JNU Archives

A New Emergency: Is India In the Middle of a Massive Education Crisis?

India is saddled with an education system that is a vestige of Britain’s industrial revolution, which churns out efficient workers, not innovative thinkers. If analyses from UNICEF and NASSCOM are to be believed, the bulk of our graduates are unemployable. We’re a country desperately in need of education reforms.

Deepak Gopalakrishnan July 27, 2016

Pop Culture

“Kaagaz Nahi Dikhayenge”: From Streets to the Spoken Fest, Protest Poetry is Everywhere

In the age of CAA, words are the weapons on the tongues of wounded artistes. I witnessed the power of poetry first-hand at Mumbai’s Spoken Fest, where Varun Grover reiterated, “Kaagaz Nahi Dikhayenge” and Faye D’Souza asked, “Is the government reading the Constitution?”

Anand Holla July 11, 2016

Bollywood

From Bollywood’s Boldest Star to Big Mouth: What Do We Do About Kangana Ranaut?

Kangana Ranaut’s latest release Panga stands overshadowed by the theatrics on display during her film promotion on Thursday. Ranaut said that senior lawyer Indiria Jaising should be thrown in jail along with the 2012 Delhi gang rape convicts for suggesting that they be pardoned. For an actor who has carefully pitched herself as the champion of feminism, her comments against Jaising are deeply misogynistic.

Kahini Iyer June 14, 2016

First Person

Healing in the Age of Agitation: How the Constant Protests and Tension in Delhi Affected My Mental Health

For students of JNU, the past couple of months have been full of despair. The protests meant we had to give up on our routine student life. Then on Jan 5, masked goons attacked us. The horror of that day lingers on. I’ve had sleepless nights and after a point could not bear to see images of bleeding students.

Paro Tomar June 12, 2016

Gender

From the Dadis of Shaheen Bagh to the Mothers of Manipur: The Strength of Women Protesters

When women are in the street, the State better sit up and listen. So when a JNU student leader refuses to back down despite being beaten up, and when grandmothers and mothers in Shaheen Bagh gaze into the camera and demand answers of the PM, there is only so long he can hide behind silence and platitudes.

Sreemoyee Mukherjee June 5, 2016

POV

“What Do JNU Students Do All Day?” Ask Economics Nobel Winner Abhijit Banerjee

Surprisingly, rather than celebrating Abhijit Banerjee’s achievement of winning the Nobel Prize for Economics, some have been deriding him for his “anti-national” credentials. What must sting these critics most is that Banerjee happens to be an alumnus of the most hated-on educational institute in right-wing intellectual circles: Jawaharlal Nehru University.

#VALUE! June 3, 2016

Modern Family

Help Me! My Father is a Bhakt

I don’t recall my father ever displaying any obvious political preferences, but the turning point came during the 2014 Modi wave. Our mini flare-ups soon escalated into full-blown brawls, and conversations began to end the way they do on the internet, with me being labelled a naive Congi.

Aditya Bhalla May 22, 2016

First Person

I Was Born a Hindu and I Went to Jamia. What Will You Label Me?

“Jamia is a hot-bed for radicalising kids.” When I went to study at Jamia Millia Islamia, my family contended with several deep-seated biases. But that is not the Jamia I know. The Jamia I know is full of grace and tact; a place where students will come out and clean the road at the end of a protest, even after teargas shells have been lobbed.

Anisha Saigal May 19, 2016

POV

You Might Be Liberal or Conservative, Pro or Anti-CAA, JNU Students Deserve Your Support

It wasn’t JNU students who went around smashing heads with iron rods, it was the masked thugs. It wasn’t JNU students who vandalised ambulances trying to enter the campus, it was the masked thugs. Regardless of your political ideology, JNU students were under attack. They aren’t the villains here.

Dushyant Shekhawat April 8, 2016

Pop Culture

Why Kunal Kamra’s “Bold” Satire Stands Out in the Age of Bollywood’s “Apolitical” Stars

In our vast and diverse democracy, is it really possible for every filmmaker, writer, and performer to have the same rose-tinted view of the country? Obviously not. That’s why Kunal Kamra, whose bracing political satire dares to challenge that status quo, stands out.

Kahini Iyer March 16, 2016