Alok Rai
The writer taught in the department of English, Delhi University.
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Who is guilty — Stan Swamy or those who kept him behind bars?
Alok Rai writes: The impunity of the state and its agents in destroying lives at will must be reined in. It cannot be legitimised by any electoral ‘mandate’.
Wed, Jul 07, 2021
What does the government’s endorsement of Baba Ramdev mean?
Alok Rai writes: It is a signal to the Hindu savarna constituency that the dispensation is suitably equipped to defend an indefensible social order.
Thu, Jun 03, 2021
To interpret widespread condemnation in Hathras case as evidence of conspiracy requires genius
“Conspiracy” is the oxygen that keeps bankrupt regimes alive. Minus that, what one confronts is a miscellany of horrors, lies and incompetence.
Tue, Oct 13, 2020
Indian inflection of herd immunity’ has deep cultural roots
In its corona version, poor are infected in sufficient numbers to produce immunity which accrues to those who have done nothing to earn it.
Mon, Jun 15, 2020
As former CJI accepts RS berth, let’s say it again: Judges are not law, but its creatures
The dignity of the Law is not a matter of concern merely to judges — though I believe it should be a matter of concern to them, too.
Thu, Mar 26, 2020
Govt’s assurance on CAA-NRC-NPR ignores a basic moral principle: Humanity, humaneness begin with empathy
It is a concern for the rights of others that makes us human, humane beings. So, honourable (and dishonourable) apologists, please desist — I speak not merely although my rights are unaffected, but even because my rights are unaffected.
Wed, Mar 04, 2020
Azaadi is a dangerous word
Our language is tainted and crippled by being pressed into the service of inhumanity.
Fri, Jan 03, 2020
House for History
Despite the centrality of the question of privilege, Anand Bhawan, the Gandhi residence in Allahabad, was also the place where the most influential vision of India’s modernity — and socialism — was born
Sat, Aug 03, 2019
A climate of impunity emboldens the perpetrators of public murder to post real-time videos online.
Hate has consequences. And those who propagate and promote that hate must bear responsibility for its entirely predictable consequences.
Tue, Jul 02, 2019
Let me count the ways
Girish Karnad’s phenomenal creativity was fuelled by the fact that he tapped into several different linguistic traditions, contexts and resonances.
Mon, Jun 17, 2019
In praise of khichdi or, as the general election draws closer, in defence of politics
Political parties will — and should — continue to compete, and jostle, and clamour, and do all the messy things that are internal to the practice of democracy. Provided that the one self-proclaimed “nationalist” party is not allowed to shut down politics altogether.
Tue, Mar 26, 2019
Forgetting partition, remembering partition
This memoir of a displaced person is not Krishna Sobti’s finest work, but it reminds us that ironically, the business of Partition is, indeed, unfinished and ongoing
Sat, Mar 23, 2019
A Study in Legacy
The colonial English idea of the canon, applied to Hindi at a time when Dalit and feminist literature challenge its unity.
Sat, Feb 23, 2019
Violence, theirs and ours
‘Terror’ is an artifact of the theory of terrorism, a way of interpreting things in the world. Our eager embrace of the theory of ‘terrorism’ is deeply suspect
Fri, Nov 30, 2018
Imaginary homelands
Allahabad was the name of an aspiration to independent, secular, cosmopolitan modernity — a hope, a sensibility. Prayagraj is a pernicious, hurtful fiction
Mon, Nov 05, 2018
The spy who wasn’t
Nambi Narayanan’s acquittal raises a crucial question: Who is responsible for the evils of the state?
Thu, Sep 20, 2018
The native colonial
V S Naipaul gave writers in once-colonised countries confidence. But he also exonerated colonialism.
Mon, Aug 20, 2018
The soundtrack of democracy
Supreme Court order on Jantar Mantar frames an often-ignored reality: Protest is a part of polity and the inconvenience it causes an affirmation of our common humanity.
Thu, Aug 02, 2018
Blame the hat
General Bipin Rawat has been far too eloquent on matters he ought to be quiet about. He did sound silly while elaborating on ways to deal with the Kashmir issue.
Wed, Jun 14, 2017
All About My Motherland
The evolution of our country's identity from the unifying mother of yore to the strict father of contemporary nationalist times.
Sun, May 21, 2017
Orwell, again
But Trump’s America is a latecomer. It has much to learn from Vishwaguru India.
Mon, Feb 20, 2017
We live with violent opposites, nuance is dead, so is dissent
The farce of TV “debates” shows us in the grip of matched opposites, good versus evil, black versus white. There is little civilised discourse. No question is open. This is the age of the slogan — and outright violence.
Wed, Jan 04, 2017
Silence, surgery in progress
There are great advantages of redefining military action as surgery — for one, it mobilises the rhetoric of health.
Fri, Oct 21, 2016
Unbecoming Gurgaon
‘Gurugram’ is the symptom of a disease which generates a striving to return to some previous perfection.
Mon, May 02, 2016