Chimerical echoes

As a country that supposedly gained its Independence from non-violent means the hypocrisies that continues in the nation are countless. In fact, the suppression that happens in the country remains vigilantly demarcated and prevails under layers of countless constitutional acts, amendments, laws institutions and finally powerful individuals. The fight for democracy in our country has not received the rightful attention it deserves. The non-ceasing crusade for justice and equality by the numerous human rights activist’s remains muted and cleverly concealed by authority. Fuelled with consumerist culture, the privileged in the country find it hard to imagine the “iron curtain” that is in existence in the country. As well informed and media savvy individuals of country there are many among us who do not know about Irom Sharmila or the AFSPA. Not a controversial issue as the North –East region of our country has remained for long distant and remote to us. In fact, we “mainland Indians” have...

All of us in this world are followers of a certain belief system or faith. There are also those among us who do not follow any of the belief systems or faith but adhere strictly to an ideology based on objective thinking, behaviour and so on. All through the ages, there have been numerous contributions, trials, tribulations, debates, arguments, criticisms etc between the various sects. Inherently all human beings exhibit the trait of “individual self-expression”, all of us trained to express our feelings, thoughts as well as absorb and understand life through the same ways. All human beings depending upon the situation carry out this process of understanding and assimilation with the world around consciously or unconsciously. What poses here as a question is do human beings necessarily at all times follow only the prescribed model or the pattern of the majority or the path of individual self-expression. It is here that I begin my debate…. A statement goes that “Every man Is like every ...

It is within the framework of Communalism can we categorize the non-ceasing violence , the attacks on women, the damages on property and the evident threat to individual self-expression. When religious groups view, a mere arch as a symbolic threat and justify the subsequent violence the situation demands the urgent need for us to revisit our religious doctrines. No religion preaches violence or justifies violence against those different. All religions preach respect towards other faiths and not condemnation. Many of the radical religious groups tend to misinterpret doctrines and spread hatred between communities and religions. As a country infamous for communal strife, the recent Hindu-Christian clashes in the Kandhamal district of Orissa do not come as a shock. In order to understand the present situation, the events leading to the clashes need to be re-examined in chronological order. The Kandhamal district of Orissa is rich in natural resources with its inhabitants belonging to var...

In a rural village in Orissa, children bear similar marks of childhood. All their stomachs have spotted marks due to branding from iron rod. The local superstitious belief holds that this will stop the undernourished stomach from protruding any further. This blind superstition is quite common but rarely challenged…. Children from the formerly manual scavenging community in Madhya Pradesh do not attend the local school due to discrimination…. A mentally unstable young woman lies within the compound of a government hospital in Indore, unattended but in dire need of medical help… As a land of distinctive complexities, the issues existing in the nation are truly “one of its kind”. The ages of colonial rule and domination has made this country exhibit the traits, characteristics that have for long only focused on the diversities. However, larger issues like marginalization, poverty, displacement, violence etc form the crux of the unity that we often talk about. I personally have felt that ...