Attackers in Bangladesh wielding machetes killed a liberal blogger on Thursday, the latest in series of murders of secular activists. Postgraduate law student Nazimuddin Samad, 28, was attacked as he was returning from a class at his university in the capital, Dhaka. Three or four men attacked Samad with machetes and then shot him after he fell to the ground. Samad was critical of radical Islamists and used to campaign for secularism on Facebook

Four People Killed In Bangladesh Protesting A Coal Power Plant
By National Committee on Bashkhali Killing

Four people, including two brothers, were killed at Gandamara village in Banshkhali upazila, Bangladesh during a demonstration against the construction of a coal-based power plant there

Waiting for Allah’s ‘Bichar’ (Justice): A Despairing Note On
Bangladesh’s Politicized, Inept And Corrupt Criminal Justice System
By M. Adil Khan

In recent times Bangladesh has witnessed a rising spate in cases of unsolved rape, murder, kidnapping, enforced disappearances of political opponents, extrajudicial killings, plunder of national assets etc. etc. As a result people have lost faith in the government in general and its criminal justice system in particular such that most now believe that police and the criminal justice system is more of a source than solution to their safety and security

I’m A Former President Of The Jewish Society. BDS Is Not Anti-Semitic
By Keziah Berelson

As a Modern Orthodox Jew, a recent graduate from the University of Edinburgh and a former President of the University’s Jewish Society, (2012/13), I congratulate the student body’s decision to pass a motion of BDS. This is a victory for minority rights and democracy at the University. BDS is a non-violent campaign called for by over 170 Palestinian civil society organisations which use the methods of boycott, divestment and sanctions from institutions and companies who benefit from and contribute to Palestinian oppression in order to pressure the Israeli state to operate within the boundaries set by international law

Global Tax Havens or Havens For Dirty Money
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Gabriel Zucman, the author of the 2015 book “The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens,” estimates that $7.6 trillion is stashed in tax havens. This amounts to 8 percent of the world’s personal financial wealth. The author believes that if all of this illegally hidden money were properly recorded and taxed, global tax revenues would grow by more than $200 billion a year

US Seeks To Develop Close Military Ties With Sri Lanka
By Vijith Samarasinghe

The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet Flagship, USS Blue Ridge, arrived in Colombo on March 26 for a five-day visit, with 900 sailors on board. This is the first time in five years that a US navy vessel has docked in Colombo. Marking the event, the Seventh Fleet command said the visit aimed to “build new ties and promote peace and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.” Part of the US Pacific command, the Seventh Fleet is the largest of the US Navy and conducts “forward deployed naval operations in support of US national interests in the Indo-Asia Pacific area.” Far from being a symbolic gesture of goodwill between the two nations, the ship’s visit is part of the close integration of Sri Lanka into the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia” directed against China

 

HCU In Custody - Part 1

The events at the University of Hyderabad on March 22 following the return of Prof. Podile Appa Rao as its Vice Chancellor have been well documented. 27 people including students, faculty and an independent documentary maker were arrested by the police, and subsequently charged with various criminal sections including Damage to Public Property, Causing Hurt with a Dangerous Weapon, Rioting and Criminal Intimidation. Accounts by reporters and others who met the arrested individuals suggested arbitrary arrest and unlawful treatment by the police amounting to police brutality in some cases. In this video, the first of a series, some of those arrested recount their own experiences in police custody

The Undemocratic Means Of A Democratic State
By Muneeb Yousuf

Even after six decades of turmoil and violence, Kashmir is witnessing a new form of violence that seems to be much more potent and lethal. Several recent reports have suggested that more educated youths have joined militancy which has serious consequences on the polity and stability of Kashmir. India has considerably and continuously failed in providing a healthy and peaceful environment which an "integral area" deserves

07 April , 2016

Noam Chomsky And OthersPut Forward 'Ideas For Going Forward'
In This Crisis-Ridden World
By Countercurrents.org

The world is facing a Titanic moment. Either humanity comes together as one and save the Mother Ship Earth or we go down without a trace! The major crises we face are ecological crisis manifested in global warming/climate change, soil degradation, water crisis, over all environmental damage, war perpetrated by predatory capitalism which could eventually lead to a nuclear winter, resource crisis, health, education and economic crisis etc. Race/caste and gender/sexuality justice are other major issues that need urgent attention. A group of intellectuals including Noam Chomsky, academics and activists have come forward with a document called "Some Possible Ideas For Going Forward"

