November 8, 2008

At the fag end of his life Rabindranath Tagore delivered the now famous ’’Crisis in Civilisation’’ speech on his last birthday in May 1941. In the midst of World War II, the poet observed therein:
As I look around I see the crumbling ruins of a proud civilisation strewn like a vast heap of futility. And yet I shall not commit the grievous sin of losing faith in Man. I would rather look forward to the opening of a new chapter in his history after the cataclysm is over and the atmosphere (…)

Barack Obama’s victory in the US presidential election spells not only a major win for him, his party, his supporters but symbolises the dawn of a new era for the US Government, the Americans and the entire world. Long, endless lines of voters from early hours on November 4 by themselves signalled that a majority of the Americans viewed this election as a major battle, one and perhaps the only opportunity the majority have to mark their stand on their country’s political destiny. They did (…)

The election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States marks a welcome turning-point in American history and real progress in a society where a Black could have been sold literally as a slave just 140 years ago, and where s/he couldn’t even vote just 40 years ago.
It restores one’s faith in the possibility of genuine change for the better, or greater inclusive-ness and growing respect for diversity and pluralism in a relatively conservative society. (…)

Mr Chairman,
Distinguished Elders,
Excellencies,
Dear Friends
Bharat ki yatra par âna, meré liyé ek sapné ka poora hona hé. Meré mann mai Mahatma Gandhi aur Rabindranath Tagore ké liyé aapaar shraddha aur sam-mân ki bha van hé. Mujhe yahaa âkar bahoot khushi ho rahi hé.
In this international year of languages, it is indeed a pleasurable duty to great you in an Indian language, even at a risk of hurting your ears.
¨
Allow me to thank the India International Centre (…)

Turkmenistan knows better than any other country that predators will go to any extent to take away its valuable possessions. Five successive empires—Scythian, Parthian, Ywati, Hun and Turkmen—invaded the area to locate the “Akhal” oasis nestled in the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains in southern Turkmenistan, and laid waste everything that came across their way until they could take away the treasured Akhal-Teke horses as spoils of war.
The ancient race of Akhal-Teke horses, (…)

The following article reached us on October 27. The authors wrote in a covering note: “We are with the Jamia Millia Islamia. We are sending an article in the wake of Arif Muhammad Khan’s piece which appeared in The Indian Express. Our article was not published by the daily. Now we are sending it to you. We think it should be published to counter Arif Muhammad Khan, now a BJP leader, who is not at all concerned with the
Muslims’ development.”
The fight against conservative elements (…)

[(DOCUMENT)]
“Discussions with Prof Amit Bhaduri regarding his concept of “Development with Dignity” led some of us to think that the alternative path of development he was trying to chart could present before the resistance movement against the current onslaught of the big corporations a current programme of action which would also be relevant to the greater task of social transformation. A draft of such a programme of action is being hereby circulated for discussion.”
—Meher (…)

[(COMMUNICATION)]
As if Israeli Army Chief Major General Avi Mizrahi’s visit to India, in these trouble times, is not provocative enough, the Indian adminis-tration has allowed him to visit the inflamed State of Jammu and Kashmir, to put oil on raging fire. If the signal is being given that Kashmiris should prepare themselves for a fate that befelt Palestinians, as the Indian adminis-tration is determined to hand over the dirty job of ‘pacification’ to an outside power, it only shows the (…)

[(Remembering October Revolution on its 91st Anniversary
Seventh November this year marks the 91st anniversary of the historic October Revolution. Although the politico-economic situation in Russia has undergone a sea-change since 1991, the worldwide significance of the Russian Revolution of 1917 has not waned in the least; on the contrary its importance has been heightened in the light of the latest international events capped by the global financial meltdown that has shaken the world (…)

Sixtyone years have passed since the November Revolution, “the ten days that shook the world”—in the American eye-witness John Reed’s memorable words—almost in literal fulfillment of the prophecy in the International hymn—-
The world will shake to its foundations
And we who are nothing shall be all!
Students of history will recall the exhilaration of the English radical, Charls Jams Fox, when he learnt of the fall of the Bastille (July 14, 1789) in Paris after assault by (…)