Despite multiple Supreme Court and High Court rulings condemning noise polluters for disregarding public inconvenience, sound pollution continues unabated. The Supreme Court’s judgments on loudspeaker usage were intended to protect citizens from becoming a ‘forced audience’ to noise; yet enforcement remains a challenge.

The medic rape-murder case, which captured global attention in an era dominated by the attention economy, had the potential to ignite systemic reforms, given the brutality of the crime. The movement, like many before it, held the power to expose the moral failings of the ruling party in the state. Yet, as so often happens, it faltered within a…

What sets these protests apart was their apolitical nature, illustrating that regardless of how firmly a government may seem entrenched in power, movements grounded in just causes can expose the vulnerability of even the most resilient regimes, as recent events have clearly shown.

Showing political will at the highest level is of little help unless it works at ground level. The government must take Kashmiri people, particularly the youth, into confidence to instill buoyancy into every faith-filled Kashmiri's heart, writes Debasish Bhattacharyya for South Asia Monitor