Padmavat has been cleared for release; its attempted censorship and ban comes from non-state actors and Vasundhara Raje’s decision to block its release in Rajasthan out of respect to the ‘sentiments of the people’ is meek acquiescence to these non-state actors I’m not a fan of advocating mass suicide by women as a method of […]
Padmavat is not a political film and yet, seeing it can become a political act Read More »
How the urban local bodies qualify as “customary” institutions is anybody’s guess. But in the past 16 years there has been no election to them. The women’s groups insist on reservation. But the tribal bodies remain adamant about not sharing power. Without reservation, women will simply not be given the opportunity to compete. For a
Who’s afraid of the Naga Mothers? Read More »
Rohith Vemula was not just any son. He was a Dalit son, and to ignore his caste is to ignore the significance of his life and death. We did not flinch at the news that an eight-year-old Dalit boy had his arm amputated after he was thrown into a sugarcane crusher for ‘not working properly’
Rohith’s death: India must have conversation on apartheid against Dalits Read More »
Through the 1980s when dowry deaths were routinely passed off as kitchen accidents, Satya Rani Chadha was the face of the anti-dowry movement. To a generation of connected, social media-savvy users, Satya Rani Chadha will not be a familiar name. But this was the name that launched the anti-dowry movement in Delhi and across India.
Satya Rani Chadha: The face of India’s anti-dowry movement Read More »
Women’s groups argue for a more humane approach to survivors that focuses on holistic treatment. New Delhi: News reports of a ban on the so-called two-finger test and the issuance of national guidelines on dealing with sexual assault cases by the ministry of health are wrong and misleading, say women’s groups. The file on this has
Medical examination norms for sexual assault cases await nod Read More »
We attack students because they look a certain way, we hound out Africans from neighbourhoods because ‘they are not like us’, we tie up books in lengthy litigation because we find their ideas unpalatable. This has become our national sport. The debris of intolerance is all around us. Not protests nor black flags, just a
Intolerance has become India’s national sport Read More »
Men say they are scared by this new environment. Far too many women have lived in fear of the old environment. It’s time to pack the dinosaurs off to the museum. I hear a great lament these days. Aggressive women are killing romance in the workplace with their flurry of complaints (young corporate executive) Come
Time to say ‘enough’ to sexual harassment Read More »
Despite numerous attacks, there are no street protests demanding justice for the victims of acid violence. No campaigns for the basic demand for the ban of acid sales. Speaking in a clear, sing-song tone, Laxmi says she cannot forget that day on April 22, 2005 when acid was thrown on her face. The man who
A life of pain and penury Read More »
Hand on heart, how many of you cheered, or at least felt a bit relieved when you woke up to news of the death of Ram Singh, one of the principal accused in the Delhi December 16 gang-rape case? Hand on heart, how many of you cheered, or at least felt a bit relieved when
It’s our system on trial Read More »
Our failure to protest loudly enough makes us complicit with weak governance. It’s a silence that threatens democratic ideas and places every citizen, regardless of ideology, at peril. The right to be offended is now an all-inclusive Indian sport that unites citizens from Tamil Nadu to Kashmir, Jaipur to Kolkata, women, Dalits, Muslim, Hindus. The
Quiet in times of intolerance Read More »
In the small room they call home, the family of the girl known as Delhi’s Brave heart is trying to come to terms with its loss. Already there is no evidence that she lived here only a month ago. In the small room they call home, the family of the girl known as Delhi’s Braveheart
There’s no closure for them Read More »
The things are changing: Gender issues are now a part of mainstream discourse. Just over a month ago would you have imagined thousands, men as well as women, marching in protest against rape? Just over a month ago would you have imagined that an online petition could cancel a New Year concert by a hugely
Finally, the glass is half full Read More »