2015

Some weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing the returning of the first few awards by writers. I said that the gesture was likely to have little effect as too few Indians cared for writers and their work. I added that what would be effective was something similar from the world of popular films. Sure enough, the actions of a couple of directors drew attention: but the real bomb-shell was the words of Aamir Khan, a major star, from a well-publicised platform.
The reaction of the Hindu (…)

by Neha Dabhade and Irfan Engineer
Recently in an interview at an award function, Aamir Khan mentioned that his wife, Kiran, asked him whether they should leave the country. To Aamir Khan, the statement of his wife was disastrous and indicated growing intolerance in the country. Though we condemn any such sweeping statement coming from a celebrity idolised by millions in the country, one must, without politicising the statement, reflect over the context in which it was made. The Indian (…)

The following is a revised version of an article published in opendemocracy.net/ and the revision has been carried out by the author himself for its publication in Mainstream; we are, however, using it here with due acknowledgement. —Editor
by L.K. Sharma
Combating communalism is a creative enterprise. A few well-crafted statements or protest meetings would not be adequate to immunise a vast population against the communal poison. The civil rights activists who demonstrated in London (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
The following piece, which was published as ‘Political Notebook’ in Mainstream (December 12, 1992), is being reproduced on the twentythird anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Its significance is heightened due to the ongoing offensive of the Hindutvavadi forces following the seizure of power at the Centre by the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah-led BJP in May 2014. —Editor
The vandalism that brought down the Babri Masjid structure on December 6 will (…)

You lifted one fistful of salt
And an empire was shamed.
Lift
One fistful of rubble
Now
And pour it on our shameless heads.
December 5, 1992 Gopal Gandhi

The mosque was eloquent History,
Everything else was shrouded in mythology.
Yet they, under the spell of fiery oratory,
Chose to chase the mirage of a myth,
Pull down the building
And build hatred in their hearts
When I, a citizen of this vast land
With the pulsating impulse of History behind me,
Watched helplessly in speechless agony
My dreams lie shattered,
My country split
And its future back to the tribal past.
I know not how to atone for my immoral silence
For (…)

MUSINGS
What tolerance are we showing for Aamir Khan’s harmless little utterance along the strain that his wife, Kiran Rao, had contemplated moving out of here as she feared for the safety of their child in this atmosphere hanging heavy with intolerance? What tolerance are we showing for the flow of thoughts, of words, of sentiments, of emotions? What tolerance we are showing for dissent—for the sane voices of dissent? What tolerance are we showing for arts and artists and for their very (…)

I was present at the function where Aamir Khan, a topmost actor, said that his wife had asked him whether they should move to some other country for healthy upbringing of their child. There was no rancour in his tone, only a bit of sadness. Still, his remark shook me. Indeed, it shook the entire nation.
Never before had I realised that things had come to such a pass that even a person like Aamir Khan would think whether they should move to some other country. Lesser persons from the (…)

COMMUNICATION
In the Bihar Assembly elections, the BJP, the standard-bearer of Hindutva and Hindu chauvanism, has suffered a crushing and humiliating defeat. This rout of the BJP, as has rightly been pointed out by Rahul Gandhi, the Vice-President of the Congress, is decidedly a defeat of the BJP’s ideology which follows a policy of communal hatred and which stands for implementing the RSS agenda of converting India into a Hindu country and establishing a Hindu state and which also aims at (…)

by P.K. Yasser Arafath
“To a Muslim, donating for the construction of temples is more sinful than extending monetary help to raise a brothel,” says a celebrated young neo-Salafi evangelist from Malabar in a video that has circulated massively in Kerala and the Gulf countries in recent times. His Hindutva counterpart in another video screams that “once Hindus wake up from their slumber, one will have to search hard to find a single scalp-cap wearing Muslim in Kerala”. Observing the flow of (…)