One week in Haryana’s Sirsa district convinced me that the farmers’ movement is resurrecting itself. Just as police firing on farmers in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur in June 2017 led to a sudden eruption of the movement, the three recent farm laws of the Narendra Modi government have triggered the second phase of the movement after it was suddenly extinguished in 2019. I was […]
Do Indian farmers understand the agrarian economy better than Ashok Gulati? Ridiculous as it might sound, the answer could well be: yes. Professor Ashok Gulati is the leading agricultural economist in India, and among the scholars I read, consult and respect. He combines solid scholarship with genuine concern for the farmers. He has the spine to stand against governments of […]
खेती-बाड़ी का जो अर्थशास्त्र है उसे क्या देश के किसान, अर्थशास्त्री अशोक गुलाटी से बेहतर जानते-समझते हैं ? बात आपको अटपटी लगेगी और हास्यास्पद भी लेकिन इस प्रश्न का उत्तर है- हां! प्रोफेसर अशोक गुलाटी भारत के अग्रणी कृषि-अर्थशास्त्री हैं. वे उन विद्वानों में हैं जिनका लिखा मैं गौर से पढ़ता हूं, अक्सर सलाह-मशविरा करता हूं और जिनके लिए मेरे […]
So, after six months of exhaustive investigation into the Delhi riots, the Delhi Police has discovered that its boss was, after all, right. On 11 March 2020, speaking on the floor of Lok Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah had already pronounced his verdict on what caused the Delhi riots. Shifting radically from his first statement that these riots were spontaneous, he now claimed to […]
छह माह की खूब गहन जांच ! और, इस खूब गहन जांच के बाद दिल्ली के दंगों के बारे में दिल्ली पुलिस ने आखिर खोज ही निकाला कि उसके बॉस दरअसल एकदम सही कह रहे थे ! गृहमंत्री तो सदन (लोकसभा) में बहुत पहले यानि 11 मार्च को ही अपना फैसला सुना चुके थे कि दिल्ली में दंगे किस वजह से हुए. […]
My friend Hilal Ahmed, also a columnist for ThePrint, has an ensemble of icons on his study table. There is a picture of the Holy Qaba shrine that reminds you he is a five-namaz-a-day, practising Muslim. Next to that is the iconic sketch of Che Guevara, an affirmation of his roots in the Marxist intellectual tradition. And finally, there is an image of Mahatma Gandhi, a nod to […]
मेरे एक दोस्त हैं हिलाल अहमद. मेरी तरह वे भी दिप्रिंट के स्तंभकार हैं. उन्होंने अपनी मेज पर तीन तस्वीरें सजा रखी हैं. एक तस्वीर काबा-शरीफ की है, आपको ये याद दिलाती हुई कि हिलाल पांचों वक्त के नमाजी हैं. बगल में एक स्केच चे ग्वेरा की है चूंकि हिलाल अहमद का मार्क्सवादी विचार-परंपरा से गहरा जुड़ाव है. और, तीसरी तस्वीर महात्मा […]
Swaraj India Press Release: 14th Sept 2020 Swaraj India condemns arrest of Umar Khalid ● Umar Khalid’s arrest is an attack on the real Opposition in the country ● Delhi Police merely scripting what the BJP led Central Government has directed ● This attempt to criminalise a democratic protest has dangerous implications Swaraj India condemns the arrest of youth leader […]
The last thing you expect me to do in these times is to welcome a Supreme Court judgment by Justice Arun Mishra’s bench. But it so happens that among the various questionable and controversial orders passed by Justice Arun Mishra before his retirement, one stood out for its positive potential. This judgment can remove a long-standing roadblock in fine-tuning India’s existing reservation policies. But it is […]