Without equality, democracy and social justice, which are three interrelated factors, secularism cannot exist as a positive value in society. I HAVE known Prof. Romila Thapar for about 45 years, most of it as a colleague at the Centre for Historical Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Romila, as she is called by almost everybody – from her eight-year-old grandnephew to all of us present here – had helped to...

BJP chief minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda has said he wants the Bhagvad Gita taught in schools across Karnataka, reviving a touchy subject. Prodded by the BJP government, several schools run by Hindu organisations have been holding Gita classes since January 2011 in parts of the state, which has seen attacks on Christians and churches by Hindutva groups in the past three years. The latest statement, coming from the chief minister himself and...

Not only are the Forest Rights Act and the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act routinely violated in Chhattisgarh, the adivasis are also short-changed on legislative representation and reservations in government jobs. As the state cedes land to capital while reducing the adivasis to an ornamental presence, there is increasing assertion of adivasi identity, born out of class predicaments and experiences of displacement as much as notions of indigeneity. Supriya Sharma...

-The Hindu Anti-Kudankulam nuclear power plant activists have come out with a new proposal for finding solution to the impasse by suggesting that the nuclear plant can be converted in to a thermal plant through technical modifications. Stating that they are aware of the precarious power situation in the country and the need for more power generation, the activists said that they are determined to oppose nuclear power tooth and nail but...

If you are a resident of Madhya Pradesh, Muslim and poor, nowhere close to the class of nawabs who can pay for murg musallam or mutton raan, watch your pot! The BJP government, led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has just armed itself with a big danda ostensibly to protect the holy cow and its progeny. But, make no mistake, it’s a stick to beat you with. To save your...