2022

by Dr. Nagender Madavaram *
Recently held Assembly Elections exposed the fragility of Indian democracy as well as obsolete strategies of opposition parties. There are serious concerns about the functioning of Election Commission of India (ECI). The way it declared seven-phase election schedule in Uttar Pradesh (UP) raised apprehensions about its independence and impartiality. It seems, ECI scheduled the elections to accommodate calendar of BJP star campaigners. BJP formed alliance with (…)

“Whoever contravenes the provisions of section 3 in respect of a minor or a person of unsound mind or a woman or a person belonging to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than 4 years” (Karnataka’s Bill, p.2, emphasis added).
This quote from Karnataka’s anti-conversion bill, ironically named “The Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill” (passed on December 23, 2021, but still awaiting final approval by the (…)

This is like to be part of a wider trend
Recent reports indicate increasing problems in the implementation of MG-NREGA in Himachal Pradesh, the most disturbing aspect being the long delays in the payments of workers.
A front page, top news report in a leading newspaper of this region Amar Ujala stated on April 28, “ in most gram panchayats of Himachal Pradesh daily wage payments of thousands of workers have been held up while development works worth crores of Rs. have also been held up. (…)

by Asiya Islam *
Abstract
Drawing on the narratives of young lower-middle-class women employed in cafés, call centers, shopping malls, and offices in Delhi, India, in this paper I identify malleability or “plasticity” of the body as an important feature of contemporary service work. As neophyte service professionals, young women mold themselves to the middle-/upper-class milieu of their workplaces through clothes, makeup, and body language. Such body plasticity can be experienced as (…)

by Tarun Kumar Basu *
May Day and 75 years of Indian independence - What stops us to end slavery
A boy of below 17 years was brought from a remote village of Uttar Pradesh to Delhi with the promise of a decent job at a manufacturing unit with a monthly salary of Rs 17,000. He got a job at a cooler pump-making factory in Bawana Industrial Area. There he was made to work for hours for just Rs 50-100 per day. He (…)

by Bhabani Shankar Nayak *
The Westphalian capitalism and all its structures, agencies and mouthpieces have promised a world without poverty, inequalities and instabilities. The neoliberal variant of the Westphalian ideology has promised a world of prosperity, stability, peace, social and economic inclusion; the trickle-down effect. Reform not revolution was the fundamental principle on which Westphalian state managed to accommodation the aspirations of people within a dysfunctional (…)

Is Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal complicit or rather a partner in Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s declared scheme to make Congress-mukt Bharat (rid India completely of the Congress party)?
So it appears and the collaboration between Amit Shah and Kejriwal maybe unstated but not irreproachable. Till the last round of elections, when Kejriwal fielded his party candidates in all the five states going to polls earlier this year, what with presumably (…)

by Murzban Jal
The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children. —Henrick Ibsen, Ghosts.
As long as I am Prime Minister I will not allow these communists to dictate our foreign policy.—Manmohan Singh, as quoted in Sanjay Baru, The Accidental Prime Minister.
Dear Mrs. Gandhi,
I am writing this letter to you because one hears from various quarters that the Congress party, the good old, Grand Old Party of India (GOP,) is suffering from an existential crisis. Yes, there is a (…)

I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved (B.R. Ambedkar)
To commemorate 131st Ambedkar Jayanti [birthanniversary] on 14 April, this time several programmes and memorial meetings were organized by the political parties belonging to Left, Right, Secular and Social Justice Parties. Besides, this time Phule-Ambedkar Jayanti was celebrated together with much compassion and commitment across India including on social media platforms. Despite the (…)

This interview explores the insights related to Shishir Jha’s recently released docudrama film Tortoise Under the Earth (Dharti Latar Re Horo) which is based in Adivasi area of Jharkhand state and exposes the issue faces by the Santhal- the largest tribe in the state. The film focuses on the exploitation of the tribals in Jharkhand since the 80s after the government along with private companies discovered minerals and uranium. Adivasi songs, which have been performed on various occasions, (…)