Global Military Spending Increased In 2015
By Thomas Gaist

Spending on weapons and other military costs grew by more than one percent in 2015, marking the first year of growth in total military purchasing by governments worldwide since 2011, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found in a report published Tuesday. Total military purchases reached $1,676 billion in 2015, or nearly $1.7 trillion, consuming some 2.3 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), SIPRI found

Non-Violent BDS Should Be Welcomed, Not Condemned
By Ramzy Baroud

A thousand Israelis and their supporters gathered in Jerusalem’s International Convention Center on March 28 at a conference aimed at combating the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). The conference was a display of “fear, paranoia, anger and determination,” as described by Antony Loewenstein, and featured top government officials, members of the oppositions and a strange conglomerate of guests, including celebrity has-beens like Roseanne Barr

The World And Israel: Complicity In Zionism's Crimes And Why
By Alan Hart

When I add to that what Prime Minister Golda Meir said to me in an interview for the BBC's Panorama programme - in a doomsday situation Israel would be prepared "to take the region and the world down with it" - I think that only one conclusion is invited. The complicity by default of Western (and other) leaders in Zionism's crimes will be never ending because Israel is, as it has long been, a nuclear-armed monster beyond control

The Media Still Got It Wrong When It Reports On The Role
It Played In The Rise Of Trump
By Shaik Ubaid

The media has finally started to focus on its own role in the rise of Donald Trump. The focus is still not sharp though. The question should be not on whether the media made Trump but it should be on whether the media helped create a climate which made the rise of Trump probable. For, if the latter is true then there will be more Trumps. The Wisconsin primary has kept the hope that Trump could be prevented from the nomination but the alternatives are not better. The moderate majority in the GOP stand no chance in the primaries where mostly the diehard core care to vote. The core has now become Islamophobic and xenophobic

Book Review : Violent Conjunctures In Democratic India
By Suraj Kumar Thube

Without discarding the importance of previous scholarly works, Amrita Basu contributes to the existing literature by arguing that it is imperative to focus on the role social movements and civil society organisations play in reconfiguring India's political system. The central theme of the book is to study the linkages between party, social movements and the state in order to understand the convoluted nature of Hindu nationalist militancy in various states. The author argues that a closer, robust relationship between these three entities create situations for inciting violence on a larger scale

Anarchy, Thy Name Is “Kashmir”!
By Mohammad Ashraf

There is hardly any section of Kashmir society where rules and laws are obeyed. It is a virtual free for all everywhere

06 April , 2016

Panama Papers: Iceland PM Gunnlaugsson Resigns
By Countercurrents.org

In the first instance of a prominent politician taken down by the 11.5 million documents leaked in the Panama Papers, Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson resigned on Tuesday after fully 10 percent of Iceland's population rallied in protest of his wife's secret, offshore shell company holding millions

Boys II Bums
By Linh Dinh

A third of Americans under 35 now live with their parents, and half of them spend half of their incomes servicing debts. You’re not likely to get married if you’re living with mom and dad, that’s for sure, but soon enough, we will see three generations under one roof again, out of economic necessity. We will also see more couples with their kids all in one room. Poor people worldwide already live this way, and we are poor

Clinton Opposes Transferring Government’s Costs More Onto Rich People
By Eric Zuesse

Hillary Clinton opposes fixing Social Security by taxing rich people more; she wants it to be done by cutting benefits to the recipients

Saving Hillary’s Life
By Mickey Z.

Here is a hypothetical question:

Q. If I knew in advance it was Hillary Clinton whose life was in danger on that NYC street corner, would I have risked potential bodily harm to save her?

A. Yes, I would.

Q. What would you do?

A.

