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Out of Reach: The Quiet Ways India’s Digital Push Leaves Rural Women Behind
Musheera Ashraf, Twocircles.net
Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh: India’s digital story is often told through numbers. Millions of UPI transactions every minute. Seamless online services. Government schemes linked to apps. But far away from this vision, in villages where phones are shared and passwords are guessed, women continue to stand at the margins of a world that has shifted faster than they...
Bihar’s Long Voting Lines Shadowed by the Migration Express
Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net
In Bihar the long queues seen outside polling booths on November 6 and 11 were matched only by the lines that soon formed at railway stations. As soon as voting ended thousands of people rushed to catch trains the cheapest and most familiar route out of the state. These were not regular commuters. They were migrant workers...
Twelve Years On Pink Autos Still Run Without Support in Ranchi
Midhat Samra, TwoCircles
Ranchi: Suman Devi watched me photograph the pink auto and said that people come here to click pictures because the bright colour fascinates them but few bother to understand the struggles of the women who drive them.
The pink auto scheme was launched in Jharkhand in 2013 after the Nirbhaya case to address women’s safety concerns. It aimed to...
Behind Closed Doors: Kashmiri Women Battle the Silent Burden of PCOS
Shah Khursheed, TwoCircles.net
Srinagar: Bareera, 24, a postgraduate student from Pulwama, remembers the first signs of something being wrong with unsettling clarity. In Class 11, while living in a girls’ hostel in Srinagar, her periods suddenly stopped. One month passed, then another. The silence of her body frightened her. She whispered her worry to her roommate, who tried to calm...
Why Nitish Kumar Still Seeks Muslim Votes: Ploy or Passion
Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net
Patna: Nitish Kumar, despite being a partner and facilitator of the BJP, still seeks Muslim votes in the upcoming Bihar Assembly election. His supporters argue that Nitish Kumar has managed to contain the BJP’s divisive policies, but many Muslims ask a pertinent question “Why did Nitish Kumar ditch us on the Waqf law?” referring to the Modi government’s...
Bihar Election 2025: For Muslims, the Question Is Representation or Survival?
By Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net
Patna: As Bihar heads toward the 2025 Assembly elections, the Muslim community, which makes up 17.7 percent of the state’s population, stands at a political crossroads. With 243 seats in the Assembly and two competing alliances, the opposition Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Muslims face a familiar dilemma: how to balance the...
From Mirza Ghalib to Meena Kumari, Traces of Time in Delhi’s Gali Qasim Jan
Adeeba Jamal, TwoCircles.net
Old Delhi’s narrow lanes have a life all their own. Every twist and turn carries a piece of history, some shining and some fading like old ink. In Ballimaran, there is Gali Qasim Jan, a name remembered even when its history is almost forgotten.
It does not announce its past with plaques or polished boards. The air is...
‘Do Gaz Zameen Na Mili Kuu-e-Yaar Mein’: Muslims in Delhi Struggle to Find a Place to Bury Their Dead
Farheen Saifi, TwoCircles.net
“Kitna hai bad-naseeb ‘Zafar’ dafn ke liye,
Do gaz zameen bhi na mili kuu-e-yaar mein.”
(How unfortunate is Zafar, even in death, he was denied a place to rest in his beloved land)
New Delhi: The couplet written by last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar over 160 years ago, when he was in exile in Rangoon, still echoes through Delhi....
Scalpel Over Choice? How Hospitals in India Are Turning Childbirths Into Business
Aditya Sharma, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: When 33-year-old Khushboo Jaiswal walked into a private hospital in Delhi, she was expecting a calm and natural childbirth filled with gentle pushes and the rhythm of labour. Within hours, she found herself on an operating table.
“I was admitted to a hospital in Burari, Central Delhi, when my water broke at home. The doctor said...
