2022

The politics in the country was not as divisive and toxic in the sixties, when I was a child in Dehradun, as it is now. Urdu, for we siblings, was a secular language and not associated with a community or religion. Could be because, being rooted firmly in Uttar Pradesh for generations, we were spared the horrors of partition.
Our father would write his notes and his shopping lists in Urdu only though he knew English and Hindi quite well. His Urdu jottings were beyond us. Father, born in a (…)

MUSINGS
5 January 2022
Its just too horrifying and sickening to see the Hindutva politics of hate has reached this level of the unthinkable lows. Manufacturing of websites to put up photographs of Muslim women…hitting a community that already stands shattered. New onslaughts, official or unofficial, targeting Muslim women, children and youth.
Facts to the Muslim community are out there in the open. Documented in the reports of the Sachar Committee, Gopal Singh Committee, Kundu (…)

Hate crimes against minority communities have become an organic part of our polity after the BJP came to power at the Centre and in different states.
Very recently, PUCL, Karnataka, has documented 39 incidents of hate crimes against the Christians in the State in its Report — Criminalising the Practice of Faith (December 2021). The crimes took place in the time span of January to November 2021.
In most cases, the Christians have been forced to shut down their places of worship and stop (…)

by R.G.Gidadhubli *
The former Soviet Union, the second Super Power in the world legally ceased to exist on the 31st December 1991, even as the Soviet flag was brought down in Kremlin in Moscow on the 25th December 1991. While 30 years have passed and the disintegration of the USSR has become a part of history, it is relevant and worth examining as to why and how disintegration took place. From my perspective, there were external and internal factors that played significant role that led (…)

Unesco recently declared Kolkata’s Durga puja to be an intangible heritage of humanity; something to be cherished, celebrated and preserved forever. However, at the same time we have received the news of the closure of the Films Division, National Film Archive and the Children’s Films’ Society of India – as we know them - and their possible amalgamation into the NFDC – National Films Development Corporation. This news has been received as a shot of horror by the film-makers’ community and (…)

Introduction
November 26, 2021 marked the birth centenary of Dr. Verghese Kurien, the legendary ‘Milkman of India’, who catapulted India to be the world’s largest milk producer. Dr. Kurien, the architect of India’s White Revolution once said that “India’s place in the Sun will come from the partnership between wisdom of its rural people and skills of its professionals.” Then on another occasion Dr. Kurien said “India needs to show an honest face, a kind face, a human face - and not an (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Blinkers Off: How Will the World Counter China
by Gaurie Dwivedi
Pentagon Press ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9390095417 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9390095414 Pages: 239 Price: Rs 795
Gaurie Dwivedi, an economist by training and a journalist by profession, has undoubtedly written one of the most important books on today’s China, a China which inspires less awe but more fear, a China which is trying to dominate the world hook or by crook, a China which bullies others much the way old-time (…)

PRESS STATEMENT:
02 January 2022
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA’S DECISION TO RESTRICT FLOW OF FOREIGN FUNDS AFFECTS CRUCIAL HUMANITARIAN WORK IN THE COUNTRY: OXFAM INDIA
The Government of India’s decision to refuse renewal of Oxfam India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration will severely affect the organisation’s ongoing crucial humanitarian and social work in 16 states across the country. This includes setting up of oxygen plants, providing lifesaving medical and diagnostic (…)

Joint Memorandum from Women’s Organisations to President Date: January 3, 2022 To, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of India. Ensure severe punishment for public incitement for sexual abuse of Muslim women
Respected Sir,
We have unfortunately witnessed the most disgusting display of brazen misogyny for the second time in less than a year. Earlier in July, 2021, an app called ‘Sulli Deals’ was shared on social media which purported to ‘auction’ prominent (…)

This is the story of Ganpat Singh from Pakistan’s Sodha Rajput community of less than half a million. Like him, each member of this community has matrimonial linkages across the border in neighbouring Rajasthan, India. This is the only way they can keep their community alive, as they are barred from marrying within their own ‘gotra’. A special dispensation over a decade ago provided them relief with six-month visa extensions – but now those who apply for such extensions are being (…)