2018

MUSINGS
Ruckus on the campus of the universities in Uttar Pradesh seems ongoing. The latest news reports of violence on the campus of the Allahabad University and before that ruckus in the Benaras Hindu University and Lucknow University speak volumes of the political rot intruding into these once-upon-a-time great educational institutions. Alas no longer! Political mafia holding sway in the university depart-ments, intruding right into the classrooms and hostels. Writ large the fact that (…)

by Binoy Viswam
These lines are being written on October 2 when Gandhiji and his teachings reverberate in the heart and soul of India. This year Gandhiji is ‘privileged’ to be showered with praises from certain unusual quarters. They are none other than the forces of the Sangh Parivar. Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS Sarsanghchalak, Narendra Modi, the Swayamsevak Prime Minister—all seem to be excited with their newly found adoration for Mahatma Gandhi. To set the ground prepared for the new (…)

by Ram Puniyani
The violence in Bheema Koregaon is still reverberating. We recall that on January 1, 2018, thousands of Dalits returning from Bheema Koregaon were beaten up. In that context the names of Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide cropped up as the instigators of violence. The probe is on. In the same context five activists— Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen and Sudhir Dhawale, working on issues related to Adivasis and Dalits—were arrested. Now in the month of (…)

by Alf Gunvald Nilsen
At the time of writing, India is headed for what is likely to be a fateful general election. Will the neoliberal and Hindu nationalist Modi regime secure another five years in office, or will they be ousted by the electorate in favour of an alternative, and most likely a Congress-led coalition government? What is in store for the Indian polity and Indian society if the BJP secures another win? And conversely, what strategic questions will a progressive (…)

Mohan Bhagwat made a laborious and futile attempt at cosmetics of the RSS at a lecture series intended “to reach out to a cross-section of the people” outside the ‘Sangh fraternity’.
“You need not believe all that I have said during the last three days,” was the only notable utterance the RSS chief (Sarsanghachalak) Mohan Bhagwat made in an address in Delhi on September 17-19 on the “Future of Bharat: An RSS Perspective”, with himself as the sole speaker.
The exercise turned out to be a (…)

At a recent meeting in Delhi a group of journalists, academics, former diplomats discussed the legacy of that great public figure and national leader, Atal Behari Vajpeyee. It was agreed that Vajpayee was a remarkable man of many parts—scholar, politician, national leader.
It all began in 1957, when, as a first-time MP Vajpayee made a brilliant speech in the Lok Sabha. So impressed was Prime Minister Nehru that he walked up to him, shook him by the hand, embraced him and said: ”Young man, (…)

The 2017 Prof M.L. Sondhi Prize for Inter-national Politics was awarded to the Inter-national Strategic and Security Studies (ISSSP), Bengaluru, and was received by its Director, Prof. Rajaram Nagappa at New Delhi’s India International Centre on October 5, 2018. Others present at the function were Trustees of the M.L. Sondhi Memorial Trust Madhuri Santanam Sondhi, Vivekananda L. Sondhi and Lalit Mansingh, and scientist Dr V. Siddhartha, who gave the Citation.
Prof Sondhi’s interest and (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
While there is no doubt a lot on which to attack those in authority for their dereliction in running an orderly system of governance, one has to ask at the same time why there has been such an appalling deterioration in social conscience in most of our public activity. In other words, the corrosion of values in public life is not confined to Ministers and top bureaucrats, but has become all-pervasive, the pollution of morals seem to choke out public service.
If we (…)

by G.K. Goswami and Aditi Goswami
Introduction
The recent decriminalising of homosexuality by the Supreme Court of India is a milestone on the bumpy road to recognise and strengthen the rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders (LGBT).1 The recognition of the third gender by the Indian Apex Court was a paradigm shift for fortification of the LGBT rights in India.2 The Puttaswamy case3 laid the foundation stone for legalising homosexuality since holding privacy as a fundamental (…)

EDITORIAL
Mahatma Gandhi’s 149th birth anniversary was observed this week on October 2, 2018. That was the day when the country decided to launch the year- long celebrations marking Gandhiji’s 150th birth anniversary. [Of course, with the people of India groaning under both political and economic burdens of unprecedented magnitude none other than the revered Bapu, had he been alive, would have certainly lashed out at those organising such ‘celebrations’.]
October 2, 2018 also found the (…)