Founding Editor: Daya Varma (1929-2015)
Editors: Vinod Mubayi (New York) and Raza Mir (New Jersey).
Editorial Board: Ram Puniyani and Irfan Engineer (Mumbai); Pervez Hoodbhoy (Islamabad); Dolores Chew (Montreal); Vamsi Vakulabharanam (Amherst); Ajay Bhardwaj (Vancouver).
Circulation/website: Feroz Mehdi (On behalf of Alternatives, Montreal).
EDITORIAL: INSAF TURNS 200
Vinod Mubayi and Raza Mir
The results of the 5 state elections in India declared yesterday brought to mind a line from Faiz: “Roshan kahin bahar ke imkaan hue to hain” (Some possibilities of spring have emerged). Only possibilities, mind you. Bigger, sterner tests lie ahead. Read more…
ALARM BELLS FOR BJP: CONGRESS TAKES BIG STRIDES, MODI MAGIC WANING BUT STILL FORMIDABLE FOR 2019 POLLS
Nalin Mehta
In an election bookended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Congress “ki kaun si vidhwa hai” jibe on the one hand and Rahul Gandhi’s “chaukidar chor hai” slogan on the other, there are larger portents for the 2019 general election. Read more…
RAFALE CONTROVERSY: SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT AMONGST WORST EVER?
Sukla Sen
Judgement Sparks Controversy
The judgement delivered by the Supreme Court on December 14th, has already attracted a hell lot of controversy. Read more…
ALTERNATIVE SECULAR GOVT TO BE FORMED AT CENTRE POST 2019 LOK SABHA POLLS: SITARAM YECHURY
PTI
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury Monday claimed that a secular, alternative government will be formed at the Centre after the general elections in 2019. Read more…
INDIA’S #METOO MOMENT
Laxmi Murthy
The recent wave of revelations about sexual harassment in the entertainment and news media industry in India, popularly called the #MeToo moment has made one thing clear: there’s a dearth of listening skills and empathy. There is anguish, there is pain, there is hurt and most of all, there is anger. The time has finally arrived to heed these voices, and with understanding. Read more…
LETTER FROM AMERICA: HINDUTVA IN CHICAGO
Slok Gyawali
Were it not for the statuette of a cow outside the adjoining Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse, it would be impossible to distinguish the Westin Hotel in Lombard from other high-rises across Chicago’s suburban sprawl. Read more…
SABARIMALA PROTEST
O B Roopesh
On 28 September 2018, the Supreme Court lifted the ban on women’s entry (between the ages of 10 and 50) to Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple in Kerala. Women’s entry was banned in 1991 by the Kerala High Court (S Mahendran v The Secretary, Travancore 1991). Read more…
INDEFINITE STRIKE BY BIHAR’S ASHA WORKERS IS ANOTHER REMINDER THAT THEY ARE OVERWORKED, UNDERPAID
Kavita Krishnan
Accredited Social Health Activists or ASHA workers in Bihar went on an indefinite strike from December 1 with a 12-point charter of demands. Bihar has 93,687 ASHA workers – the second highest contingent of the one million ASHA workers in India. Read more…
WHAT IS MISSING IN THE #METOO MOVEMENT?
Ditilekha Sharma
How can we talk about sexual harassment in the context of a sex-negative atmosphere where conversations around sex and sexuality are considered taboo? Read more…
PAKISTAN’S ‘GOOD’ AND ‘BAD’ FEMINISMS
Amna Chaudhry
Transgressing Boundaries, an art installation by Karachi-based artist Nisha Pinjani, depicts several women in various positions all tied together by their hair. A thick black braid grows out of each woman’s head and proceeds to get in every woman’s way. Read more…
INDIA’S DANGEROUS NEW CURRICULUM
Alex Traub
From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, the Mughal Empire did much to create modern-day India. It consolidated the country into a sovereign political unit, established a secular tradition in law and administration, and built monuments such as the Taj Mahal. Read more…
Top - Home