History

Vande Mataram and the 2026 Amendment: From voluntary honour to penal coercion

While the slogan Vande Mataram galvanised millions during India’s struggle for liberation from the clutches of colonial rule, this essay demonstrates that the 2026 Amendment –that the BJP has orchestrated--does not represent historical continuity, but rather a contemporary majoritarian redefinition of a complex national symbol.

Growing Up In Downtown Tehran

I grew up in downtown Tehran. As a little...

Lying about Kashmir with old videos

When channels air old footage to tarnish demonstrators, they...

Germany and Islam – “Muslims are already German”

Many people these days are asking whether Islam and...

How exactly does the Indian media define a terrorist?

The English-language media's use of the term seems to...

Freedom of Speech in the University

Image courtesy Rabindranath Tagore’s utterances about nationalism, montouche“Even though...

The filming of Rumi – Everybody’s darling

A Hollywood film project and a joint attempt by...

The Word ‘Rashtra’

Eminent historian K.M. Shrimali critiques the concept of a timeless...

Did Ashoka’s embracing of Buddhism and Promoting Ahimsa Weaken India?

Image credit: bmmsa.org The sangh parivar's denigration of Emperor Ashoka...

The voyage of Nicolas Baudin and ‘art in the service of science’

Christine Judith Nicholls, Flinders University and Dany Breelle, Flinders...

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SIR’s elusive illegal immigrants: Bogey Busted but will the injustices heaped be corrected?

Barely 771 “foreign nationals” identified in Karnataka and a miniscule 1,600 in six other Indian states; yet the hysterical bogey of the “ghuspetiya” (illegal immigrant) has been used to render 130 million plus Indian without the right to vote?

2020 Delhi Riots: Delhi High Court upholds seven-year sentence for five men in 22-year old Muslim migrant worker’s death

The Court holds that failure to identify who inflicted the fatal injuries does not absolve the accused under Section 149 IPC, relying on evidence of their participation in an armed mob that assaulted the victim, Monish

Jamia’s Answer to Student Protest: Online exams, hostel closures and police detentions

As the hunger strike enters its third week, students allege that the administration is using disciplinary action and restrictions on campus life to weaken a movement demanding elected representation

Assam NRC: Seven years after 19 lakh people were excluded, rejection slips remain a non-starter

Separate Supreme Court proceedings concern the failure to issue rejection slips to nearly 19.07 lakh excluded people and identity cards to more than 3.11 crore people included in the final register

UP CEO apologises for minority remark on official X handle, but who is responsible?

After discrepancies in Uttar Pradesh’s electoral rolls prompted AAP leaders to question the Election Commission, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer posted a remark invoking caste and religion, following criticism, the handle apologised for its language, who was responsible for the post, what action has been taken, and why is it still online?

Karnataka’s final SIR roll delete electorate by nearly 1 crore; Bengaluru loses over 43 lakh names

Karnataka’s final SIR roll published on October 27, lists 4.55 crore voters, down from 5.54 crore before the SIR, the draft roll deleted 1.08 crore names, while the final net deletion stands at 99.32 lakh, Bengaluru alone saw over 43 lakh names removed

Economic Boycott as Hindu Solidarity: BJP leader Nitesh Rane calls for Muslims to be shut out

HARHAR campaign launch becomes a platform for religious segregation, with Rane urging Hindus to buy only from Hindus and issuing a chilling threat against Muslims attending the Kumbh Mela

SIR Karnataka: Six major ‘conspiracies’ exposed in the final electoral roll

The author argues that for six cogent reasons, the final, post-SIR electoral roll has ensured the deletion of not just 99.3 lakh voters as has been admitted; this includes 75 lakhs of voters in the “shifted” and “absent” category; hence 99.3 lakhs plus another possible 27 lakhs by a gross under-representation of the elector-population ratio (EPR); roughly this means that the deletions swell to an approximate 1.26 crore voter deletions in total that is a staggering 18 per cent of the state’s electorate