Understanding Sino-Indian scuffles at LAC on July 5, 2020Just months after the raucous welcome of the US president at a “Namaste Trump rally” in a giant cricket stadium filled with more than 100,000 people, and the president’s avowal to deepen the defense and commercial ties between India and the USA, the former has been badly trounced by China in border clashes at the […]
Smeared with communal colour on April 20, 2020As the novel coronavirus keeps striking the denizens of this globe with no discrimination of race, wealth and creed, it is gravely doleful to observe that India malevolently looks at the problem through anti-Muslim lens. A general perception has been made to develop that the main source of virus was the religious congregation of the […]
Lessons from 1918 pandemic on April 10, 2020No disaster, war or calamity has pestered humans on this earth as much as viruses, bacteria and parasites that cause diseases. The plague of Justinian killed 50 million people of this planet in the 6th century. The plague that erupted in Europe between 1347 and 1357, and the subsequent wave of Black Death took the […]
Shakespeare proven wrong in today’s India on February 29, 2020Shakespeare once said, “What’s in a name?” If he happens to come back to life to live in the middle of India, he will discover to his shock how wrong he was in saying so. Here, one’s name is all that clearly drives a wedge between those who are considered patriots and the ones branded […]
Modi-Shah Doctrine on February 7, 2020Last week, India commemorated the 72nd anniversary of Gandhi’s death with verve and regard. He was killed on January 30, 1948 by Nathuram Vinayak Godse – a follower of the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – who attributed it to Gandhi’s alleged emasculation of Hindus and generosity towards Muslims. The hate that once inspired Godse […]
The historical aspect of Pashtun nationalism on January 19, 2020The current sharpness in the ethnonationalist trend in the Pashtun tribal belt of Pakistan is not new. The affiliation with the ideals of Pashtun nationalism was there since decades, but there have been vicissitudes in the intensity of attachment with the cause. The state’s policy of absorbing more and more Pashtuns into its fold–intake in […]
Relentless Clutches of Hindutva Ideology on January 9, 2020This time, it is Jawaharlal Nehru University–one of India’s most prestigious universities–which came under attack by a pro-government mob. Students and their teachers were attacked by men wearing masks over their faces and chanting “Jai Shri Ram” – a slogan used in India by the charged extremists bent on attacking the minorities, especially Muslims. The […]
Efforts to Bring Socialism in Pakistan on January 2, 2020Weeks ago, university students appeared at the city squares of Pakistan to raise their concerns. Clad in red, they were chanting in rhythmic notes, chunks from the poems of rebel poets, whose poetry disseminates a message of revolution. The posture of the students amazed many. Some called them socialists, while others termed them, liberals. Many […]
Allegation of harassment misused on October 24, 2019A few years ago, I happened to read an Urdu novel by a famous female novelist. She wrote, “A man is never helpless, he gets whatever he craves for in his life.” The theme of the novel explicitly gloats over the flirtatious nature of a man who keeps changing his loyalties. A slew of such […]
Jai Shri Ram — cover to instil fear on October 8, 2019“Jai Shri Ram” is primarily a religious uttering used by the Hindus to hail the victory of Lord Ram, the Prince of Ayodhya. Unluckily, it has entered the political life of India; carrying a fatal threat to minorities. People in charged mobs, bearing deep puckers on foreheads with bosoms overflowing with hatred for minorities as […]