Section 497 Scrapped: A milestone towards Gender Equality
In a historic judgement delivered on 27th September, the five judge bench declared Section 497 of Indian Penal Code which deals with adultery as unconstitutional. The five judge bench comprised of Chief Justice Dipak Misra along with Justice A M Khanwilkar, Justice Nariman, Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra. In a unanimous judgement, the apex court declared the 158 year old section as not only archaic but also undermining gender equality and treating women as…
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Jangam: A Forgotten Exodus by Debendranath Acharya
Jangam written by Debendranath Acharya (1937-1981) won the Sahitya Akademi Purashkar in 1984. It has been recently translated from Assamese to English by Amit Rahul Baishya. The book is based on real accounts that took place during the Second World War. It is the story of the exodus of a large number of Burmese Indians when Japanese reached Burma. It was a massive movement of some 4.5-5 lakhs Indians. However it has not found much space in mainstream literature. Amitav Ghosh…
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স্বচ্ছ ভাৰত অভিযানে ঢুকি নোপোৱা ‘আবর্জনা’বোৰ
Pic courtesy: The Wire কিছুদিন পূৰ্বে নতুন দিল্লীত নিজ পিতৃৰ মৃতদেহৰ ওচৰত থিয় দি ক্রন্দনৰত হৈ থকা ১১ বছৰীয়া লৰা এজনৰ এক ফটো বহু চর্চিত হৈ পৰিছিল। ভাৰতবৰ্ষৰ লগতে আন্তৰাষ্ট্রীয় স্তৰতো সেই ফটোখনক লৈ তীব্ৰ প্রতিক্রিয়াৰ সৃষ্টি হয়। বহুচৰ্চিত ফটোখনত মৃত ব্যক্তিজন আছিল অনিল নামৰ এজন ছাফাই কর্মচাৰী। দিল্লীৰ এটা নর্দমাত কাম কৰি থকাৰ সময়তে ককালত বন্ধা ৰচিডাল চিঙি সাত মিটাৰ গভীৰ নর্দমাত পৰি ছাফাই কৰ্মচাৰী আনিলৰ কৰুণ মৃত্যু হয়। অনিলৰ পুত্র দিল্লীৰ এক স্থানীয় শ্মশানত পিতৃৰ মৃতদেহৰ ওচৰত থ…
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Tabish Khair's Night of Happiness – A Review
The title of the book is taken from Shab-e-Baraat, a night when some sects of Muslims visit the graves of ancestors, light incense sticks and prepare halva. Anil Mehrotra owns a company and he believes in treating his employees right. One of his employees Ahmed, comes across as a dignified hard working man. Mehrotra has no complaints as Ahmed works even on the day of Eid. The only holiday he wants is on the day of Shab-e-Baraat. But on one such day, due to unavoidable circum…
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This blog is authored by Parvin Sultana. She is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Pramathesh Barua College, Assam, India. She regularly writes on contemporary socio-political issues.
