2022

by Cathal Larkin
An introduction to Michel Foucault’s concept of Power
Michel Foucault is a philosopher whose politics everybody seems to have a differing opinion on. He has been called a disguised Marxist, both a secret and explicit anti-Marxist, a nihilist, a new conservative, a new liberal, a neutral interpretivist, a crypto-normativist, a principled anarchist as well as a dangerous left-wing one, and even a Gaullist technocrat. An American professor complained that an obvious KGB (…)

* Public Sector in India Faces a Three-Sided Assault | Arun Kumar
* The Lamp | S.G.Vombatkere
* RSS is in a bind over Dalits shiting loyalty | Arun Srivastava
* Veil is anti-Quran | S. Faizi
* Telangana Rastra Samiti & Political Dynamics in Telangana | Karli Srinivasulu

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, January 22, 2022
This coming January 26 will mark the 73rd anniversary of India’s Republic Day. This is a day of great significance when our newly independent country adopted its new constitution. Since the 1950s a republic day parade is held in the national capital; It has been a stately event of pomp and show with a military parade and also with tableau’s representing different regions and a diverse cultural heritage of India. This year there has been a (…)

Paper Written for the AITUC Conference in Hyderabad, January 15, 2022.
The government is accelerating the process of privatizing the public sector under one pretext or the other. This process was set in motion in 1991 with the new economic policies (NEP) but now using the excuse of dealing with the pandemic and sensing that the opposition is subdued since protest is not easy, the government has speeded up the process. It is talking of disinvestment, monetization of assets and strategic (…)

Our PM has spoken. To quote him: "We have to light the lamp of responsibilities and obligation inside the heart of every citizen of the country. Then only the country will reach new heights", and “... society should stand on the foundations of equality and social justice”.
To put it in context, PM also reportedly spoke words to the effect that, in the last 75 years since Independence, we have only talked about our rights, and wasted time in struggling and fighting for our rights, but that (…)

by D Raja *
We have entered the 72nd year of our Constitution’s coming into force declaring India a Sovereign Democratic Republic. This is also the 75th year of gaining independence from the British colonialism. The government of the day is observing it as ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The celebrations are already mired in controversy as the ruling regime is trying to further its communal agenda by falsifying and distorting history.
The RSS and its outfits, which had no role in the freedom (…)

As Muslims are facing increased threat in several countries, like the unending public lynching and the recent open call for genocide by the Hindutwa militia in India, some sections of them are shrinking into their shells. Hijab or veil is one expression of this shrinking phenomena. This uniform, often black, lose covering over one’s dress, known as purdah in south Asia and hijab or abaya in west Asia, has been spreading fast among Muslim women in the recent years. Even in places like Kerala- (…)

With the national BJP leadership looking towards the south for political support and the resultant active mode the state BJP demonstrating itself to be in through its aggressive mobilization we find the prospect of sufficient political heat in the state of Telangana. With the position of the BJP becoming precarious in the north in the aftermath of the farmers movement there seems to a strategy of sorts to focus on the south. The BJP has been successful so far only in Karnataka to consolidate (…)

IMPRESSIONS
A remarkable anthology has come out. It is misleadingly titled as "Two hundred years of English prose." The main title of the book is just as erroneous: "The Book of Indian Essays."
This book is more than just "English prose" and "Indian essays." It is an assertive history of India, outlined by some of the best thinkers of our time — from Aubrey Menen and G. V. Desani to Santha Rama Rau and Nissim Ezekiel. A statement in the blurb puts it in perspective: "A (…)

MUSINGS
19 January 2022
Earlier this week, Delhi-based Khudai Khidmatgars concluded their five days fast against the ongoing climate of hate and violence. Activists detailed that Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter, 87 year old Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, carried with her home-cooked khichdi and kheer and also offered them fruit juice to end their fast. “She’d emotionally recalled Mahatma Gandhi last fast and said every day she used to reach Birla Bhavan directly from school...she said that (…)