Co-Lending: A Double Deal for Recolonising Peasantry, Helping Corporate Cronies
Through “nationalised banks-NBFC” deals, the Modi government is trying to achieve what the three farm laws could not achieve.
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The Farmers’ Protest Exposed the Limitations of Class Analysis
The farmers’ historic struggle and victory has upset not merely political arrogance but conventional wisdom in more than one way. It has shown the limitations of class analysis, and has thrown up new ideas for organizing peaceful protests in a democracy.
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Explained: ‘Trads’ vs ‘Raitas’ and the Inner Workings of India’s Alt-Right
In the past few years, a significant number of young men and women in India have been attracted to a dangerous alt-right digital ecosystem called ‘trad-wing’, in which they serve as self-styled civilisational warriors.
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Fluid Marriage Rites
When people refer to Indian “tradition” they assume it was fixed for thousands of years. But that is not true. Hindu wedding rituals contain ideas from Harappan and Vedic times, to practices that came with the Greeks, Sakas, Kushan, Huns, Turks, Afghans, Persians, Arabs, even Europeans. Over time, the concept of marriage changed as did the rituals.
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Five Years of UP’s Animal Slaughter Ban: Poor Pushed Out of Meat Trade, Meat Out of Meals
UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s closure of abattoirs, meat shops has left butchers without livelihood, animal rearers have been forced to end their business and consumers have been forced to reduce or stop eating meat. Despite an Allahabad high court order, most major UP cities do not have authorised state-run slaughterhouses.
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Pitting People against Nature
India’s conservation laws, based on pseudoscience, have criminalised people’s defence against marauding wildlife. Democratically-constituted local bodies empowered to protect nature will be a more just way of nursing our heritage to a healthy state.
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The Highest Attainable Standard of Health Is a Fundamental Right of Every Human Being
In 1978, at Alma-Ata (USSR), countries pledged to enhance public health infrastructure. However, they not only failed to do, they also systematically undermined it by extensively privatising health care. That is one reason why the capitalist states have not been able to handle the corona crisis.
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Observe Gandhiji’s Martyrdom Day as a day of National Unity, Communal Harmony, Non-Violence and Peace
People’s Initiative to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi on the 30th of January – for National Unity, Communal Harmony, Non-Violence & Peace.
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Gandhi’s Last Fast
In today’s climate of intolerance, the relevance of Gandhi’s last fast and his demands is ever increasing. Excerpts from Kumkum Sangari’s article, “A narrative of restoration: Gandhi’s last years and Nehruvian secularism”, first published in 2002 in the wake of the Gujarat riots.
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Nehru’s Struggle for Secularism
The idea of secularism underlay the very foundations of free India. Gandhi insisted that the multiple faiths of India can and must co-exist peaceably in a free nation. This was a belief shared by Gandhi’s most prominent follower, Nehru.
