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: TRUMP, BOLSONARO, MODI: THREE HORSEMEN OF THE COVID PANDEMIC APOCALYPSE
Vinod Mubayi
The countries that Trump, Bolsonaro and Modi, respectively, rule, are currently #1, 2, and 3 in the total number of coronavirus infections. Credible projections by some scientists suggest that India is poised to become #1 within a few months. Whether that happens or not, it is more than likely the US, Brazil, and India will continue to remain on the equivalent of the Olympic medal stand with respect to the ranking for the worst performance in controlling the pandemic for the foreseeable future.
Read more…A STRONG VOICE AGAINST HINDUTVA IN GREATER VANCOUVER LOST
Gurpreet Singh
The news of Chinmoy Banerjee’s death has greatly saddened the South Asian community in BC.
80-year-old scholar and activist of Indian heritage, Chin Daa, as we affectionately called him, was not keeping well for the past several days.
Read more…GLOBAL DIALOGUE FOR SYSTEMIC CHANGE
We are living in an unprecedented global crisis that requires a deep reflection, rethinking and dialogue among activists, organizations and social movements around the world. Critical strategies are essential, to deal with the current crises and to shape what comes next.
Read more…TAGORE STREET, TEL AVIV: AGAINST NORMALIZING BANGLADESHI—ISRAELI RELATIONS
Kamal M. Ali
The normalization of the Israeli apartheid-state by liberal Bangladeshis calls for a revival of revolutionary solidarities and a South Asian politics that champions the Palestinian cause.
Read more…UP POLICE AFFIDAVIT ON VIKAS DUBEY ENCOUNTER PUTS SUPREME COURT BETWEEN ROCK AND HARD PLACE
Siddharth Varadarajan
In an interview to The Wire, Justice Deepak Gupta – who retired as a judge of the Supreme Court in May this year – had this to say about the killing of the gangster Vikas Dubey by the Uttar Pradesh police: “indications are that this was not an encounter, he did not run away, he was killed… But police made up such a shoddy story, it seems they don’t even give a damn whether people think that we killed him or not.”
Read more…US CITIES OPPOSE INDIA’S DISCRIMINATORY CITIZENSHIP ACT
The Alliance for Justice and Accountability (AJA), an umbrella organization of progressive South Asian groups across the United States, in coordination with the local San Francisco community, today welcomed the resolution passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors denouncing India’s draconian Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).
Read more…HAGIA SOPHIA: HERITAGE OF ENTIRE HUMANITY
Irfan Engineer
The re-conversion of Hagia Sophia from a patriarchal cathedral built by Justinian I in 537 CE to Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in 1453 after the conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmet II and into a museum of the same name by Kemal Ataturk in 1934 and again into a mosque of the same name on 24th July 2020 has thrown up quite a controversy. The reconversion of the Christian-Muslim monument in 21st Century that was a museum for nearly a century signifies the global rise and growing strength of the right wing politicians from all religions that misuse religion for their political ends and stoke religio-cultural wars. The conversion should be condemned in the strongest possible words. The Museum was a great tourist attraction.
Read more…CONDEMN THE ARBITRARY ARREST OF PROF. HANY BABU!
The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) condemns the arrest of Professor Hany Babu MT at Mumbai by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgaar Parishad case.
Read more…CASTE ON THE STREETS: DHAKA’S STREET CLEANERS, MANY OF THEM DALITS, FACED A GRIM FUTURE EVEN BEFORE THE PANDEMIC
Shah Tazrian Ashrafi
Bangladesh confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on 8 March 2020. In the span of a little over a hundred days, the number of positive cases crossed the 100,000 mark with more than 1300 dead. The country imposed a nationwide lockdown on 26 March and extended it several times. As the lockdown was lifted on 31 May, the number of cases began to surge.
Read more…IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON LABOUR
EPW Editorial
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and ensuing lockdowns have severely affected the labour market. In India, the pandemic and the prolonged lockdowns have led to a reduction or complete loss of their livelihoods, which has disproportionately affected the migrants and the working poor. Others, such as health workers and those in essential services, have experienced a huge increase in workloads and schedules amidst the onslaught of the pandemic.
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