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).
BAL THACKERAY – SELF-PROCLAIMED HITLER ADMIRER PASSES AWAY
Vinod Mubayi
Since independence, there have been two examples of what can be termed the authentic face of Indian fascism. The first, Bal Thackeray, Shiv Sena leader, Marathi chauvinist par excellence and self-proclaimed admirer of Hitler who dubbed himself “Hindu hriday samrat” (emperor of Hindu hearts) died, thankfully, a few weeks ago; the other, Narendra Modi, coordinator of the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 is, unfortunately, still around. Read more…
AN AUTHENTIC INDIAN FASCISM
Praveen Swami
The Shiv Sena chief gave voice to a Nazi impulse in Indian politics — one that poses an ever-growing threat to our Republic. Read more…
LEADER (Thackeray ) WHO BROUGHT ETHNIC POLITICS TO MUMBAI MELTING POT
Meena Menon
Bal Thackeray, the man who could bring Mumbai and the entire State of Maharashtra to a standstill by a single command and whose ethnic and communal rhetoric added a strain of perpetual menace to an already fraught metropolis, died on Saturday, November 17. He was 86. Read more…
STRUGGLE TO ERADICATE CASTE: HIDDEN AGENDA OF SAMAJIK SAMRASTA
Ram Puniyani
Caste is a phenomenon deeply entrenched in Indian society and the struggle against it began in the late 19th century. Despite the social movements, initiated around the ideas of Phule, Ambedkar, Periyar and many such legendary figures, it continues to pervade in the Indian society like a malignant cancer, refusing to die easily. Read more…
GIRISH KARNAD ON NAIPAUL
Asghar Ali Engineer
In a literary festival organized by Times of India Group in Mumbai Girish Karnad, a theatre celebrity and a secular activist attacked, in his speech the committee which decided to give award to Naipaul on the grounds that Naipaul had communal attitude and did not deserve this award. Some people objected to Karnad attacking Naipaul on this occasion. He could have spared his remarks for some other occasion. Read more…
DRONES: THEIRS AND OURS
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Vocal as they are about being bombed from the sky, most Pakistanis – including many on the Left – suddenly lose their voice when it comes to the human (Muslim) drone. Read more…
CANADA’S MISSING DAUGHTERS
Murtaza Haider
It is taking place even in Canada. Parents are aborting female fetuses because they prefer sons instead. The practice, however, is more pronounced amongst immigrant parents from India. Read more…
2012 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: RELIGIOSITY LOST, LEFT WON
Rajasekhar Ramakrishnan
It is an understatement that my family is happy with the election of Barack Hussein Obama as the President of the United States for the second term in November 2012. Read more…
JOINT APPEAL OF INDIAN MUSLIMS ON AUNG SAN SUU KYI VISIT
The Milli Gazette Online
New Delhi, 14 November 2010: Myanmar opposition leader Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is visiting our country and getting the treatment of a head of state as a result of her long struggle and suffering for democracy in Myanmar which also won her a Nobel Peace Prize. But we are pained to see that Ms. Kyi has disappointed many by her continuous silence and ambivalent attitude towards a section of her compatriots known as “Rohingyas” who mainly live in Rekhine province, formerly known as Akyab. The Rohingyas, who are Muslims, have been termed by a UN report as the most persecuted religions community in the world. Read more…
NEW DELHI PROTEST AT ISRAELI EMBASSY AGAINST ATTACK ON GAZA
Hundreds of protestors, which included students, youth, teachers, trade unions and women raised slogans at the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi on November 19, 2012, protesting Israel’s assault on civilians in Gaza, and US support for this aggression. Read more…
MUSLIMS POSE AS HINDUS TO GET JOBS (IN INDIA)
Radio Australia (31 October 2012)
Muslims in India are adopting Hindu identities to avoid discrimination. Read more…
WELL-KNOWN PAKISTANI JOURNALIST MARVI SIRMED SHOT AT
(Press Trust of India <http://www.ndtv.com/search?q=Press+Trust+of+India>; November 02, 2012) 22
Islamabad: Unidentified gunmen today attacked prominent rights activist Marvi Sirmed in the Pakistani capital. She escaped unharmed. Read more…
SYMBOL OF COMMUNAL HARMONY IN FAIZABAD ATTACKED
Sandeep Pandey
We remember visiting the office of Sayed Manzar Mehdi, who was the Bureau Chief of Urdu periodical ‘Sahafat’ then in Faizabad just before the Godhra incident in 2002. He was vividly describing how Muslims in trains leaving Ayodhya for Gujarat were being troubled by the Kar Sewaks who had ostensibly come to build the temple. Read more…
