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.

Christmas and Year End, a time for some civility

Image Courtesy: wikipedia.orgYears ago when my daughter was...

Socialist and Free: Cuba 57 years later

Cuban President Fidel Castro during an address to the...

Babur on Hindustan: Excerpts from the Babur-Nama

  Four days ago, December 26 was the death anniversary...

The Evils of Caste

 We reproduce below excerpts from the work of one...

Intellectualism in Peril

Writers stage a demonstration against increasing intolerance, New Delhi,...

Ismat versus the World

  BJP Government Purging Plurality and Diversity from Textbooks   My grandmother...

Art Speaks : From Togetherness comes Greatness

As the idea of a unified, secular India appears...

Ambedkar against Hindu Rashtra

  Until 1992, December 6 was remembered as ‘Parinirvan Divas’...

The Mob within Indian Democracy

  When the editors of Communalism Combat asked us to...

Culture and what it tells us about our Past

 It is indeed an honour for me to have...

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