Marginalia
53 articles
Who Should Speak For Revanna’s Victims? A PM Would, But A Megalomaniac Won’t
This is not the first time when Modi has chosen to distance himself from any discussion on how his government has shielded sexual offenders in the past. His con...
ECI’s Silence And Bias Are Devastating To Democracy
The Anantnag-Rajouri constituency does not only symbolise how the ruling party – the BJP – discards memory at the threshold of convenience but also how autonomo...
Is This The First Light Of The Dawn?
“A crowd of one lakh people assembled on the Ramlila Maidan grounds at JP’s call, unnerving Gandhi, who imposed the Emergency in retaliation to stamp out any di...
Politics of imitation is nothing but surrender
“By imitating the right-wing, secular parties are not only giving legitimacy to the Hindu majoritarian politics and Hindu supremacy, they are also losing respec...
The Self-Proclaimed Divine Incarnate Consolidates Political And Religious Power
Hindu nationalists demolished Babri mosque in 1992 and promised a temple in its place to consolidate power and capture India’s parliament and the executive. Thr...
Stuck in a long dark tunnel in the Himalayas
Over 40 labourers stuck for over two weeks as Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand collapsed is a news that receives little traction. It is about 40 lives – lives of ...
Imagined referendums, invisible public, no elections as a democratic experiment
When the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha was patting himself on the back for ensuring decentralization of decision making at the developme...
The King and his courtiers
Anuradha Bhasin Bureaucracy in India has never been free from the culture of sycophancy. To the detriment of administrative functioning and governance, many bur...
Ceasefire Now: Silence Is Complicity And Evil
The silence of the leaders of the global north on the horrifying and unending blood-spilling of Palestinians can hardly be deemed as naïve, much less innocent. ...
The Merry Party Time Over Article 370
The political noises over Article 370 the entire last week are reminiscent of the story of the elephant and the seven blind men. Everybody has something to say ...
Secluded Ghettos, Hardened Positions, Animosity Obstacles In Return Of KPS
The basic and core flaw with an acutely vague, ambiguous and as yet still mysterious policy for return of Kashmir Pandits to the Valley does not lie as much in ...
Marginalia: Blood Thirsting Vindictive Zeal
Truth will always be a casualty. Ajmal Kasab’s hanging did not simply demonstrate to what extent the blood thirsty nation we have become, celebrating the death ...
Kashmir’s Chaotic Flavours Of Khichdi
Just short of declaring it a national dish, Khichdi has been named by the Government of India as the ‘Brand India dish’. That in no way allays the fear of this ...
In Times of Dystopian Reality: Big Brother is Watching
Why does a permissible climate for invasive surveillance, cloaked in secrecy, today thrive in India? “By comparison with that existing today, all the tyrannies ...
Hijab Or No Hijab: The Discourse Either Way Endorses A Stereo-type
New Zealand’s ‘hijab’ campaign as part of solidarity for its Muslim community has been viewed differently across the globe. Many liberal feminist friends from a...
For Love Of A Bloody War
The video of Wing Commander Abhinandan as prisoner of war in Pakistan standing with poise and dignity, after being beaten by a bunch of villagers, and answering...
Beyond Might And Lies, Can The ‘real Modi’ Be Recognized?
There is an old joke: “There are two rules in life. Rule 1: The Boss is always right. Rule 2: If in doubt, refer to Rule 1.” Only, the reality is not as amusing...
Heroic Voices Filling The Darkness Of Silence And Consent
Bol, ke lab azaad hai tere:Bol, zabaan ab tak teri hai,Tera sutwan jism hai tera –Bol, ke jaan ab tak teri hai. Truth-tellers might find themselves caught in th...
Outrage Is Natural But Do We Want To Learn Lessons From Pulwama?
Pulwama’s gory spectacle is haunting. The mangled wreckage of the bus, the strewn body pieces leave behind the tell-tale signs of the lives that existed seconds...
The Songs They Want To Snatch From Our Lips
In 1986, during Zia’s despotic and dictatorial military regime, when Iqbal Bano sang Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s revolutionary lyrics ‘Hum Dekhenge’ to a packed and appla...