Meera Ashar । મીરાં

India bans books and police raid bookstores in Kashmir crackdown Authorities threaten people with prison time for selling or owning works by authors like Booker winner Arundhati Roy and historian Victoria Schofield

India bans books and police raid bookstores in crackdown on ‘false narrative’ in Kashmir

Authorities threaten people with prison time for selling or owning works by authors like Booker winner Arundhati Roy and historian Victoria Schofield

www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/k...

“Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”

#farce #history #Marx #Trump #olympics

We know the Sydney Harbour Bridge protest against the killing in Gaza was huge – but just how big was it? NSW police initially estimated the size of the crowd at 90,000 but organisers say the figure was closer to 300,000 – and an independent expert agrees

So over 300,000 then, making this the largest protest march in Australian history.

Despite the rain and cold and the sadness in our hearts, this was certainly the most humanity-affirming march.

#auspol #MarchforHumanity #SydneyHarbourBridge

Walk for reconciliation 2000: Walk for Reconciliation across Sydney Harbour Bridge

Looked as big a crowd if not bigger than the Bridge Walk for Reconciliation in 2000. They estimated 250,000 people then (with no crush threats).
www.nma.gov.au/defining-mom...

Walk for reconciliation 2000: Walk for Reconciliation across Sydney Harbour Bridge

Looked as big a crowd if not bigger than the Bridge Walk for Reconciliation in 2000. They estimated 250,000 people then.
www.nma.gov.au/defining-mom...

Perhaps, this is what social cohesion looks like #MarchforHumanity #SydneyHarbourBridge #auspol

Three figures: Emmanuel Macron stands bold with hand aloft saying “We will recognise Palestine!” Kier Starmer with a finger slightly raised, says “We will recognise Palestine - unless Israel stops killing Palestinians.” Anthony Albanese with a finger barely raised says, “We’ll recognise Palestine when we’re ready (if there are any Palestinians left).”

Gestures.
My @smh @theage cartoon.

Three frames. 1. Dan Tehan telling radio interviewer “We’d like to see the facts.” 2. interviewer puts large archive box on table (labelled FACTS - UN REPORTS, HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES, DOCTORS, LOCAL PRESS etc). 3. Tehan says, “Those are NOT the facts we’d like to see.”

Facts.
My @smh @theage cartoon.

Open letter against the adoption of the Australian Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism's Plan - Overland literary journal We, the undersigned university researchers, educators, students and professional staff, call on the Australian Government to reject the unprecedented attack on academic freedom and the autonomy of uni...

The measures called for in this report are an extraordinary attempt to place higher education under the control of a political lobby.

Tim Winton among 100 high-profile Australians calling for university fees that don’t ‘punish’ arts students Open letter urges Labor to reverse JRG scheme, introduced by Coalition in 2021, as cost of humanities degrees reaches more than $50,000

More than 100 high-profile and distinguished Australians -and BA graduates- have signed the @austhistassoc.bsky.social open letter calling for the repeal of Job-Ready Graduates: a policy that punishes humanities students with life-changing debts: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Well, well, well, what a petulant little brat #BenStokes has turned out to be.

#INDvENG #ENGvIND #cricket

Or sometimes not even, or maybe just about…perhaps.
#auspol #thestupidmiddle

David Pope, 26 July 2025, The Canberra Times.

All famines are man-made, all famines are political. Historians of empire and humanitarianism have known this forever. Gaza is not starving, Gaza is being starved, by Israel, and this starvation is enabled by our government and by every other government that does not step in to force food and aid.

Another racist attack, this time on a Hindu temple in Melbourne. No reports in Australian media at all.
#racism #alltemplesneedsafety #auspol #ausmedia #safetyonlyforsome

Hindu Temple In Australia's Melbourne Defaced With Racist Graffiti www.ndtv.com/world-news/h...

I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again- till one can drive straight into Parliament House & just park under the Parliament with zero checks, this country doesn’t need to spend on “security”.
No one wants to attack you- that’s a good thing even if you can’t cosplay military games!
#auspol #security

Another story of another racist attack that didn’t make it to most news outlets. Didn’t get all the concern & condemnation from the ministers. Also didn’t get the Indian PM dictating how Australia should deal with its racism prob.
#auspol #racism #safetyonlyforsome
amp.9news.com.au/article/adf4...

Australia Institute Live: Labor introduces first bills, Nationals get louder about ending support for net zero, putting future of Coalition in doubt. All the day's events, live The pomp and ceremony is over, so it's time for the 48th parliament to get down to business. All the day's events, with fact checks, as it happens.

Ah yes we like rules, but not real rules like international laws about not bombing countries, just pretty rules of when to talk and which knife to use for what course...
#auspol #Greens #rules #ALP

Labor claims Faruqi censure is about ‘the rules’ live.australiainstitute.org.au/2025/07/aust...

YouTube video by 7NEWS Australia Racist attack at Melbourne mosque thwarted by worshippers | 7NEWS

ONE minor report on this horrific, racist, Islamophobic attack in Melbourne yesterday.
#islamophobia #racism #auspol #Melboune #safetyonlyforsome

Unsafe.
My @smh @theage cartoon.

Majority of ACT public schools to run over their 2025 budget: Directorate Union accuses government of 'fundamental failure'.

Oh I know the answer to this: pay NOUS group & other consultants millions, fire half the teachers, slash libraries & playgrounds, & introduce non traditional learning such as YouTube videos…
Taxpayers can’t fund businesses that run over budget!
#education #auspol #goodforthegander #highered

In the West, Churchill is not represented as the worst man in history. So colonialism and genocide do not have, as it were, the bad rep that they do in India.
#auspol #colonialism #Churchill #genocide #theWest

Done!

Israel: silencing dissent everywhere - The Shot The pro-Israel lobby isn’t designed to balance debate nor to enrich it – it is designed to silence it.

Here's @ronnisalt.bsky.social. 'Israel: silencing dissent everywhere'

Stuart Broad: So Ravi you mentioned music concerts. What kind of music do you like?

Ravi Shastri: Oh well, reggae, rock… and the UK has so much on offer. The Glastonbury was just on and drew huge crowds…

Broad: …… (long pause and quick topic change)

#IndvsEng #EngvsInd #cricket #Glastonbury

Yes lots of nodding, head shaking & helpless sighing.