SECULARISM, DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

INSAF Bulletin 255 July 2023
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: MANIPUR CONTINUES TO BURN WHILE MODI AND BIDEN EMBRACED IN THE US

Vinod Mubayi

The sensitive border state of Manipur in India’s North-East region that borders Myanmar (formerly Burma) has been engulphed in violence since May 4, 2023 that has killed hundreds, injured thousands and shows little signs of abating. In the almost two months since the violence began, Prime Minister Modi has not deigned to visit Manipur and neither has he said a word in public about the situation or the plight of the people in this state that is ruled by his party, the BJP.

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RESURGENT MILITARY AUTHORITARIANISM IN PAKISTAN

Jamhoor Editorial

We at Jamhoor strongly condemn the violent and authoritarian crackdowns by Pakistan’s government and military establishment in response to the events that unfolded on May 9th 2023. These actions — including the use of extreme surveillance technologies, internet blackouts, enforced disappearances of dissenting journalists and activists, and prosecution of civilians in military courts — will further entrench the militarization of society and ultimately threaten democratic and progressive forces across the country.

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TARGETING OF KUKIS THE MAIN REASON BEHIND MANIPUR VIOLENCE

Angshuman Choudhury

Highlights

The N. Biren Singh government dismissed serious Kuki grievances for years, allowing their discontent to reach boiling point.

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HOW ANTI-CASTE ACTIVISM IN THE UNITED STATES HAS GROWN OVER FOUR DECADES

Aathira Konikkara

On 11 May 2023, the California State Senate passed SB 403, a bill introduced by Senator Aisha Wahab. It aims to add caste as a protected category to the state’s existing laws that prohibit exclusionary practices in housing, employment, and education.

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MODI VISIT TO US: GLORIFYING SUBALTERN STATUS

Editorial in “People’s Democracy”

THE outcome of the Modi visit to the United States has made one thing clear – India has become more cemented to the United States in a strategic and military relationship.

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TO DEAL WITH IMRAN KHAN, PAKISTAN DESCENDS INTO AUTOCRACY

Salman Rafi Sheikh

On 19 June, a district and sessions court in Islamabad sent the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader and former state interior minister Shehryar Afridi to Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on a 14-day judicial remand in a case related to the 9 May riots.

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DAWN TO DUSK ON THE CORNER WHERE BANGLADESHI BROOKLYN GATHERS

Jonah Markowitz, Karen Zraick and Samira Asma-Sadeque

The photographer Jonah Markowitz spent more than two years immersed in the Bangladeshi community of Kensington, Brooklyn for this project, and was joined in the reporting and writing process by Karen Zraick and Samira Asma-Sadeque.

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INDIA’S CODING PRODIGIES VERSUS HIGH DROP-OUT RATES

Nidhi C and Soham Bhattacharya

Social media platforms are filled with advertisements that promise to “Teach Your Child Programming Today!” Watch them, and you would find ten or twelve year old marvels building complex algorithms that solve everyday problems.

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