‘Omnia Femminea Aequissimae’ ‘Women Are Equal to Everything’ Britain. Tuesday, 24thSeptember, 2019. 10.30 a.m. Lady Hale, President of the Supreme Court, delivers the court’s verdict on the prime minister’s five-week prorogation (suspension) of Parliament. A dynamite judgement demonstrating that the government is subject to the law. Lady Hale and the ten other Law […]
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Dignity: A Radical Tool in Politics
The Amazon on fire. Trump in office. UK heading towards Brexit catastrophe. Modi marching into Kashmir. Glaciers melting. Plastic pollution. Hong-Kong protests…. And in Britain, Parliament, the Mother of Parliaments itself, is being prorogued. In essence, being arbitrarily shut down for a significant number of days, just as the deadline for Brexit looms ever nearer. […]
War at the School Gates
In memory of Udham Singh. Hanged 31st July 1940 at Pentonville Prison. These three truths are drummed into Asian kids: knowledge is valuable for its own sake, education is of paramount importance and teachers must always be respected. Thousands of us in the British-Asian community (and mainstream society) have been shocked at the angry protests […]
The Secret Killings
July 14th. Day of Memory for Victims of Honour Based Violence ‘Her father pushed her into the well. Who can blame him? Immodest girl, she was seen talking to a boy.’ The gathered women sighed and shook their heads as they sat in the shade of the varendah, embroidery or sewing in their hands. This […]
Massacre-Deniers and Murderous Intent: Jallianwala Bagh
‘Ambarsar.’ That’s how I used to hear it as a child. The pronunciation soft and flowing, echoing its meaning of lilting water: a place that was both temporal and divine, both real and rather magical. The name means “Pool of the nectar, of immortality.” For most Punjabis, particularly Sikhs, Ambarsar, or Amritsar as it’s more […]
Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided
“We can bear the pain only by possessing something that belongs to that instant.” (Orhan Pamuk. Museum of Innocence) Book reviewing is hardly my craft but occasionally some books come along, demanding attention, time, and a place in our lives. Remnants of Partition by Aanchal Malhotra is one such book. Partition, the cataclysmic event still reverberating […]
Words In Pain
“O, but they say the tongues of dying men Enforce attention like deep harmony: Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain, For they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain.” (Richard 11. Act 2. Scene 1. William Shakespeare) When life echoes itself, when different threads meet at the same place, at […]
Statement Turbans and Daring Tales
‘Even without speaking words, I’m walking down the street and saying things, just based on my turban. I think this is powerful and holds me accountable to my actions.’ Says Harinder Kaur Khalsa, Deputy Sheriff, Alameda County. Her portrait in the book Turbans and Tales, presents a woman with a solid, confident presence who looks […]