2019

by Ram Puniyani
Currently there are celebrations in sections of the Indian society and there is a pall of gloom in Kashmir. On Tuesday, August 5 (2019), by a Presidential order Article 370 has been revoked alongwith Article 35 A. Interestingly, the citizens of Kashmir, the traders of Kashmir scattered in different parts of the country are under immense tension about the well-being of their families back home. The celebrations are running parallel among the people who think that Articles (…)

by Prem Singh
As per the decision the present day government took in Parliament on August 5, 2019, the special status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, accorded under Article 370 of the Constitution of India, has ended. Article 35A has also ceased to exist. Consequently, Jammu and Kashmir will no longer be even a full-fledged State. The entire area has been divided into two Union Territories—Jammu and Kashmir (with Assembly) and Ladakh (without Assembly).
The government, which cut off (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
August Fifteenth, the day when the Tricolour of independent India was hoisted on the ramparts of the Red Fort thirty seven years ago, not only brings back the imperishable memories of the nation’s freedom struggle in which millions upon millions participated but also reminds us of the pledges unredeemed and the commitments unfulfilled.
In the four decades since independence, the nation has been unified as the mosaic of petty princedoms disappeared; the economy has (…)

by Rahul Pandey and Sandeep Pandey
In a single stroke of decisions, the Indian Government has revoked Articles 370 and 35A, bifurcated J&K into J&K and Ladakh, and reduced their status to Union Territories. While there are questions about the legal soundness of these decisions, their moral illegitimacy lies in the fact that none of the stakeholders in J&K have been consulted—the native people of J&K (both current residents and those who have migrated out in the past (…)

by Partha S. Ghosh
One thing is virtually missing in the entire discourse on Narendra Modi’s latest Kashmir blitzkrieg. Commentators are discussing its legal, historical and international aspects but not many are paying enough attention to its implications for India’s federalism. Ever since Modi has assumed power there is a clear trend towards centralisation of the Indian polity which furthers the RSS’ Hindutva strategy without appearing to be so.
What does the RSS want to see India as? (…)

On April 3, 1941 Subhas Chandra Bose, all of a sudden, arrived in Berlin from Afghanistan via the Soviet Union disguised as Signor Orlando Mazzotta, an Italian diplomat. His purpose of visit was the same as in his three earlier trips to Germany from Austria between 1933-36.1 Bose then had wanted to be an ally of Germany in her possible war against Britain with the aim of freeing India from British rule. He experienced nothing but disappointment and frustration on those earlier visits. At the (…)

What lovely streets, clean As a whistle. And shopfronts safe with padlocks, Unhassled by hangers-on. Schools and colleges grand In their uninhabited architecture. And hospitals never as sparse Of patient and infection, and Medical Stores with no need replenishments In view of such preponderant good health. After centuries of noise, the town Experiences a peace that passeth Understanding. Never had dogs and security guards Such free run, safe from human intervention.
For years we sought to (…)

This article was written before August 5, 2019 when the Government of India changed the political complexion of J&K through a highly controversial operation.
So the UAPA has been amended. The Union Government has armed itself with the power to designate any person—which means any Indian citizen—as a ‘terrorist’ without following what is called “the due process of law”. Earlier, the RTI Act was amended so that the citizenry’s right to get information embarrassing and damaging to the (…)

Secularism is under serious threat today, as the ruling dispensation’s narrative of the concept is totally different from what our national leaders of the freedom struggle had professed and taught us. The Hindutvavadis proclaim that secularism means appeasement of minorities, mainly Muslims, and denial of their much-hyped Hindu identity and Hindu Rashtra. They with all their affiliates spread their own narrative of a Hindu society mounted on an anti-Hindu state and try to convince ordinary (…)

by Suranjita Ray
Though starvation deaths in 2019 seem incongruous in a country which claims to have conquered hunger, we come across reported experiences of such tragedies. This compels us to not only contest the claims of the State, but also to be concerned about the persisting paradoxes of hunger and starvation despite stuffed granaries and several social security measures. On July 8, Goutam Behera, a 17-year physically challenged youth, died after starving for five days in Nuapada (…)