Posts
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Lessons from Sikar: a passionate, disciplined and successful Agitation
On the 12th of September, the farmers in Rajasthan succeeded in making the government surrender to their key demands. Their victory was achieved by a non-violent protest that drew popular support from all sections of society. The farmers in the Sikar district of Rajasthan had started this struggle in the middle of July under the banner of All-India Kisan Sabha, an organization associated with the CPI(M). The farmers had a list of 11 demands which they wanted the government to accept. These d[...] -
21SepThird World Quarterly and a False Case for Colonialism
Last week, Third World Quarterly, a development studies journal, published an article by Bruce Gilley titled ‘The case for Colonialism.' In his piece, Gilley not only claimed that Colonialism was good, but he went on to argue that we need a new program for colonialism. The publication of this article was followed by the protests against it by numerous scholars and members of the editorial board of the Third World Quarterly journal. A change.org petition asking for the retraction of the artic[...] -
08SepAmazing Grace: The life and death of Gauri Lankesh
जिस्म की मौत कोई मौत नहीं होती जिस्म मिट जाने से इन्सान नहीं मर जाते धड़कनें रूकने से अरमान नहीं मर जाते साँस थम जाने से ऐलान नहीं मर जाते होंठ जम जाने से फ़रमान नहीं मर जाते जिस्म की मौत कोई मौ[...] -
11AugThree Cyclists from India and Encounters of Empire
‘In China, the people did not believe they were Indians, because they were clean-shaven…’ (RGASPI 542/1/5, 68). The continual mining of the Comintern Archive in Moscow, either by visiting the archive or consulting the online digital archive, furthers our understanding of (as in my case) anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements and experiences in the interwar period. By perceiving these movements as circulations of experience, and, transnational in scope and nature, the documen[...] -
02AugThe Revolution of Ordinary People: Russia, 1917
Lenin did not make the Revolution in 1917. Nor did Stalin. Nor Trotsky. They each provided crucial leadership, with Lenin’s role being essential from April 1917 onwards. But they were part of a tidal wave that had first risen in 1905, crested and then rose again during the Great War. This tidal wave was lifted by ordinary people – factory workers, landless peasants, housewives, soldiers, students and those who barely found the means to survive. It is they who made the Revolution happen in [...]