More Than a Reformer, Jyotirao Phule Was an Architect of Ideas B.R. Ambedkar’s fascination with Jyotirao Phule goes beyond the fact that he considered him a guru. Ambedkar, recognising the intellectual legacy of Phule, wished to project him on the national scene. More particularly, Ambedkar may have been influenced by Phule’s radical anti-caste movements, his…
Gandhi-Ambedkar Interface . . . When Shall the Twain Meet? Gandhi and Ambedkar would have agreed on as many issues as they would have disagreed upon. They could not find much ground for co-operation and collaboration. In popular perception—and in the perception of many of their followers too—they remained opponents. Both indulged in verbal duels…
Fukushima: An Ongoing Global Radiological Catastrophe April 26 marks the 33rd anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. And on March 11, the eighth anniversary passed of the triple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. Both anniversaries passed mostly without comment in mainstream media circles. In spite of ongoing radiological contamination that will continue to…
Noam Chomsky and the Question of Individual Choice A broad theme that runs through everything that Noam Chomsky has written over 50 years or more is individual choice. The choice, Chomsky was convinced early, is as compelling as it is narrow. In the 2017 book Optimism over Despair, when the political economist C.J. Polychroniou…
Venezuela: Why is Maduro Still in Power? For many, it is impossible to understand how, despite presiding over the country’s worst economic crisis and facing such intense international and domestic opposition, Maduro remains in the presidential palace. The answer lies in the enduring strength of Chavismo, a political movement of the working classes that,…
Where Next for the Student Climate Strikes? The #YouthStrike4Climate movement has exploded in size from its small beginnings just over half a year ago, when one Swedish school student protested alone outside parliament against her government’s lack of commitment to the Paris Climate agreement. Only months later, on 15 March, over 1.5 million students…
People’s Power Topples Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir Omar al-Bashir, who was president of Sudan for nearly 30 years, has been forced out by Sudanese army after months of popular protests that rocked the country. Media reports say al-Bashir is under house arrest. Government sources have said that consultations are on to set up a transitional government,…
Justice Sachar, His Report and Muslims Today (20 April 2019) is the first death anniversary of Justice Rajindar Sachar—a socialist visionary, a Justice par excellence, a true secular and democrat, an unrelenting human rights and civil liberties champion and a wonderful person having complete faith in human goodness. While paying her tribute to him on…
Modinomics = Corporatonomics Part II: Budgets and Agriculture In the previous part of this article, we had shown that the government, if it wants, can raise enough resources to implement a whole slew of welfare measures. But instead of doing that, it is more interested in giving away huge subsidies to the tune of several…
Every Vestige of Western Culture is a Vestige of Barbarism On April 15, for reasons not yet fully clarified by the French authorities, a large proportion of Notre Dame Cathedral was consumed by fire. The incident itself is regrettable, for, as prevailing common sense rightly points out, any material loss of human culture, regardless of…
दिल्लीत सुरु असलेल्या शेतकरी आंदोलनाच्या पार्श्वभूमीवर या लहान पुस्तिकेचे प्रकाशन लोकायत मार्फत करण्यात आले आहे. शेतकरी आंदोलन आणि त्यातल्या मागण्या या केवळ शेतकऱ्यांपुरत्याच नसून विविध अंगांनी सर्व सामान्य जनतेच्या हिताच्या आहेत, याबाबत मांडणी करणारी ही पुस्तिका!