- In the Indian Express, Khaled Ahmed explains how a case against a judge of the Pakistan Supreme Court has opened old political fault lines in the country.
- The Citizenship Amendment Act has done more than just undermine India’s democratic culture of pluralism: by enacting such a law, India has also lowered its reputation in the neighbourhood, says Kanak Mani Dixit in The Hindu.
- Bollywood star Deepika Padukone’s visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru University last week to stand in solidarity with students subjected to violence was a commendable act of courage for star from a status-quoist industry, Barkha Dutt writes in the Hindustan Times.
- Earlier this month, India created the new post of Chief of Defence Staff to act as a coordinating point for the armed forces. In the Print, Mavendra Singh argues that this move is not one to celebrate as a bureaucratic sleight of hand has put Bipin Rawat, the first man to hold this post, at a disadvantage.
- Joanna Berendt in New York Times profiles Polish judge Igor Tuleya, who has become the face of the battle of Poland’s judiciary against political onslaught on its independence.
- “In the faces of the bushfire victims we saw ourselves and our shared future,” writes James Bradley in the Guardian on the Australian bush fires. “We can no longer shy away from reality.”
- In the Times of India, historian Gyan Prakash draws a parallel between the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the pre-Independence Khilafat movement.
- Audiences wanted Disney to give Elsa in the Frozen franchise a girlfriend. She is the most magically powerful Disney heroine ever created, with her powers seeming to even outstrip some of the most famous villains, writes Jeanna Kadlec in Longreads.
- Nick Martin in Informant reports on curious developments in Michigan where a neo-Nazi was caught up in a case of mistaken identity. It has dragged the FBI into the net.
- Significant opposition to the Hindu nationalist project in India has recently emerged. But the Indian Left has to go beyond a “progressive” nationalism to build something bigger, writes Udeepta Chakravarty and Rohit Sarma in Jacobin.
Reading
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1
‘The Shudra Rebellion’: Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd studies the vital role of oppressed castes in India
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2
How an Indian monk contributed to the understanding of Buddhism in China
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3
Cash transfers, caste calculus: What was behind the Mahayuti’s sweep in Maharashtra?
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4
Did Indian culture recognise an independent field of study called philosophy?
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5
The Carnatic world is dominated by vocalists. How can instrumentalists find larger audiences?
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6
The Indian media is acting like a Hindutva ally in its coverage of the violence in Canada
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7
Upamanyu Chatterjee’s ‘Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life’ wins the JCB Prize for Literature
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8
Gulzar on his daughter Meghna: ‘A piece of sun mingles in my blood, day and night’
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9
A new book shows why the super-rich in India must strive to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality
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10
Jharkhand election: 8 factors that helped JMM-led alliance to beat out the BJP