2019

Eighth March is a day for women across the world—not merely a day for celebration as is generally considered in the corporate sector, but a day to express solidarity with all the toiling and grassroots women, a day to protest against the discrimination and exploitation of women, a day to campaign for their rights for employment, livelihood, forest rights of adivasi women and, most importantly, for their security. However, this year in an ambience of violence, conflict, terrorism and (…)

COMMUNICATION
Several villages in the Kesarganj block of Bahraich district (Uttar Pradesh) and nearby areas are seriously threatened by effluents released in a nullah by a sugar factory. Villagers said that this nullah later merges into the Saryu river which flows towards Ayodhya and is considered a very sacred river.
The affected villages include Jhoparva, Itauwan, Lalpur, Jalalpur, Semripur, Parsonda and several other villages as well.
Villagers said that several of their farm and (…)

International scholars, including Noam Chomsky, James Petras, Angela Davis, Fredric Jameson, Bruno Latour, Ilan Pappe, Judith Butler amongst others, have signed a statement castigating the Modi-led government for creating an environment of fear through arrests, intimidation and violence. Under the aegis of Fresh Perspectives, USA, the academics from mostly the US and UK have expressed deep concern about the current environment in India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the “alarming (…)

by L.K. SHARMA
The following piece appeared in Open Democracy in October 2018. It is being reproduced, with due acknowledgement, as its contents have become highly topical at present.
“India led by you would never think of undoing the Partition. Your party depends on Pakistan for its existence.” A secret letter accessed by the author.
Dear Modiji,
Jai Sri Ram!
Since this letter is for your eyes only, I can greet you in the name of Lord Ram. This is called blasphemy in Pakistan.
I (…)

by Shubhra Seth and Govind Singh
Introduction
The feeling of returning home gives a sense of settlement and belongingness to many people. But how does one feel when the home does not give a sense of belonging and it is just a mere cemented structure or a tin box that one returns to every day, for the simple reason that, what was once upon a time their home, today no longer welcomes them. The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) live with this dilemma every day. Living in relief colonies (…)

Michel Foucault’s seminal lectures delivered in College De France (1977-78) were published with the title Security, Territory and Population. (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2007) While introducing the theme, Foucault argued: “...what is involved in this analysis of mechanisms of power is the politics of truth”. He observed in this connection: “There is an increasingly huge set of legislative measures, decrees, regulations, and circulars that permit the deployment of these mechanisms of (…)

If Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s televised address in the afternoon of February 19, breaking his silence on the fedayeen attack in Pulwama, is to be succinctly captured in a single pithy sentence, it is that he has thrown the gauntlet down at PM Narendra Modi.
The real political thrust of the speech lies in taunting, challenging and threatening Modi in turn. It is a call to political duel where Imran Khan is confident that he holds the advantage. Imran Khan failed to condemn the (…)

by Ava Sturm
Colonialist exploits have existed for centuries. Despite this, the awareness of the impacts of recent exploits have increased and their impacts continue with the globalised capitalistic system. This paper explores the spiritual roots of the Christian capitalistic colonial exploits which have provided the foundation for the knowledge system under which these systems have been perpetuated, and the subsequent spiritual disenfranchisement experienced by indigenous peoples of both (…)

TRIBUTE
by Prem Singh
Professor Namvar Singh is no more. After battling with a prolonged illness, he drew his last breath on February 19 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. In the tributes which immediately followed his demise, it was rightly noted that his death has brought an era to an end. His absence has generated an irreplaceable void in the literary world from which it will never recover. Namvar Singh was a tall figure in the world of Hindi literature and it (…)

by Sudhakar Vaddi
As far as the Korean Peninsula is concerned, one can declare war overnight but can’t declare peace and it can only be built through the gradual process of mutual trust among the parties. The second summit at Hanoi (Vietnam) on February 28, 2019 between the United States (US) and North Korea [officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)] not surprisingly falls under this category. At the summit, though US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim (…)