2022

(1) Internal discord in the party has intensified after Congress’s dismal performance in the five assembly elections held in February-March 2022. Political pundits, leaders of other parties and politically aware citizens are questioning the role of the Congress for future politics. Among those who put in question there are many people who have reasonable expectations from the Congress as an all-India political party. The two issues - internal discord and the role of the Congress in future (…)

IMPRESSIONS
There was Nehru’s India and then there was Vajpayee’s India and now there is Modi’s India. Same soil, but three different countries as it were. It is useful to keep this transformatory evolution in mind as we struggle to cope with changing notions of patriotism in our country. What Modi’s India expects from a patriot is different from what Nehru’s India’s expected.
Nehru’s India had two main characteristics. One, it promoted big-scale nation-building projects, an example (…)

There has been a great surge of united actions by tribal communities against the Par-Tapi-Narmada River Link Project following which the central government and the Gujarat state government have suspended the project for the time-being. Apart from protests by tribal communities, the fact that the Congress party has extended its support to the opposition of this river-link project and that assembly elections are due in the near future must have also weighed with the governments while (…)

MUSINGS
13 April 2022
Like mute spectators we are helplessly witnessing the hounding of the Muslim community in the country. To compound the horrific communal targeting is the grim fact that only a handful of strong voices of condemnation. Tell me, where are we heading? It gets distressing to see an entire minority community attacked and assaulted and rendered so very helpless on all accounts.
Last week, where were all the women and men of our country to ask for the immediate arrest (…)

Sir, – As writers, we are appealing to everyone who speaks the Russian language. To people of all nationalities. To those who are native speakers. To those for whom Russian is their second or third language.
Today the Russian language is being used by the Russian state to ignite hatred and justify the shameful war against Ukraine. In Russian, the official media keep repeating endless lies that are creating a smoke screen around this aggression.
Russian people have been fed lies for many (…)

by P. S. Jayaramu *
14th April 2022
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has entered the 50th day. It is worth reflecting on how the conflict is going on, Putin’s war (and the larger) aims, the manner in which it is being interpreted by the West, specially the United States, its implications for world order in general and the prospects for peace in Ukraine in particular.
Let me first turn to Vladimir Putin’s war aims. When the invasion started, it was argued by the western leaders and (…)

by Hiranmoy Roy and Anil Kumar*
4th April 2022
In the backdrop Indian energy sector focus in the Union Budget 2022 and changing dynamics of energy sector due to current Ukraine crisis, it is imperative now to analyse the positive impact of Union Budget announcements and negative impacts of Ukraine crisis on the Indian energy sector to gauge the re-balancing of energy market, changing energy mix and energy security of India in the context of global disruption of oil and gas supply from (…)

by Rahul Mukherji and Beena Sarwar
April 7 2022
Two little boys, one in Islamabad and one in Kolkatta, raise #WhiteCards for each other in a symbolic gesture that also supports sports for peace
On 6 April 2022, an 11-year old boy in Islamabad and 8-year old in Kolkata raised White Cards to each other, in support of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
In doing so, Arman in Pakistan and Riaan in India were not just making a gesture of peace and friendship towards (…)

The acculturation and acquisition of many aesthetic sensibilities by Hindus and Muslims alike, giving way to a joint Hindu-Muslim syncretism in the Indian subcontinent since ages, has been one of the most significant forays of the Indian cultural aggregation. Starting with Amir Khusrau (1253-1325); Malik Mohammad Jaisi (b. 1498), Raskhan (1533-1618), Abdur Rahim Khan-e Khana (1556-1627), among a galaxy of other men and women; they expressed their love and devotion for Hindu gods and (…)

Reviewed by Samita Sen
__0__ An Empire of Touch: Women’s Political Labor and the Fabrication of East Bengal.
by Poulomi Saha
New York: Columbia University Press Gender and Culture Series 2019 | Illustrations. 344 pp. $65.00 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-231-19208-8. __0__
The book under review, An Empire of Touch by Poulomi Saha, is organized around three parts. The first part is thematic, what Saha terms a "fabric genealogy," a running thread of textiles, starting with the now-extinct dhakai (…)