Clean Streets With Closed Doors? Muslims in Indore ‘Face Boycotts and Targeted Exclusion’
Adnan Ali, TwoCircles.net
Indore: Madhya Pradesh's Indore, which is often celebrated as the cleanest in India, is facing a growing unease that has nothing to do with sanitation. The city is witnessing rising social tension as reports of alleged discrimination and boycott calls against the Muslim community often come to light.
After targeting comedian Munawar Faruqui in the past, Eklavya Singh...
They Stole 9 Years of My Life’: Framed in 2006 Mumbai Blasts, Wahid Shaikh Demands Rs 9 Crore for Wrongful Jail
The Price of Injustice? Innocent Muslim Man Spent 9 Years in Jail, Now Demands Rs 9 Crore
Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net
Wahid Shaikh, one of the 13 men accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts that killed 188 people and injured hundreds, was arrested by Maharashtra’s Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) for allegedly plotting the conspiracy.
After nine long years in prison, he was acquitted...
Rs 5 That Cost a Life: Muslim Vendor Murdered in Broad Daylight in Bihar Over Tiny Market Fee
Shahzeen Khan, TwoCircles.net
Patna: On a muggy September evening, Kako market in Bihar’s Jehanabad district came alive at dusk. The bargaining voices of women cut through the sputter of two-wheelers inching past, while hawkers arranged neat rows of brinjals, cucumbers and green chilies under the dim glow of hanging bulbs.
For nearly four decades, one corner of this market belonged to...
Once a Rival to Taj Mahal, Mughal Gem Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad Struggles to Survive, Loses Its Luster
Aditya Porwal & Sumit Singh, TwoCircles.net
Aurangabad (Maharashtra): Bibi Ka Maqbara, the 17th-century Mughal monument in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, is slipping into ruin. Known as the "Taj of the Deccan", its blackened marble, cracked walls and fading engravings reveal a neglect.
Built in 1651 by Aurangzeb in memory of his wife Dilras Banu Begum (Rabia Durrani), the mausoleum was completed over...
Born Poor, Mauled to Death: Tribal Infants Allegedly Killed by Rats in MP’s Largest Govt Hospital, Admin Attempted to Cremate as ‘Unclaimed’
Adnan Ali, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: An appalling incident has come to light from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, exposing criminal negligence and the collapse of basic healthcare in the state. At Maharaja Yeshwantrao Government Hospital, the city’s largest state-run facility, two newborns died after being mauled by rats inside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
The horror surfaced on September 7, when the body...
Bihar: Muslim Man Busy With Sons’ Wedding Preparations Taken by Police, Family Gets Body Back
Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net
Patna (Bihar): Mohammad Naseer Shah was busy with the preparations for weddings of his two sons, Nasaruddin and Ehsan Shah, on the night of September 5. The house was alive with guests and sounds of their chatter, when everything suddenly turned upside down. Few police men from Raja Pakar police station in Vaishali district, nearly 50 kilometres north...
From Theft to Trend, The Untold Story of Kolhapuri Chappals and the Exploited Artisans Who Made Them
Sanjana Chawla, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: The global fashion industry has long been under scrutiny for its recurring pattern of cultural appropriation, particularly when it comes to India’s rich heritage. A recent controversy involving luxury brand Prada and its "leather flat sandals", which are strikingly similar to India’s Kolhapuri chappals, has led to a debate, exposing the deeper issues of Western...
Where the Saree Was Born, the Thread Is Breaking: 50% US Tariff Pushes Banarasi Saree Industry to the Brink
Aradhana Pandey, TwoCircles.net
Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh): The city of Varanasi, once the shimmering epicentre of India’s silk legacy, now finds its Banarasi saree industry in deep distress. With the United States (its largest premium silk market) imposing a steep 50% tariff on Indian textile imports, the fate of nearly 8 lakh artisans, traders and workers hangs precariously in the balance.
From the bustling...
