Disability Fi Nobel Peace Laureate
The last time a journalist won a Nobel Prize was in 1935. The journalist who won it–Carl von Ossietzky– had revealed how Hitler was secretly rearming Germany. “And he couldn’t pick it up because he was languishing in a Nazi concentration camp,” says Maria Ressa over a video call from Manila.

Nearly a century on, Ressa is one of two journalists who will step onto the Nobel stage in Oslo. She is currently facing jail for “cyberlibel” in the Philippines, while the other recipient, Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, is standing guard over one of the last independent newspapers in an increasingly dictatorial Russia.

For Ressa, whose news site, Rappler, has had its licence suspended and who wasn’t even sure she would be able to go and pick up the award until. Finally, the government granted her permission, and the parallels between the modern moment and the 1930s are all too terrifyingly obvious.
Carole Cadwalladr

Silencing Faith
With over 840 reported cases of violence against them in 2024, of which 640 were verified, and as many as 121 new cases in just January, February and March 2025, the last 15 months have been the most traumatic in the life of the Christian community in India.

The persecution of Christians has been assiduously documented and analysed by several groups and human rights activists, including the Evangelical Fellowship of India, the United Christian Forum, Persecution relief and senior activists.

Violence against minorities–particularly Christians–is not new to Odisha or to Chhattisgarh. Odisha is notorious for the 1999 triple murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two young sons. Odisha also witnessed the 2007-2008 mass violence against Christians that left more than a hundred dead, thousands injured, over 75,000 homeless as murderous mobs ravaged 4000 houses and 400 villages, destroyed 400 churches and institutions, and raped a Catholic nun and other women. What is new in the last 10 years, since 2014, is the seeming licence given to political elements professing a pro-Hindu religious nationalism. They believe they are above the law.

The newer and increasingly widespread forms of atrocities by religious bigots, illiterate village gangs, and dominant religious groups, often aided by political actors, are deeply concerning. These groups display blatant disregard for religious minorities and legal authorities, violating several fundamental rights.

These cases include attacks on Priests and Nuns, and protestant clergy, apart from vandalism against churches, forcible curtailment of worship, violence against common people, which included pressure that families do not bury their dead in their villages, forcible social boycott of Christian families, denial of community resources, and targeted arrests under the anti-conversion laws.

At least four Christians were murdered for their faith and 113 were injured, including 60 women, in 2024. Reports indicate that on average, four to five churches and pastors face attacks daily, with incidents nearly doubling every Sunday.

Additional data on arrests by the police in various states is deeply worrying; the statistics are devastating. As many as 197 First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed against Christians, 128 of these complaints under anti-conversion laws. There were 724 instances of imprisonment or illegal detention, including 129 cases of pastors arrested. The data shows 11 cases of forcible conversion to Hinduism, and 18 cases of social boycott, again mostly from Chhattisgarh.
A C Michael (Full Name: Michael Anthony Cruz), Former Member of Delhi Minorities Commission, Govt of NCT of Delhi, President, Federation of Catholic Associations of Archdiocese of Delhi, National Coordinator–United Christian Forum, India (UCF India), National Coordinator–Inter-Faith & Ecumenical Relations of All India Catholic Union (AICU)
Delhi State President of All India Catholic Union, Independent Director, Touchwood Group of Companies, Chairman & Managing Director, Sirio India Inductive Components Pvt. Ltd
Mobile: 91-9818155290
UCF Toll-Free Helpline: 1-800-208-4545

SIR–a Dangerous Ploy
FIR for documenting and reporting the fraudulent ways of the ongoing SIR in Bihar.
Civil society organizations, together with credible individuals, should immediately conduct a fact–finding operation in several Bihar locations, including Begusarai. If ECI/government officials do not cooperate, at least a common voter, in good numbers, should be interviewed on camera.

The reports should be promptly publicised.

The authorities appear to be too clever by half. By registering an FIR against Ajit Anjum–the investigating journalist– they’ve only ensured far greater public attention to the ongoing SIR fraud than otherwise.

