Tagore’s Call for Rakhi Bond Between Hindus and Muslims

Tagore’s Call for Rakhi Bond Between Hindus and Muslims

Everything is different in Kolkata. While the rest of the country fasts for Navratri, Kolkatans feast for Durga Puja. When the rest of the country cheers for Dussehra, in Kolkata there are tears for Bijoya Dashami. On Diwali, Kolkata has Kali Puja, and for Holi, Dol Jatra. Little surprise then that there should be an…

Scientific Temper Is of Fundamental Importance to Acquisition and Transfer of Knowledge

Scientific Temper Is of Fundamental Importance to Acquisition and Transfer of Knowledge

The following is an excerpt from Narendra Dabholkar’s book, “Please Think: Practical Lessons in Developing a Scientific Temper”, translated by Jai Vipra. Dr Dabholkar’s death anniversary was on August 20. It was once believed that, with technology changing the face of the world, superstition would die a quiet death. However, that has not happened. People…

Reclaiming a Socialist Vision

Reclaiming a Socialist Vision

As the capitalist crisis deepens and movements against capitalist globalisation build up across the world, many people are now talking about capitalism and describing themselves as anticapitalist. Great! But what do they mean? That capital’s international institutions are bad because they usurp the right of citizens to make democratic decisions? That financial speculation detracts from…

Challenges for India’s Future

Challenges for India’s Future

There are four major challenges in front of the country right now: 1. Agricultural. During the last two decades, more than three lakh farmers have committed suicide. Why? Everyone knows that agriculture and industry are the backbones of any society’s development. Independent India has given great importance to both, but during the last two decades,…

Kashmir: The Worst Conflict Area In The World
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Kashmir: The Worst Conflict Area In The World

It won’t be an exaggeration to say Kashmir is the worst conflict area in the world. Look anywhere else in the world where there are conflicts, there is no communication crack down. From Gaza to West Papua, from Hong Kong to the Yellow Vests in France … the world knows what’s happening there. However in…

India Is Creating Its Own West Bank in Kashmir
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India Is Creating Its Own West Bank in Kashmir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in India often claims that its actions are unprecedented—that no government in India’s history has been bold enough to do what it does. Most of the time this is, to put it mildly, an exaggeration. But on Monday, they certainly went far beyond what any previous Indian government has done…

Big Data’s Threat to Elections and Democracy

Big Data’s Threat to Elections and Democracy

The cost of the 2016 US elections was $6.5 billion if we combine the presidential and congressional elections. The Indian Parliamentary election of 2019 outspent the 2016 US 2016 election, costing about $8.6 billion. Where does all this money go, whether in India or the US? And why is the cost of elections—the motor of…

Touch

Touch

[Recently, the Undergraduate Curriculum Revision Committee of Delhi University asked the English Department of the University to remove poet Meena Kandasamy from the syllabus. The English Department has refused to accept this. We are publishing a poem by her below.] Have you ever tried meditation? Struggling hard to concentrate, and keeping your mind as blank…

A Minority Within a Minority in Independent India
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A Minority Within a Minority in Independent India

Once upon a time, in 1947 India made a famous tryst with destiny. Although, for many it’s just a 72-year period but for me, a member of minority within a minority, it’s a long, long time. One can debate, whether to call us the minority or the second largest majority. Still, I don’t care, because…

India’s Withering Public Employment

India’s Withering Public Employment

While the neoliberal focus has been on attempts to “shrink the state” on the grounds of corruption and inefficiency, sensible people have long recognised that high levels of public employment tend to be associated with better quality of life for people in a society. After all, the essential public services, from infrastructure to amenities, security…