Can the countries from this part of Asia walk in the footsteps of Ireland? Mera azm itna bulund hae, Parae sholon se dar nahin. Mujhe dar hae tu atish e gul se hae, Ye kahin chaman ko jala na dein (my confidence in self is strong, I’m unafraid of foreign flames I’m scared those sparks may ignite, that … Continue reading Time to Dump Blasphemy Laws →
Guest post by RAJINDER CHAUDHARY उच्चतम न्यायालय के बहुमत ने ‘आधार’ पर दिये गए हालिया फैसले में सरकारी योजनाओं, सब्सिडी इत्यादि का लाभ लेने के लिए आधार अनिवार्य करने के सरकारी फैसले को सही ठहराया है। इस के साथ ही आयकर दाता के लिए भी आधार अनिवार्य कर दिया है। इस के अलावा बाकी जगह … Continue reading ‘आधार’ न बचा, न मरा, बचा केवल मदमस्त सफ़ेद हाथी : राजेन्द्र चौधरी →
From Hindu Code Bill to Sabarimala via Roop Kanwar’s Sati — keeping women subjugated under the cloak of tradition It was the mid-1980s when a 18-year-old Roop Kanwar’s burning on the pyre of her husband — under controversial circumstances — had made national headlines. There was national outrage over the incident because more than 150 … Continue reading Love Patriarchy, Hail Hindu Rashtra! →
Review of ‘Truth in Fetters : Broken Promises and Shattered Unity’ “Change is in the air”! A retired academic who had his last assignment as Vice Chancellor of a leading university said to me the other day, while we were discussing the contemporary political scenario. Frankly admitting that he had supported Modi’s candidature then and … Continue reading Bharatiya Janata Party or Bharatiya Jumla Party ! →
At the end of the five-day worship in the month of Tulam, it is clear that women have been betrayed. The right wing which promised not to violently stop women devotees did precisely that; their leader also hurled vicious insults are trans people. The dominant left which foamed Ayyankali and Sree Narayana Guru at the … Continue reading Now What? After the Betrayal of Women at Sabarimala →
Yesterday’s high drama at Sabarimala told us quite a lot about the games that politicians play in Kerala. Rehana Fatima, a young woman activist who decided to take the challenge (it is now a challenge, since the trekking path to the shrine is in effect controlled by Hindutva goons heaping verbal abuse, threatening open violence, … Continue reading Rehana Fatima and the Goons: A comment on the good-cop-bad-cop game that’s on in Kerala →
For all women in India, what is happening in Kerala should be an eye-opener. This is how Indian society rewards you for reaching the top, aspiring seriously to be on top, and actually asking questions to authorities about why they keep drawing on women’s energies and resources while simultaneously undermining the very ground on which … Continue reading Keep Calm and Carry On: Dealing with Patriarchal Carpet Bombing in Kerala →
നായർ സർവീസ് സൊസൈറ്റി ശബരിമലപ്രശ്നത്തിൽ പുനഃപരിശോധനാഹർജി സമർപ്പിച്ച സ്ഥിതിയ്ക്ക് ആ പ്രസ്ഥാനത്തോട് നായർസമുദായത്തിൽ ജനിക്കാനിടയായ ഒരു സ്ത്രീയെന്ന നിലയ്ക്ക് എനിക്ക് ചില ചോദ്യങ്ങളുന്നയിക്കാനുണ്ട്. സമുദായപരിഷ്ക്കരണത്തെ പിടിച്ചാണയിട്ടു കൊണ്ടും, ബ്രാഹ്മണമേധാവിത്വത്തിനു കീഴിൽ കേരളീയശൂദ്രർക്ക് സഹിക്കേണ്ടിവന്ന അപമാനപൂർണമായ സാമൂഹ്യഏർപ്പാടുകളെ തിരുത്തുമെന്ന പ്രതീക്ഷ നൽകിക്കൊണ്ടുമാണ് ഈ പ്രസ്ഥാനം പിറന്നത്. പിൽക്കാലത്ത് , ഇതേ സമയത്തു ശക്തിപ്രാപിച്ച മറ്റു പല ജാതിസമുദായപ്രസ്ഥാനങ്ങളെയും പോലെ ഇതും തങ്ങളുടെ പരിഷ്ക്കരണ ഉദ്യമങ്ങളെ പാടെ വിസ്മരിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് കേവലം സമുദായമത്സരത്തിനു തുനിഞ്ഞു.
Majboori ka naam Mahatma Gandhi (Roughly: Compulsion thy name is Mahatma Gandhi) I have grown up hearing this expression and have often wondered about its meaning and at the almost proverbial status acquired by it. Whose majboori or compulsion was Gandhi really? Well, at one level, everybody’s, for practically every current within the anti-colonial struggle was … Continue reading The Impossible Gandhian Project and its Limits – Remembering the Mahatma Today →
The Supreme Court judgment on women’s entry into Sabarimala has got Hindutva women in Kerala into a hand-wringing, hair-tearing frenzy, and that is to put it lightly. I say ‘Hindutva women’ deliberately, to refer to a sub-set of Hindu women, who (1) believe, like the RSS chief, that the Hindu(tva) lion is under threat from … Continue reading Do Not Ride the Tiger of Hindtuva: Sabarimala Entry and Hindutva Women →
