Arts, Aurangabad, Maharashtra and has done PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was a  Faculty Member at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and visiting faculty at Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames, USA and has been associated with various national-international institutes and organisations.
Recipient of many awards including Dr Ambedkar National Award (2011) and Padmashree ( 2008), he has authored and edited many books and monographs. Here is a list of his major publications :
– Ambedkar on Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy
– Dalits in India? Social and Economic Profile (Sage)
– Ambedkar in Retrospect: Essays in Economics, Society, and Politics (edited) with Aryama & Negi. (Rawat Publication)
– Social Science Research in India : Status, Issue and Policies ( co-authored with Samar Varma) – Oxford University Press ( 2016)
– Politics of Representation : Historically Disadvantaged Groups in India’s Democracy ( co edited with Prof Sudha Pai) Palgrave Macmillan ( 2012)
– Untouchability in Rural India Sage, 2006 (with G. Shah, Harsh Mander, Satish Deshpande & Amrita)
– Caste, Race, and Discrimination – Discourse in International Context (edited) (with Umakant), Rawat Publication, Jaipur (2004)

Right watch, Violence/Conflict, Politics, Culture, Feminism, Democracy

Long Live the Eternal Feminist, Anti-Fascist Fire and Flower Gauri! – A Letter from ALIFA

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Following is an Open Letter from ALIFA (All India Feminist Alliance ) to Gauri Lankesh, marking 7 years of her cowardly killing. The Open Letter is in both English and Kannada. The Kannada version follows after the English one. ALIFA is linked to NAPM (National Alliance of People’s Movements). ಆತ್ಮೀಯ ಗೌರಿ ಲಂಕೇಶ್ ಅವರ ಹೇಡಿತನದ ಹತ್ಯೆಗೆ 7 ವರ್ಷಗಳಾಗಿ, ಅವರಿಗೆ ಅಲಿಫಾದಿಂದ (ALIFA) ಬಹಿರಂಗ ಪತ್ರ

Gauri Lankesh, image courtesy Asianet Newsable

Gauri, dear sister, dear comrade!

It has been seven years. We still remember the day, the night! 5th September, 2017 – in fact the very moments – when the ‘news’ hit us. Gauri Lankesh shot in cold blood. Details poured in. Number of bullets. At your residence. By two men. We reeled with shock under immeasurable grief, loss and helplessness. Abandoning so many unfinished conversations, you left a void in all our hearts, the shape and size of a star!

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Debates, Democracy, Movements, Politics

Twenty Days that Shook the World – Bangladesh Uprising II : Shahed Suvo

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Guest post by SHAHED SUVO

This is the second part of the two-part article by Shahed Suvo, published earlier in Bangla in Ekak Matra on 10 August 2024. The first part appeared yesterday and can be accessed here. This part deals with the last days of the Sheikh Hasina regime and the transition that immediately followed. It has been translated for Kafila by ARUN SINHA.

Responding to the call of the anti-discrimination student movement, student-citizens gathered at Shaheed Minar on August 3. Young people continued to gather at Shaheed Minar with separate protest processions.  At this time, elderly citizens were also seen participating in the protest march with them. At around 5:30 PM in the afternoon, the coordinator of the organization leading the quota reform movement Md. Nahid Islam announced a one-point demand in a speech to the students-people gathered at Shaheed Minar – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet must resign.

Asif Mahmud, another coordinator of the movement, announced the outline program of the non-cooperation movement.

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Bad ideas, Debates, Feminism, Left watch, Politics

Feminist Solidarity in the Times of the Hema Committee Report

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The Hema Committee Report has led to a welcome flurry of feminist activism in Kerala, both among the mainstream feminists as well as others. All political viewpoints within Malayali feminism have stood strongly with the WCC and sought to further their fight, with the implicit agreement that the WCC should not perceived as responsible for all further work.

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Centre watch, Culture, Debates, Democracy, Law, Politics, State Terror

हमारी समस्या है नागरिक आज्ञाकारिता ! ‘बुलडोजर न्याय’ के दौर में हावर्ड जिन की याद

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‘हमारी समस्या है नागरिक आज्ञाकारिता…’!

