हक़ और आजादी
August 1, 2008
Secular erosion, terror explosion
Fifteen years ago we started Communalism Combat in response to the pogrom against Muslims in a city which until then had proudly called itself the cosmopolitan capital of India: Bombay, now Mumbai. We started publishing the journal with the fond hope that the secular Indian state would soon slay the communal demon that was stalking the land of a...
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...
June 1, 2006
Bad mullahs, good mullahs
Secular India has failed to give Indian Muslims a fair deal. To all but the prejudiced, the bare facts are too stark to be ignored or explained away any longer. Problems of educational and economic backwardness, social discrimination and political under-representation continue to dog a community of around 150 million. As if that were not bad enough, there is...
December 1, 2005
Rights, needs and benefits required to ensure effective victim testimony
The victim of a crime is an important player in the administration of justice both as a complainant/informant and as a witness for the prosecution/state. His or her role is vital both at the stage of investigation and at the trial stage. Without the victim’s active support, the investigation of a crime may not come...
November 1, 2005
Empowering Dalit Muslims
Ali Anwar is the founder of the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (‘Marginalised Muslim Front’), Patna, Bihar, a union of several Dalit Muslim and Backward Caste Muslim organisations. A well known Hindi journalist, he is the author of Masavat Ki Jang (‘The Struggle for Equality’) and Dalit Musalman (‘Dalit Muslims’) and writes regularly on...
October 1, 2005
February 1, 2005
Hasnath Mansur is a prominent Muslim woman’s activist from Bangalore. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand she talks about the ongoing debates on Islam and women and on the recent splits in the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Q: Could you tell us something about your background?
A: I was a teacher for several decades and have now retired. I taught at several schools in...
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...
June 1, 2004
A Tribute to the extradordinary deeds of 'ordinary' people at the height of the Genocide-Gujarat 2002