Point Blank OpEd: Is Kashmir Losing India?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

Today, alienation is a necessary identity for the stone-throwing, Book-bound revolutionary. Home is not India any longer; it is an idea delivered by an angry god.

A couple of days before the horror in Nice, there was this story in The New York Times about a philosophers’ spat over Islam. Very French indeed. It was between two former friends who have written some of the most original arguments on the single most powerful idea that continues to terrorise the world: radical Islamism. Their differences are more than a matter of phraseology; they reflect the persistence of a divided perception that goes beyond talking shops to the highest offices of power in Paris and Washington and even Delhi.

A 'Sikh' Student Beaten At Universiry Of Hyderabad By ABVP Activists After Being Mistaken As 'Kashmiri'

By LIKHAVEER| INNLIVE

The ghost of Rohith Vemula is back to haunt the campus as a new academic year begins.

“They want to keep the pot boiling” is a charge that comes up very often at the University of Hyderabad. As a new academic year begins, the fear is that July 2016 could to be headed the way of July 2015.

Burning Issue: How Exactly Does The Indian Media Define A Terrorist?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

The English-language media's use of the term seems to be dictated by muscular nationalism and an anti-Kashmir bias rather than any objective parameters.

On July 10, India woke up to startling pictures of massive crowds at the funeral of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in Tral, Kashmir.

Kashmir Unrest: Why Are The Crowd Control Failures Of 2010 Being Repeated In 2016?

By LIKHAVEER } INNLIVE

Despite scores of casualties six years ago, the forces continue to use pellet guns that can blind, maim and kill.

“Despite the curtailment of militant activities in Jammu & Kashmir, the public order dimension in the state has become a cause for serious concern. We need to revisit standard operating procedures and crowd control measures to deal with public agitations with non-lethal, yet effective and more focused measures.”

Zakir Naik's Biggest Critics Aren't Hindus, But His Muslim Neighbours

By NEWS KING | INNLIVE

The venue for radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's Thursday presser in Mumbai has been denied. That's the fifth time in last two days.

This time, Naik's own neighbourhood denied him audience.

The management of Mehfil Hall in Agripada, hardly a kilometer and half away from his Dongri home, had offered him a place to hold a press conference via Skype, after three Mumbai hotels and the World Trade Centre in Cuff Parade allegedly denied space to the televangelist.

Solution For Ending Of Kashmir’s Cycles Of Violence: 'Respecting Rights, Ensuring Justice'

By MEENAKSHI GANGULY | INNLIVE

The authorities have failed to address deep-rooted grievances and end impunity for abuses.

At least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured in protests that have broken out in Jammu and Kashmir after Indian security forces killed a 22-year-old self-proclaimed militant, Burhan Wani,on July 8.

'Burqa Revolution' In Kerala: An Early Sign Of Islam Radicalisation

By ISMAIL KUTTY | INNLIVE

Till some 20 years ago, the burqa was not a Muslim woman's default costume in Kerala. Muslim women worekachathuni (a mundu or dhoti), pennu kuppayam (a full-sleeved loose blouse) and thattom (long scarf). This outfit differed only slightly from what the Christian and Hindu women wore. Or like the others, some Muslim women wore sari and blouse or modern attires, Indian or western.

Indian Muslim Clerics Unite Against Ace Televangelist Dr. Zakir Naik

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

Sunni and Shia clerics demand a ban on Naik’s TV channel, books and online lectures for misinterpreting the Quran and misleading Muslims.

Ace Islamic televangelist Zakir Naik claims to be a messenger of peace and harmony. Through his channel, Peace TV, he broadcasts his messages to around 200 million people across India and the world.

Cabinet Reshuffle Signals India Inching Towards Presidential Form Of Government

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

One unambiguous message that emanates from Tuesday's cabinet expansion of the Modi government is that the governance in India, premised on the 'collective responsibility of the cabinet ministers', has over the years mutated into a 'presidential form' of government - slowly echoing a singular power system, like in the United States.

Traditional Touches: For 18 Years, This Man Has Been Waking Mumbaikars Up At Ramzan Dawn

By NISHI KHAN | INNLIVE

The 56-year-old walks seven kilometres, reminding residents to get up for the meal before the roza.

It’s 3 am in Mumbai. Much of the city that claims never to sleep is silent and resting, save for one corner in the south. Under the massive JJ Flyover, in an area called Mohammad Ali Road, the streets are humming and throbbing. All kinds of meats and sweets are being made at roadside stalls. Not a single restaurant is shuttered. Teenagers, sometimes four to a bike, whiz around. Little children play cricket in the traffic-free narrow lanes.

