UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres analyses the inequality faced by women in his column in Hindustan Times. What’s striking is the correlation he makes between violence in society and the way it treats its women. Also, that the gender pay gap is but a symptom of what he considers the gender 'power gap'. He calls for a systemic change, a transformation of power from being male-oriented to gender equal.
In so doing, he believes we will move closer to finding solutions to today's intractable problems.
Anne Applebaum writes in The Atlantic that a society's response to a crisis, reveals how dysfunctional or proactive it is. Taking off on this basic, yet important observation, Sandip Roy snips through the government's trust deficit, fear mongering, and unscientific 'cow' claims, in his Paper Cut column for The Times of India.
His argument that the blunders of the government in dealing with COVID-19 continue to overshadow genuine scientific breakthroughs and real medical achievements, is hard to counter.
Lourembam Ongbi Nganbi writes in The Indian Express about how the women of Manipur have led protests against oppressive regimes in the region since time immemorial. From defying the tyranny of the British, to the continued struggle against AFSPA, CAA and the Framework Agreement, Manipur's women continue to face impossible odds, to take to the streets in protest.
Justice is a far cry for the victims and survivors of heinous crimes: rape, mutilation, ethnic cleansing, murders without trials. Yet, the women of Manipur rise, as an inspiration for the rest of India, in continual protest.
Swapan Dasgupta, in his column Right and Wrong in The Times of India, notes with a degree of alarm, the complete lack of public accountability in the media and among the politicians, for peddling lopsided narratives.
This, he believes, has resulted in perceiving the anti-CAA protests, as an uprising of Muslims against the government, when in fact the protests were not communal, and the effects of the riots in all communities were equally gruesome.
P Chidambaram writes for Across the Aisle, in The Indian Express, on the many ramifications of the Indian government's lack of initiative, in dealing with the COVID-19. In fact, he lists out ten actionable 'commandments' that the government must follow, to contain the situation and its impending consequences to the economy of the nation, and its people.
He observes, rather cheekily, that regardless of whether the government chooses to follow these suggestions, all that the general public can do, is wash their hands, and keep their fingers crossed.
Karan Thapar's piece in Hindustan Times dives deep into what constitutes sedition, and how Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is wrong in allowing the police to take action and persecute... erm, prosecute Kanhaiya Kumar. This, despite advice to do the contrary from multiple quarters.
Did Kanhaiya Kumar shout Bharat tere tukde honge, inshallah inshallah? That is not the right question. The question – as Karan Thapar observes – is if it amounts to sedition.
Social media influencers know what will sell, and how to get you to buy it. Anti-influencers are those who are immune to their charms, and who are invariably attracted to the fringes that offer no benefits. In a light-hearted yet well-researched piece in The Times of India, Amulya Gopalakrishnan makes the case for those with a hatke sartorial sense, and unconventional tastes, typically for products on the verge of being taken off the shelves. After all, as she writes, Andaz Apna Apna was trashed on release, only to become a cult hit decades later!
Lalita Panicker, in her article for Hindustan Times, observes astutely, that women suffer disproportionately in conflict situations and their aftermath. Verbal abuse, sexual abuse and assault, the burden of fending for the family after the death of the sole breadwinner, depression; all of these are serious issues that require attention, and counselling. And yet, even well-meaning civic groups and NGOs satisfy themselves with providing food, shelter and medicines, in make-shift camps.
Suraj Yengde, in his sharp piece in The Indian Express, shines an equally critical lens at the government, and the liberal/radical activists alike, who he believes foray into occasional protests. He accuses liberals of exhibiting casteism and ignoring Ambedkarite organisations. He further elaborates on a disturbing fact, which is that liberal groups who are anti-Hindutva, are not necessarily anti-caste!
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