विख्यात अमेरिकी इतिहासकार, नाटककार, दार्शनिक और समाजवादी विचारक हॉवर्ड जिन- जिनकी लिखी किताब ‘ए पीपुल्स हिस्ट्री ऑफ युनाइटेड स्टेट्स’ की लाखों प्रतियां बिक चुकी हैं- के ये शब्द आज भी दुनिया के मुल्कों में दोहराए जाते हैं जब-जब वहां की जनता हुक्मरानों के हर फरमान को सिर आंखों पर लेती है।

बहुत कम लोग इस वक्तव्य के इतिहास से वाकिफ हैं, जिसे उन्होंने अमेरिका के युद्ध-विरोधी आंदोलन के दौरान बाल्टिमोर विश्वविद्यालय के परिसर में रैडिकल छात्रों और परिवर्तनकामी अध्यापकों के विशाल जनसमूह के सामने दिया था। यह वह दौर था जब अमेरिकी सरकार की वियतनाम युद्ध में संलिप्तता को लेकर- जिसमें तमाम अमेरिकी सैनिकों की महज लाशें ही अमेरिका लौट पाई थीं- जनाक्रोश बढ़ता गया था और अमेरिकी सरकार पर इस बात का जोर बढ़ने लगा था कि उसे अपनी सेनाओं को वहां से वापस बुलाना चाहिए।

याद किया जा सकता है कि इस ऐतिहासिक साबित हो चुके व्याख्यान के एक दिन पहले क्या हुआ था। एक युद्ध विरोधी प्रदर्शन में शामिल होने के चलते उन्हें संघीय पुलिस ने गिरफ्तार किया था और हॉवर्ड जिन को कहा गया था कि वह अगले दिन अदालत में हाजिर हों। सवाल यह था कि क्या वह दूसरे ही दिन अदालत के सामने हाजिर हों, जहां उन्हें चेतावनी मिलेगी और फिर घर जाने के लिए कहा जाएगा या वह बाल्टिमोर जाने के अपने निर्णय पर कायम रहें? यानी, रैडिकल छात्रों ने उनके लिए जो निमंत्रण भेजा था पहले उसका सम्मान करें और उसके अगले दिन अदालत के सामने हाजिर हों? जाहिर था कि इस हुक्मउदूली के लिए उन्हें कम से कम कुछ दिन या महीने तो सलाखों के पीछे जाना ही होता।

हावर्ड जिन ने बाल्टिमोर जाना ही तय किया। यहां उन्होंने अपना भाषण दिया। छात्रों एवं अध्यापकों में उसकी जबरदस्त प्रतिक्रिया हुई। वे लौट आए और अगले ही दिन अदालत के सामने हाजिर हुए। जैसा कि स्पष्ट था, उन्हें कुछ सप्ताह के लिए जेल भेज ‌दिया गया। ( Read the full text here : https://junputh.com/open-space/remembering-howard-zinn-in-the-times-of-bulldozer-justice/)

Democracy, Movements, Politics, State Terror

‘Motherland that is Dearer than Heaven’ – Bangladesh Uprising I: Shahed Suvo

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Guest post by SHAHED SUVO

As a lot of motivated propaganda continues to be dished out about the uprising in Bangladesh, with weird and utterly nonsensical stories of it being ‘engineered’ by ‘the CIA’ at one end, and ‘the Islamists’ at the other, we reproduce here this article that gives a virtually blow by blow account of the developments. Published earlier in Bangla in Ekak Matra on 9 August 2024, Twenty Days that Shook the World in two parts, it has been translated for Kafila by ARUN SINHA. This is the first part. Part II can be read here.

Bangladesh protest before 5 August, image courtesy Ekak Matra

The students’ community revolution in July 2024 will be etched as one very important and characteristic event in the annals of history of deconstruction of state in Bangladesh.  After declaration of Pakistan as a state, the first voices of protest were raised against Jinnah’s policy of declaring Urdu as the state language. That was Bhasa Andolan (Language Movement) in 1952, then came the movement on 1962 education commission, the mass uprising in 1969 culminating in the glorious Liberation War in 1971. The student community always participated in bringing these momentous changes walking hand in hand with the people in Bangladesh. Whenever people lost their way and paths in independent Bangladesh, it is the movement of the students that showed the road ahead. Therefore, for the people of Bangladesh the student community has always been the symbol of truth and justice.

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Movements, Politics, Right watch, Sexual Violence, Violence/Conflict

Women’s Rights Now! Citizens Speak Out Against Brutal Cases of Sexual Violence Across India

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[More than 900 organizations and individuals speak out against brutal rape and cultures of impunity from Kolkata and Manipur to Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and other parts of the country. Published below is their statement issued on 26 August 2024.]

WOMEN RIGHTS NOW!

CITIZENS SPEAK OUT AGAINST BRUTAL CASES OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE FROM KOLKATA TO MANIPUR, GUJARAT, UTTARAKHAND, BIHAR, UTTAR PRADESH…

DEMAND URGENT, INDEPENDENT AND UNBIASED INVESTIGATIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY!

NO MORE SHIELDING OF PERPETRATORS AND THEIR PROTECTORS

JUSTICE TO VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES!

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