News and Views

‘Do not let us off the hook; keep our feet to the fire’. These were the words of the UN Secretary General Mr Antonio Guterres when he promised to personally lead the global body towards greater gender equality.

As the world observes the start of ‘16 Days of Activism’ against gender-based violence (from 26 November 2018), an independent United Nations system-wide survey on sexual harassment is taking place around all UN country offices. It is the first of its kind, and it demonstrates the UN’s resolve to eradicate sexual harassment and ensure a safe and inclusive workplace for all personnel across its offices.

Petitioner who approached the Delhi High Court over shortage of HIV drugs talks about her day-to-day struggle

American national John Allen Chau’s killing by members of a protected and reclusive tribe in the Andamans, possibly with arrows, sent shock waves across India and the world.

For a western mind hooked on the idea that all parts of the planet including the remote polar regions can be penetrated and conquered easily, the idea seemed preposterous – almost archaic – that a handful of men could kill an individual with just a bow and arrow.

In my working life, I've had the bonus of being professionally associated with two extremely dynamic worlds: the news media and the arts.

In the art world, the #MeToo movement has been relatively slow to catch up. I’ve had arguments with some of my artist-friends about what I initially felt was the art world’s disappointing duplicity on the issue. Especially when there were explanations to the effect that the art world was extremely small and came with exceptionally high stakes.

I countered that the stakes in the union government or a Bollywood production or a media house were much higher. Of course, it is difficult to prove some of these allegations in a court of law, but that doesn’t take away from the trauma suffered. That being said, it's important to understand how the arts sector works.

There was a time, starting with his Independence Day speech in 2014, when even Indians who had not voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi imagined that they too could be a part of his growth and development vision for India.

This belief was reinforced in March 2015 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed a coalition government with the People's Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir. In those months – despite odd attacks on churches, provocative statements of his party and ministerial colleagues, and a sangh affiliate's controversial Ghar Wapasi campaign – it appeared that Modi was willing to put the divisive past behind him.

Jijabai Vasavi is a hundred years old. When she was born, India was under British occupation and World War 1 had just concluded. You might say, look at how the imagination of the world has changed in this time. Gandhi was only just getting his non-cooperation movement started. People in her part of the world in rural Maharashtra didn’t have bicycles or electricity or cameras.

Ten years ago, the Indian financial capital Mumbai, saw its worst terror attack in the city’s history, and perhaps the country’s history. The attack carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives from Pakistan went on for four days, starting on 26 November, and left over 160 people dead.

One of the terrorists, Ajmal Kasab, was caught alive, and revealed in subsequent investigations how the LeT planned, organised and executed the deadly act. Ten men had arrived from Pakistan via sea, disembarking from Karachi city, and landing on a beach in Mumbai.

A great deal of speculative nonsense characterised commentary in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack at the Nirankari Bhawan in the Raja Sansi area of Amritsar, well before any meaningful investigative inputs were available.

Unrelated intelligence feeds were plugged in to raise the bogey of Islamist terrorism, a much-favoured meme in the current environment where the demonisation of Muslims is a critical instrument of partisan political mobilisation.

Even in the midst of tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, certain links do remain intact – such as religious pilgrimages by the Sikhs to their holy shrines in Pakistan (of course, if relations were harmonious the number of pilgrims visiting Pakistan would be higher).

The Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi recently issued 3,800 visas for Sikh pilgrims wanting to visit Pakistan to pay obeisance at Sikh shrines on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev (the first Guru of the Sikhs) which happens to be on 23 November. A statement issued by the Pakistan High Commission highlighted the fact, that this is the largest number of visas issued in recent years to Sikh pilgrims.