2019

Go, fetch water from the river!’
She commanded,
But you resolutely rowed the ferry
Further downstream.
The pot balanced carefully on your head
You returned, to your mother in-law screaming,
Accusing you of infidelity;
Then she hit you with a stick.
The pot broke,
The weeping waters fell to your feet,
Turning riverwards;
But your poetry is where the water
Still flows, Lal Ded.
Naked, you wandered,
Searching and searching,
Discarding all codes;
While we armed (…)

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK
As these lines are being written, India-Pakistan relations are deteriorating fast and a war-like situation has developed. The shooting down of an F-16 Pakistani aircraft by India and the downing of a Mirage 21 aircraft by Pakistan and capturing its pilot has greatly escalated tensions between the two neighbouring countries.
The nationwide euphoria following the successful attack of the Indian Air Force on the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the demolition of its training camps in (…)

by Fatima Bhutto
Pakistan and India, two nuclear armed states, have fought many wars since our partition in 1947. Our militaries have faced off in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. Between those wars, there have been numerous skirmishes, cross-border strikes and accusations of covert support for terrorism.
I have never seen my country at peace with its neighbour. But never before have I seen a war played out between two nuclear-armed states with Twitter accounts. On February 14, a suicide (…)

The following is the Joint Statement by the National Committees of the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy of India and Pakistan issued on February 26, 2019 from Lahore and New Delhi (also Mumbai, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Jammu, Bhubaneshwar and Srinagar).
We, the members of Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), from India and Pakistan, note with seriousness and strongly condemn the claims of the Indian Government of air (…)

Widespread violence has broken out in the quiet North-Eastern State of Arunachal Pradesh bordering China in the last few days. The objection of the Arunachalis is the Centre’s step to grant Permanent Resident Certificates (PRC) to six communities in Arunachal which are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. These tribes are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis, Mishing and Gorkhas.. Already, two persons have died in police firing. The Deputy Chief Minister’s residence (…)

by Ram Puniyani
The suicidal terrorist, Adil Ahmad Dar, rammed his explosive laden car into two trucks of a CRPF convoy on February 14, 2019. The blast led to the brutal murder of 44 jawans, a big national tragedy, most heinous and condemnable. In terms of scale and casualties, it exceeds even the Uri attack of September 18, 2016, in which four heavily armed terrorists targeted an Army brigade headquarters, killing 19 soldiers. The Pulwama attack is even more serious than the car-bombing (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
A situation of unprecedented confusion synchronising with the onset of serious crisis for the entire constitutional structure of the Indian state presents before the nation today.
On the one side is the outright challenge of the BJP, the most aggressive of political parties, threatening to defy the entire administration in a manner never seen before; and on the other, the ruling party at the Centre presents a picture of utter disunity with factions not only (…)

MUSINGS
This entire week I have been sitting and recollecting those words and phrases from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lengthy speeches where he had spoken of kashmiriyat,insaniyat, jamhooriyat, in the context of the Kashmir crisis. Not to forget his assurances; that he and his government would reach out to the Kashmiris.
I wonder what happened to those promises and assurances, when last week hundreds of the young and even the not-so-young Muslim Kashmiris were targeted in (…)

by Suranjita Ray
The political narrative of the Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) that promised to double the farmers’ income by 2022-23 has raised serious qualms not only because the real income of the farmers has remained stagnant during the last few years but also due to the farmers’ increasing distress across the country. The democratic upsurge of farmers’ movements has not only exposed the flaws in the agrarian policies of ineffective procurement, obstinate trade, restrictive marketing, and (…)

by L.K. Sharma
The Science Congress and Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), held in India every January, attract Nobel Laureates and inspire youngsters to dream. The Science Congress is inaugurated by the Prime Minister, a tradition started by Jawaharlal Nehru, who ensured that India’s Constitution included a reference to “scientific temper”. Tje JLF invariably invites the State Governor or the Chief Minister which guarantees official support.
The two prestigious events are divided by the (…)