Weekend reads

  1. To face up to 26/11 Mumbai attacks, we need to confront the murderous identity politics that led to Partition, still deforms Pakistan and weighs India down, argues Pratap Bhanu Mehta in Indian Express. 
  2. The demand for the state to intervene to allow the Ram temple at Ayodhya is part of an aggressive Hindu fundamentalism which seeks to suborn the state to its wishes. The state has to remain neutral, writes lawyer Rajeev Dhavan in The Hindu. 
  3. Encouraging bilingualism in children leads to cognitive benefits, helping them realise their potential in a competitive world, says Vishnu Karthik in BusinessLine. 
  4. In the context of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey facing criticism for holding an anti-caste poster, G Sampath in The Hindu points out that it is either mischievous or ignorant to claim that “brahminical” only refers to brahmins. 
  5. Unless novel contenders and ideas emerge now, Sri Lanka might just add one more man to the global club of elected majoritarian despots, writes Rohini Mohan in Hindustan Times on the political crisis facing the island nation.   
  6. The question about societal behaviour change is being answered in the context of two recent events in Indian society: the #MeToo movement and the Supreme court verdict allowing women of all ages to enter Sabarimala temple, argues Biju Dominic in Mint. 
  7. Facebook has gone on the attack as one scandal after another – Russian meddling, data sharing, hate speech – has led to a congressional and consumer backlash. It has responded by delaying, denying and deflecting charges. Sheera Frenkel, Nicholas Confessore, Cecilia Kang, Matthew Rosenberg and Jack Nicas report in New York Times on how Facebook reacted to proceedings in the United States.   
  8. The Sentinelese and other indigenous peoples of the Andamans are minuscule in number. Will they die out or survive?  Rajat Ghai in Down To Earth on the latest controversy following the death of an American who wanted to contact the isolated people. 
  9. Twenty-five years after the historic performance that became the band’s best-selling final album, The Ringer talked to producers, directors, musicians, and fans present for Kurt Cobain and Nirvana’s greatest performance. This is how history was made.  
  10. Watergate revealed that multinational corporations, including some of the most prestigious American brands, had been giving bribes to politicians not only at home but in foreign countries. This second half of the scam has been forgotten, says David Montero in Longreads.