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 […]
Student protests: What to do?
The widespread student protests unfolding in the Kashmir Valley seemingly have no end in sight and with the triggers and motivations for the same constantly changing, it is unclear as what’s ahead in this regard. This academic year, the student protests originated in reaction to the civilian killings in the South Kashmir, and now, from […]
Shaken to the core in Kathua
The chilling details of the Kathua rape are important, but so is the disturbing politics behind it
BY: Zoya Hasan & Farida Abdulla Khan The tragic and gruesome rape and killing of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, Jammu, with a blatantly communal agenda (as suggested by the details that have come to light in the charge sheet filed by the Jammu and Kashmir police), and the events following it, demonstrate a descent […]
A Small Town Protest
A march in Kodaikanal draws a line from Kathua to Unnao.
BY: Rajni George This Monday at 5:30 pm, several hundred men, women and children marched silently in Kodaikanal, through pouring rain, to demand justice for the children and women raped in Kathua, Unnao, Surat and elsewhere. Kodaikanal, a township of about 40,000 people, is a relatively quiet town in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, […]
In the line of fire
BY: William Horsley FIFTY-THREE Commonwealth heads of government will meet for a summit in London from April 16 to 20. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the UK minister of state for the Commonwealth, lauded it as a unique network of 53 states with a responsibility to exert global influence based on a shared commitment to democracy, […]
Before breaking into a song
The tribal communities in India are fighting a desperate battle for survival against a predatory state backed by big money.
YET again they were singing and reciting Faiz. Elsewhere they perhaps do the same with Sri Sri, Kazi Nazrul, Pash, Robin Ngangom or other revolutionary versifiers in different Indian languages. An announcement at the Delhi meeting said there could be no genuine protest without Faiz, which is true. There is hardly a meeting of […]
Beyond the battlefield
The attack on Syria has raised important questions about the effectiveness of international laws; the utility of democratic norms; and the silence of the UN over the illegal military strikes carried out by three of the world’s ‘most civilised states’ – France, the UK and the US. The missile strikes on the purported chemical […]
A Scholar’s Voice From Gaza: ‘Silence is Complicity, Speak Up Please!’
Contextualizing the Great March of Return
In the last 10 years, Israel has launched three massive genocidal wars of aggression on the occupied Gaza Strip, many of our civilians were massacred by its indiscriminate bombing, condemned by UN experts and leading human rights organizations as war crimes and “possible” crimes against humanity. These assaults left over 3.800 Palestinians dead, predominantly civilians, […]
Kathua Case a telling example of fanaticism and criminality
Societies thrive on certain distinguished attributes which are evolved during the course of histories and are common and aren’t bound by religion, race, caste, sex or any other barriers. These attributes are common heritage of mankind and are of immense significance, for they distinguish us from wild animals. Aristotle maintained ‘Man is a social animal’ […]
Malik Sahib, there are alternatives to shutdowns!
It’s undoubtedly the increasing criticism of the Hurriyat’s over-obsession with shutdowns that provoked Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik to raise this issue while addressing a seminar organised by the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) last month to pay tributes to slain advocate and noted human rights activist Jalil Andrabi. In […]
