Is there a ‘Unique Political Identity' of the Middle Class?
by Anshu SrivastavaDefinitions of the new middle classes in India, as elsewhere, are problematic and confusing. Middle classes in India have been often defined by economic criteria alone based on...
View ArticleLok Sabha Elections 2019: A Perspective for Opposition Unity
by Prem SinghBefore discussing the complex subject of Opposition unity, it would be appropriate to look at some obvious facts.Firstly, there exists no opposition to the neo-liberal policies that has...
View ArticleWhat happens to those excluded from the NRC?
MUSINGSWhat happens to our 40 lakh human beings! In the latest draft of Assam's National Register of Citizens, names of 40 lakh people are not included. That is, 12 per cent of Assam's population has...
View ArticleRethinking Our Education
by Saumitra MohanThere was a time when the Indian students pursued education for learning life-skills and acquiring knowledge. The pursuit of learning then was not about mugging facts and information,...
View ArticleTime for Upgradation in Education Policy
The fundamental right to education of all children up to the age of 14 years is enshrined in our Constitution. The State Government must provide the required facilities to the students so that they can...
View ArticleThe Bugles Are Calling For War
IMPRESSIONSThe big question is finally being addressed: who will be the Opposition's candidate for the Prime Minister? It will be unrealistic of course to expect an answer at this stage. But the...
View ArticleSushma versus Trolls: Rift within BJP before 2019 polls
by Aurobindo GhoseThere is more to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's apparently graceful response to the Twitter trolling she has faced over her Ministry's issuance of a passport to an...
View ArticlePost-Sachar Discourse: Search for an Inclusive Idea of India
by Badre Alam Khan and Mohammad Shahid AlamRecently under the banner of the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS), a report has been released on ”Vision 2025, Socio-Economic Inequalities: Why does...
View ArticleMilitary and Common Public: Hope and Paradox in Kashmir
by Roohul Amin MalikDuring the phase of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led collation with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir, the approach to deal with separatists like the...
View Article“Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Bhim!”
It was Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, when he was India's Prime Minister, who coined the slogan “Jai Jawan! Jai Kisan!”, in the realistic under-standing that the Jawan provides national external security...
View ArticleCommunists and ‘Quit India' Struggle
From N.C.'s WritingsThis was the week, fiftytwo years ago, that marked the parting of ways between the Communists and the Congress. It was the Communist opposition to the ‘Quit India' resolution at the...
View ArticleMinister and Bureaucrat
When minister garlands convict.Democracy is at its peak;When bureaucrat speaks the truth.The iron-frame has a leak.Some media mention the minister.Most bash the bureaucrat;Loyal spokesperson...
View ArticleWhat Pakistan Poll Outcome holds for South Asia
by Mahendra VedIndia's former Chief Election Commissioner and scholar S.Y. Quraishi once told a gathering that Islam and democracy are not always compatible. It shocked some Muslims present, prompting...
View ArticleLynching to Nowhere
More gruesome details about the Alwar lynching have come to light. Rakbar Khan, the victim, could have been saved if the police had acted in time. In fact, the force stopped for tea and wasted...
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Tamil Titan of National Eminence Departs
EDITORIALPolitics in Tamil Nadu has taken a new turn with the passing of 94-year-old Muthuvel Karunanidhi in Chennai last evening. And today with countless persons lining the road from the Rajaji Hall,...
View ArticleA Beard is Definitely a Matter of Identity!
MUSINGSLast week's incident in Haryana's Gurgaon, of a teenaged Muslim boy, Jaffaruddin, subjected to not just communal onslaught but also forcibly pushed into a saloon and his beard shaved off, left...
View ArticleEditors Guild Decries Increasingly Challenging Environment for Press Freedom
The following statement was issued by the Editors Guild of India on August 8, 2018.The Editors Guild of India condemns the manner in which the right to practise free and independent journalism is seen...
View ArticleThe RTI Regime: Retrospect and Prospect
by Rajvir S. DhakaAlthough the Right to Information has been declared by the Supreme Court of India, in various judgments, as a right inherent in Article 19(A) of the Fundamental Rights given in the...
View ArticleGazabganj
Short Storyby Satyabaani‘Jazbaat kehte hein, khamoshi mein basar ho jaye,Dard ki zid hein, ki duniya ko khabar ho jaye'(poet unknown)He got up wondering why he was feeling so lousy. He examined his...
View ArticleI am Not for Sale
Why are you here? I ask a boy from my classThe girl staying opposite meA student sitting across the tableOne from another hostel“For the tag” is what each one answers.Why did you trod into these muddy...
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