Viva la Producción! Urban Farming In Cuba
By Josh Gabbatiss

Urban agriculture is a big deal in Cuba. Food gardens – termed organopónicos – make up 8% of land in Havana, and 3.4% of urban land across the island. The country enjoys unprecedented levels of self-sufficiency, with small, local operations producing 90% of all its fruit and vegetables

Ending Human Violence Is A Task For Each Of Us
By Robert J. Burrowes

Do you think that ending human violence is impossible? Do you believe that even aiming to do so is unrealistic? Well, you might be right. But you might also be interested to know that there are a lot of people around the world who are committed to trying. And, if you think the aim is worthwhile, you could be one of them

To A World Impacted by Terrorism
By Emma Tobin

There are so many ways to counteract terrorism; education, interfaith dialogue, and intercultural dialogue are some of the ways that I’ve learned about while being in Morocco. Those most at risk of becoming religious extremists are those who are both impoverished and uneducated and who feel angry or wronged by their country or fellow citizens

Fight The Esblishment
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

Now is the time for thinking Americans to withdraw their participation in an election where disruptive candidates are replaced with establishment ones. Otherwise our delusional democracy prevails. We the people need a political revolution. Otherwise, with awful economic inequality condemning millions of Americans to economic prison, violent revolution should not be ruled out. Not in a nation with widespread gun ownership. After all, our corrupt political system presents a type of oppressive government for which the Second Amendment may offer the ultimate solution. Time is running out. This may be the year for seeing whether or not we can vote – or not vote - our way to a democracy we once thought we had

Modi’s Visit And Saudi-India Relations
By Sazzad Hussain

Modi’s visit to the kingdom is significant so far as Indian Muslims are concerned. The monarchy which endorses and exports a brand of Islam that homogenizes Muslims across the world at the cost of local diversities has been a matter of concern for a nation of pluralistic culture and inclusive society like India. Therefore a multitude of questions and apprehensions remain following the Prime Minister’s visit to Riyadh and on the India-Saudi relations in the changing world order

5000 Slum Residents Hit South Mumbai’s Streets Demanding Housing Right,
Basic Amenities And Scientific Waste Management System In The City
By National Alliance of People’s Movements

Slum residents from all over Mumbai threatened by illegal forcible eviction and annoyed by lack of basic amenities in slums, marched from Carnac Bunder to Azad Maidan, Mumbai on 5th April, 2016 in a huge rally demanding housing right to be ensured with all the basic amenities. Slum residents also demanded the scientific shutting down of the Deonar Dumping ground and a scientific waste-management system in the city

Free Speech In 2016: First Quarter Reporter
By TheHoot.org

The first quarter of this year has been a significant one for issues related to free speech. Apart from the turbulence in February over the sedition cases filed at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the arrests of students, and the allegations regarding doctored videos, the period saw an overall increase in the number of sedition cases filed, recorded the murder of one journalist, saw increases in attacks on journalists and media property, saw a number of defamation cases filed against the media and the political class, and logged many instances of censorship of different kinds, affecting the media, the arts, as well as ordinary citizens. This period also saw significant legal developments which affect the climate for free speech, at the level of the supreme court and the high courts

Puttakota Killing Of Adivasi Farmers By Greyhounds Police
By The Human Rights Forum

The Human Rights Forum (HRF) demands that Greyhounds police personnel responsible for the killing of two adivasis Ganga Madkami (40) and Ganga Podiami (33), on the afternoon of February 21, 2016 in the Puttakota forest area of Koyyuru mandal in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh be booked under relevant penal sections of the law and criminally prosecuted

05 April , 2016

Millions Starve As Ethiopia Rejects Eritrean Ports
By Thomas C. Mountain

As famine stalks millions of Ethiopians, and aid ships wait forever to unload at Ethiopia’s port of Djibouti, offers of free use of Eritrea’s Red Sea ports fall on deaf ears in Addis Ababa.According to Oxfam between 50% to 90% of Ethiopia suffered all or major crop failure due to the latest, greatest drought. Desperate for food aid to be unloaded, aid agencies are begging the Djibouti port authorities to work faster, but the port of Djibouti is small and creaky and completely unable to keep up with the desperate need. All backlog of food aid would be cleared up quickly if Ethiopia will only use the Eritrean ports, an offer repeatedly made in the past during droughts to no avail. The question has to be asked, what kind of government sits back and allows tens if not hundreds of thousands of its own people to die of starvation because of some political dispute with its neighbor?

