Mallika Sarabhai defies pressure, joins ASHA workers' protest virtually
Ms. Sarabhai participated in the event, 'Honorarium for ASHA workers', a citizen's crowd funding campaign, by transferring honorarium of ₹1,000 to one of the protesting workers. Noted poet and lyricist Rafeeq Ahmed inaugurated the event.
In a social media post Ms. Sarabhai has alleged that limitations have been placed on her freedom of expression in her new academic role as Chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam.
In a strong social media note, she wrote, 'Today I got my first taste of what it means to be the Chancellor of a University. Restricted speech.'
'There is an ASHA workers agitation on in Thrissur about increasing their pay. I believe these workers everywhere do very important work and are ill paid and used. Sarah Joseph is leading a citizens' crowd funding to increase their salary. I was asked for my opinion and gave it as me, as I have done all my life. Oh, not allowed any more. Hmmm. How do I stop being me? Do I even want to?' she wrote on her Facebook page.
Noted writer and activist Sarah Joseph has expressed deep concern over the reported pressure exerted on Ms. Sarabhai against participating in the ASHA workers' protest.
The ASHA workers protest cannot be silenced. This protest is not a political move against the government. Our effort is to express solidarity with the protesting ASHA workers,' Ms. Sarah Joseph said.
Calling for an urgent resolution, Sarah Joseph emphasised, 'The strike should not have dragged on this long. Either the government must meet the workers' demands and end the protest, or the Asha workers must voluntarily withdraw. If neither happens, the larger society will respond — and this protest is one such response of solidarity.'
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Time of India
7 minutes ago
- Time of India
TikToker Malik Taylor aka The Unpopular Party dies at 28 in car accident; heartbroken fans say 'YouTube lineup won't hit the same'
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First Post
6 hours ago
- First Post
Kerala Youth Congress chief resigns after Malayalam actor's harassment allegations. Who is Rahul Mamkootathil?
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A history and English literature graduate who studied at Delhi's St Stephen's College, he rose through the ranks of student politics before becoming a prominent state leader. But in recent weeks, the 35-year-old has been at the centre of controversy after facing allegations of harassment and inappropriate behaviour from Malayalam actor and former journalist Rini Ann George, followed by similar claims from writer Honey Bhaskaran. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What exactly happened? How has the leader defended himself? And what has been the Congress party's response? Here's what we know so far. Allegations against Rahul Mamkootathil Rini Ann George Malayalam actor and former journalist Rini Ann George spoke out about her ordeal in an online interview with Manorama. Without directly naming him at first, she alleged that a youth leader from a major political party had repeatedly sent her offensive messages and even invited her to a hotel. 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India Today
6 hours ago
- India Today
Wink at judges: Ex-SC judge Katju's advice to woman lawyer is problematic
Every now and then, our family WhatsApp groups and Facebook feeds serve up those familiar "uncle jokes". Most of us roll our eyes and scroll past. But it is an entirely different matter when the same brand of casual sexism comes from a former judge of the Supreme Court. Markandey Katju recently suggested a woman lawyer seeking his advice that she should wink at the lady lawyers who winked at me in court got favourable orders," said retired Supreme Court judge Katju. He was a justice in the Supreme Court from 2006 to 2011 after serving as the Chief Justice of the Delhi high court. He was also the chairperson of the Press Council of India from 2011 to made half in jest, the remark isn't harmless banter and failed on two counts. First, it failed the standard of judicial conduct. Even after retirement, a judge carries the weight of the office he once suggest that women lawyers could tilt verdicts with a wink casts a shadow over the very idea of judicial tells every young woman that you can wink your way up the ladder, especially in the legal it failed the basic standard of serves many lays bare stark realities of life, often in a way that makes us laugh even as we recognise the truth. In the form of satire, it asks questions of the powers that a bad day, it soothes pain and on a good day, it unsettles the ego chambers of the remark did neither. Instead, it leaned on the tired stereotype of women advancing through charm, reducing professional women to caricatures. To call this humour is to excuse sexism with a laugh Katju did not stop there; He stooped deleted his post, but later added a screenshot of a woman asking him for suggestions on effective courtroom arguments, to which he responded, "judge ko aankh mar doh" (wink at the judge).Coming from an ordinary troll, this would be from a former Supreme Court judge, it is SEXISM HAS BEEN KATJU'S NATUREThis was August 2025. But it was not at all the first time Katju had resorted to 2020, after the brutal Hathras gang-rape case, Katju wrote that rape was a "natural urge in men", worsened by unemployment and the inability to suggested that creating more jobs would reduce sexual this framing ignored was everything we knew about rape. Rape is barely about sexual frustration, it is always more. Read power, domination and violent reducing it to biology and economics, he turned grotesque violence into a maths problem or a policy same year, his Facebook quip — "I thought good girls go to bed early" — showed the same casual sexism dressed up as was not just a stray line; it played on the old trope that women who stay out late are somehow "bad." When screenshots went viral and the hashtag #MarkandeyKatju trended, his defence was telling."What wrong did I say?" he asked, shrugging off the outrage as oversensitivity. In other words, the problem was not his words, it was the eye of the reader, who read his to 2016, and Katju was warning men to "keep away from women," invoking Kaikeyi from the Ramayana as proof of women's supposed capacity for in mythological reference, the message was clear: women bring trouble. For a former judge, it was a crude reduction, making half of society into a category to be feared rather than respected. advertisementDOES WINK AT JUDGES REMARK BEHOVE A RETIRED SC JUSTICE?One could argue that Katju is an individual who should be allowed his own personal Katju is Justice Katju, and not an uncle on the family WhatsApp group. The remarks he is making are on social media for millions to read and form their opinions and perceptions of not just a Supreme Court judge but also his fraternity and the institution that he belonged Ministers, Defence chiefs, Chief Election Commissioners and judges of top courts speak with tremendous responsibility even after demitting office because of the weight their words carry. What they speak also shapes the perception of the remarks came on a post by a woman lawyer seeking to know how to argue a case effectively in replied: "All the lady lawyers who winked at me in court got favourable orders."His remarks instantly cloud the fairness of judges and the neutrality of the courts. Is just a wink powerful enough to hoodwink?advertisementJudicial authority rests on fairness, impartiality, and the appearance of neutrality. That one casual sentence strikes at the very core of the foundational tenets. Katju realised this and deleted his post. But Katju being katju, then doubled down by resharing a screenshot of the deleted post."All orders passed by him should be revisited," demanded Supreme Court advocate MN Gopinadh, sharing the after retirement, former justices remain symbols of the judiciary and their words can shape public perceptions of the legal some countries, including the UK and Australia, judges themselves have urged retired fraternity members to exercise reticence in public discourse to preserve judicial independence and Supreme Court itself has suggested that members of the judiciary should avoid making remarks that sexist or stereotypical Aparna Bhat v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2021), the Supreme Court issued specific directions telling judges not to make gender-stereotypical comments in cases of sexual Katju, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, with his cavalier attitude and sexist remarks has not only belittled jurists, but opened it to questions on its fairness.- Endsadvertisement
