Jameel Aahmed Milansaar

            Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam  on the changing scene in key areas of SAARC Over the last few weeks South Asia has been in a flux. We have been witness to public anger in India over the assault on Sarbjeet Singh, an Indian prisoner in a Pakistani jail, with death sentence for having caused blasts in Pakistan. Public anger soared in India as Indian media publicized a grievous assault on him by fellow inmates. The media built up a lot of moral outrage unmindful of the fact that only a few months ago an Indian citizen, Qateel Siddiqui, was killed by fellow inmates in Pune jail a day before he was to be released. Just as another proof that in Indian jails the situation was no better, a Pakistani prisoner was attacked in Jammu jail. He died a few days later from the wounds. So, this is the status of human rights in two leading countries of the SAARC. To the credit of Indian diplomacy, this series of bad events was handled deftl...

If one read this letter of Rabindranath Tagore it would be understood why Vande Mataram song is unsecular to impose on all Indians.... In his letter to Subhas Chandra Bose (1937), Tagore wrote: "The core of Vande Mataram is a hymn to goddess Durga: this is so plain that there can be no debate about it. Of course Bankimchandra does show Durga to be inseparably united with Bengal in the end, but no Mussulman [Muslim] can be expected patriotically to worship the ten-handed deity as 'Swadesh' [the nation]. This year many of the special [Durga] Puja numbers of our magazines have quoted verses from Vande Mataram—proof that the editors take the song to be a hymn to Durga. The novel Anandamath is a work of literature, and so the song is appropriate in it. But Parliament is a place of union for all religious groups, and there the song cannot be appropriate. When Bengali Mussulmans show signs of stubborn fanaticism, we regard these as intolerable. When we too copy them...

Corruption and Political Correctness: A Severe Case of Intellectual Laziness: Meera Ashar JANUARY 30, 2013 tags:  Ashis Nandy ,  caste ,  Harry Frankfurt ,  intellectuals ,  Jaipur Literature Festival by   Lawrence Liang Guest post by   MEERA ASHAR Ashis Nandy has been called, rather, accused of being, many things—sociologist, historian, political theorist, public intellectual, philosopher, psychoanalyst, leftist, centrist, right wing, Dalit, Christian, Brahmanical, casteist (he describes himself, more poetically, as an intellectual street fighter and reason buster)—but ‘politically correct’ has never been one of them. This time, Nandy’s political incorrectness has cost him more than before. As in the past, he has been attacked by politicians and the popular media for presenting his analysis of social phenomena—for doing his job well. The response of the Indian intelligentsia to Nandy’s threatened arrest by the right wing gover...

The Congress party may fritter away the political edge gained after its win in the Karnataka state election . Here are some tips for the state's new ruling party to maintain its advantage in the runup to the Lok Sabha elections due next year. 1. The Congress should appoint someone with a clean image and record for good work as chief minister of Karnataka, and not go by his fund-raising abilities for the party. A political party going to the polls is obviously under pressure for funds, and the Congress should not see Karnataka as an avenue to raise funds for the Lok Sabha and coming assembly elections in five states.  2. One source of corruption and mis-governance is transfer of bureaucrats. If the party does not succumb to the temptation of irrational transfers and is able to appoint men of integrity to key positions, its image will receive a big boost. The first litmus test: Chief Secretary S.V. Ranganath is retiring in June and the Congress regime will do well ...