India: Kanhaiya Kumar Breathes Winds of Change in Begusarai

by Shruti Sonal

The Wire | April 29, 2019

Begusarai goes to vote today in the fourth phase of the 17th Lok Sabha elections. This year, the constituency has been in the spotlight all because of one name – Kanhaiya Kumar.

For a long time, Begusarai’s politics has been dominated by money-power and muscle-power. Caste, religion and regional equations have largely determined how people vote. The stories which earlier used to undergird elections in Begusarai were centred around which criminal was contesting and how polling booths were being captured.

The 1919 Amritsar Violence, Through Saadat Hasan Manto’s Eyes

by Raza Naeem

The Wire | April 09, 2019

Saadat Hassan Manto. Credit: Twitter

This is the first article in a two-part series on Manto’s writing on Jallianwala Bagh.

‘I am the trader of sighs
To versify blood is my mission
Remaining winds of the garden!
Gather your refuges…for
My fiery songs
Are about to cause an upheaval within depressed bosoms.’

Amritsar was a city of worshippers of freedom. A 100 years ago this month, the city witnessed the bloody tragedy of Jallianwala Bagh.