South Asia Citizens Web

It is generally supposed that the morality of a people is grounded in their religion. The falsity of this view is, however, borne out by the frequent riots in which a large number of innocent people are mercilessly killed in the name of religion. The history of the world is full of religious wars- wars between Muslims and Christians, between Protestants and Catholics, between Hindus and Muslims, between Muslims and Jews. Large-scale deception and oppression of the people has also taken place in the name of religion. The religion being the source of morality is a myth exploded by history.

we note with concern that there are reportedly plans afoot to transform the Nehru Museum into a “Museum of Governance”, and to repurpose it to broadcast the activities of the current government. While the government has every resource at its disposal should it want to build a Museum of Governance and use such an institution to display its own achievements, the Nehru Museum was never meant to be anything other than a museum dedicated to India’s first Prime Minister, his life and his times.

We are at it again. India and Pakistan are talking a lot these days, mostly about why they don’t want to talk to each other. Our national security advisers were supposed to meet last week. And they were supposed to talk about terrorism. Instead, they did what they do best: They hurled accusations at each other about how the other side doesn’t really know how to talk, and the meeting was canceled.

H-Net Reviews Edward Cohn. High Title of a Communist: Postwar Party Discipline and the Values of the Soviet Regime. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2015. Illustrations. 260 pp. $49.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-87580-489-7.
Reviewed by Lewis Siegelbaum Published on H-Socialisms (September, 2015) Commissioned by Gary Roth
Disciplining Communists
One of the more interesting developments in the field of Soviet history has been the reinterpretation of what loosely can be called the (…)

30 अगस्त [2015] को साम्प्रदायिकता और अंधश्रद्धा के ख़िलाफ़ एक मुखर आवाज़ को हमेशा के लिये शांत कर दिया गया. धारवाड़ में कन्नड़ भाषा के विद्वान और जनप्रिय लेखक, सतहत्तर वर्षीय प्रोफेसर एम. एम. कलबुर्गी के घर में जा कर हत्यारों ने उनको गोलियों से मौत के घाट उतार दिया. प्रोफेसर कलबुर्गी उदयकालीन कन्नड़ भाषा के वचना साहित्य और उत्तर कर्णाटक में आदिलशाही के दिनों में रचे गये साहित्य की खोजबीन में सक्रिय थे. कई विद्यार्थियों और विद्वानों के लिए प्रोफेसर कलबुर्गी ज्ञान का स्रोत थे. विद्यार्थियों के लिए उनके दरवाज़े हमेशा खुले रहते थे, जिसका फ़ायदा हत्यारों ने उठाया. अपने आप को विद्यार्थी बताते हुए वे उनके घर में घुस गये और अपने नापाक इरादे को अंजाम दिया. प्रोफेसर धार्मिक अंधश्रद्धा के तीव्र आलोचक थे; स्वयं उनकी लिंगायत जाति भी उनके तर्कपूर्ण और मुक्त विचारों को बरदाश्त नहीं कर पाई थी और उन्हें अपनी ही जाति के कट्टरपंथियों के कोप का शिकार बनना पड़ा था. उनको कई बार धमकियाँ मिली थीं और पुलिस की सुरक्षा भी दी गई थी जो उनकी हत्या के कुछ ही दिनों पहले वापस ली गई थी.