A VISIT TO BHAGAT SINGH’S VILLA
Haroon Khalid
Amongst the numerous Punjabi patriots that have been borne over centuries, arguably, Sardar Bhagat Singh’s personality stands as the tallest in stature, fame, and sacrifice. However, a strange event occurred after the death of this son of Punjab. The land that he called his mother got divided into two parts. This partition not only divided land but also mentalities, families and heroes. A strong sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ were forged, to invoke patriotism, justifying the partition, or the betrayal, fueling nationalism. What is Indian is anti-Pakistani and vice-versa. Read more…
DISENCHANTING INDIA: ORGANIZED RATIONALISM AND CRITICISM OF RELIGION
Author: Johannes Quack
Reviewed by Dilip Simeon (Published in H-Asia, November 2012; supplied by Sukla Sen) Read more…
THREATENING IRAN, BOMBING GAZA
Vinod Mubayi
To any rational, fair-minded person with no stakes in the outcome, the current fuss over Iran would seem puzzling indeed. Iran is a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty; it allows inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect its nuclear facilities; and, under the rules of the treaty, it is allowed to enrich uranium to produce fuel for use in civilian nuclear facilities, such as power reactors or reactors for producing medical isotopes. There is another state in the Middle-East, however, which is known to possess hundreds of nuclear weapons, including bombs and missiles, acquired clandestinely, has not signed the non-proliferation treaty, and, of course, does not permit IAEA inspectors entry into the country or into its nuclear facilities. The latter country is Israel. Read more…
THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA (CPC) AND POLITICAL REFORM
William Dere
The Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held from November 8 to 15 at the Great Hall of People in Beijing. Hu Jintao was replaced by Xi Jinping as the General Secretary. A significant issue discussed at the Congress was Political Reform. Below are two commentaries (Eds.) Read more…
POLITICAL REFORM IN CHINA: THE WAY TO GO
Hu Shuli
In the 18th Party Congress report, the single area that has justifiably generated the most attention is references to political reform. But, in fact, views on this report will rely entirely on initial expectations. Read more…
EUROPE UNITES IN AUSTERITY PROTESTS AGAINST CUTS AND JOB LOSSES
Tom Kington in Rome, Helena Smith in Athens, Kim Willsher in Paris and Martin Roberts in Madrid
(The Guardian, 14 November 2012)
Millions take part in strikes, stoppages and marches on day of co-ordinated action as eurozone teeters on return to recession. Read more…
OBITUARY: ASAD REHMAN: ’CHAKAR KHAN’ (1950-2012)
Being Punjabi like Asad
Harris Khalique
Sheikh Asad Rahman breathed his last in an Islamabad hospital on the night of Monday, October 29. He developed a severe heart condition about two weeks ago and struggled under a ventilator before his body systems finally failed him. I had met Asad a day before his heart attack. Appearing fighting fit, he was in his true element, when speaking of human rights movements in Pakistan, reflective when deliberating on development challenges faced by communities in the length and breadth of the country, and passionate while tracing the history of the struggle for the rights of the Baloch people. Read more…
OBITUARY: SENATOR IQBAL HAIDER (1945 – ,2012)
Kiran Omar
On 11 November, 2012 Senator Iqbal haider breathed his last at a hospital in Karachi after a long illness. Senator Haider had a long, and illustrious career as a legislator, human rights activist and lawyer. He was a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, co-Chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan(HRCP), a former Senator, Federal Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs and a former Attorney General. His contribution to the Law, its application and interpretation, was invaluable, and his passion for championing human rights was inspirational. Read more…
OBITUARY: SRIMATI KAMALA PANDEY (1930-2012)
Ashok Choudhary
Lucknow, 26 November. Deep condolence was conveyed in an emergency meeting of the board of trustees and well wishers of the Anurag Trust on the sudden demise of Mrs. Kamala Pandey, the chief trustee of the trust, renowned leftist social activist and chief editor of the children magazine ‘Anurag’. It was resolved to further her life mission through the activities of the trust. Read more…