Untouchability is abolished now and its practice under any form is prohibited. (Constitution of India, Article 17) Despite the constitutional mandate, untouchability is prevalent in 12 states—Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Mid-summer this year, village in Kuth on the western-most tip of India resolved to divide itself. About 40 families, out of a total of 70 odd, gathered their
The conservation establishment in India periodically finds itself caught in a cleft stick—between the developmental onslaught on biodiversity and local resistance to conservation projects that threaten human livelihood. Conservation as a necessary agenda requires a new vision that transcends the inh
During the Kargil War, Barkha Dutt's was a familiar face on the television screen, bringing live action on the Star News channel. But she was not telling us
There a conflict in South Asia, which has outlasted most post-World War II disputes. This long-festering dispute is the one in Kashmir, and it is the primary cause
Following the two articles that Himal published on pharmaceutical patents (February) and primary healthcare (March), we reprint this unusual piece by the novelist John Le Carre in The Nation, the alternative opinion weekly from New York. This is to alert ourselves of the need to be on guard against
The replacement of lost wood-work as part of the restoration of the Ratneswara Temple in Kathmandu using the skills of traditional Nepali craftsmen, in breach of the Eurocentric norms
India used to be the land of fakirs, snake charmers and the like for Western media. Now they have discovered monkeys. Yes, suddenly, the Monkey Menace of New Delhi is
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge: round up the usual gang of suspects. What the arms middlemen fear the most is peace breaking out in the region.
Some of the responses to
A Rabindrapremi in Bundelkhand
Saugor, Madhya Pradesh, 18 February 2001
I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter, I forget that there abides the old
The scale and style of this carnage, unprecedented in Nepal's history, is distressing even in comparison to the violence-ridden regions such as the Indian Northeast or Kashmir.
The Taliban regime's effort to rally world Muslim opinion behind it by projecting the vandalism at Bamiyan and the large-scale destruction of artefacts in other parts of
