Can Dalits rightfully claim that they have a ‘homeland’? ( Review of The Doctor and the Saint: The Ambedkar-Gandhi Debate — Caste, Race, and Annihilation of Caste; By Arundhati Roy, Penguin, Rs 299) “Gandhiji, I have no homeland.” The first meeting between Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, who later became chairman of the drafting committee of … Continue reading Caste and other demons →
This week I was joined by legendary anti-fascist researcher and radio host Dave Emory. We started off the conversation by discussing the surveillance state and its influence on everyday life. Dave and I talked about Silicon Valley and the military and intelligence links behind the creation of the internet. We also touched on Snowden and his mysterious past and connections to right wing figures like Bruce Fein. Later we talked about Tulsi Gabbard and her popularity amongst many on the left.
Today is Gandhi Jayanti. If he were alive he would have been 149 year. Official celebrations are there. Narendra Modi is on an overdrive to ‘prove’ that he ‘inherit’ the legacy of Gandhi. His ‘swachchbharat’ campaign is nothing but an attempt to deviate from the real issues of the nation. Gandhi has devotees and detractors both. Many people love his[Read More...]
Eighty kilometres to the east of Nagpur in central India lies Bapu Kuti, a historic site in Sewagram, the ‘village of service’, which is nestled in the serene rustic surroundings of the Wardha district. This dwelling was the residential abode of Mahatma Gandhi from 1936 to 1948 and was the epicentre of the Indian freedom movement. During the 12 years[Read More...]
Gandhi is not well-known for his views on the environment. Indeed, in his vast output, there is little explicit mention of the environment. Yet, in Gandhi’s views, one finds a lot that is relevant to environmentalism. Like most great thinkers, Gandhi’s views are flawed; however we learn a lot by studying his views critically. Let us begin by examining Gandhi’s[Read More...]
THE HINDUTVA GANG CONTINUES TO CELEBRATE ‘VADH’/MURDER OF GANDHI In last 4-5- years a concerted campaign is on to spread confusion about the identity of the conspirators/killers of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Father of the Nation. He was assassinated on January 30, 1948 at Delhi. After prolong hearings Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were sentenced to death and[Read More...]
Thanks to Vice President of India for wanting to build Ram rajya of Gandhi’s dreams which will be egalitarian and non-sectarian.[i] But as a senior RSS cadre and ideologue he must share with the nation what is his take on the criminals who murdered Gandhi and claimed to have been led by the politics of Hindutva. He must also comment[Read More...]
Gandhi Jayanti – 2 October, the date of Mohandas K. Gandhi’s birth in 1869 and the International Day of Nonviolence – offers an opportunity to reflect on human violence and to ponder ways to end it. There may be a fast way to end human violence but, if there is, Gandhi did not know it. Nor do I. Nor[Read More...]
This is an excerpt from Gandhi’s prayer discourse of July 25, 1947, from the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume 88, as published online by the Gandhi Heritage Portal. Rajendra Babu tells me that he has received some 50,000 postcards, between 25,000 and 30,000 letters and many thousands of telegrams demanding a ban on cow-slaughter. I spoke to you about[Read More...]
If humans are ever to achieve a stable global society in the future, they will have to become much more modest in their economic behavior and much more peaceful in their politics. For both modesty and peace, Gandhi is a useful source of ideas. The problems with which he struggled during his lifetime are extremely relevant to us in the[Read More...]
