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: MODI’S CHICKENS COMING HOME TO ROOST
Vinod Mubayi
Despite the unexpected post-Diwali gift handed to the BJP and its allies by voters in Maharashtra, other developments on the international scene suggest that the chickens let loose by the Modi regime in the US and Canada are now coming home to roost along with the shenanigans of Modi’s BFF and favorite business partner, Gautam Adani, who has been indicted on both criminal and civil charges in the US.
Read more…AFGHAN REFUGEES AND THE LEFT IN SIND
Ayyaz Mallick
The question of Afghan migrants is a test case for Sindh’s Left, progressive, and nationalist groups.
This article, originally in Urdu (and available here), was written in December 2023 during a campaign by the Pakistani state to deport Afghan migrants and refugees. It responded to heated discussions on this issue among Sindh-based Left and nationalist groups. The article led to further debates between the author and comrades of the Critical Studies Forum and Porhiyat Muzahimat Tehreek (Workers Resistance Movement), Sindh.
Read more…SOUND IN PALESTINE: SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE ACT OF SELECTIVE DEAFNESS
Archisha Rai
The genocide of the people of Palestine is still ongoing. Despite a plethora of video evidence and testimonies from Palestine itself, the world remains deaf to the cries of Palestinians. Locating the sociality of sound and the act of political listening in the case of the ongoing genocide, it is argued that listening, in the truest sense, is a political act that shapes our experience of the social. When we close ourselves to the sounds of certain people, ideas, movements, etc, we create for ourselves a “socially induced hearing impairment,” which is crucial to the way we experience and perceive the social around us.
Read more…KILLING SEASON IN PAKISTAN: WILL THE VIOLENCE AGAINST SHIAS EVER END?
Fatima Bhutto
It is killing season in Pakistan. For the country’s most vulnerable, it is perpetual, bloody, and passes without redress or justice. For Shias, since 1990, there has been little respite from an open season of violence. Last week, at least 42 Shia pilgrims, including six women and children, who were traveling in the northern town of Parachinar, the capital of Kurram district, were killed when their convoys came under heavy gunfire.
Read more…GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT: POST-UPRISING BANGLADESH GRAPPLES WITH POWER, INCLUSION, AND HOPE
Abdullah Zahid and Pragyan Srivastava
At a Southasian panel discussion, participants from Bangladesh analysed the country’s future with some cautious optimism and hoped for progress beyond the ongoing struggles for minorities, women, and the working class.
Read more…BOOK REVIEW: AN ICONOCLAST ON AN ICONOCLAST
Ashok Gopal
In his posthumously published tome, The Buddha and his Dhamma, B.R. Ambedkar presents his view of the Buddha’s life and his teachings, according to purposes he considers important. In the process, he departs from established narratives and interpretations.
Read more…TALK ON SAVARKAR AT THE 17TH ALL-INDIA VIDROHI SAHITYA SAMMELAN
Niranjan Takle
[Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966), who coined the word Hindutva, is a leading icon of the political movement currently ruling India. His portrait now hangs in the Indian Parliament in close proximity to that of Mahatma Gandhi. Ironically, Savarkar was accused of supplying the pistol used to assassinate Gandhi on Jan. 30, 1948.
Read more…DO NOT DISTURB AJMER’S COMMUNAL HARMONY FOR CHEAP POPULARITY
People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Rajasthan
Press Release
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties has condemned the misleading claims and propaganda against the Ajmer Dargah and has called for adherence to the laws established regarding religious places.
Read more… Top