For Your Own Good! Embedding Transnational Agribusiness And GMOs
Into African Agriculture Under The Veil Of Philanthropy
By Colin Todhunter

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has just released the report For your own good!, which outlines the GMO industry’s expansion across Africa. The report focusses on non-commercial traditional crops, such as cassava, sorghum, sweet potato, pigeon pea, cowpea, banana and rice, which corporations are attempting to genetically modify and roll out under the guise of philanthropy

Panama Papers Spark Populist Anger In Iceland
By Lauren McCauley

Foretelling the kind of public backlash other ultra-rich tax dodgers can expect following the weekend release of the so-called Panama Papers, tens of thousands of Icelanders rallied in Reykjavik on Monday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson

Panama Papers: Denials Expose More Than The Original Exposure
By Farooque Chowdhury

Denials issued after the exposure by the now-famous Panama Papers expose more about the world of property, its political power and power of its legal arrangements. The entire episode that has now got exposed is nothing but a confirmation of properties’ power, its play with instruments called law, which is enacted only to secure property, and the ethical and moral standing, a zero from people’s point of view, the property holders hold on. The historic revelations, biggest in the history of leaks, once again confirm earlier findings about super-rich

Syriza Government Carries Out Mass Deportation Of
Refugees From Greece To Turkey
By Robert Stevens

Protests continued in Greece over the weekend as the Syriza government finalised the mass deportation of Syrian refugees to Turkey, where they are to be herded into concentration camps. The refugees are being deported from Greece to Turkey as part of the recent European Union/Greece/Turkey deal to hermetically seal off the “Balkan route” to desperate refugees fleeing the war zones of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and North Africa

Six Year Anniversary Of WikiLeaks Collateral Murder; A Celebration Of Free Speech
By Nozomi Hayase

This iconic film continues to remind us of all those who risked their lives for free press and also of the power of free speech; that our collective engagement with the truth can set frozen images into motion. By seizing the present, we can intervene in the course of that one fatal day and alter the running footage of the past, bringing each person one step closer to self-determination of their own future

Will Lebanon Be 'Handed Over' To The ISIS?
By Andre Vltchek

Now that the ISIS has been pushed away, further and further from all key strategic locations inside Syria, the question comes to mind:if finally defeated, where is it going to go next? Its fighters are, of course, in neighboring Iraq, but Baghdad has also been forging a closer and closer alliance with Russia, and the terrorist groups may soon not be safe there, either. By all accounts, the easiest place for the ISIS to expand is Lebanon

Open Letter To 'Head Chopping' Billionaire Baba Ramdev
By Shamsul Islam

At the outset I must congratulate you for making big strides so far as your personality is concerned. You have really become a MARD; MAN in capital, now. On June 6, 2011 afraid of Delhi police you ran away in female attire from Ram Lila ground, leaving hundreds of your followers at the mercy of Delhi Police. But now as press reports from Rohtak, Haryana disclose you are courageous enough to chop heads of millions for not chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'

By Raising "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" Slogan Controversy RSS Lays
A Trap For Muslims And Leftists
By Dr. Shaik Ubaid

The pluralist nature of Indian society is facing its gravest threat in history. The time is now for people of conscience, whether progressive or religious, to find common ground in safeguarding the freedom of millions of Indians and of their future generations. This is the true litmus test of patriotism

Tolerating The Intolerance
By Gazi Hassana

If the current NDA regime foresees itself ruling 10-15 years down the line, the leadership should take note and deal with the grave issues comprehensively. Government should be tolerant of the views of its citizens be it criticizing its policies or initiatives. It should not be infringing on fundamental rights of its citizens

People's Film Maker Sarat Chandran Remembered
Press Release

Sarat Chandran commemoration was held under Youth Spring Fraternity at Hira Centre here at Kozhikode. He was like a good spirit in many popular social protest gatherings. Sarat’s efforts in documenting popular protests and making it available for the public were beyond comparisons. He was also an active protestant in in Kerala’s green protests

04 April , 2016

The Panama Papers: Bachan, Aishwarya Rai And Over 500 Indians In The List
By Countercurrents.org

