2017

by Pradeep Nair
Information is a core community need in any democracy whether it is digital or conventional. People having access to information always have an edge over others who were denied the access due to their socio-political backwardness. The digital media not only accelerates the access to information but also develops a new attitude among the people to receive, own, engage, respond and connect the information for the negotiations with the socio-cultural surrounding which is the (…)

Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim was a Bhindran-wale in the making. He, too, saw to it that nobody dared him. But he turned out to be a paper tiger. When CBI court judge Jagdeep Singh pronounced his verdict, the Baba wept openly in the court and implored him not to give severe punishment. His followers, too, were reportedly surprised over the manner in which the Baba capsized.
But there is no doubting about the Baba’s vast following. It did not bother that he was being punished for raping two (…)

by Anshuman Gupta and Anju Jain
India is facing challenges at the international front as a result of the protectionist policies of President Donald Trump. This anti-globalisation spree is going to strengthen in the near future as the ultra-Right parties are making their strong presence felt in many countries of Europe (though recently they faced a setback in France’s election). This politics of identity and protectionism is going to stay for a long time. There has been a strong logic (…)

by Jawaharlal Jasthi
On August 14, 2017 a significant event took place in Hyderabad. A small book in Telugu titled, A Great Historical Movement—Champaran Righteous Crusade, was released by Nayani Narasimhareddy, the Home Minister of the State of Telangana. P. Janardan Reddy presided over the meeting. It was significant as it marked the centenary of the Champaran movement led by Gandhi. It was the movement to free the farmers of Champaran in Bihar from the suffocating grip of the colonial (…)

BOOK REVIEW
by Aejaz Ahmad Wani
The Decline of Civilisation:Why We Need to Return to Gandhi and Tagore? by Ramin Jahanbegloo; Aleph Book Company; 2017; pages: 139+xxxiv
Introduction
Everyday acts of terrorism, intolerance, civil and state violence and religious fundamentalism dismay us to the core and even prompt some of us to question the very nature of human existence. Early this year, Pankaj Mishra’s latest work somewhat aptly described our age as the “Age of Anger”. For quite (…)

by Bhartendu Kumar Singh
Defending India is a challenge for our Defence Ministers. As Nirmala Sitharaman familiarises herself in the new role, she is expected to emerge as a defencer pacis for the country’s security problematic. The basketful of newspapers’ advisories notwithstanding, she would be running against time since general elections will take place in less than two years.
The Minister starts on a wicket with a lot of spadework done by Manohar Parrikar. That included (…)

It is astounding to think of Alexander, the Great, as a conquerer. But it is indeed a fact that he is popularly known as a great Greek emperor. However, most do not know the fact that he was not a Greek. He was born in Pella, a tribal pocket of Macedonia, which became a part of Yugoslavia. It can thus be concluded by all means that he was a tribal by birth. He inherited the escalated political position from his father, Philip.
Alexander started his political career under the tutelage of (…)

EDITORIAL
Speaking at a seminar in New Delhi today Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh stated: “Rohingyas are not refugees... No Rohingya has applied for asylum. They are illegal immigrants.” This was his clear-cut position with regard to the Myanmarese Rohingyas who had lately entered Bangladesh while some of them had come to India earlier.
Meanwhile Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina has strongly countered Myanmar’s attempts to label the Rohingyas as “illegal immigrants”, something Rajnath was (…)

MUSINGS
Gauri Lankesh shot dead in front of her Bengaluru home. Yes, murdered—this firebrand activist-writer-editor. Upright and bold and vocal she was; taking on the Right-wing political mafia in one of those ongoing and determined ways.... As I’m filing this column just hours after the news of her murder, so unable to detail the possible ‘whys’ but quite obviously the various goon brigades stand in the suspect category. In fact, her murder has shocked each one of us. There’s anger (…)

by Ram Puniyani
Massive protests are being witnessed in many countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India among others, against the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar (September 2017). This time around violence seems to have been triggered due to the attack by militants (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) on police and military posts. As per UN estimates, nearly 1000 Rohingyas have been killed and over 2.5 lakh Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape the violence. The UN has said that the (…)