2021

[ April 24, 2021]
The greatest lesson from the Covid challenge of the past year and more is that the lifestyle that has been promoted worldwide during the colonial epoch and continued in the post-colonial years and accentuated during the neo-liberal era since the 1990s has made the entire humankind vulnerable to much suffering, poorer sections more so, not only in normal times, but also in times of health crises. The Bandung community had not only challenged political (…)

Left forces have generally been a source of hope and justice, but at certain junctures of history and in certain places these have also been a source of despair and injustice. Human beings are at a critical stage of their history, and we need the cooperation and help of all forces who can contribute to creating a better and safer world. To help them in contributing to this with more certainty and capability and also to increase their own strength and resilience, left forces in various (…)

by Pramod Ranjan *
Even as I write these lines in the last week of April 2021, many cities and towns across various states in India have been locked down again. This is the second wave of lockdowns though the first lockdown had never actually ended. A range of restrictions have been put in place in almost all parts of the country. Inter-state travel has come to a virtual standstill. Only a few Covid-special trains are operating. Crores of the poor have lost their livelihoods even as the (…)

by Atanu Sengupta and Asish Kumar Pal *
“Kintu ebaro akasmat Anander nrityo theme gelo. Aguner aro nikote se thomke daralo. Agun taar matha chariye aro uchute utheche, Anandokeo mone hochhe aguner shikha.
Herombo nischal hoye takiyeroilo. Kichukorar nei. Anando onek age mara geche. Shuduchitayothbarshokti tukui tarbojai chilo.” —Last stanza of Diba-Ratrir Kabya by Manik Bandhopadhyay (1935)
("But Ananda’s dance stopped. She stepped closer to the fire. Fire has risen over her head. She (…)

In February end I went to a meeting at India’s premier Centre wearing two masks. I noticed that unfortunately very few present were wearing masks and there was no social distancing as well. I asked the organizer - a well known academic - to make an announcement, requesting the people to wear masks which he did. Unfortunately, some complied and some did not. Certainly not the man standing next to me whose photograph I clicked and who turned out to be a journalist and a leading author. (…)

[1] Play
Mask-Up The Right Way: Double Masking | FYI by NDTV https://youtu.be/CDmWjyvOmWA
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[2] Recommended readings:
Home care for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and management of their contacts - WHO https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/home-care-for-patients-with-suspected-novel-coronavirus-(ncov)-infection-presenting-with-mild-symptoms-and-management-of-contacts
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Home care for health workers and (…)

April 6, 2021
“What is your full name?” This question – when asked of an Indian – is often intended to determine the respondent’s caste. In a society where rigid hierarchies run deep, the answer to an innocuous question can hold the key to many doors – especially when it comes to employment.
Naming conventions in India are marked by explicit connotations of caste lineage and at times, even the intricate details of subcategories within a caste group too. Today, names are typically (…)

by Nisha Mishra*
“We need government servants with commitments to the development of the country and personal involvement in the tasks.” — Indira Gandhi
The civil services, the administrative apparatus of the state and the architecture of governance are seen as instruments to actualize the vision into reality. India inherited an extensive and well-defined administrative set up from the British (popularly known as ‘steel frame’) but the challenge to change its spirit and outlook, attitude (…)

by Badre Alam Khan*
“Until 1990, Ambedkar was untouchable to all mainstream political parties’’ -Prof. Kancha Ilaiah
On the auspicious occasion of the 130th birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar (celebrated as the Ambedkar Jayanti on14th Aprilevery year), most of the parties irrespective of ideological standpoints (such as Left, Right, Centre and Ambedkarites) are busy in paying tribute to him. The last week has been celebrated as the Ambedkar-Phule Jayanti Saftah by progressive and (…)

by Arpita Giri*
Despite the phenomenal impact it had in transforming the lives of women and his contribution to the contemporary feminist movement, Dr Ambedkar’s thoughts remain marginalized and unacknowledged in the feminist discourse. As a visionary of social justice, and believer in an egalitarian society, Dr Ambedkar was a firm believer in women’s social, political and economic equality. His writings, speeches and work, by identifying the interlinkages between caste and gender (…)