Decolonizing the Humanities
Humanities are the foundation of any society. National leaders and thinkers must be schooled in the humanities, with deep roots in the nation and the society they seek to lead. And Indian humanities have deep spiritual roots. While India is politically free, it remains spiritually colonized. The problem lies in the failure of humanities educations. More...
Aurangzeb Road: Symptom of a Deeper Malaise
The Congress has always been a party held together by a personality—first by Mohandas Gandhi, later Nehru, and now Sonia Gandhi. It is inevitable therefore that force of personality rather than concerns of national More...
When Eminent Historians Plagiarize They Get Bouquets
“Well, in 1992, when I was president of Indian Council of Historical Research, the 450th birth anniversary of Akbar was being observed. BJP and RSS had opposed these celebrations. LK Advani and others said Akbar More...
Secular Love for Aurangzeb Remains Undiminished
The New Delhi Municipal Council’s (NDMC) decision to rename Aurangzeb Road in Lutyens’ Delhi as Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam Road has evoked reactions on expected lines. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that More...
A Dossier on the FTII
A common allegation that one continues to hear since the Modi Government came to power is that they are saffronizing the institutions, or agents of the RSS are taking over the Government, or the rightists are hounding More...
Drishyam or How Secular Media Creates an Alternate Reality
“Rajasthan Civic Polls: BJP loses face in Raje’s bastion of Jhalawar, Dholpur,” the headlines screamed a week ago as the results of the civic body elections were declared in Rajasthan. The BJP won convincingly, More...
Not Gandhi but Japan Kicked out Britain from India
Mass desertions of loyal Indian soldiers to the Japanese-trained INA precipitated Britain’s withdrawal from India. On 15 November 1941, less than a month before Pearl Harbour, the Japanese leadership approved More...
I am a Kaffir and I need a Hug
In the afternoon of 6 August, a blindfolded Muslim man named Mazim Mullah stood in a Mumbai street with his hands stretched open and a message that urged passersby to hug him: “I’m a Muslim and I trust More...
Anxiety in the Western Academia’s Ivory Tower
“Sling mud; even if the mud does not stick, the stain will stay for long.” asatyam api dur-vachanam chiram tishthati = Vilification, even if groundless, lasts long. These are but some of the maxims being deployed More...
Ancient Indian Tradition of Agriculture and Food Sharing
The undoubted and perhaps unintended – or unforeseen – ill-effects associated with the conventional green revolution package of practices has compelled both farmers and governments to look more favourably at More...