When the Waters Came: Inside the Flood Havoc Across Jammu and Kashmir
By Arsheed Ahmad, twoCircles.net
Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir — The floodwaters crept in silently, under the cover of night. No sirens, no alerts — only the growing roar of rivers breaking their bounds, of bunds collapsing, and of memories from 2014 coming back with haunting clarity. As torrential rains lashed the region in early September, large swathes of Kashmir and parts...
‘Revert to Be Buried’: In Chhattisgarh, Even Death Offers Tribal Christians No Escape From ‘Ghar Wapsi’
Poonam Masih, TwoCircles.net
Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh): “What could I do? There was immense pressure on me to do ghar wapsi (homecoming or return to Hinduism). If I had not, they would not have let me contest the election, let alone win it,” says Kaner Kashyap, Congress candidate from Errakot Gram Panchayat (village council), who, after converting to Christianity, has been attending...
First Bulldozers, Ballot Next: Delhi Slum Residents Say They Lost Homes And Now Are Being Denied Their Right to Vote
Unzila Sheikh, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Anil Singh, 30, was born in Bhoomiheen Camp, a settlement in southeast Delhi, now bulldozed, where his parents, migrants from Bihar, had lived since 1984. On June 11 this year, Singh, his wife and their two daughters stood by as JCB excavator flattened their jhuggi during a demolition drive. Days later, Singh says, another blow...
65 Lakh Voters Dropped in Bihar: SC Opens Reapplication Route, But Disenfranchisement Fears Persist
Sumit Singh, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s August 22 verdict allowing disenfranchised voters in Bihar to reclaim their right to vote using Aadhaar or any of 11 valid ID proofs has been welcomed by Opposition parties. But for observers of India’s democracy, the ruling may have touched a fault line - the normalisation of mass voter deletions, the opacity of...
He Wore Hope Like a Uniform, Hate Tore It Off: Suleman was Lynched to Death in His Village in Maharashtra Over ‘Love Jihad’ Claim
Arsheed Ahmad, TwoCircles.net
Betawad (Maharashtra): Suleman Pathan's ambition to serve his country ended not with a uniform, but with funeral rites. A resident of Jalgaon district in Maharashtra, the 21-year-old had recently passed his 12th-grade exams and was preparing to join the police or the Army.
On what should have been an ordinary Monday morning, he left home for Jamner town...
Ctrl+F is Gone: ECI Turns Bihar’s Voter List into a Puzzle After SIR, Leaving the Poor to Pay the Price
Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net
Patna: Zaheeb Ajmal, a social activist in Phulwari Sharif, Patna, has been helping residents, particularly slum dwellers and other socially and economically disadvantaged groups, who are anxious about their names missing from the draft voter list after the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar. Until recently, he and his team could verify names...
Karnataka: How Hoolikatti School’s Water Poisoning Case Exposes Communal Undercurrents in Classrooms
Harishankar Manoj, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: A school poisoning case in Karnataka’s Belagavi district has brought to light the growing influence of communal tensions in local institutions. On July 14, 11 children from the Government Primary School at Janata Colony in Hoolikatti village were hospitalised after consuming water allegedly laced with pesticide. Aged between 7 and 10, the students experienced dizziness and...
Healing or Optics? RSS Chief’s Meeting with Muslim Clerics, Leaders Raises Hope and Questions
Shoaibur Rahman, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: On July 24, at Haryana Bhawan in New Delhi, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat met with over 60 Muslim clerics, scholars and community leaders in a closed-door meeting organised by the All-India Imam Organisation (AIIO). Led by AIIO President Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi and titled 'Samvaad' (dialogue), the event brought together participants from...
Education or Exclusion? With Fees Up by 61%, AMU Students Say the System is Pricing Them Out
Shoaibur Rahman, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Protest at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) against a recently announced fee hike, the long-standing suspension of students’ union elections and calls for administrative accountability have entered their sixth day, with students boycotting classes and staging sit-ins at the Bab-e-Syed gate (the iconic entrance of the varsity).
The fee structure for different courses has witnessed a...