Urdu and patriotism
BY: Mohammed Ayoob The language that gave the country the most popular slogan of the independence movement and produced unmatched patriotic verses during the freedom struggle suffered the most from Partition. Wrongly associated exclusively with Muslims and appropriated by Pakistan as its official language, Urdu has languished in India since Independence. “Inquilab zindabad” or “long […]
Banning Tuition Centers: Sweeping problems of Education under the carpet?
Education Minister, Altaf Bukhari, is right in saying that “the private tuition centers are proving to be a distraction for the students in Kashmir” but with this right thing which he has asserted, keeping education and politics apart, the minister has also raised a right question, at the right time which no one but he […]
A summer of gathering discontent
BY: Sanjay Hegde At the First Round Table Conference in 1930, B.R. Ambedkar reminded his audience: “The men who fought with Clive in the battle of Plassey were the Dusads, and the Dusads are Untouchables. The men who fought in the battle of Koregaon were the Mahars, and the Mahars are Untouchables. Thus in the […]
No more violence in Asifa’s name, please!
Public protests play an important part in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural life of all societies. Protests encourage the development of an engaged and informed citizenry. They strengthen representative democracy by enabling direct participation in public affairs. However there is a thin line that separates protests from public violence. Though the Constitution of India protects the right to assemble peacefully, however […]
Fiddling with a WMD
BY: UPENDRA BAXI The Indian Constitution has, among several unwritten basic human rights, the right to have miracles performed unto people. One miracle is that politicians must take care not to practise politics; rather, they must do “development,” propagate “nationalism” and uphold “national interests”. It is as weird to say that business barons should […]
The Republic of Impunity
Gang rape is the ultimate act of impunity
BY: P Chidambaram Nirbhaya’s rape and the brutal attack on her in December 2012, and her death subsequently, shook the conscience of the nation as no similar crime in the recent past had done. It attracted a description that is not often used — bestiality. She was subjected to gang rape, brutalised, thrown out of […]
The day of reckoning
When the depth of evil seems too daunting to measure, it is good to cautiously prepare for the time when oppression will end, as Bernardo Bertolucci’s films show
BY: Ruchir Joshi Bernardo Bertolucci’s film 1900 (Italian title: Novecento) is an epic, two-part saga that follows two boys, Olmo and Alfredo, who are born on the same day on the same farming estate in 1901. Alfredo is the son and heir of the zamindar family, while Olmo is the grandson of the leader of […]
Remembering Allama Iqbal
BY: Peer Bilal Baba & M. Altaf Kumhar Dr Allama Iqbal, a Sialkot born philosopher and poet, studied literature, law and philosophy at Government College at Lahore, Cambridge University, and then did his PhD at the University of Munich. Eighty years down the line, his dream of Muslims return to an early phase of Islam […]
It’s time for India to confront Hindutva
BY: Aijaz Zaka Syed A Pakistani friend of mine, who has always had a soft corner for India and has extended family on both sides of the border, is most bewildered these days at the way things have been unfolding in India under the current order. “I do not have words to express my distress […]
Marginalised from school
The Centre must review the lack of implementation of the Right to Education Act across the country
BY: Shashi Tharoor Although the recent Budget session of Parliament was appallingly disrupted by the ruling party’s surrogates and Question Hour did not function most of the time, some things did work, almost on autopilot. Written questions submitted by MPs were indeed answered in writing – I got 26 of my questions admitted and answered […]
