संस्कृति
July 1, 2012
Robert Frisk covers the fallout of the Arab Spring and how Egypt reacts to the Electoral victory of the Muslim Brotherhood.
October 1, 2011
Fear and the farce
Even for a party that pays mere lip service to constitutional principles, it was a moment of great shame. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India directs the Special Investigation Team (SIT) – specially appointed by the court to reinvestigate the major cases of carnage in Gujarat in 2002 – to also investigate the role of chief minister Narendra...
March 1, 2011
Worldwide coverage on the revolutionary spirit in West Asia and Africa.
November 1, 2008
Will they bash up universities in Jakarta and other places for teaching different versions of the Ramayana?: Romila Thapar
The controversial decision earlier this month by the Academic Council of Delhi University to drop AK Ramanujan’s celebrated essay on the Ramayana, ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation’, from the BA history (honours)...
April 1, 2008
Actor Naseeruddin Shah discusses the vagaries of religion, the Bollywood ethos and his future in cinema
Q: What was the reaction in Pakistan to Khuda Kay Liye? Did you visit Pakistan after the movie was released?
A: The reaction was absolutely unbelievable. In Pakistan the theatres are very tacky, badly equipped, there is no air conditioning and rats run across your feet. They are like...
September 1, 2007
Sixty years in the life of a people
Sixty years in the life of a nation and its people is both a benchmark – a significant anniversary – as well as a quotidian number, sixty years. Concerned with issues of freedom and democracy, creativity and diversity, law and governance, Communalism Combat decided to mark the occasion by evaluating the creative
space and the public sphere as we...
February 1, 2005
Reality of reel life
In collaboration with the Xavier’s Institute of Communications, Mumbai, we organised a two-day workshop for the students of the institute in the first week of February. The theme: how and to what extent has Hindi cinema reflected the values of pluralism and democracy over the decades? We are grateful to such illustrious names from filmdom as Javed Akhtar, Mahesh...
September 1, 2004
Contrary to deeply rooted stereotypes, madrassa students are not all die-hard conservatives, vehemently opposed to change and reform. In India today, many younger generation madrassa graduates, especially those who have gone on to receive higher education in regular universities, are ardent advocates of reforms in the madrassas. Unfortunately, their voices do not get the attention they so sorely...
June 1, 2004
A Tribute to the extradordinary deeds of 'ordinary' people at the height of the Genocide-Gujarat 2002