South Asia Citizens Web

Almost all people seek to justify their beliefs and their actions by invoking the past. They look to the past also to find ways to claim that they are better than others. They speak of past glories, whether real or imaginary, to make the barrenness of the present easier to live with. We think, foolishly, that we are better people because our ancestors did something great or were exceptional. We forget that no past greatness can wipe out the fact that today we are at the bottom of the heap.

In our India Briefing for November 2014, the India Study Group presents a second snapshot view of developments in the world’s largest democracy. We describe how the problematic trends we identified in our last briefing continue to deepen, with respect to the economy, social violence and the insecurity of people’s livelihoods. We also discuss India’s recent foreign policy initiatives, and the possible violence and instability that may follow changes in the electoral landscape.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani’s commitment to the Constitution is absolutely commendable. We are supposed to understand that the decision to stop the teaching of German in Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) schools has nothing to do with the influence exercised by the Sanskrit Shikshak Sangh to replace the third optional language taught to children in school with Sanskrit and everything to do with the Constitution.

As women who have been engaged in the struggles for women’s rights and justice, we appeal to you to commute Koli’s death sentence or at least to stay his execution till the completion of the other cases involving other Nithari victims in which he is an accused.

Many social movements in India converged at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on 2 December 2014 to demand people’s rights and a democratic and secular society. The photos posted here were taken by Mukul Dube