From Codes to Sanhitas: Power, Myths, and Problematic Continuities

‘The new criminal justice laws mark an important moment in how independent India will function. It may herald a descent towards greater authoritarian tendencies and a nullifying of the judicial role by reducing personal liberty to a plaything.’▶07-Feb-2024
Abhinav Sekhri

March 1, 2024

The new criminal justice law; The politics of erasure; Protection of the rapist and the molestor in neoliberal India; and more

Book
Book Review

Down a Devious and Dangerous Road

An analysis of Hindutva popular culture in the small towns of north India explores its performers, audiences, and the resources supporting it. Seemingly simple songs by ordinary people fuel powerful…
▶28-Feb-2024
Manjari Katju

BRICS’s Bandung Moment

As a rush of countries seek to join BRICS, can it become the voice of the Global South by rediscovering the spirit of Bandung 1955? And can and will India lead the Global South in BRICS by…
▶26-Feb-2024
K. N. Hari Kumar
Book
Book Review

Provocative and Unsettling

India’s foremost ecologist weaves a personal love letter to India’s biodiversity, through an eyewitness account of 80 years of ecological change. It explores the intricate connections between humans…
▶21-Feb-2024
Harini Nagendra

Protection of the Rapist and the Molester in Neoliberal India

Why does there continue to be a disconnect between sexual assault and punishment of the perpetrator in India? We must recognise the potent nexus of political power, caste superiority, and muscle…
▶20-Feb-2024
Ranjana Padhi
Essay

Allahabad that is Prayagraj: The Politics of Erasure

Driven by a yearning to shed the legacy of past humiliation, defeat, and cultural dispossession, we attempt to obliterate traces of that history. Yet, that very past lingers embodied within us. The…
▶19-Feb-2024
Alok Rai

The New Land Reform of Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh has taken a significant decision to give formal ownership titles to the holders (mainly Dalit farmers) of lands assigned to them decades ago.
▶15-Feb-2024
Venkateshwarlu K.
Book
Book Review

The Richness of India’s ‘Epics’

‘A spectrum of political and ideological positions, apparent in the arguments made and critiques offered’, are contained in the essays in this volume on the epics.
▶14-Feb-2024
Arshia Sattar

Digi Yatra: Service or Surveillance?

Worries about privacy, surveillance, & unfair exclusions have been raised about Digi Yatra, India’s airport facial recognition system. They are amplified by disturbing reports of airport staff…
▶08-Feb-2024
Disha Verma

Bihar Turns its Back on School Education

There are two interconnected root causes for the travails of Bihar’s school education system—a paucity of resources and ineffective policies. There is a similar situation in Jharkhand. There is yet…
▶07-Feb-2024
Paran Amitava, Kanika Sharma

From Codes to Sanhitas: Power, Myths, and Problematic Continuities

‘The new criminal justice laws mark an important moment in how independent India will function. It may herald a descent towards greater authoritarian tendencies and a nullifying of the judicial role…
▶07-Feb-2024
Abhinav Sekhri