In West Bengal, the symbolic violence of caste is more intense than physical violence. A university teacher describes the everyday exclusionary experiences of adivasis in education spaces and the…
In promoting schooling that is differentiated by class, caste, region, religion, language and standards, the state is working against the possibility of realising a democratic and equitable society.
The results of India’s tough Common Law Admission Test are unequal in socio-economic terms, highlighting the deleterious effect that a candidate’s low income and a low caste can have on performance.
Convoluted arguments that equate anti-caste activism in the US with 'Hindu-phobia' seek to reinstate casteist norms that dominant-caste immigrants are accustomed to.
There is no moral opprobrium anymore to elected representatives switching sides in India. Parties appear to welcome anyone as long as it suits their ends and voters do not seem to care. This must…
Even as Indian democracy has deepened, democratic norms and the representative character of its politics have declined. Is this set to be the new equilibrium?
There is crisis today in Indian democracy but the long-term context is a growth of ‘sub-democratic’ politics. This has made democracy vulnerable to erosion and capture as in the current regime. Can…
India’s founding fathers and mothers contributed in multiple ways to the establishment of democracy in the country. Some of those mentioned by the prime minister on 15 August did not make such…
The National Education Policy lacks a coherent strategy to strengthen public education. It does not own the narrative of education as a public good, instead the policy pushes for private practices…
The New Education Policy pays obeisance to school teachers but while the policy makes some interesting recommendations, there is no radical change in the offing that will improve the quality of…
Should children in Indian schools be taught in their mother tongue or English? This should not be an either/or question. The time to teach multiple languages in primary schools is now, it will mean…
The shallow form of schooling with its emphasis on information kills rather than develops curiosity and creativity, all made worse by the importance given to 'marks' recorded in exams. An…
Despite alarming evidence about the pace of global warming, COP-27 failed to raise climate mitigation ambition. While the 1.5°C limit was salvaged in the end, the lack of consensus on fossil fuel…
Ending an impasse over the reluctance of developed countries to compensate developing nations for the damages caused by climate-related disasters, COP-27 achieved a major breakthrough by establishing…
India’s engagement in Glasgow, while storied and multi-faceted, also exposed faultlines in Indian climate politics; the faultlines in framing, policy, institutions, and diplomacy need to be addressed…
The decades ahead will see more extreme rainfall, more higher temperatures, increased warming over the Indian Ocean, rising sea levels, and greater frequency and intensity of cyclones in the Arabian…
