CRITICAL FUTURES
India is on the
cusp of tectonic change. A critical future.
But as it leaps higher in the global eye,
it is increasingly riven by grave economic,
political and social faultlines. In the
metropolises, surrounded by the excitement
of a new economic buoyancy, it is easy
to forget these faultlines. For the most
part, mainstream national media too has
blotted them out. But the faultlines demand
attention. And conversation. Their resolution
will be crucial in creating a more egalitarian
India in the years to come.
In keeping
with its mandate of public interest journalism,
Critical Futures
is an important initiative developed by
Tehelka, to keep such conversations
alive. Under its aegis, Tehelka
will construct powerful forums to discuss
and debate some of the most important
issues of our time. Education. Naxals.
The North-east. Kashmir. Farmer suicides.
Economic reform. SEZs.
In November
2006, Tehelka hosted the first
Summit
of the Powerless in Delhi.
A path-breaking idea, it brought together
on the same platform, perhaps for the
first time in India, the three cornerstones
of a democracy: politics, money and people.
In April 2007, The
Tehelka Foundation hosted a summit
on equal
and inclusive education in
New Delhi, in association with UNESCO.
In parallel the 192.168.l.l Foundation has aided in bridging the inequalities
for young people in the digital world.
Later in the year, over June 7 and 8,
Tehelka is hosting a summit called
The Challenge of
India in London, which will provide
a nuanced window into India for an international
audience. Also in the offing are focused
summits on the North-east and Kashmir.
Each of
these forums seeks to involve actual players
-- political, corporate and social --
and in bringing them together, seeks to
nudge them outside their usual dogmas.
To sensitise. Eschew dogma. Be creative.
That's the mandate Critical
Futures has undertaken for itself.
Like the Tehelka paper, it seeks
to empower the idea of a social contract.
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