SECULARISM, DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

INSAF Bulletin 202 February 2019
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: CLASSISM, CASTEISM, SEMI-FASCISM AND THE POLITICAL USE OF RELIGION

Vinod Mubayi

 

Classism

At its inception, Modi’s regime bragged about the Gujarat model of economic development that, in its view, would transform the Indian economy. Mesmerized by the advertising glitz of the BJP, supported to the hilt financially by all the leading lights of Indian capitalism, the Ambanis and the Adanis, the Indian middle class succumbed to Modi’s rhetoric and rewarded his party with an unprecedented victory in the national elections. Read more…

‘I AM DEVASTATED BY THE PROSPECT OF IMMINENT ARREST’

Anand Teltumbde

 

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to quash the first information report filed by the Pune Police against civil rights activist and respected author Anand Teltumbde in connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018. Read more…

WHO’S AFRAID OF ANAND TELTUMBDE?

N. Balmurli

 

Dr. Anand Teltumbde has demonstrated tremendous courage in departing from the hero-worshipping style of approaching the historical personalities, which is so rampant and so universal in our country. Read more…

THE 10% RESERVATION IS A CYNICAL FRAUD ON THE CONSTITUTION

Partha Chatterjee

 

Barely two days after it sprang the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill on an unsuspecting Indian nation, the government managed to get it passed, virtually unanimously, in both houses of parliament. Days later, it was signed into constitutional law. Read more…

THE MALIGN INCOMPETENCE OF THE BRITISH RULING CLASS

Pankaj Mishra

 

With Brexit, the chumocrats who drew borders from India to Ireland are getting a taste of their own medicine. Read more…

NEW SOCIALIST INITIATIVE’S (NSI) STATEMENT ON THE PEOPLE’S RESISTANCE AGAINST THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILL 

New Socialist Initiative stands in solidarity with the people of Assam, Tripura and the other North Eastern states in their heroic struggle against the communally motivated Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). It was only because of the resistance of the people that the government couldn’t table the Bill for voting in the Rajya Sabha after surreptitiously passing it in the Lok Sabha. Read more…

STATEMENT REFUTING FALSE ALLEGATIONS ON APSC AND IN SOLIDARITY WITH DR. ANAND TELTUMBDE

Karthik Navayan Battula

 

We pledge our strong support and solidarity to Prof. Anand Teltumbde who is facing an imminent threat of arrest in connection with the Bhima Koregaon incident on January 1, 2018, an event he has not even attended. Read more…

THE GROUND BENEATH OUR FEET HAS MOVED TO THE RIGHT

Nissim Mannathukkaren

 

Hate has become mainstream. This can only change when democracy is no longer equated with majoritarianism. Read more…

POLITICS OF CONTEMPT?

EPW Editorial

 

Members of the BJP have been losing their grip on the 2019 election as well as on their tongues. Read more…

PAKISTAN’S MISSING #METOO MOVEMENT

Hafsa Khawaja

 

As the #MeToo movement gathers momentum across various parts of the world, Pakistan remains largely unaffected by it. Far from making waves, the social-media-driven movement has hardly made ripples in the country. Read more…

OBITUARY: Mrinal Sen, One Of India’s Leading Directors, Dies At 95

Neil Genzlinger

 

Mrinal Sen, one of India’s leading filmmakers and a central figure in the movement known as parallel cinema, a socially conscious alternative to splashy Bollywood films, died on Dec. 30 at his home in Kolkata, India. He was 95. Read more…

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