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: DEMONS FROM THE MOGHUL PAST AND BULLDOZERS FROM ITS PRESENT KEEP COUNTRY ON A BOIL: WHY DOES THE GODI (LAPDOG) MEDIA IGNORE THE GHOSTS OF THE BUDDHIST ERA?
Vinod Mubayi and Waheed Mukaddam
The weaponization of the masjid-mandir controversies now erupting all over north India appear to be Hindutva’s strategy to keep the country on a continuous boil until the next round of elections –state or national. The Gyanvapi mosque imbroglio has been quickly followed by the Krishnajanambhoomi-Shahi Idgah rift in Mathura as if following the script of the slogan “Ayodhya toh sirf jhanki hai/Kashi Mathura baaki hai” [Ayodhya is only a trailer; Kashi and Mathura still remain]. that was popularized by the foot soldiers and vandals of Hindutva who demolished the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in 1992.
Read more…INDIA: DELHI MUNDKA FACTORY FIRE STATEMENT BY WORKING PEOPLES’ COALITION
On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burned, killing 146 workers, all of them young women. It is remembered as one of the most infamous incidents in American industrial history, as the deaths were largely preventable–most of the victims died as a result of neglected safety features and locked doors within the factory building.
Read more…A GRIM STATE OF THE NATION REPORT
Namit Arora
India is on a sinister path, much darker than most worried citizens foresaw in 2014. Things have gone downhill rather fast. So what do I see as the near-term outlook (5-7 years) for India? I offer my provisional thoughts. I hope I’m wrong.
Read more…TRIBUTE TO NEHRU VIA SAHIR
Ishtiaq Ahmed
27 may marked the 58th death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru (died 1964). As the first elected prime minister of India Nehru proved to be the visionary who consolidated the secular, pluralist ethos of the Freedom Struggle, which is now under threat from Hindu majoritarian nationalism.
Read more…INDIA: ANNUAL GOVERNANCE REVIEW REPORT ‘PROMISES AND REALITY, 2021-22 (YEAR THREE OF THE NDA II)
(Courtesy SACW)
“Promises & Reality 2021-22: Citizens’ Report on the Year Three of the NDA II Government,” is a collective work by eminent members and organisations of the Indian civil society.
Read more…COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN KODERMA (JHARKHAND)
Irfan Engineer
The Ram Navmi procession passed of peacefully through the road on which Mosque is situated with minor some minor hiccups on 10th April, 2022, however, Muslim shops were attacked on next day morning. The Muslim community remained peaceful and did not do anything, afraid that doing so was in the interest of peace.
Read more…LONG READ: DEADLY FORCE: THE BLOODY RECORD OF THE DELHI POLICE
Prabhjit Singh
TWO YEARS AFTER the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kapil Mishra gave a threatening speech about protesters in northeastern Delhi, precipitating three days of communal violence, Yati Narsinghanand delivered yet another incendiary speech in the national capital. At a Hindu Mahapanchayat attended by around three hundred people, on 3 April 2022, Narsinghanand, the head of the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad, claimed, “Once a Muslim becomes the prime minister of India, in twenty years, fifty percent of you will change your religion. Forty percent of Hindus will be murdered.”
Read more…A TREE IS FOREVER [FICTION]
Original story in Marathi by Dr. Sukanya Agashe
The red hot ball of the sun started descending the faraway hills and the bus climbed on the concrete road- with a big bang and a jerk. The drowsy passengers who were fed up with the dust woke up with a start. They opened their eyes in disgust –‘oh, we are nearing our village’- with this thought the cramped bodies were stretched and relaxed. The faces were wiped with handkerchiefs. The luggage items were checked – tin trunks, bags, loth bags, cloth bundles…..
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