South Asia Citizens Web

Praful was an extraordinary human being, always deeply committed politically, starting with his days as a student at Bombay I.I.T. and also the least dogmatic and sectarian left-winger that either of us ever knew. He embodied the vision of an essentially modern Left, the Left as a secular, rationalist force, a champion of democracy in the modern world, and as opposed to the authoritarianism and repressiveness of ostensibly “leftwing” regimes as to capitalism’s wide-ranging subjugation of humanity and of nature.

I remember Praful from his pre-journalist days - the IIT days, the Magowa days - days when we were closest. This is a Praful who is not very well known and today I would like to speak about him.

INTOLERANCE THROUGH THE YEARS: 1934 to 1975 to 2015By Anil Nauriya Day Against Intolerance - 25 June 2015 The 25th and 26th of June mark not only the declaration of the internal Emergency at the behest of the Indira Gandhi regime in 1975. June 25 is also the day in 1934 when a lethal bomb was aimed at Mahatma Gandhi and his cavalcade by Hindu conservative and orthodox elements in Pune when he was on his anti-Untouchability tour. For some years, especially from 1977 onwards, (…)

It is difficult to accept that Praful is no more. Two days back he passed away in Amsterdam, The Netherland. Now, who will spontaneously respond to right wing onslaught on the masses in these difficult times, both globally and within India?

Pakistan stopped celebrating the 1965 War with India some time ago, after some of its generals questioned the triumphalism being built around the debacle. India, however, it seems, has taken over from where Pakistan left off. To celebrate India’s military victory over Pakistan, a month-long ’commemorative carnival’ and a ’victory festival’ topped with a victory parade is to be held on Rajpath in Delhi on 20 September. A total of Rs 35 crore will be spent to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 War with Pakistan.