[This is a GUEST POST by N P CHEKKUTTY] It is rarely that a journalist writes about himself or herself, because they are supposed to be detached observers of history-in-the-making. But this time I cannot help it because one of the things that happened in the Sabarimala-obsessed state of Kerala this week happens to … Continue reading Thejus – The Death of a Daily Newspaper →
Ghya Chang Fou is not a Chinese or East Asian word – it is the name of this new dark Bengali satirical film that had its world premiere this September (2018), at the Transart Communication Festival, Nove Zamky, Slovakia. Below is the official trailer of the film, followed by my take on it – better … Continue reading ‘Beheading’ Marxism, Unleashing Desire: Ghya Chang Fou and the Marxist Unconscious →
Today, it is 100 days of the detention of acclaimed photographer and cultural activist Shahidul Alam.
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 →
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.
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 →
After the floods comes the pestilence. Even as the rest of us are focusing all our energies on making sure that epidemics and sheer psychological trauma aren’t going to bring our people devastated by floods to the brink of their endurance, here is a bizarre person, a certain P C George, MLA from Poonjar, Kerala, … Continue reading How to Deal with Male Chauvinist Piorge: Ten Tips →
This is a guest post by ROBY RAJAN Epic. Biblical. Apocalyptic. These are some of the words that have been used to describe the floods and landslides that have wreaked havoc in Kerala over the last few weeks. Entire towns and cities were submerged, and entire rivers altered their courses overnight. Over the years Malayalis … Continue reading Brackish Reflections on the Great Deluge of 2018: Roby Rajan