A year-long investigative effort by around 400 journalists from more than 100 media organizations in over 80 countries have yielded the Panama Papers, an unprecedented look at how the world's rich and powerful, from political leaders to celebrities to criminals, use tax havens to hide their wealth. over 500 Indians figure in the list. From film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to corporates including DLF owner K P Singh and nine members of his family, and the promoters of Apollo Tyres and Indiabulls to Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani. Two politicians who figure on the list are Shishir Bajoria from West Bengal and Anurag Kejriwal, the former chief of the Delhi unit of Loksatta Party

Dr. G.N Saibaba Granted Bail By Supreme Court of India
By Committee For The Defence And Release Of Dr. G.N Saibaba

Rejecting all the arguments presented by the Defence Counsel, the Judge asked them why they wanted to torture a person like this. “Do you want a pound of flesh”, he asked

Towards An Australian Republic
By George Venturini

A republican constitution for Australia could look like this

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth:
A Nuclear Armageddon in the Making in South Asia
By Dilip Hiro

Undoubtedly, for nearly two decades, the most dangerous place on Earth has been the Indian-Pakistani border in Kashmir. It's possible that a small spark from artillery and rocket exchanges across that border might -- given the known military doctrines of the two nuclear-armed neighbors -- lead inexorably to an all-out nuclear conflagration. In that case the result would be catastrophic. Besides causing the deaths of millions of Indians and Pakistanis, such a war might bring on “nuclear winter” on a planetary scale, leading to levels of suffering and death that would be beyond our comprehension

An IMF Plot, Greece, EU And BREXIT
By Jon Kofas

On 19 March 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission team for Greece held a meeting on how to force Greece into further austerity measures. These would entail deeper wage cuts, more social security cuts, higher taxes and more rapid conformity to IMF-EU policies intended to transfer capital from the middle class and workers to wealthy Greek and Western creditors. The conversation between two IMF officials (Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s European Department, and Delia Velkouleskou, IMF Mission Chief for Greece) and an EU official was recorded and someone managed to pass it on to WIKILEAKS. In essence, the IMF representatives were essentially plotting a strategy to force Greece to accept harsher conditions of austerity after five years under such failed policies

Financial Oversight And Colonialism In Puerto Rico
By Matt Peppe

While restructuring Puerto Rico's debt is imperative and would help temporarily alleviate the humanitarian and economic crisis that has been well underway for a decade, it would be a band-aid that would not even address the fundamental issue at its root. Proposals to deal with Puerto Rico's debt problem without ending colonialism are distractions from the U.S. government's ongoing exploitation and subjugation of the Puerto Rican people

03 April , 2016

Donald Trump And The Collapse Of The Western Empire
By Ugo Bardi

In this article, Ugo Bardi argues that the ascent of Donald Trump in the US presidential race is a symptom of the ongoing breakdown of society, in turn caused by the loss of control generated by resource depletion

Execution Of Palestinian Exposes Israel’s Military Culture
By Jonathan Cook

It might have been a moment that jolted Israelis to their senses. Instead the video of an Israeli soldier shooting dead a young Palestinian man as he lay wounded and barely able to move has only intensified the tribal war dance of the Israeli public. Last week, as the soldier was brought before a military court for investigation, hundreds of supporters protested outside. He enjoys vocal support too from half a dozen cabinet ministers, former army generals, rabbis and – according to opinion polls – a significant majority of the Israeli Jewish public. It is worth reflecting on this generous act of solidarity

The Globalisation Of Bad Food And Poor Health:
Sustainable Development or Sustainable Profits?
By Colin Todhunter

The proportion of deaths due to cancer around the world increased from 12 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2013. Globally, cancer is already the second-leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. In India, government data indicates that cancer showed a 5 percent increase in prevalence between 2012 and 2014 with the number of new cases doubling between 1990 and 2013. The incidence of cancer for some major organs in India is the highest in the world. Reports have also drawn attention to rising rates of breast cancer in urban areas, and, in 2009, there was a reported increase in cancer rates in Tamil Nadu's textile belt, possibly due to chemically contaminated water

In The Mind Of A Pessimist
By Suraj Kumar Thube

Can truth have multiple interpretations? Can all the interpretations be called as truth? Can multiple interpretations retain their autonomous right amidst an ocean of a homogenous truth? How are multiple incidents different than multiple interpretations and with whom does truth feel as a stronger virtue? Trying to reminisce on the callous and cavalier approach of the Indian middle class toward the downtrodden of the society in general, these questions tend to get consigned to a spatial and temporal stage of oblivion

