(This article was written in November 2013 and had been published in the Mainstream Weekly, VOL LI, No 47, November 9, 2013. The article was highly criticized by certain progressive/secular intellectuals/columnists ranging from India to the US. Most of them thought it better to ignore the article as ‘trash’. A generation of young Indians has grown up since then. Definitely,[Read More...]
Since its emergence from the Anna Hazare movement against corruption in Delhi in 2012 the Aam Aadmi Party (APP) has remained on the positive side of Hindutva. Now after defeating the ruling Congress in the assembly polls of Punjab AAP publically claimed that it has become the replacement of Congress in the state but would also do so at the[Read More...]
What is there to say? What can one say that has not already been said umpteen times before – during earlier rounds of communal violence elsewhere – and in Delhi this time? The political class, true to its character, has revealed as it has so many times in the past, that when it comes … Continue reading The Violence in Delhi, Politics and ‘Heroism of the Ordinary’ →
Guest Post by SURAJ JACOB [Note: This article was written before the ongoing violence in Delhi began and is not about current affairs. It rather engages with the political problem at a broader philosophical level. – AN] Analysts of Delhi’s recent election note thatAAP imaginatively courted voters on the BJP’s own turf (Shekhar Gupta): welfarism … Continue reading Kejriwal and the ‘Dirty Hands Problem’ →
I have been reading with interest the exchange between Aditya Nigam and Satish Deshpande on the AAP’s strategy of avoiding ‘politics’ – or rather, distancing itself mostly from the polarised ideological debates while making small moves to shape for itself a space, arguably fuzzy, in the hegemonic discourse of Hindu. I am also witness to … Continue reading Thoughts on the AAP’s Hindu Gestures from Kerala’s History →
The debate on the meaning of AAP’s victory in Delhi and the Hindu idiom that its spokespersons have adopted continues as indeed on the implications of its refusal to play the electoral game in the way the BJP was intent on setting it up. But to keep our perspective right, we need to remember … Continue reading Imagining an Antifascist Coalition Today →
BJP’s Delhi campaign was not divisive by sanyog or coincidence. That is its prayog or experiment. Which it will take to other elections. Kitney aadmi thhe—how many were there? A meme based on this famous monologue from the highly successful film, Sholay (Embers), from the early seventies, started trending when “David” Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi … Continue reading Towards BJP’s Hindutva Lite Template →
What has Gandhi got to do with the recently concluded elections in Delhi? On the face of it nothing. But at another level, the election process, its campaign and its results – all invite us to revisit Gandhi’s stupendous moral-political project of cementing the Hindu-Muslim division with his own blood and his heroic failure. … Continue reading Winning Delhi Elections – AAP, Gandhi and the Ideology Wars →
Three incidents of firing in four days – two in Jamia Millia Islamia and one in Shaheen Bagh – quickly followed open calls to violence (‘goli maro saalon ko‘) by Union minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur and the demonization of Shaheen Bagh protesters by BJP MP Pravesh Verma (‘the protesters will enter … Continue reading Delhi Elections and the Difficult Terrain of Antifascist Struggle →
(Photo Courtesy : http://www.newslaundry.com) “He came, he saw and he concurred“ – Caption of a RK Laxman cartoon in early 90 s AAP’s stand on article 370 has confused and disheartened many. For its workers the party has opened itself to attacks by its adversaries because of its support to stripping of statehood for … Continue reading Arvind Kejriwal, Article 370 and a Blind Alley →