Telugu Desam Party Supremo & AP CM Chandrababu Naidu, Still Loyal To NDA For Now Even As Discontentment With Narendra Modi Grows

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

TDP Supremo Chandrababu Naidu was rarely seen without a laptop in the last years of his previous term as the Andhra Pradesh chief minister. Once, when I called him 'Laptop' Naidu, he took it as a compliment. He constantly monitored sundry schemes on a laptop and exuded supreme confidence that he would sweep the 2004 elections. He lost. And it took him 10 years to return as the CM.

Naidu is a changed man now. It's not because, instead of a laptop, he now has an iPad as a constant companion and he talks of 'iCloud' and 'file-sharing' to review his government's work.

Religion In Politics: With RSS Hosting Iftar Parties, Is Pseudo-Secularism Acceptable?

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

In today’s climate of majoritarianism, tokenism may actually play a helpful role, allowing embattled Muslims to feel more politically secure.

In the 1980s, Lal Krishna Advani coined the term “pseudo-secularism” to describe what he believed was tokenism towards members of India's minority communities. When he did so, he had no idea that one day, the Hindutva mothership, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, would itself dabble in the practice.

Average Deposit In Accounts Under 'Jan Dhan Yojana' Scheme Doubled In 21 Months

By NEWS KING | INNLIVE

The number of accounts opened under the Prime Minister's financial inclusion programme quadrupled between September 2014 and May 2016.

The average deposit per account under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana – a financial inclusion programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2014 – increased 118%, from Rs 795 in September 2014 to Rs 1,735 in May 2016, according to IndiaSpend's analysis of government data.

India Is Slowly Cleaving Into Two Countries – A Richer, Older South And A Poorer, Younger North

By NEWSCOP | INNLIVE

Support to the elderly is fraying in India. But no one appears prepared for this – not families, not companies, not the government.

At traffic intersections, drivers in Delhi tune out the brown-haired, snot-nosed waifs who tap and scratch insistently at their car windows. Sometimes, the children are joined by equally ragged parents, mostly in their 20s, trying to sell cheap Chinese-made junk – from plastic flowers to cellphone and steering-wheel covers. The defining feature of destitution in North India appears to be youth.

Fake Federalism: How 'National Parties' Turned The Concept Of 'Rajya' In Rajya Sabha Into A Farce?

By NEWSCOP | INNLIVE 

The upper House of Parliament, literally a Council of States, was meant to be a federal chamber to look out for the interests of the states.

The continued abuse of the idea of the Rajya Sabha – or the Council of States – by the so-called national parties continues with the upcoming round of Rajya Sabha elections.

What Explains India Getting Such A Public Lashing From US Lawmakers On The Eve Of Modi's Visit?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

Modi’s past, while mostly set aside for political reasons, is not entirely forgotten by those who have a stake in shining the light on human rights issues.

Days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fourth visit to the United States, its senators painted a dismal picture of India as a land of 12 million “slaves”, human rights abuses, gender violence and a country where civil society is under constant attack.

'If This Is Jihad, We Want Nothing Of It': Killing Of Unarmed Policemen In Srinagar Sparks Questions

By RUBAINA ALAM | INNLIVE 

Don’t policemen have a right to live? Why the lack of protests? Do the human rights activists have double standards?

Far from the spotlight of the media, a far-flung village nestled in the idyllic hills of Handwara mourned the death of one its members, killed by a “special squad” of the Hizb-ul Mujahideen militant outfit.

He was one of the three policemen killed in two separate shootouts in Srinagar on Monday, May 23.

Near the house of Nazir Ahmad, mourners made their way up the dilapidated hilly road on foot and in taxis, some coming from as far as Srinagar.

The mourners – family, friends, and neighbours – asked why “Maulvi Nazir”, as some called Nazir Ahmad, was killed.

Two Years On: PM Narendra Modi's Report Card On Govt And BJP Performance

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

The performance of Narandra Modi as an individual, the functioning of his government and the narrative of his RSS-backed party during the preceding two years calls for a dispassionate analysis that's done without any fear or favour. But believe it or not, it's too difficult a job for the simple reason that the man of the moment, his government and his party look like three different entities.

And analysing the performances of the three put together would present a confusing, indecipherable picture.

Hangul, The Rare Kashmir Deer, May Soon Go Extinct

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

The endangered hangul, also known as Kashmir deer, is in the throes of extinction, largely because of human intrusions and domestic livestock grazing at its only habitat here.

Wildlife experts and activists claim they have been raising the alarm, calling for stringent measures to check human intrusions at Srinagar's famed Dachigam National Park, the main concentration of the endangered elk species.

How India’s Archaic Laws Have A Chilling Effect On Dissent?

By NEWSCOP | INNLIVE

Citizens should no longer have to worry about being 'punished by the process' of being subjected to bad laws and the whims of poorly trained police.

In 2012, political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was charged with sedition for uploading some of his sketches that were critical of the government. “I found a lawyer who fought my case for free,” he said, adding that fighting a criminal case can prove too expensive for an artist.