Dear Comrade I can hardly describe the joy and relief I felt reading your piece on the Hadiya case in the Hindu yesterday. By now I am nearly deaf from the cacophony of misogyny, islamophobia, and sheer short-sighted rage that CPM supporters on Facebook are unleashing against this young woman.
When Hadiya Shafin shouted to the crowd that she converted voluntarily, that Shafin was her chosen husband, and that she wished to spend her life with him, some leading rationalist liberal feminists in Kerala sniggered at her: be grateful for the Indian Constitution which allows you to make a choice. This statement hid a despicable … Continue reading The Gates of Vaikuntam?
[This is the text of the open letter to the Chief Minister of Kerala from the celebrated Tamil poet Rajathi Salma, a leading literary and activist voice from South India whose writing has often revealed the pain and poignancy of women’s unfreedoms and the denial of a creative life of choice to them.
‘‘जब पानी में आग लगी थी’’ प्रस्तावना ‘क्या पानी में आग लग सकती है ?’’ किसी भी संतुलित मस्तिष्क व्यक्ति के लिए यह सवाल विचित्र मालूम पड़ सकता है। अलबत्ता सामाजिक-राजनीतिक आंदोलनों पर निगाह रखनेवाला व्यक्ति बता सकता है कि जब लोग सदियों से जकड़ी गुलामी की बेड़ियों को तोड़ कर आगे बढ़ते हैं तो … Continue reading महाड़ सत्याग्रह के नब्बे साल
After the atrocious indifference and trivialisation of domestic violence displayed by the sneering alpha-male brigade of the CPM during the discussion of the Hadiya Case, nothing surprises me. However, it appears important to point out how such callousness is indeed becoming normalised here alarmingly.
The Committee for the Defense of Bhim Army has released the following statement against framing of Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ under NSA Committee for the Defense of Bhim Army #StandWithChandrashekharAzad PRESS RELEASE 4 November 2017 The Committee for the Defense of Bhim Army (CDBA) expresses it shock at the act of the Uttar Pradesh … Continue reading Revoke NSA Charges against Chandrashekhar of Bhim Army: Committee for the Defense of Bhim Army
This is a GUEST POST by DEBADITYA BHATTACHARYA and RINA RAMDEV The past few years have not allowed us the respite to prepare for a fight. We were perpetually donning our war-gear – often forced without necessary ammunition into a battle that raged through parliaments and streets and colleges and colonies and our doorsteps. … Continue reading Sexual Harassment in the Academia – What the Hitlist Misses: Debaditya Bhattacharya and Rina Ramdev
Several emails with good questions arrived this week, so I wanted to take the opportunity to answer with my perspective. First, I deal with why the New Testament is reliable in terms of basic textual issues. Second, I deal with the theology of the NT and the Book of Isaiah as it relates to the many powerful predictions of the coming of the Messiah. In the second half, I cover the Nietzschean criticism of master/slave morality, and the response to atheism – proof for the existence of God.
Guest post by GARGI MISHRA AND SHREYA MUNOTH Do a woman’s attire, appearance, sexual history or prior relationship with a perpetrator of sexual violence constitute a valid defence for a perpetrator of a sexual offence? Does the meaning of consent vary for educated women? The law, as it stands, doesn’t permit these factors to be … Continue reading Violence against women – two patriarchal judgements: Gargi Mishra and Shreya Munoth
(This is the text of the open letter written by the eminent left cultural activist Sohail Hashmi to Com. Pinarayi Vijayan on the Hadiya case) The Honourable Chief Minister of Kerala Shri Pinarayi Vijayan 7th October, 2017 Dear Shri Pinarayi Vijayan, I write to you because I am unable to understand how the Left Front … Continue reading Defend the tradition of fighting for the oppressed: Sohail Hashmi writes to the Chief Minister of Kerala
