Reassurance That Isn’t Commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s victory speech, The Indian Express wrote: “In his speech in Central Hall in Parliament on Saturday, the first after being elected leader of the BJP-led NDA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a heartening note of magnanimity. Among other things, he said the new government would make…
Mediation Committee for Ayodhya Dispute Letter to Editor The move of the Supreme Court to let a mediation effort being made by a three-member committee of negotiators is welcome but already doubts are being expressed about the neutral nature of the mediation committee, openly naming Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art of Living fame…
Gandhi and Communal Harmony Indian society is going through difficult times. In the name of religion horrific violence is going on. In this violence, innocent people get killed and generally those guilty of violence are not punished. This violence is possible due to the hate which has been created in society, hate against religious minorities….
Gandhi’s Final Fast Recently I was asked to write a couple of lectures for undergraduate students on the significance of Gandhi and communalism. When I began writing the lectures, which were supposed to be written very simply, I realised that I was not being true to the task of trying to bring across something important…
Naseeruddin Shah ko Gussa Kyon Aata hai? The index of health of democratic society is gauzed by the feeling of security experienced by the minorities. Similarly one can say that the degree of democracy in a society is reflected by the degree of ‘freedom of expression’ in the society. In India we see that both…
Understanding Interfaith Dialogue: A Few Critical Questions The issue of constructing a temple of Lord Ram on the disputed site where the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya once stood and was demolished in 1992 is once again hitting the headlines. The construction of the temple is being touted as an article of faith and the litmus…
Turned Out You Were Just Like Us (Pakistani poet, human-rights activist and feminist, Fahmida Riaz, passed away at the age of 72 on November 22, 2018. We are publishing below the English translation of one of her oft-quoted nazms, “Tum bilkul hum jaise nikle”.) So it turned out you were just like us! Where…
Another Time, Another Mosque Gandhi’s Last Fast: January 13–18, 1948 From September 1947, the communal situation in north India became grievous. Massacres were taking place in Punjab and Sindh, sparking off the migration of over ten million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. In September, hundreds of Muslims of Delhi had been killed in…
Babri Masjid: What Should Muslims do? A section of Hindu supremacist organisations are once again mobilising to demand the construction of Ramjanmabhoomi temple (RJT) in Ayodhya on the spot where Babri Masjid once stood and was demolished on 6 December 1992. Provocative speeches are being made and threats are being issued. Sentiments of Hindus are…
The Reason for Renaming Places We fail to see in the excitement generated by the incessant renaming of towns and railway stations in India that the past, which these new old names allude to, is an imagined land that we are being invited to inhabit. We are not exactly recovering lost ground, because as the…
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!