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Remembering Sitaram Yechury: The Unfinished Questions of Our Time

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On Sitaram Yechury’s death anniversary, I find myself thinking not only about the political leader we lost, but also about the intellectual and political tradition he represented. For me, Yechury’s understanding of India, democracy and secularism was particularly important. He was a committed communist, but his politics was never detached from the constitutional and plural character of India. He understood that the Indian reality could not be reduced to one religion, one identity or one political imagination. I have always found his reading of Jawaharlal Nehru interesting. Yechury recognised in Nehru an attempt to build India as a plural, secular and democratic republic, while also placing socialism and economic justice within the project of nation-building. His own politics emerged from a different historical tradition, but he understood the importance of protecting the democratic and secular foundations of the Republic. His position on religion and the state was equally clear. Rel...
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Nepal Flood Disaster: A Developing Humanitarian Crisis

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  On the morning of Wednesday, 26 August, at around 8:30 a.m., a sudden and massive flood entered the Bhote Koshi River from the Chinese border/Tibetan side at Rasuwagadhi and swept downstream through Rasuwa and Nuwakot before joining the Trishuli River. With no significant rainfall reported in the district, a preliminary assessment by Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, based on satellite imagery, suggests that the disaster may have been triggered by a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in the Lhende River, approximately 20 kilometres northeast of the border. The exact cause, however, remains under investigation. Several towns and settlements, including Timure, Syabrubesi, Hakubesi, Mailung, Shantibazaar and Betrawati , have been severely affected. Some settlements have reportedly been completely devastated, while others have suffered extensive damage. The full scale of the loss of life is still unclear, but initial reports indicate substantial ...
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Abdul, I Don’t Know You

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  Abdul, I don’t know you But, we the people of India. I only know that you lost your father— killed in broad daylight. And yet, you did not lose hope. You held on to a dream that millions of us carry: hope for our country, hope in our Constitution, hope in the traditions that have survived thousands of years. Abdul, you were asking for better schools, better education, a better future. I know, Abdul— you were being selfish. Selfish enough to ask for what every child deserves. Selfish enough to believe that education is not a privilege, but a right. Selfish enough to imagine a country where no child has to inherit the darkness of his father's fate. Abdul, you were not asking only for yourself. You were asking for all of us. And perhaps that is the highest form of national service.
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Five Years of Taliban 2.0: What Has Changed in Afghanistan?

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  On 15 August 2021, the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, bringing an abrupt end to the twenty-year US-led military and political intervention in Afghanistan. The speed of the elected government's collapse surprised much of the world. The Afghan army, despite having hundreds of thousands of trained personnel and years of financial and military support, largely collapsed without a sustained fight. The Ashraf Ghani government failed to develop a political and military strategy capable of confronting the rapidly changing situation after the peace negotiations between the United States and the Taliban. Five Years Later: What Kind of Afghanistan Has Emerged? Five years later, the central question is no longer whether the Taliban can govern Afghanistan. They have shown that they can retain political and territorial control. The more important question is what kind of Afghanistan has emerged under Taliban rule, and what the cost to its people? When the Taliban first returned to K...
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Independence Day: Freedom Must Be Protected by Its Citizens

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  Independence Day: Freedom Must Be Protected by Its Citizens As India celebrates its 80th Independence Day on 15 August 2026, it is worth remembering that our freedom came at an enormous cost. Independence was not the achievement of one community, one region, one religion, one caste or one gender. It was the result of decades of struggle and sacrifice by people across the country who dreamed of a free and dignified India. Leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, B.R. Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, and many others imagined an India where people of different faiths and beliefs could live together with dignity; where citizens would be equal before the law; and where freedom would have meaning in the everyday lives of ordinary people. Their vision was particularly significant in a society marked by deep inequalities of caste, class, gender and poverty. Over the past more than seven decades, India has made remarkable progress on many fronts. Yet the dre...
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International Youth Day : Different Contexts, Common Aspirations

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  International Youth Day is observed annually on August 12 . Designated by the United Nations in 1999, it celebrates young people’s contributions to society, raises awareness of the challenges faced by youth globally, and promotes their meaningful engagement in sustainable development. The theme of this year’s International Youth Day is “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations.” It is important to recognise that young people across the world do not form a homogeneous group. Their needs, aspirations, and opportunities are shaped by their social, economic, political, and geographical contexts. In other words, where you are located and the conditions in which you live can profoundly shape your future and your ability to participate in public life. There are many examples of young people who have challenged and broken colonial control in the past to help set their countries free. Yet the struggles for representation, dignity, equality, and justice continue in many parts of the ...
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Amma is still listening

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                           Amma is still listening Every evening there was a journey home a phone call to Amma. Not merely a call, but a quiet reassurance that the world was still in place. She knew my silences better than my words. She understood the weight in my voice, the worries I never named, the world I carried within me. Our conversations were never long. They did not need to be. After salaam , I would ask, "Sab theek hai?" And in that familiar mellowness, "How are Irfana and Zoya?" Those few words held an entire home. Sometimes she would tell me who had visited, which neighbour was unwell, whether the rains had come, how is crops in the field, or how the village was breathing that day. Nothing extraordinary. Everything essential. Amma never spoke of her own strength. Yet she was our light, our shelter, our mountain— standing quietly between us and...
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Location: Delhi, India
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