The concept of ‘nation’ is a modern one, and many definitions of the word exist by authors ranging from John Stuart Mill to J.V. Stalin. The essential common element in these definitions is that, to be a nation, a country…
Gandhi remains controversial yet still demands reconsideration because he stands at the beginning of the long twentieth century and we stand at the other, implosive, end. The questions he asks about how imperial nations were being made and how free…
At a time when toxic masculinity is directing the course of politics in our world, I thought it would be relevant to explore the challenge that the Indian National Movement was able to put up to the ‘the brute masculinity…
The interviews of the defence lawyers M.L. Sharma and A.P. Singh in the ‘Nirbhaya’ case in 2015, in the BBC documentary India’s Daughter, exposed a disturbing aspect of the patriarchal social structure which blames women for arousing the ‘lustful’ and…
Numerous families across India’s urban and rural landscape continue to live in conditions not fit for human habitation, even less making for conducive family environs. Large numbers of occupation-based migration to urban areas as well as lack of access to…
Nukta-daan, nukta-sukhan, nukta-shanaas Paak dil, paak zaat, paak sifaat It is difficult to speak about someone who personified life itself and lent vibrancy to whatever he touched. He was at all times involved, responsive, innovative, thought-provoking. He was an institution-builder.
It was easy to be misled by Mushirul Hasan’s external mien. Polite to a fault, full of humour, always meticulously dressed, extraordinarily courteous, full of kindness and generosity, and never raising his voice in an argument, indeed never even particularly…
Professor Mushirul Hasan passed away after a longish battle of over four years with the consequences of a tragic accident. He was a legendary scholar and a wonderful human being who represented our composite culture so aptly. And he did…
The passing away of Professor Aniruddha Ray on 9 December 2018 has taken away from our midst a historian of exceptionally wide range of research and acuteness of perception.
Sabyasachi Bhattacharya passed away in Kolkata on 7 January 2019. An extraordinary scholar and historian, he will be also remembered as a public intellectual with a deep commitment to secular and democratic values so needed in our times.