India’s oldest Socialist Weekly!
Editor: Dr. G.G. Parikh | Associate Editor: Neeraj Jain | Managing Editor: Guddi
Not many Indian rulers have faced the wrath of historians as badly as the Mysore Tiger. He ranks way above the usually celebrated and worshipped personalities of ancient and medieval India in innovation, technological proclivity, secular outlook, social commitment and above all, patriotism.
Given India’s association with Persian, the BJP’s renaming spree, taken to its logical conclusion, will end up wiping away substantial portions of what Indians find familiar.
Increasing levels of Islamophobia, often manifesting itself in violent attacks, has left Muslim communities worldwide with deep mental health trauma about their belonging. However, fear of raising these issues has made the problem worse.
Historical record not only debunks Union defence minister Rajnath Singh’s claim that Savarkar filed mercy petitions at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi, it establishes that the two men had nothing in common.
What does it mean then to remember the ‘horror’ of partition at a time when identities are so polarised. Do we remember only what was done to us, leaving out all that we did to others and to our own?
Fascism is not a useful term for majoritarianism in India because given the defining precedent of Nazi Germany, it implies a big bang, death-camp climax. This is both wrong and a distraction from the real danger. Majoritarianism in India is not premised on a final solution.
Bitter truth is, those who run Indian cricket have themselves injected this idea into fans that cricket is a lot more than a game and the other team is not our opponent but enemy. Kohli, too, has played a big part in forming this idea.
Radicalism, the Prime Minister should know, is born in the perceived absence of a conscience in those who control the levers of the Indian State. Radicalisation is suicidal for the weak—and Muslims certainly know that. It is also suicidal for India.
While attempts by the ruling party to control the media and the messaging are not new in India, what we see now is the use of new technology to ‘curate’ and exercise ‘centralised control’ to spread disinformation in order to harass and intimidate critics.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis in the Vatican on 30 October the four gifts which Pope Francis gave PM Modi are extremely significant: they are parables!
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