Indian Institute of Students

Unless you've been living under a rock, you must have heard of the furore about the Jawaharlal Nehru University ruckus being played out at the heart of Delhi. The upheaval over the purportedly "anti-national" comments being made at the JNU campus is to me, justified. It is really tragic that today's so-called students (really?) have resorted to eulogizing blacklisted terrorists for political purposes. As pointed out by a reputable debate show, politicians have objectified this incident as a latch for them to lambaste the ruling government; and an opportunity to join the "BJP doesn't own patriotism" bandwagon. Mind you, these are all for petty short-term gains: no one is righteous enough to call the spade a spade. The JNU Campus, Mehrauli, New Delhi It is, no doubt, disheartening to see the young guns of the nations fire up such controversial salvos every now and then. However, what is irritating is the fact that the opposition have overwhelmingly ...

Recent developments in the political scenario does not point to tranquility, it shows us the obverse. The Central Government has been accused with one of the most undignified allegation of fanning communal hatred among sections. And one of the most vehement, unrelenting critic is the Congress, which seems to be rather justified in its "protest" against the rift that the present government is trying to create. People have witnessed mud-slinging amongst the political parties, and loyalist SRK fans have been bewildered to hear their idol labelled a "Pakistani agent". There has been a lot of highs and lows, a lot of drama, and a pinch of sincere worry between this meddle. However, one burning question remains: should the people be allowed to have beef? (pun intended) I commend the  Delhi High Court's decision to quash a PIL  seeking a ban on the sale of beef and cow slaughter last week. I might just have been prosecuted for seditious propaganda, had the much-...

And the results are clear as light: the Trinamul Congress has once again swept the polls.  This picture by a photojournalist for The Telegraph sums it up all.  The move by the former State Election Commissioner, S.R. Upadhaya to defer the counting of votes for the Biddhannagar polls was appreciable. It was an indirect admission to the fact that the elections were far from free and fair. Although such practices are not new in the state where rigging has been known for decades, it was perhaps the first time that brute force was employed by a party to secure a clean sweep in the corporation polls. It was shocking to read from the reports of some newspapers, how the "foot soldiers" were paid an amount to account for the fake votes. It brings great dismay to learn that this is unfortunately the reality in ground-zero.  However, what is more appalling was the appointment of a temporary election commissioner, Alapan Bandyopadhyay. It is disturbing to learn th...

Recently, Presidency University students took to gherao the esteemed university's vice chancellor, Dr. Anuradha Lohia. As appropriately pointed out by Mr. Swapan Chakbraborty, a professor of the university, there was allegedly no valid basis for the agitation. The University Chancellor, the Honorable Governor of Bengal, Keshari Nath Tripathi was justified in his remark that students attend the university to study, and not to "stage a protest". However, this word of caution has fallen upon the deaf ears of many students who feel their demand for the resignation of Dr. Lohia must be met at the moment. If there is a constitutional right to protest, then there is also a constitutional obligation to observe it peacefully. This trend of taking hostage university officials to enforce their biased demands by students of today is downright wrong. This is detrimental to the already tensed-up educational atmosphere of the state. Do the students not realize that defacing the i...

The recent R.M. Lodha panel judgement on the IPL spot fixing case has left many in a fix. The Court has announced the suspension of two of the teams, the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals. Although the official rule-book could have allowed for harsher punishments, the honorable Court has passed the ruling for a two year suspension only. However, there is a flip side to everything: this decision can bring about adverse effects on the future of the cash-rich Indian Premier League. There are a few ramifications that needs to be dealt with urgently. First of all, the Court has not made it clear whether a separate private entity or an individual can rebuild the management, so as to allow for the city's participation. In the history of the Indian Premier League, such a similar action was taken for the Deccan Chargers. When the Deccan Chargers became non-existential, it was renamed as 'Sunrisers Hyderabad', managed by a different network, but with ...

The following is a guest post by Sinchula Banerjee, and it has been accepted as it meets the guidelines. Certain parts of the original has been edited to bring out a more clear picture.  India- standing on her sixty-seventh year of independence- has undergone drastic changes in society, education, ways of living, financial position and a host of other things. It is not practically feasible to enlist all the changes that man has evolved through, and thus I will make a humble attempt to cover as much as possible. Part 1: Society and Development Change is the only constant. Society changes with change in technology, change in people's outlook, and more obviously, change in generation. The much-revered freedom fighters of yesteryear are only names to memorise today. Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mahatma Gandhi are names of personalities to be mentioned only on the eve of the Independence day. Do people nowadays actually feel for the nation when they sing t...

To begin with, what is terrorism? According to Oxford, "Terrorism is the use of violent action in order to achieve some political aim or force a government to act". It affects each and every nation, and even us on a personal level. The Middle East and nations of South East Asia are the most infested with the problem of terrorism, as per statistical data. Over the last few decades, the number of terrorist organizations have grown exponentially. As the old saying goes, unity is strength. In Iraq, the Islamic State, nicknamed 'ISIS' is the most brutal of all terror networks till date. It shocked the world with its series of beheadings of Western journalists and resource men. The group has no respect for anyone suspected to be an infidel- that is, anyone who is a non-Muslim is unwelcome. It highlights their policy of intolerance- which is in stark contrast with one of the fundamental pillars of Gandhism. What people should realise is that war cannot be ended...