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: THE CRISIS OF ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY
Vinod Mubayi
The crisis that afflicts what earlier generations on the left used to call bourgeois democracy is palpable. Despite the claims of ideologues like Francis Fukuyama who proclaimed the end of history when the Soviet Union collapsed and predicted that free-market liberal capitalist democracy would become the final form of human political development, it now appears that electoral democracy itself is in serious crisis. Nowhere is this crisis more pronounced than in the country that considers itself the world’s oldest democracy and a model for the rest of the so-called “free world.”
Read more…NARENDRA MODI BOUNCES BACK AS INDIAN PRIME MINISTER FOR THE THIRD TERM
Sumanta Banerjee
Although with a reduced majority in Parliament, Narendra Modi has come back to the seat of India’s Prime Minister, which he will occupy till 2029 – unless his two allies on whom he is depending, decide to unseat him. During his election campaign he followed the golden rule – credulity is the necessary ground for the success of deception.
Read more…INSAF BULLETIN MOURNS THE PASSING OF JAVED MALLICK
Jana Natya Manch
[We were very sad to receive news of the passing of our old friend and comrade Javed Mallick. The following obituary was brought out by one of India’s leading progressive theater organizations Jana Natya Manch, Janam, with which Javed was closely associated.-Ed]
Read more…MY EXPERIENCES OF WARI
Irfan Engineer
This year I joined the wari (procession to Pandharpur), which is a 250 km and 21 days long procession from Alandi and Dehu to Pandharpur, albeit for a day on Sunday 7th July for an approximately 8 km stretch from Baramati to Sansar. I desire to share the experiences and thoughts that came to my mind.
Read more…A PERSONAL TRIBUTE TO KARAMAT ALI (19 AUGUST 1945 – 20 JUNE 2024)
Mandira Nayar
A journalist in India remembers a Pakistani peace activist who brought home her late grandfather’s ashes
Read more…‘VOTE FOR DEMOCRACY’ REPORT ON CONDUCT OF GENERAL ELECTION 2024 RAISES CONCERNS OVER ‘DISCREPANCIES’
Sabrang
The report highlights the alleged malpractices occurred during the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and provides statistical insights into vote hikes and numerical discrepancies in recorded votes.
Read more…THE SPECTRES HAUNTING BANGLADESH
Nafis Hasan
Echoes of past anti-authoritarian uprisings reverberate within anti-quota protests.
Read more…A BUDGET WITH MANY AUTHORS BUT NO PLOT
Mitali Mukherjee
In the snap TV analysis post Budget, an industry head struggled to find the right adjectives to commend what he had just heard. “Frankly, I like the Budget,” he said, and added, “I think it is a good Budget” before pausing to hit home the central takeaway: “It is time to get back to business.” In the fine dust that settles after a storm of Union Budget coverage, it does seem like there is less and less to discuss around the Finance Minister’s seventh consecutive Union Budget.
Read more…MORAL FAILURES: THERE ARE NO MAGIC BULLETS FOR INDIA’S ECONOMIC CRISIS
Ashoka Mody
IN THE DOCUMENTARY The Fog of War, the former US defence secretary Robert McNamara says that if the Americans had lost the Second World War, they—especially, he—would have been prosecuted as a war criminal for fire-bombing Tokyo. His message was that the victor sets the rules and writes the narrative. Today, Indian and international elites, refusing to confront the economic and moral crisis India faces, have established a dominant narrative of a rising India poised to make generational leaps with the power of digital transformation.
Read more… Top - Home