Dilip Simeon's blog

Yogendra Yadav: Devanoora Mahadeva fills the silence An iconic Kannada literary figure, a towering public intellectual and a revered political activist in Karnataka. Shy and self-effacing to a point that you begin to wonder why he is in public life. He has a knack of disappearing from any public attention. As you suddenly notice his absence from the dais, someone helpfully explains: he may have stepped out for a smoke. Invariably and annoyingly late, even by my standards, Mahadeva is always a little out of sorts, a bit disheveled. His is not a carefully designed carelessness of a bohemian poet. It is just that his life has a different rhythm and radically different set of priorities than you would imagine a famous man to have. Oh, I forgot to say, he is Dalit. But now don’t rush to call him a Dalit writer or a Dalit activist. That would be a serious misrecognition, a category mistake. We don’t describe Shekhar Gupta as a bania intellectual, notwithstanding his touching, unadulterated f...

To German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the UN Secretary-General and all global leaders attending COP27 in Egypt: As citizens from across the world horrified by Egypt's human rights violations, including the unlawful imprisonment of Alaa Abd el-Fattah and thousands of other political prisoners, we call on you to use all your diplomatic and financial means to bring about the immediate and unequivocal release of Alaa, to ensure Egypt releases its political prisoners ahead of the UN Climate Summit COP27 and reopens its civic space in a meaningful way. You have the power to push for human rights in Egypt – we count on you to use it. https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/free_alaa_global_2/?kiQPaab Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a vital voice of the Arab spring, is one of  at least 60,000 people jailed by Egypt’s regime on political grounds . For over 100 days, he has been on hunger strike, surviving on a daily spoon of hon...

The last time there was open war between major European powers was in 1945. The last time the Northern Hemisphere was this hot was probably 125,000 years ago. Yet the FTSE 100 is worth more than ever, corporate profits are higher than ever, there are more British billionaires than ever. And oil companies are richer than ever. If we took climate change seriously, the petroleum industry would be bankrupt. These firms borrow billions against the future value of reserves they are yet to drill, but atmospheric physics demands we can’t burn that carbon if we wish civilisation to survive. If our modern societies are to continue to exist in recognisable form, oil companies’ assets are worthless. And if we aren’t, they are still worthless... https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/heatwave-climate-crisis-nhs-fossil-fuel-capitalism-hunger/ Banks are incentivised to fund climate chaos. Here’s how to change that The world’s largest banks are investing billions into heavily polluting industries, ...

Starry, starry night Paint your palette blue and gray Look out on a summer's day With eyes that know the darkness in my soul Shadows on the hills Sketch the trees and the daffodils Catch the breeze and the winter chills In colors on the snowy, linen land Now, I understand what you tried to say to me Oil-on-canvas painting by Vincent van Gogh; June 1889 It depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum And how you suffered for your sanity And how you tried to set them free They would not listen, they did not know how Perhaps they'll listen now Starry, starry night Flaming flowers that brightly blaze Swirling clouds in violet haze Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue Colors changing hue Morning fields of amber grain Weathered faces lined in pain Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand Now, I understand, what you tried to say to me How you suffered for your sanity How you tried to set them free They would not listen, they did not know how Perhaps they...

'Our times are testing the truth of Orwell's bitter aphorism "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past" ': From Guha's preface to his new book..     Historians always work in evolving political contexts that influence their knowledge and narratives. This cultural reality provides a framework for Sumit Guha’s imaginative analysis of how the collective memories that shape human societies are contingent and fragile because they are embedded within the changing institutional systems of social and political life.  In History and Collective Memory in South Asia, 1200–2000 , Guha analyzes the processes of remembering and forget- ting in South Asian cultures, but similar sociocultural patterns have also appeared in almost every other human society. Reviewed by Lloyd Kramer Historical knowledge serves numerous public needs, including the need for governments and social elites to justify their power and the need for cultural ...

New Delhi: Bewajaah koi bhi sadak par ikattha bilkul na ho jisse poori millat ko nuksaan uthaana pade, jumma padhein aur apne ghar jaakar dua kariye aman aur shanti mohobbat kaayam rahe . Do not gather on the road together without reason, the entire community will have to bear the brunt. Read your Friday prayers, go home and pray that harmony, peace and love will prevail. This was what Javed Mohammed, 54, wrote on Facebook on 11:12 am on 10 June 2022, among other appeals he made for peace on Facebook and Whatsapp ( here , here and here ) to address resentment felt by Muslims, 14 days after a spokesperson of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made abusive comments about the Prophet Mohammed. It was on 26 May 2022 that Nupur Sharma, later removed as BJP spokesperson, made those remarks during prime-time national television debates on News24, Republic TV and Times Now, sparking outrage, both nationally and globally , and spurring protests across the country. The Facebook timeli...

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmer unions, on Tuesday rejected the Union government’s committee on Minimum Support Price, or MSP, reported PTI. The body, which spearheaded the protest against the now-repealed farm laws, said that the “so-called farmer leaders” who supported the legislations are members of the panel. Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar told PTI that the government has included leaders who did not have anything to do with the farm law protests. The Minimum Support Price is the rate at which the government buys farm produce and is based on a calculation of at least one-and-a-half times the cost of production incurred by farmers. Market rates for many crops are usually well below the Minimum Support Price.Farmer leaders have been demanding that the minimum support price guarantee be extended to all produce, not just rice and wheat. The committee on Minimum Support Price was formed on Monday, eight months after the Centre promised to set up such a panel as i...