Even a cursory glance at the realities which grip India today, will make one realise how grim the situation is. On every global parameter, from the happiness index to the freedom one; from democracy to economic indicators, the country has plummeted miserably and as never before. Untruth and injustice, divisiveness and discrimination, exploitation and exclusion have become the ‘new normal’![Read More...]
I am a devout Hindu but not a believer of RSS Hindutva form of Hinduism which brings about hatred of other religions. My Hindu religion has not taught me to look down on other religions and neither has it instilled in me to go about converting others to my religion because my religion is superior. Hinduism has shown me a[Read More...]
The post My Hindu Religion appeared first on Countercurrents.
Twenty third March is the birth anniversary of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. In the events organized to mark this occasion demands are often made to the government for posthumous conferment of India’s highest civilian honour i.e. Bharat Ratna on Dr. Lohia. I anticipate that this year would be no different. In a brief commentary I authored in May 2018 a[Read More...]
For those who have read my previous work you know how I feel about landlords, especially absentee ones… and most especially corporate ones! In the mid 1990s my new wife and I ( each with one kid ) moved from Long Island, N.Y. to Indianapolis IN. Quite candidly, we were tired of renting apartments and could not afford the high[Read More...]
Debraj Mookerjee explores how syncretism permeates between the West and the East — how the two lores do meet Cultural influences travel at the speed of human imagination. In the modern world it is easy to plot the journey of cultural influences across the planet, thanks to the seamlessness created by communication technologies. The Internet links us all. But we also[Read More...]
‘Reforming capitalism’ is essentially considered an oxymoron by the academic world that is flummoxed by the ability of capitalism to re-mould, reorient and revamp itself for sustenance without losing the cardinal jus of exploitation. Post Perestroika and Glasnost[1], which eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Capitalism in the American unipolar world has triumphed in establishing a symbiotic[Read More...]
Two young women Sabita Mahato and Shruti Rawat are on an exciting Trans-Himalayan adventure to make the world aware of the everyday violence faced by women and girls as well as violent exploitation of Mother Earth resulting from capitalist patriarchy. They are being supported by One Billion Rising, South Asia and Young Sangat on their venture through the Campaign #RidetoRise.[Read More...]
The French thinker Louis Althusser in his famous essay on ideological state apparatuses, includes trade unions (and presumably professional associations too) in his illustrative list of such ideological state apparatuses. Both Trade Unions (TUs) and Professional Associations (PAs) are usually considered politically active bodies that are alert and resistant to any misuse or abuse of state or corporate power. Althusser’s[Read More...]
25 years ago on March 17th Sri Lanka captured the coveted cricket world cup title for the first time .It exuded aura of invincibility as few teams ever did like a great emperor annexing territory after territory. A red letter day was written in cricket with an underdog triumphing for the 2nd time. We must salute them for binding or[Read More...]
March 25 is the 90th death anniversary of a great freedom fighter, editor, worker and peasant leader, also deeply committed social reformer who sacrificed his life at the age of 40 while trying to stop communal violence and rescue persons from both communities trapped in it. The reference here is of course to Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, the famous editor of[Read More...]
