South Asia Citizens Web

A review of The Nation and its Margins: Reading Gender and the Politics of Sovereignty in India’s Northeast, by Papori Bora.

In the wake of news and rumors regarding leaks and technical problems in Koodankulam leading to delays, 50 eminent citizens from different walks of life have signed the following statement calling for an independent review of safety in Koodankulam reactor. The signatories include former Chief of Naval Staff L Ramdas, former Planning Commission member SP Shukla, scientists PM Bhargava, MV Ramana and Vineeta Bal, social scientists Romila Thapar, Sumit and Tanika Sarkar, Rajeev Bhargav, Manoranjan Mohanty, Achin Vanaik, Zoya Hasan and Manisha Sethi, artist Vivan Sundaram and Sheba Chhachhi, and many other scholars and social activists.

Investigations confirmed the suspicion; evidence at the trial court all but proved his [Savarkars] complicity. He, however, escaped with an acquittal. . . . Many years later, the BJP had his portrait hung in Parliament House.

“I think the stopping of Salman Rushdie coming to Calcutta is a sad and tragic moment in the history of Bengal and in the history of Bengali intellectual courage. We are now a truly shameful, uncultured city, where we cannot welcome one of our greatest writers who has travelled to Bombay, Bangalore, Delhi without any trouble,” said writer-filmmaker Ruchir Joshi

By Arun Prakash If the incipient Indo-Pak crisis of the past fortnight had any lesson to convey, it was that the road to perdition is lined with shrill, hysterical TV anchors, bloodthirsty politicians and a seemingly somnolent national security establishment. In the dangerously incendiary atmosphere that was allowed to build up recently, the last thing the subcontinent needed was a chest thumping xenophobic verbal exchange between the leadership of India and Pakistan – civil or military – (…)