Bobby Kunhu “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” – George Orwell, 1984 “If a larger country oppresses a smaller country, I’ll stand with the smaller country. If the smaller country has majoritarian religion that oppresses minority religions, I’ll stand with minority religions. If the minority religion has …
BAPSA: A challenge to the ABVP and Pseudo-Left in JNU
Manikanta Pallikonda Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association (BAPSA-JNU), an independent Ambedkarite students’ organization, is contesting the 2018 JNU Students’ Union elections.This is the fourth election since the inception of BAPSA in 2014, and a steady increase in its consolidated vote share gives us hope that more and more students on campus view it as an …
Oh God! One shot…so many birds!!
P V Vijay Kumar 3000 years back, one day a Brahmin said to himself, before he went to sleep “How do I protect my livelihood and retain all the luxuries I am enjoying today. I am scared…I don’t want to rule dynasties and run a risk of dying in a war for enjoying my …
The Buddha Smiled: Lessons from Bihar’s Victory
N. Sukumar and Shailaja Menon “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned” ~ The Buddha In May 2014, the pervasive idea was that Moditva has triumphed and before long the Gujarat Model would usher in Ram …
BJP Governmentality: Development as Illusion
Vicky Nandgaye Nowadays ‘NaMo’ seems like a brand which is supposed to bring reform in an individual’s life. Modi consistently enjoyed the Chief Ministership of Gujarat from 7 October 2001 to 22 May 2014. Then over that period of operation of the so-called “Gujarat Model” his image grew across the nation with the help …
Hindutva and its False Consciousness
N. Sukumar and Shailaja Menon If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. ~ Luke 6:29 Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. ~ Mathew 7:12 The poster boy of …
Rise of Modi and Anti-Muslim Politics: A Critical Reading of the Left
K K Baburaj After hearing the news of BJP securing individual majority in parliament, I visited a friend of mine. His father, a retired teacher and a well-known leftist locally being an ex-leader of a left wing teachers’ association, started talking to me enthusiastically about the election results. “This result is a reply to the …
No ghar, so no ghar wapsi
Kancha Ilaiah The Sangh Parivar is conducting the so-called “ghar wapsi” programmes all over the country. According to a newspaper report, about 8,000 people have been brought back to “ghar” from Christianity in newly formed Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The reconversion of some dalit Christians in Kerala is also widely reported. Nobody knows when …
Hindustan vs India
Kancha Ilaiah Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to power, issues related to Muslims in India are zooming into focus. Though during the election campaign Narendra Modi indirectly talked about “appeasement”, “votebank” politics and the preferential treatment meted out to Muslims by the Congress Party, he did not make their identity …