Now, quite likely, the issue would figure even in the Supreme Court.
Sukla Sen

The Persecution of Francesca Albanese
The sanctioning by the Trump administration of Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, is an ominous harbinger of the end of the rule of international law.

When the history of the genocide in Gaza is written, one of the most courageous and outspoken champions for justice and the adherence to international law will be Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur. Her office is tasked with monitoring and reporting on human rights violations that Israel commits against Palestinians.

Albanese, who regularly receives death threats and endures well-orchestrated smear campaigns directed by Israel and its allies, valiantly seeks to hold those who support and sustain the genocide accountable. She lambasts what she calls “the moral and political corruption of the world” that allows the genocide to continue. Her office has issued detailed reports documenting war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, one of which, called “Genocide as colonial erasure,”

She has informed private organisations that they are “criminally liable” for assisting Israel in carrying out the genocide in Gaza. She announced that if true, as has been reported, that the former British prime minister David Cameron threatened to defund and withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, which Cameron and the other former British prime minister Rishi Sunak could be charged with a criminal offence for, under the Rome Statue. The Rome Statute criminalises those who seek to prevent war crimes from being prosecuted.

She has called on top European Union (EU) officials to face charges of complicity of war crimes over their support for the genocide, saying that their actions cannot be met with impunity. She was a champion of the Madleen flotilla that sought to break the blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid, writing that the boat which was intercepted by Israel, was carrying not only supplies, but a message of humanity.

Meanwhile, hundreds of peace activists from different parts of the world have written a letter to all eligible nominators and the Nobel Committee to select Francesca Albanese and Gaza Doctors for Nobel Peace Prize this year.
Chris Hedges

Parniya Abbasi
The Iranian literary community is mourning the tragic loss of Parniya Abbasi, a talented young poet, who was killed alongside her family–including her teenage brother–during recent Israeli airstrikes on Tehran. The attack, which occurred just days before Abbasi’s 24th birthday, has deeply shaken writers, artists, and citizens across the country. Abbasi, celebrated for her poignant and introspective poetry, was recognized as a rising star among Iran’s new generation of poets. Her works, including the acclaimed poem “Silent Star,” were featured in leading literary magazines such as “Vazn-e Donya.
”... Abbasi’s poetry often explored themes of light, shadow, and existential longing.

In “Silent Star”, she wrote:
I wept for both of us
For you
And for myself
You blow the stars of my tears
Into your sky
In your world
There is the freedom of light
In my world
The play of shadows
Somewhere
You and I come to an end
The most beautiful poem in the world
Falls silent
Somewhere
You begin
You cry out the whisper of life
In a thousand places
I come to an end
I burn
I become a silent star
That turns to smoke in your sky
The Israeli airstrikes on Tehran, carried out with the backing of the United States, have resulted in the deaths of not only senior Iranian officials and nuclear scientists but also innocent civilians. These events have intensified outrage over what many in Iran and the region view as grave violations of international law. The tragedy of Parniya Abbasi and her young brother Parham has become a powerful symbol of civilian suffering caused by these attacks, widely condemned as acts of aggression supported by American policy in the region.
Tehran Times

History through Literature
The much-hyped quote from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,’ has been alluded to while discussing political and philosophical issues. Perhaps, one can also draw parallels in writing the history of a diverse society like India. The Northeast of India remains much misunderstood and underrepresented in the larger narratives of the nation. It is only now that one finds a token presence of the Northeast in the curriculum, at the school level as well as in the university. Of late, however, there have been overtures to the growing body of literature from the region, perhaps, in a sensible way. A lot of these recent writings represent and epitomise the voice of the people that longs to be heard. The fact that many communities of the region have undergone various political and historical upheavals makes it important to see how the stories encapsulate the people’s experiences.
A Reader

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Frontier
Vol 58, No. 6, Aug 3 - 9, 2025