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).
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EDITORIAL: MODI/BJP LOST THEIR PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY: DID THEY LOSE THE ELECTION TOO? AND ARE THEY IN POWER COURTESY OF ECI?
Vinod Mubayi
Before the election results were declared on June 4, 2024, Modi and his cohorts had frequently bragged of winning 400+ seats, an overwhelming majority that would have permitted them to make any constitutional change they wished. Even with a simple majority of 300+ in the last Parliament, they had been able to do enough mischief such as abolish the statehood of Jammu & Kashmir, abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, weaponize all the agencies of government to become foot soldiers of the ruling party, expel opposition members from the Lok Sabha at the whim of the government, and intimidate or suborn many members of the judiciary at all levels into supinely supporting the measures of the regime. Perhaps the most insidious related to the process of appointing members of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the independent constitutional body charged with conducting elections all over the country. The Supreme Court of India had recommended a three-person panel consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI), to select the members of the ECI. The Modi regime rubbished this idea and got its parliamentary majority to pass a law removing the CJI from the ECI selection panel and substituting a government minister instead, thereby giving the regime an automatic majority in the ECI member selection.
Read more…HE WAS BRUTALLY KILLED BEFORE SHE COULD WRITE HER STORY FOR THE WORLD: THE THIRTY-FIFTH NEWSLETTER (2024)
Vijay Prashad
Dear Friends,
Greetings from the desk of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.
On 8 August 2024, a 31-year-old doctor at the RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata (West Bengal, India) finished her 36-hour shift at the hospital, ate dinner with her colleagues, and went to the college’s seminar hall to rest before her next shift. The next day, shortly after being reported missing, she was found in a seminar room, her lifeless body displaying all the signs of terrible violence. Since Indian law forbids revealing the names of victims of sexual crimes, her name will not appear in this newsletter.
Read more…THE COLONIAL ROOTS OF SRI LANKA’S TAX REGIME
Shiran Illanperuma
One of Colombo’s oldest institutions is the ‘Battle of the Blues’—an annual cricket match between Royal College and St. Thomas’ College; two boys schools established under colonial rule and modelled after England’s Eton College. Both have long served as incubators for much of Sri Lanka’s political and business elite.
Read more…A LACERATED LAND
Harsh Mander
[Preface to PEACE ELUDES MANIPUR: STATE APATHY TOWARDS THE ONGOING CONFLICT A FACT-FINDING REPORT By Irfan Engineer & Neha Dabhade]
Read more…BANGLADESH: HOW THE ‘ECONOMIC MIRACLE’ CRUMBLED
Prabhat Patnaik
A good deal of analysis of the recent political upheaval in Bangladesh has focussed on the high-handedness and authoritarianism of Sheikh Hasina’s government; it has either missed altogether, or generally underplayed, the change that has occurred in the economic situation in that country.
Read more…A.G. NOORANI: ARCHITECT OF THE ‘KASHMIR FORMULA’
Iftikhar Gilani
N. Ram, Director of The Hindu Group of Publications, once described Abdul Ghafoor Noorani’s ability to find obscure references and documents within minutes during a book launch in New Delhi. His well-equipped office at The Hindu could not match Noorani’s ability to find a reference or document within minutes, he said.
Read more…LONG READ: SHAH’S PLAYGROUND: BJP’S CONTROL OF CRICKET IN INDIA
Sharda Ugra
{ONE}
HOURS BEFORE the fourth cricket Test match between India and Australia for the Border–Gavaskar Trophy, on 9 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, alongside his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese. Chants of “Modi, Modi” resounded through the stadium. The two took a lap around the ground in a golf cart fashioned into a golden chariot, waving to the half-full stands. They sat on a dais and watched a dance performance. They presented caps to their respective captains and shook hands with the players, but only of their own teams.
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