2021

reviewed by Gabriele Dietrich
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FRACTURED FREEDOM
A Prison Memoir
Kobad Gandhy
Roli Books
(Address: Roli Books Pvt Ltd, M-75, Greater Kailash II, Market, New Delhi - 110048)
2021
316 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8194969166
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8194969167
Available in Hardcover and in Kindle editions
Available here
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This is indeed a story of passion, commitment, and a search for justice and freedom. It is the narrative of the building up of engagement and empathy, (…)

BOOK REVIEW
by Avijit Pathak
__0__ Social Scientist in South Asia:
Personal Narratives, Social Forces and Negotiations
Achla Pritam Tandon, Gopi Devdutt Tripathy and Rashi Bhargava (eds.)
Routledge India
2021 - 274 Pages
ISBN 9781032045924
more information
Available on Taylor & Francis eBooks
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As a humble student, I have never felt comfortable with what I regard as soulless academic enterprise. And I loathe the fetish of ‘objectivity’—the ‘science’ that seeks (…)

BOOK REVIEW
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India and the Silk Roads: The History of a Trading World
by Jagjeet Lally
HarperCollins India
Pages: 415
ISBN-13: 978-0197581070 ISBN-10: 0197581072
Available here
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It was probably because of Chinese influence that they came to be known as the Silk Roads. But this was misleading because a number of commodities moved in a number of directions in the bygone era, not just silk, playing a major role in the Asian economy. London-based academic Jagjeet (…)

by JVS Murthy*
Among the struggles going on all over the world, the Peasants Struggle in India has a distinction of its own. Though the farmers are fighting for their rights since a long time, it is only last year that it has attracted national and international attention. It is a popular perception that it is only the working-class that had lead most of the great revolutionary movements, and peasantry played only a supportive role. But history tells us that one single section of the (…)

India’s ancient culture is deeply embedded in spiritual values and cherishes humanistic values such as non-violence, truth, compassion, sharing and service to fellow human beings. Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, India won freedom from British rule, on the strength of her ancient values of ahimsa and satya- non-violence and truth. One of the most ardent disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, who practiced his philosophy in letter and spirit was Vinoba Bhave. Leading an ascetic life of a sanyasi, (…)

by Tarun Kumar Basu Is Mamata Banerjee the face of a united opposition in 2024? The Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Bannerjee herself is not sure about the face of the opposition parties, despite her initiative to form a nationwide alliance against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Some of the national leaders, except BJP, have aired the name of TMC supremo as the leader of the opposition. The whiz has grown after a landslide (…)

by Arun Srivastava
The big brother of the Indian communist parties, the CPI(M), is in the process of reinventing its relevance and existence. While its Kerala unit has managed to maintain its identity by winning the assembly election and forming the government in the state, its Bengal unit is completely in disarray and groping in the bind.
It is said that the CPI(M) has become the victim of worst nature of personality clash between the Bengal Line and Kerala Line, the fact is the party (…)

MUSINGS 11 August, 2021
Hate and hatred-laced speeches and slogans have reached right up to New Delhi’s Sansad Marg. All out in the open. Last week-end several Hindutva communal brigades and their promoters and organizers reached right up to that significant central spot of this capital city and rendered anti-Muslim hate filled slogans and speeches. In fact, this was a repeat of what took place a week back at Delhi’s Dwarka locality where a Hajj House is coming up.
Such blatant (…)

Some of the most heartwarming memories of the recent Olympic Games for India will remain of sportspersons from humble backgrounds overcoming very heavy odds to perform very well at the biggest international sports event. Whether their hard work and perseverance resulted in medals or not, the great effort they put in won widespread admiration.
The most obvious example is that of the women’s hockey team of India which gave such a splendid performance and displayed such a spirit to fight (…)

by Beena Sarwar A Pakistani Hindu stuck in India with three children after his wife died in April is pleading with the authorities to let him return to before Independence Day, August 14.
“Mein TooT gaya huN - I am broken,” says Ajeet Kumar Nagdev, 41, speaking on phone in Urdu from Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh. His wife Rekha Kumari, 38, died on April 22, a day before the last Attari-Wagah border opening. “What can I do? The children break me, but I have to get up and keep going.” (…)