Sardar Sarovar Affected Adivasis Get Land For Land
In Nandurbar After Three Decades
By National Alliance of People’s Movements

NBA exposes the NCA's Claims of Complete Resettlement and Rehabilitation of SSP Affected Families

Release Human Rights Defender Prabhat Singh
By William Gomes

On 26 March 2016, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, denied release on bail for human rights defender Mr Prabhat Singh and referred him to judicial custody in Jagdalpur Central Jail, pending investigation into his case. He has been held in detention since his arrest without warrant on 21 March 2016

West Indies Celebration In Kashmir, What Happened Next?
By Yasir Altaf Zargar

Kashmir has always seen many uncertainties. And the current uncertainty is proving how the situation Kashmiri’s has to face. The beef ban, attack on Zahid and now the attack on students inside universities and colleges is making sense of fetid environment. The politics has taken thousands of lives. The so called nationalists should refrain attacking others, it is an individual’s choice what he should celebrate and what he shouldn’t. The choice should be confined up to the person only

Mumbai Meeting For Justice For Rohith Vemula Draws Large Crowd,
Raises Important Questions
By Joint Action Committee for Social Justice, Mumbai

On 22nd April, the Mumbai Joint Action Committee for Social Justice organised Convention of People’s Resistance with the theme ‘Rohith Vemula’s Murder and Questions Thereafter: through People’s Resistance towards Azaadi’. The programme was enthusiastically attended by around two thousand people including students, professors, intellectuals, artists, activists and others and addressed by students from different universities all across the country and writers and activists like Arundhati Roy,Prakash Ambedkar,S.Q.R Iliyas (Umar Khalid’s father),Teesta Setalvad and Soni Sori (through video message)

02 April , 2016

US Deploying Additional Armored Brigades To Russian Border
By Thomas Gaist

The United States Army in Europe plans to significantly bolster its military presence in Eastern Europe, US European Command officials said on Wednesday. By February 2017, the US military plans to maintain a “permanent footprint” of three combat brigades stationed on the continent. The deployments will include 250 combat vehicles, including tanks, armored personnel carriers, Bradley and Paladin Fighting Vehicles, howitzers and thousands of troops

More Than 500 Film Makers, Writers, Artists And Activists
Demand Release Of Deba Ranjan Sarangi
By Concerned Citizens

We the undersigned film makers, writers, professionals in the area of art & culture, academics, activists and social organisations are deeply shocked to hear about the arrest of independent documentary film maker, writer and human rights activist Deba Ranjan Sarangi. We strongly condemn the arrest view it as part of an overall strategy of the Indian State to curb freedom of speech, freedom of expression of artists, writers, film makers and cultural personalities. We also condemn it in the context of the overall suppression of dissent and suppression of human rights defenders in the era of strong facilitation of the forces of communalism and globalisation by the Indian State and in particular, by the Odisha government

What Does Hiroshima Have To Do With Donald Trump?
By Mickey Z.

ISIS, says Donald J. Trump, “is probably why I’m No. 1 in the polls.” His formula is frighteningly simple and frighteningly… well, frightening. “They're chopping off our heads in the Middle East,” Trump ominously reminds us. “They want to kill us. They want to kill our country. They want to knock out our cities.” So, when faced with such an enemy, would the Republican frontrunner consider the nuclear option? “I don't rule out anything,” he promised. Meanwhile, a March 24-26, 2016, poll found that 50 percent of respondents (registered voters of both parties) supported Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States

Pakistan Abandons Plans To Reform Controversial Blasphemy Law
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

Pakistan government has abandoned plans to amend the country's blasphemy law following protests in its capital Islamabad that left the city paralyzed for almost four days. The Sunni Tehreek group descended on the capital on Sunday, March 27, to denounce the hanging of police officer Mumtaz Qadri for the 2011 murder of Governor Salman Taseer. Hundreds of protesters rallied for days in Islamabad before ending their sit-in on Wednesday after gathering assurances from the government

