debates

A statement by concerned organizations, teachers’ unions and academics against government proposal to amend RTE Act to scrap no detention policy and to fail children in class V and VIII. The statement was issued in New Delhi on 25 July 2018 The civil society organisations, teacher unions, and academicians working in the education sector across … Continue reading Government should not Fail Children to Cover up Education System’s ailure: A Statement

It is easy to see the linkages between Manu, Nietzsche, Hitler and the worldview of Hindutva supremacism Manu and his ‘magnum opus’ Manusmriti keeps hogging headlines in the 21st century as well. Thanks to the fascination it still holds among the Hindutva supremacists of various kinds even around seventy years after the promulgation of Constitution, which in … Continue reading Fascinating Manu

The recent murder of an SFI activist, Abhimanyu, at the Maharajah’s College, Ernakulam, allegedly by activists of another student organization, the Campus Front, has once again triggered a series of intense campaigns against the Popular Front of India (PFI), which is accused of having terror links, even with the ISIS. This last claim has become … Continue reading Who feeds whom? Reflections on the Left responses to the Abhimanyu murder case

സത്യം പറഞ്ഞാൽ അഭിമന്യു എന്ന വിദ്യാർത്ഥിയുടെ ഞെട്ടിക്കുന്ന കൊലപാതകത്തിനു ശേഷം ആ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരൻറെ മാതാവിൻറെ വിലാപം മാത്രമാണ് ഇപ്പോഴും മുഴങ്ങിക്കേൾക്കുന്നത്. ആ ശബ്ദം മനസ്സിൽ നിന്ന് മായുന്നതേയില്ല. അതുകൊണ്ട് ഹാദിയാകേസ് നടന്ന കാലത്ത് സിപിഎമ്മിൻറെ സൈബർ ബുദ്ധിജീവി-ഗുണ്ടകൾ ഉണ്ടാക്കിയെടുത്ത ആയുധങ്ങൾ അവർ ഫേസ്ബുക്കിലും പുറത്തും പ്രയോഗിക്കുന്നതു കണ്ടിട്ടും പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് ഒന്നും തോന്നിയില്ല.

“It has been said with good reason that the Jana Sangh resulted from a combination of a partyless leader, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, and a leaderless party, the RSS”. (The Jana Sangh: A Biography of an Indian Political Party, by Craig Baxter p. 54)  1. In Search of the “Selfless Patriot” An untimely death of a … Continue reading “Selfless Patriot” – In Search of the Real Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

Following is a statement of Jadavpur University alumni on the current controversy around the scrapping of the entrance examination by the university authorities.  There is also a Change.org petition that has been put up for those wanting to sign. Over 5075 people have signed the petition at last count.

Guest Post by SRITAMA CHATTERJEE The Executive Council (EC) of Jadavpur University recently decided to scrap the admission test in the Humanities for the academic year 2018-2019. This is no surprise to many of us who have been closely following the chain of events that have unfolded at the university in the last couple of days. … Continue reading Jadavpur University Scraps Admission Tests – Not going down without a fight: Sritama Chatterjee

Why Jailing of Gnanasara Did Not Become News in This Part of Asia “Ordered disorder, planned caprice, And dehumanised humanity…” – Bertolt Brecht in The Exception and the Rule (quoted in The Sunday Leader) “I have done my duty towards the country,” Gnanasara told reporters as he boarded the bus taking him to prison. Why should I regret?”   Rarely … Continue reading The Monks Who Spew Hate

This is not the story of a man who once sold tea and later ‘sold’ dreams to a people and managed to reach top echelons of power in the biggest democracy in the world. This is not the story of this man and his rise from the margins of a organisation which is called the … Continue reading The Man Who Once Sold Tea Later ‘Sold’ Dreams

Guest Post by KAVITA KRISHNAN SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen Raazi, please don’t read this review because it contains spoilers. Rabindranath Tagore, the composer of the poems that serve as the national anthems of India and Bangladesh, wrote an essay on nationalism in which he asserted, “it is my conviction that my countrymen … Continue reading How Does Raazi Resolve The Tension Between Patriotism and Humanity? Kavita Krishnan