Aijaz Zaka Syed
Countercurrents.org
Mumbai, MH, India
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Past articles by Aijaz:
Indian Media's open war on Muslims – Countercurrents
Some newspapers are fit only to line the bottom of bird cages, said Spiro Agnew. I wonder what the late US vice president would have thought of Indian media, especially the cacophonic television channels forever obsessing over the long vilified Indian Muslim. As if being Muslims in Modi’s ‘new India’ was not challenging enough, they now have to suffer the[Read More...] → Read More
This too Shall Pass – Countercurrents
We cannot allow a little, invisible virus to defeat or define us as humanity Amid this deepening darkness of all-round doom and gloom, there is a ray of hope at last. The raging global pandemic of Coronavirus has killed all chances of US President Donald Trump being re-elected, exults Swaminathan A Aiyer. No matter how well he handles the virus,[Read More...] → Read More
Orwellian Nightmare in India – Countercurrents
The sale of George Orwell’s dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-four, has reportedly surged 10,000 times since a New York property developer was elected to the world’s most powerful office. It would be interesting to know how the groundbreaking book has fared in India since the man from Gujarat moved to Delhi. For more than the land of the free or the Western[Read More...] → Read More
AAP’s Success belongs to Shaheen Bagh – Countercurrents
If anyone truly deserves the credit for Kerjiwal’s extraordinary victory, it is the women of Shaheen Bagh So the aam aadmi’s ‘jhadu’ (broom) has swept away the toxic rubbish that the BJP had flooded the national capital of Delhi with. The credit for the spectacular performance by Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party is being attributed to his brand of development politics[Read More...] → Read More
Indian Courts Have Let Down Democracy – Countercurrents
Justice Markandey Katju is a former judge of Supreme Court of India. Long before he retired in 2011, he had been known for both his outspoken views and his brilliant, scholarly lectures and speeches, especially on Indian history, Urdu literature and shared Hindu-Muslim civilizational heritage. After retiring from the highest court in the land, Justice Katju seems to have become[Read More...] → Read More
People Power Humbles Modi, Shah – Countercurrents
Modi and Amit Shah would ignore the lessons of history at their own peril Narendra Modi is in a league of his own. He swept back into power in May 2019, defying disasters like demonetisation, GST, unemployment and agrarian distress. His is the first government in the last 30 years to return to power with full majority and a massive[Read More...] → Read More
No time to hide for India's Muslims – Countercurrents
“Where do we go from here?” asked a US-based Indian Muslim friend the morning after India lurched further to the right with the smooth passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Yet another ostensibly wild and crazy idea on the Parivar’s agenda has been ticked off and with such ease. Who would have thought that it would take less than 72[Read More...] → Read More
India’s courts letting down its most vulnerable sections – Countercurrents
Indian judiciary, once known for its independence and integrity, had been the last hope of the dispossessed. Where do they turn for justice if this last resort is snatched from them? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who will guard the guards themselves, as Roman poet Juvenal would ask. Following the stunning UK Supreme Court ruling this week, rebuking Prime Minister Boris[Read More...] → Read More
A broken system
The Indian judiciary, once known for its independence and integrity, had been the last hope of the dispossessed. Where do they turn for justice if this last resort is snatched from them? Quis... → Read More
Ayodhya: India's Judiciary on Trial – Countercurrents
IT has been nearly 27 years since the destruction of the 16th century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. And it still feels like yesterday that the tragedy that changed India forever struck. Most of us remember where we were or what we were doing that fateful day. It is as if time has stood still all these years. It indeed has[Read More...] → Read More
Kashmir - The Invisible and the Damned – Countercurrents
You can look away now The Vale of tears has dried up And a deathly silence stalks the Dal Deserted towns, burnt orchards and shadows everywhere. Paradise will ne’er be the same again Nothing will ever be the same again We, the invisible and the damned, the rejected and the reviled, have long ceased to exist for a world gone[Read More...] → Read More
Indian media’s sellout on Kashmir – Countercurrents
Recalling the stellar role of the Indian media during the infamous internal Emergency imposed by the late Indira Gandhi, Lal Krishna Advani, the BJP patriarch now forcibly retired, famously noted: “You were asked to bend but you began to crawl.” Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, well known for his love of the fourth estate right from his Gujarat days, the[Read More...] → Read More
The Indian media fails Kashmiris
Recalling the stellar role of the Indian media during the infamous internal emergency imposed by the late Indira Gandhi, Lal Krishna Advani, the BJP patriarch now forcibly retired, famously noted:... → Read More
How Modi, Shah Brought Kashmir to Global Centre-Stage – Countercurrents
Kudos to Narendra Modi and his hefty henchman, Amit Shah. They have managed to transform India’s image overnight from that of being the world’s largest democracy into a highhanded occupation power. Something that Pakistan couldn’t quite accomplish over the past 73 years despite its best efforts. The much feted democracy is today being compared to the Apartheid states of Israel[Read More...] → Read More
Kashmir: as the world watches India
Kudos to Narendra Modi and his hefty henchman, Amit Shah. They have managed to transform India’s image overnight from that of being the world’s largest democracy into a highhanded... → Read More
Dismantling Nehru’s India
Who would have thought that five decades after Jawaharlal Nehru’s death, the architect of modern India would not only find himself in the dock and abused on a daily basis in the... → Read More
Indianising Kashmir, at Gunpoint – Countercurrents
“Maine aisa Hindustan kabhi nahin dekha!” In six words, Farooq Abdullah may have captured the trauma and acute sense of betrayal of his people. The three-time chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir broke down like a child during a media interaction at his Srinagar residence. The National Conference leader and son of the late Sheikh Abdullah, the Lion of Kashmir,[Read More...] → Read More
Integrating Kashmir, at gunpoint
“Maine aisa Hindustan kabhi nahin dekha!” In six words, Farooq Abdullah may have captured the trauma and acute sense of betrayal of his people. The three-time chief minister of Jammu and... → Read More
The bonds that connect us
Last year, and at the beginning of this year, when I exchanged Christmas and New Year greetings on Facebook, some fellow travellers were upset. “Sir, is it okay to greet Christians?” a... → Read More
Can Congress survive sans the Gandhis?
Without a Gandhi at the top, India’s Congress Party is increasingly looking and acting like a headless chicken. Since its debacle in the recent general elections, there has been a deluge of... → Read More