Syria: Kurdish Initiatives On The Rise
By Rene Wadlow

On March 17, 2016, the “federal democratic system of Rojava” (a Kurdish term for northern Syria) was proclaimed officially. Some 150 representatives of Kurdish, Arab, and Assyrian (largely Christian) groups met in the city of Rmellane in north-east Syria and voted in favor of the union of three 'cantons' largely populated by Kurds − the cantons of Afrin, Kobani, and Jezireh

Why Is Lebanon Holding Hannibal Gaddafi Hostage?
By Franklin Lamb

As of this week, following his arrest on December 15, 2015, Hannibal Gaddafi, one of seven children of Moammar Gaddafi and his Widow Safia Farkash, has spent, without a scintilla of evidence that he violated any Lebanese law, nearly 16 weeks wrongly incarcerated in a Beirut jail

Darul Uloom Falls For The Polarizing Agenda Of Hindutva Brigade
By Shamsul Islam

Those Hindutva organizations which have recently found 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' as a slogan to prove one's loyalty to India, never-never chanted it during the British rule. In fact, the slogan of freedom fighters was JAI HIND. When we have National Anthem, National Flag, Democratic-Secular Constitution and Jai Hind dear to Indians 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' is only a diversionary tactic so that the Hindutva rulers can divert attention from serious issues like poverty, hunger, price-rise, unemployment, rising violence against women & Dalits, loot of public bank money by money-bags. It is sad that Darul Uloom by such decrees is only facilitating the polarizing agenda of Hindutva brigade

Love The Country
By Gurazada Appa Rao

This is to remember and celebrate Gurazada in his 110th year and his all-time great poem DESA BHAKTI, written 1910, which is highly relevant today in the context of debate on nationalism, patriotism and sedition

01 April , 2016

Rape And Institutional Murder Of A Minor
Dalit Girl In Rajasthan
By The Bangalore coalition for Justice for Delta Meghwal

On March 29th,2016 the dead body of Delta Meghwal, a 17 year old Dalit girl from a village in Barmer district of Rajasthan was found in the water tank of the Jain Adarsh Teacher Training Institute for girls in Nokha, Bikaner where she was studying. According to the FIR filed by her parents, there were only 4 girls at the hostel as all the other girls had gone home and had not returned by then. On the evening of 28th, at 8 pm, she called her father and told him that their Warden Priya Shukla had sent her to the PT Instructor Vijendra Singh's room, with the excuse of cleaning the hostel (this shows the clear collusion of the warden in the case). There, Delta was raped by Vijendra Kumar Singh, the PT teacher. The Institute , in an attempt to cover up the incident, took written apology from both her and the PT Instructor with a statement that this happened with mutual consent. The usual strategy of victim blaming was used in the most brutal manner against a 17 yr old girl

Pakistan’s Military Expands Its Power In Wake Of Lahore Terror Attack
By Sampath Perera

Pakistan’s military has seized on last Sunday’s terrorist atrocity in Lahore to implement its longstanding plans for an “antiterrorism” offensive in Punjab, the country’s most populous province, and to further strengthen its authority over the country’s civilian government

The Wounded Phoenix Of Palmyra
By Franklin Lamb

Eyewitness accounts from the scene this morning (3/30/2016) confirm that the Syrian Army has liberated all parts of the city of Palmyra (Tadmor) including all of the ancient city, from 10 months of occupation and destruction by ISIS. The Syrian army spokesman explained that the city, home to some of the most extensive ruins of the Roman Empire, would now become a “launch pad” for operations against ISIS strongholds in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, further east across a vast desert. Syrian state media announced yesterday that Palmyra’s military airport was again receiving air traffic

New Veteran-Led Campaign Challenges Islamophobia
By Brian Trautman

Violence against American Muslims is growing faster than at any time since 9/11, with assaults on Muslim individuals and their places of worship having tripled since the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks. The hate propaganda and political demagoguery observed in the current presidential election season has fueled Islamophobia and contributed to the sharp rise in hate crimes. Many public figures, social commentators and members of the media tragically conflate terrorism with Islam, despite the lack of credible evidence pointing to any connection between the two. Sadly, it is quite possible that the anti-Muslim responses to the terror attacks in Brussels from Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and others may have incited more Islamophobia and put Muslims at greater risk of victimization

