Mirror Worlds

Guest Post by Prasanta Chakravarty Pitr-paksh/ पितृ-पक्ष (also pitru-paksh) is the 16 day lunar period in the Hindu diurnal calendar when believers pay homage to their ancestors, through specific food offerings. Most years, the autumnal equinox falls within this period, that is, the Sun transitions from the northern to the southern hemisphere during this time. … Continue reading Linger Like Moisture Within – On Viren Dangwal’s Pitr-Paksh: Prasanta Chakravarty

Everyone else’s father is in prison in Istanbul, they want to hang everyone else’s son in the middle of the road, in broad daylight People there are willing to risk the gallows so that everyone else’s son won’t be hanged so that everyone else’s father won’t die and bring home a loaf of bread and … Continue reading Erdogan Gets A Degree from Jamia Millia Islamia and Everyone Else’s Father is in Prison in Istanbul

Guest Post by SABIHA FARHAT These are tough times for muslims in India.  But now that I look back and shed my ‘liberal’ prejudices – muslims were never acceptable as ‘who they were’ in Indian society.  I had always blamed my mother for not giving me proper lunch box to carry to school.  But the … Continue reading The Unapologetic Indian Muslim: Sabiha Farhat

Guest Post by Prerna Trehan While walking through the lawns between the Library and the Chemistry Department , one is confronted with the sudden and  scary sight of policemen brandishing canes. One of the policemen says, threateningly : “Go inside, before we start shooting bombs” (of tear gas). Behind him two policemen leap at a … Continue reading Reclaiming Punjab University-Student Protests Erupt in Chandigarh: Prerna Trehan

Guest Post by Kavita Krishnan It’s been twenty years since the assassin’s bullets took Chandu away from us, at 4 pm on 31 March 1997. I still recall my sheer disbelief when a phone call from my party office at my hostel that evening informed me ‘Chandu has been killed.’ Chandrashekhar as well as youth … Continue reading Remembering Chandu, Friend and Comrade: Kavita Krishnan

  Guest Post by Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union [This is a statement and an appeal by the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union condemning the unjust handing down of a life sentence to 13 workers of the Maruti Suzuki Manesar Factory for a ‘murder’ (of an HR Manager) that the prosecution could not prove that they had … Continue reading Free the Maruti Workers: Maruti Suzuki Workers Union

Video by Media Collective, Article by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Fernandes Fifty Years of Unreasonable Restrictions Arun Ferreira & Vernon Gonsalves  Soon after its adoption, the Constitution of India was amended in 1951. At the time several progressive judgements[i] by the Judiciary held that laws which curb fundamental rights are essentially unconstitutional and fundamental freedoms … Continue reading UAPA – A Video Dossier: Media Collective, Arun Ferreira &Vernon Gonsalves

Guest Post by ANIRBAN BHATTACHARYA [This missive to Makarand Paranjape, who is a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, comes in response to his recent op-ed piece in the Indian Express where he comments on the events at Ramjas College, Delhi University on the 21st of February and in their wake, in Delhi University, on the … Continue reading Looking ‘Right’, Talking ‘Liberal’ – The Twists and Turns of Makarand Paranjape: Anirban Bhattacharya

[ This is a letter addressed to Raman Singh, the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh by several concerned individuals and organizations regarding the impunity with which medical guidelines are put aside by professionals who enjoy the patronage and protection of the state government.] We, the 138 undersigned individuals and organizations working across the country on health … Continue reading Sterilization Death Camps in Bilaspur: An Open Letter

[Videos of song by Shehla Rashid and of speeches by Nivedita Menon, Kavita Krishnan, Umar Khalid and Jignesh Mevani, courtesy, Samim Asgor Ali] February gives way to March and spring returns to Delhi. And what a spring it is. The right wing thugs of the ABVP choose the wrong time to attack, once again. They must … Continue reading A Tale of Two and a Half Marches – Two for Azadi and a Half for Ghulami.