Archive of South Asia Citizens Wire | feeds from sacw.net | @sacw

  • Hindu Nationalism: origins, ideologies and modern myths

    by Chetan Bhatt, 9 June 2008

  • Coal and Colonialism: Production Relations in a Indian Coalfield

    by Dilip Simeon, 9 June 2008

  • A Sense of Humiliation - Why the bhoomi puja in Singur is such a great let-down

    by Ashok Mitra, 7 June 2008

    a curious event that took place in Singur on January 21 last. On that day, a bhoomi puja was arranged there to signal the start of the small car project. It was bhoomi puja performed on what is claimed to be still government property; it was organized by government officials qua government officials. And this is precisely where anguish begins to seize the mind. The multitude of its supporters and admirers look up to the Left Front government in West Bengal as the repository of secular ideals; they pin their faith on it to act as vanguard in the relentless fight against the fundamentalists and religious obscurantists. They consider the left as the only effective countervailing force to crush the conspiracy launched in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, to Hinduize secular India. As they view it, India is a secular republic; the country’s Constitution says so. The commitment of the Constitution must be honoured and, where necessary, defended till the last drop of blood is shed; only the left, millions across the country have been accustomed to think, could be trusted with this assignment. Now they will be in a state of shell shock.

  • India: Speak, freedom

    by Tarunabh Khaitan, 1 June 2008
    Indian Express, May 30, 2008
    In a remarkably unequivocal judgment delivered on May 8, Delhi High Court quashed eight criminal cases against artist M.F. Husain, saying that ‘it has become imperative that in this information age, jurisdiction be more circumscribed so that an artist ... is not made to run from pillar to post facing proceedings.’ A few days later, on May 15, the Supreme Court stayed criminal proceedings against actor Khushboo in 23 cases. While these orders are commendable, they  (...)

  • Murdered for Love

    by Nirupama Dutt, 26 May 2008

    In Balah village in Haryana on May 9, 2008, Sunita Devi, 22, and Jasbir Singh, 27, both Jats, were killed by Sunita’s father and other relatives. Their bodies were displayed like hunting trophies outside Sunita’s house. Childhood sweethearts, Sunita and Jasbir had eloped and were living with Jasbir’s sister, Neelam Devi, in Machhraoli village near Panipat when they were attacked. As the village celebrated the killings, the ’sarpanch’ (village council head), Ranbir Singh Mann, announced with pride that the entire village supported the family in its ’noble act’. Gruesome murders are committed in the name of family honour and lauded by the local community.

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