Beyond The Rainbow Stereotype

Me, Myself and my Gender, a documentary which explores the life of male sex workers in Karnataka is headed for the international gay film festival in Slovenia. Directed by the husband-wife team of G K Vasuki and Maya Jaideep, both journalists hailing from the state, the film is the first look at communities of male sex workers and other MSM (Men having sex with men) communities in the state, which are slowly starting to emerge from the confines of...

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Karnataka government’s war on journalists continues

The Karnataka government’s war on journalists continuesThe Karnataka BJP has chosen to hit back at the journalist who reported the infamous homestay attack where a few partying girls and boys were roughed up by more than 50 Hindutva goons. The images of the brutal attack captured by Kasturi channel reporter Naveen Soorinje created an outrage at the national level forcing the BJP government to invoke the Goonda act against them. A vengeful district...

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The ‘Koodankulam Conflict’ Map

Koodanlulam Nuclear Plant  Anti Nuke Pro Nuke ActorsFisherfolk, farmers, workers, Dalits, Muslims, women, children etc. Supporters in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and rest of India. Supporting political parties,Social movements, Human rights groups etc. Some sections of Media Some international friendsGovernment of India Government of Tamil Nadu  Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, CISF, Tamil Nadu Police,...

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A house for Mr. Narayan

                                                    The Karnataka government's plan of converting English fiction writer RK Narayan's house into a museum has created a storm in the state's literati circles. Calling the well-intentioned move on the part of the state government a wastage of tax payer's money, well known...

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Water Wars

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The Cauvery issueThe recent order of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as head of the controversial Cauvery River Authority (CRA) asking Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till October 15 has brought out once again the century old debate of sharing of Cauvery river...

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Why do left and right mean liberal and conservative?

During the election season the words left and right denote political affiliation more than spatial direction. But where do these associations come from?The left hand has long been associated with deviance. The word “sinister” originally meant “to the left” in Latin. The word “left” comes from the Old English word lyft, which literally meant “weak, foolish.” To avoid the negative and superstitious associations of the left side, many languages...

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Discipline As Falsified Uniformity

At the risk of called foucauldian, although I was never a disciplinarian, even before Foucault (it means reading Foucault) am skeptical about discipline. Disciplining at first instance is a power construct and regulated by power.Discipline is not at behest of commoners but it is created, controlled  regulated and modulated by the power. In that very sense power creates and depends on discipline. Foucault calls it penopticism, which simply means that through discipline governing and...

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The Accidents of History

Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948The accidents of history have a much bigger role in shaping a nation’s destiny than one usually thinks. That is because accidents cannot be broken down into causes and effects, which is the historian’s standard tool. Accidents are after all, just accidents. On a whimsical note I sometimes wonder about India’s tryst with assassinations and whether...

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A Terror Tale With Plenty of Loose Ends

The Karnataka Police claim to have prevented a major catastrophe by arresting a dozen Muslim youth. But does it have a watertight case? Imran Khan finds outThe citizens of Bangalore, who have been limping back to normalcy after more than 30,000 north-easterners fled the city amidst rumours of communal violence, is now living with the grim specter of terrorists living in their midst posing as respectable, law-abiding citizens- as journalists, scientists, doctors and students.The Karnataka police last week arrested 18 Muslim youths including...

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Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia

Hussain Zaidi is famous crime reporter of Mumbai and author of several books on the Mumbai mafia. A life time spent reporting on the mafiosi compared to bigger than any other mafia in the world, Zaidi has been its chronicler and historian of par excellence bringing detail and depth to his cherished subject. Though, Zaidi has written three books earlier covering the Mumbai mafiosi, including the famous Black Friday and Mafia Queens of Mumbai,...

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Drought in Karntaka

Even as the infighting among various factions continues within Karnataka BJP for the post of ministers and party president, the state is facing one of the worst droughts in the last 40 years. While, the state government claims that all the needed measures are taken in order to mitigate drought, critics however point out, the disaster have been brought about by lack of policy initiatives by both the central and state government. `` Both the...

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