The true role of art and literature on December 7, 2018In poor countries such as India, art for art’s sake amounts to escapism. The people are thirsty for good literature. If someone writes about their problems, it will be popular. India faces gigantic problems today. In some states, farmers and weavers are committing suicide. Prices of essential commodities are skyrocketing. Unemployment has become massive and […]
The power of Urdu poetry, in and out of court on December 6, 2018In 1981, when I was a lawyer in Allahabad High Court, the poet Faiz saheb came to Allahabad, my home town. A function was organized in his honour in the Allahabad University lawns. The university lawns are massive, and so was the crowd that evening. There were many poets on the dias that day: Firaq […]
Pakistaniyon, hum bilkul tum jaise nikle on December 5, 2018The famous Pakistani progressive poet and human rights activist Fahmida Riaz who died recently wrote a poem titled Tum bilkul hum jaise nikle (you too turned out to be just like us). Fahmida earlier had a high opinion of Indian secularism, but her dreams crashed when she saw what was going on in India after […]
Indian army can’t get away with extrajudicial killings on December 4, 2018The recent judgment of the Indian Supreme Court rejecting petitions filed by 350 army men praying for quashing the first information reports, which had been been filed against them for extrajudicial killings in “encounters” in Manipur, Kashmir, and some other states, must be welcomed by all supporters of the rule of law, civil liberties and […]
Don’t joke in India on November 29, 2018A passenger on a Jet Airways flight from Kolkata to Mumbai boarded the plane and typed on his phone “Terrorist on flight. I destroy women’s hearts”. A co-passenger saw this and informed the air crew, and though he told the air crew that it was only a prank with some friends, he was taken off […]
Who was right, Gandhi or Bhagat Singh? — II on November 28, 2018Our ancestors chose the dishonourable, easy way out offered by that British agent Gandhi, instead of the difficult but genuine path shown by Bhagat Singh and Surya Sen, and we are still suffering for that, even 71 years after independence, and will continue to suffer for many years more I regard the true freedom fighters […]
Who was right, Gandhi or Bhagat Singh? on November 27, 2018Irfan Habib’s book on the great freedom fighter Bhagat Singh ‘To Make the Deaf Hear’ was released recently in Delhi. It raises the question whose path was right, Gandhi’s or Bhagat Singh’s? The path of the former was non-violent ‘satyagrah’ that of the latter armed struggle against the British rulers. I have no doubt that […]
The Truth about Kashmir on November 24, 2018A lot has been said and written about recent events in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and about the dissolution of the state legislative assembly and imposition of President’s rule. In my opinion all these analyses were superficial and do not explain the inner realities. So let me explain step by step: The truth […]
Gandhi on religion, cow and caste IV on August 14, 2015It is said by some that if the Indian people had resorted to arms against British rulers there would have been a lot of bloodshed. That is true but then that is the price a people must pay for freedom. In fact, our real freedom fighters, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Surya Sen (Masterda), Ashfaqullah, Ram […]
Gandhi on religion, cow and caste III on August 13, 2015Gandhi admitted that his ideal ofa varna system with everyone enjoying equal economic and social status probably had no historical warrant. But when asked whether in ancient India there was much difference in economic status and social privileges between the four varnas, Gandhi replied: “That may be historically true. But misapplication or an imperfect understanding […]