Over the past decade, writers, journalists, and creative artists in India have found themselves increasingly trapped in the cross-hairs of a ruthless right-wing media machinery and its enforcers. What starts as a single voice—often a self-appointed guardian of propriety or a politically motivated zealot—taking offence quickly snowballs into a vicious onslaught. A pack of hounds […]
February will always be a painful month for some particularly the Jafri family: on 28 February 2002, Ehsan Jafri, a former Member of Parliament and an authentic and much-loved citizen of secular India was murdered; on 1 February 2025, his wife Zakiaben was called to her eternal reward. In the death of Zakiaben the people […]
On 28 January 2025, the well-known Calcutta daily ‘The Telegraph’ carried an article entitled ‘Rub your eyes: Hindu Rashtra Constitution to be unveiled at Mahakumbh on Basant Panchami’. The seemingly innocuous inside-page article, speaks volumes of the insidious yet meticulous plans which are being made, and also of the calculated attempts to destroy the secular […]
It is late evening, the day after Uttarayan (15 January), traditionally called ‘vasi uttarayan’. It has been a dull, cloudy day; the wind has been fairly good though. Since yesterday thousands have been on building –tops, flying their kites and many others running on the streets to catch the ‘cut’ kites. At this moment, the […]
If Jesus were to write a letter to the Church leaders tonight, what could it contain? Peace Activist and writer Cedric Prakash SJ is pretty much certain that the letter would read something like this. Dear Leaders of the Christian Community in India,Greetings of peace, love, joy and hope- to each one of you, as […]
[Civil and human rights activist and Jesuit Priest Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ reflects on The World Day of the Poor] Hard facts About a month ago, on 15 October, the 2024 Global Hunger Index was released. India ranks 105 out of 127 countries;with a score of 27.3, India has a level of hunger that is serious. On […]
Gas stoves are estimated to lead to 40,000 premature deaths each year, shaving off roughly two years of an average person’s life span. Here’s a fly in the dal makhani for you ! The gas stove or cook-top , the heart of many kitchens, quietly boiling our morning milk, simmering soups, and so on, is […]
Call me Chicken Little, running around shouting that the sky is fallin’ on my head. But I do declare that that World War III has already started. If you take your noses out of your social media cocoons for a bit, and look at the events unfolding across the globe, it’s not hard to miss […]
FRANK KRISHNER REVIEWS A NEW COLLECTION OF POETRY Ban Dook Dom, poems by Prabhat Jha, Authors Press 2024, 72 pages, Rs 295. Came back from one of those small little academically oriented ‘Book release’ things, that took place in an upper room with an audience of less than four dozen people. A room packed with […]
An attempt by people of communal parties in India to create communal polarization in the name of Bangladesh!The sequence of events that have been happening in our neighbouring country Bangladesh for the past two weeks, has made the Hindutva organisations of India very happy. And they are using the Bangladesh incident as a cover to […]
Human rights and Peace Activist Cedric Prakash SJ, laments that, 77 years after Independence, the nation still yearns for freedom! India cries for Freedom: Thanks to the relentless struggles and sacrifices of our freedom fighters, on 15 August 1947, India made her tryst with destiny! After years of colonial rule, she finally became an independent […]
Ah, the Paris Olympics! A global stage for athletic prowess, unity, and…drag queens apparently causing a ruckus with the Christian right. The opening ceremony, with its dazzling spectacle of colour and dance, has been accused of mocking Christianity. But let’s unpack this alleged blasphemy, shall we? During the ceremony, a woman in a shimmering, halo-like […]
