Categories for Jamal Kidwai

Family chronicles

The tragedy of the Partition can be revisited from many prisms. The most common is the brutal violence and displacement that shaped the formation of India and Pakistan. In this article I will not address that aspect; instead I want to try and sketch an anecdotal history by dwelling on incidents in my family which,… View Article

A house divided for Mrs and Mr

An article on Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill in the Tribun A house divided for Mrs and Mr Are women recognised as equal actors inside the institution of marriage? Success of the new Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, which ensures half a share for woman in her husband’s residential property depends on how this question is answered… View Article

The Return of the Dead

The brutal gunning down of the chief of the banned Ranvir Sena, Brahmeshwar Singh ‘Mukhiya’, in broad daylight in Ara on June 1 is being seen as linked to the April 2012 acquittal of 23 Bathani Tola massacre convicts by the Patna high court. The Mukhiya — one of the main accused among them —… View Article

From Crisis to Opportunity

An article on violence in Bodoland by our colleague Jamal Kidwai in Telegraph To stop the cycle of violence in Bodoland, old issues must be addressed, The widespread violence in Bodoland that began more than 10 days ago has, until now, left more than 50 people dead and created a massive displacement of over 2.5… View Article

Politics of faith

Review of Saba Naqvi book In Good Faith, Telegraph, Feb 2013 Liminal or shared religious traditions in India are often celebrated as those cultural practices that have been subversive of religious orthodoxy and politics. Senior political journalist Saba Naqvi, in her book, In Good Faith, reinforces this argument by extensively documenting more than thirty such… View Article

Desperate posturing

The acrimonious spat between the JD(U) and the BJP over Narendra Modi’s candidature for prime-ministership is just a symptom of a far deeper political crisis that the JD(U) is facing. Being a seasoned politician, Nitish Kumar is well aware of the fact that amongst all the major political parties in Bihar, the JD(U) stands to… View Article

A History Lesson

The death of Khalid Mujahid in police custody, and communal clashes in UP, underscore the urgent need for Akhilesh Yadav-led SP to halt the growing alienation and anger amongst Muslims. May 23, 2013, outlookindia.com The death of Khalid Mujahid in the custody of Uttar Pradesh police has once again reinforced the perception that the Akhilesh… View Article

Look Within

The real challenge is not external. The Indian state and the J&K government would do well to first acknowledge the mistakes committed in the past and engaging with the people of Kashmir to find a way forward. There have been five attacks by militants in the Kashmir valley since February, killing at least 23 security… View Article