With the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza and renewed India-Pakistan tensions following the Pahalgam attack, there is a growing temptation to apply the framework of colonial violence (so viscerally visible in Palestine) to diverse geopolitical contexts across the Global South. This impulse, while rooted in a genuine desire for global solidarity, has often led to … Continue reading Not All Violence Is Colonial: The Dangerous Drift of Post-Modern Solidarity – Yanis Iqbal
Category: Politics
USAID and the Fall of the Global Aid Order — Ritabrata Chakraborty
Kent Nishimura/Reuters In late February 2025, as the disruptive policy orders of US President Donald Trump were generating their cascading effects globally, India's first three clinics directed towards transgender people faced an unforeseen closure. Located in Hyderabad, Pune and Kalyan, these clinics faced the tightening of funding caused by the halting of USAID, the word … Continue reading USAID and the Fall of the Global Aid Order — Ritabrata Chakraborty
A Tuition in Nutrition — Urvi Khaitan
Nutrition, Bulletin no. 26 (February 1947). [The informational references are based on various bulletins of Food and Nutrition published by the Department (later Ministry) of Food, Government of India between 1945 and 1949.] Famine was no short-lived spectacle in modern South Asian history. Hunger is writ large across the twentieth century, its text of devastation … Continue reading A Tuition in Nutrition — Urvi Khaitan
The Life and Times of Hindutva Cinema—Rayan Chakrabarti
I am an avid user of OTT platforms, utilising the late-night and cheap internet to binge questionable films. As Netflix orients us towards consuming distinct genres, I have been attracted to a peculiar fetish that can only be categorised as Hindutva Cinema. Films praising the Modi government’s policies have multiplied exponentially in the last ten … Continue reading The Life and Times of Hindutva Cinema—Rayan Chakrabarti
D.D. Kosambi’s Appeal for Peace—Translated by Suchintan Das
Peace (Woodcut) by Haren Das (1950) Better remembered as a polymath and historian, D.D. Kosambi was also a globetrotting peace-activist in the 1950s and contributed to the world peace movement both within India and internationally as a first-rate organizer. This pamphlet was printed at Nagar Press Works, Indore and was published and distributed by Anant … Continue reading D.D. Kosambi’s Appeal for Peace—Translated by Suchintan Das
The Dam and The Deluge: Decoding the Tripura-Bangladesh Floods—Ananyo Chakraborty
Artwork by Tanun In the third week of August 2024, disturbing visuals of people — poor and helpless — relocating to relief camps from their houses submerged under water were seen on social media. With no regard for national boundaries, an unprecedented deluge had affected North Unkoti, Dhalai, Khowai, Gumti and South Tripura districts of … Continue reading The Dam and The Deluge: Decoding the Tripura-Bangladesh Floods—Ananyo Chakraborty
The Myth of Belonging: How to Create a Nation—Hira
Untitled (2005), M.F. Husain [Courtesy: Learning Journal] Amidst the chaos and uncertainty in the academic year of 2021-22, as students and teachers alike learnt to grapple with the online mode of teaching, NCERT used the time to quietly edit the contents of its History and Political Science textbooks from classes 6 to 12. Official communication … Continue reading The Myth of Belonging: How to Create a Nation—Hira
Other Futures are Always Possible: Tegart’s Long Shadow over Palestine—Suchintan Das
A Tegart Fort in Palestine (Image courtesy: http://quaderns.coac.net/en/2015/03/tegart-forts/) Imagine for a moment that you are not able to use future tense in speech. You will not be able to plan a vacation, consider your children’s education, or for that matter, think actively about retirement. Your life will be restricted to an immediate and unending present, where … Continue reading Other Futures are Always Possible: Tegart’s Long Shadow over Palestine—Suchintan Das
Neoliberalism and the Politics of Mental Health—Yanis Iqbal
Illustration courtesy: Olivia Newland In its neoliberal phase, capitalism no longer exists as a historical force with capabilities to play a progressive role. On the contrary, it keeps nakedly “asserting its power all the way to the historical limit of its viability”, as Istvan Meszaros puts it. Breaching these limits, neoliberalism, becomes a ‘counter-historical’ force. … Continue reading Neoliberalism and the Politics of Mental Health—Yanis Iqbal
Misdiagnosing Climate Change: Exploring the Interplay of Overpopulation and Overconsumption—Shashi Singh
A popular poster depicting a stark contrast between big and small families. A big family is mired in poverty and strife; a small family, on the other hand, is happy and content. It depicts the (natural and material) plentitude that comes with a small family. [Source: Pinterest] Last year, in the month of July, the … Continue reading Misdiagnosing Climate Change: Exploring the Interplay of Overpopulation and Overconsumption—Shashi Singh
Lokayata 