Latest Stories from Sahil
Opinion – sexual assault remains a blight on India’s conscience
The recent gang assault of a Spanish vlogger in Jharkhand, India, is an alarming wake up call. India can no longer deny its sexual violence issue and must collectively work towards a solution. TW: This article contains detailed descriptions of sexual assault and violence. Reader discretion is advised. Earlier this month, a Spanish travel vlogger's dream of exploring India turned into an unimaginable nightmare. In Jharkhand's Dumka district, seven men...
Explaining Bangalore’s severe water crisis
Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, is grappling with an unprecedented water crisis that has exposed an underbelly of unchecked urbanization and environmental neglect. As summer looms, Bangalore’s water crisis is expected to worsen. Sharaschandra, a resident of Uttarahalli in Bengaluru, paints a grim picture. ‘We are a family of six members. A tanker of water lasts for five days even if we use it judiciously. It means we need six-tankers...
Indian trafficking ring exposed in Russia-Ukraine war
The CBI has exposed a human trafficking racket luring Indians with job promises, only to exploit them and allegedly force them into the Russia-Ukraine war zone against their consent, uncovering a widespread organized crime syndicate spanning multiple states. On March 6, the probe agency registered a case of human trafficking. The CBI is working in collaboration with law enforcement agencies to bring the accused to justice. Commenting on the network, the...
Discrimination of Dalit people remains rife in Maharashtra
With another Dalit life lost to caste killing, Bahujan lives in the state of Maharashtra remain at risk due to a discriminatory environment where neither law nor societal structures help them get justice. 16-year-old Dalit college student Sanket Bhosale was brutally assaulted by a group of 11 individuals on February 14, following an altercation with Deva, the son of a prominent Shive Shena leader Kailash Dhotre. The attack left Bhosale with...
Exposing the tyranny of caste in Indian academia
The dramatic detention of Dr. Ritu Singh, a former Delhi University professor, marks a turning point in her ongoing protest against caste discrimination in academia. Dr. Singh, a Dalit professor dismissed from University of Delhi allegedly due to caste bias, has protested for over 170 days seeking justice and reform. On Tuesday, Delhi Police apprehended Dr. Singh and supporters after forcefully removing their protest site in Delhi University a day prior....
India deploys arsenal against farmers’ protests
Outside the barricaded checkpoints in Delhi, tensions between farmers and authorities have reached fever pitch. The level of response to the grievances has been unwarranted and cruel. Seventy-one-year-old Jaspal Singh, who lives near the India-Pakistan border in Punjab's Tarn Taran district, sustained a leg injury during farmers' protests at the Shambhu Barrier. ‘I have never seen brutality of the kind I have encountered at the Shambhu Barrier,’ he said...
Oceans hit record temperatures in 2024
As 2024 begins with the hottest ocean temperatures ever recorded, our climate situation is looking pretty dire. The world’s oceans reached the hottest temperatures ever recorded early in 2024, serving as a profoundly concerning indication that the Earth is spiraling toward extreme climate breakdown - if greenhouse gas emissions from human activity do not see radical reductions immediately. As humanity continues emitting heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, principally by burning...
Misinformation threatens the ‘super election year’ of 2024
In its risk report, the World Economic Forum warns how Indian elections in 2024 could be swayed by the rampant spread of misinformation and disinformation. Close to 3 billion voters - approximately a quarter of the world's population - are expected to be heading to electoral polls this year and thus 2024 has been dubbed a ‘super election year’ or even the biggest election year in history. This is aided by...
Is the BJP weaponising Hindu sentiment for electoral gain?
Allegations of the BJP weaponizing Hindu sentiment for electoral gain continue to grow stronger. Is the supposed ‘reclamation’ of temples the latest boon for Narendra Modi? As Prime Minister Narendra Modi ceremoniously unveiled the new Ram Mandir in Ayodhya earlier this month, the visual was striking - the country's most powerful political leader inaugurating a religious temple for the majority community. The contradiction, nonetheless, made me uneasy even as chants of...
India’s coaching centers get stricter rules following student suicides
On January 18th, The Ministry of Education issued guidelines to hold coaching centers accountable to tackle the alarming rise in cases of student suicides across the country. The Indian central government has finally stepped up to regulate the vast, unruly coaching center industry following yet another tragic year of student suicides linked to intense academic pressure. The Ministry of Education published new guidelines this month intended to relieve some of the...