Brussels 2016: Fall-Out For Europe’s Muslims
By Iftikhar H. Malik

Muslim media, mosques, family structures and certainly the institutional hierarchies have to assume fresher and dynamic steps to help Muslim majorities become stake holders rather than turning into suspects, or mere onlookers. Most Muslims know that the perpetrators are often the criminal elements that, for their own retribution, seek radical laybys and in the process may undertake extreme and brutal means to ventilate their own personal frustrations. Apart from issues related with identity and of generational nature, a recourse to proactive and non-coercive policies—both domestic and external—will certainly go a long way in deterring some younger Muslims from self-flagellation and its attendant human costs

Obama’s Fakery, ‘News’ Media’s Suckery
By Eric Zuesse

How can it be that the same news-medium that reported, on 22 April 2015, that the Obama Administration allows countries it signs trade-pacts with to murder their trade-union organizers and insists upon continuing to permit those murders, has now also reported on 24 March 2016, "The Obama Administration Just Took A Huge Step On Worker Safety: It’s known as the silica rule, and it’s a big frigging deal”? This new Obama-Administration ‘rule’ won’t even be enforceable, but that ‘news’ medium failed to notice that this ‘big frigging deal’ is actually only a con by Obama — nothing more than empty words and promises, nothing at all that’s likely to be enforceable

Why The Supreme Court Of India Should Enlarge Prof. G.N. Saibaba On Bail
By Dr. P.S. Sahni

On 4th of April, 2016, the Supreme Court of India is scheduled to hear the bail plea of Prof. G.N. Saibaba, lecturer, Ram Lal Anand College, Delhi University and who is presently lodged at Nagpur jail.There is an apparent apprehension that if enlarged on bail, Prof. Saibaba would jump bail and flee the country or otherwise influence material witnesses – both these assumptions are unfounded. Far from fleeing in the physical sense Prof. Saibaba is wheelchair bound and is not even able to stand on his own feet. Besides there is not even an allegation against him that he has ever tried to influence witnesses

Stop Harssing Bela Bhatia
By William Nicholas Gomes

On 26 March 2016, death threats were made against human rights defender Ms Bela Bhatia during a demonstration close to her home in Jagdalpur. Participants in the demonstration demanded that the human rights defender be put to death, accused her of being a Naxal terrorist and questioned her landlady and neighbours

Crying For Bharat Mata
By Swapnil Dhanraj

The recent imposition of the slogan “Bharat Mata Ki jai” is another attempt to ignite deep communal tension and separatism in the name of nationalism. The shocking suspension of a MLA , Waris Pathan in Maharashtra for not chanting “Bharat Mata Ki jai” indicates that communal nationalism is in play. Such kind of enforcement for chanting particular slogans or forceful nationalism has ended up creating schism rather than uniting people for the so called cultural nationalism of the BJP. To quote Romila Thapar nationalism has to be inclusive of all communities and it has to be secular. It cannot be determined by any single identity such as religion, language. So what we need today is creation of egalitarian conditions where every person can think and speak fearlessly without any governmental imposition

Jashn-e-Azaadi By Whom And For Whom
By Anoop Patel

An open letter to Organisers and speakers of the event “Jashn-e-Azaadi” on 28th March, 2016 on the birth anniversary of Prof. Bipan Chandra...

A Deeper Look At Manusmriti To Understand
Why Students At JNU Burned It In Protest
By P Radhakrishnan

On 8th March this year, a few students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, including former and current members of ABVP (AkhilBharatiyaVidyarthiParishad) burnt a copy of the Manusmriti to “protest against ‘derogatory verses‘ in the Hindu religious text”. After being served a show-cause notice by the Vice-Chancellor of the University, three of the students have stated that there was nothing wrong in their actions. In response to the VC’s question, the author has presented an excerpt from his book ‘Religion, Caste And State’

Gender Bias And Discrimination: Modernity VS Tradition
By Dr. Fayaz Ahmad Bhat

I do not want to give an impression that in traditional and simple societies women had no issue and there were no gender bias and discrimination. However, my point is that modern western ideologies are not free from gender bias and discrimination and any blind follow and copy paste may result loss of space which women were occupying in traditional societies

A Beginning, Not The End!
By Mohammad Ashraf

Sometimes accidents in life do not end it but rather give a new beginning for a more active and purposeful life