The rise of the Cockroach Janata Party may ultimately fade as quickly as it appeared. Most internet movements do. But the frustrations driving it are real and unlikely to disappear soon. Millions of young Indians feel politically unheard and economically cornered. Increasingly, they are expressing that frustration not through traditional political participation, but through irony, parody and nihilistic humour.
At another level, it reveals a growing impatience with conventional politics. When citizens feel unheard, they often resort to satire as a form of protest. The joke becomes a shield, allowing them to express dissent without fully committing to a cause. But there is also a risk
The tendency to over-categorise and group citizens under labels is a slippery slope. It leads to the ‘them’ versus ‘us’ divide that silences voices standing up to the dominant narratives of our times, oversimplifies what are complex issues and, in the end, does not serve the cause of justice. Categorising all environmentalists or all trade unions or indeed the youth, positively or negatively, betrays a prejudice Of Cockroaches, Prejudice and the Language of Justice
Only a peaceful, Gandhian ‘feet on the ground’ movement can save our 1950 compact. The values embedded in that 1950 compact: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Justice, Secularism, can be defended only by that. Each one of us must decide and work for rescuing the republic and the Idea of India. Keep in mind that everyone who lives in this land owns this country. It’s not owned by any one denomination, religion, caste, creed, region, colour, eating and dressing habits and traditions. It’s owned by everyone.
Kolkata is home to more than 2,000 Chinese, a close-knit community that has made the city its home for decades and arduously hung on to their culture and heritage through generations while making their mark in the tannery, beauty salons, shoe and restaurant businesses in the teeming eastern metropolis
The pandemic has been a blow to countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan as all of them receive billions of dollars annually through remittances of migrant workers abroad
Beginning as a teenager clearing tables and plates at an eatery, 30-year-old Bangladeshi American Nabeel Alamgir has featured on a Forbes list running an online delivery service that saw revenues grow seven times higher in 2020 despite the killer Covid-19 pandemic
Have you ever seen a takin? Chances are an overwhelming majority of people will meet the poser with a baffled look
If you chance to visit Meherpur – a remote village in Bangladesh – you may come across a lanky American national in local attire who has made the country his home for the past 12 years
It is common for doctors and surgeons working in India’s National Capital Region to get Afghan patients
Ending a two-month ban on travelers from South Asian nations following the surge in coronavirus infection in the region, Maldives is to open its borders to these countries from July 15
The Chief Justice of India (CJI), N.V. Ramana, struck a resounding note about the interpretation of the understanding of law per se, when he observed that “It can be used not only to render justice, it can also be used to justify oppression.”
A tweet by a university professor in the Maldives, detailing the benefits (sic) of female genital mutilation (FGM) - a regressive socio-religious practice where the clitoris of a female is removed physically for non-medical reasons-- has sparked controversy in the Indian Ocean archipelago, with many calling for banning the professor from using social media platform
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, once known as a "ladies' man", continues to draw flak over comments perceived as sexist, but party’s women leaders have sprung to his defense calling him a "symbol of women's empowerment"
Pakistan hosts around 2.8 million Afghan refugees, the second biggest refugee population after Syrians in Turkey
There was a time when multinational companies and big brands used to only employ foreign nationals to lead the organization in Bangladesh
The Nepali Army’s foray into the education sector for running a course in agriculture for the public has drawn criticism with observers saying there has to be a line drawn on what the defense forces should and should not do
Even as the Covid pandemic numbers are declining in India, there is growing concern that new mutations of the virus – particularly the Delta variant, with its super-spreader qualities, could soon pose a global challenge later in the year
Pakistan’s Christian community leaders have voiced their doubt about the results of the sixth population and housing census-2017 about the population of minorities in the country
