2025

On March 11, 2025, the people of Odisha witnessed a historic low in the Odisha State Legislative Assembly, where ruling party BJP Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) attacked opposition party members inside the house, which is considered the temple of democracy. The ruckus was not accidental; it was a result of the criminalisation of politics in the state. In Odisha, more than fifty percent of the MLA candidates contesting in the 2024 elections had criminal records. Among the winning (…)

(Ankita, a young girl who was killed while employed in a hotel run by a BJP leader’s close relative in Dehradun. for more information on the Ankita Bhandari Murder case see this report)
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The recent decision to include High Court judges under the Lokpal

I write this with a heavy heart. In less than a year, I have helplessly witnessed the painful closure of two non-profit organisations close to my heart. One was my former employer, and another was where I came as a researcher but left as one of their own. The first was one among many casualties of the FCRA attack, the other of a donor

This article reflects my thoughts on education in rural India after completing my course in Sociology of Education and doing a short one-month fieldwork in a Rishi Valley Rural Education Centre, Andhra Pradesh (The school is run by Krishnamurti Foundation India) during my MA program.
What should be the aim of education? Do textbooks and exams help children? Think about your school days. Were you ever hesitant to go to school, only to be sent by your parents anyway? If you reflect on it, (…)

After reading the 512 page book titled "Rajnarayan is not a name but history" edited by my Lucknow friend Shahnawaz Ahmad Qadri, I am writing this article as a self-confession and to review the book. Although Shahnawaz ji had been urging me for a long time to write something on Rajnarayan ji. But whatever I had heard about Rajnarayan ji from the leaders of the Praja Socialist Party of Maharashtra since childhood, he was nothing more than a ridiculous person. But after reading this book, I (…)

COMMUNIST parties in India are quibbling over the characteristics of fascism, wondering if Antonio Gramsci

March 10, 2025
Undoubtedly, dealing with the United States under Trump 2.0 is the biggest challenge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces. Though it has been widely reported and perhaps believed that Modi enjoys a special personal relationship with the US President Donald Trump, it must be recognised that dealing with Trump in his second Presidency is a very formidable task for Modi and External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. There are multiple reasons for it. Firstly, (…)

In the 2021 James Bond film No Time to Die, the protagonist sacrifices himself and saves the world. The film, however, ends with a familiar swagger: "James Bond will return." Donald Trump promises no such sacrifice but is hell-bent on destroying America

15 January 2025
How democratic will the National People