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These days it’s not enough to disagree with opponents – it seems we have to accuse them of being con artists too

Our world is full of grifters. Or so it seems, considering how often that word is thrown around in public life these days.

This year alone, Zarah Sultana, the former Labour MP and founder of a new left party with Jeremy Corbyn, called the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, a “billionaire-backed grifter” (perhaps borrowing from the language of Coutts staff who referred to him as a “disingenuous grifter” when his bank account was closed two years ago). Sultana, in turn, was accused of being a “grifter” duping “honest socialists” by the journalist Paul Mason.

Anoosh Chakelian is Britain editor of the New Statesman

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Abdellatif Kechiche hasn’t made it to Locarno despite the premiere of “Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due,” the third installment of his controversial trilogy, reportedly due to health reasons and a recent stroke. Kechiche, who won the Cannes Festival’s Palme d’Or for “Blue Is the Warmest Color,” has been panned by the critics for his latest […]

KARACHI: Seven-month-old Mayur Sunil experienced his first Raksha Bandhan festival when his older sister Nomisha and cousin Jaya Ramesh tied the sacred thread around his little wrist with the flowing waters of Chinna Creek as witness at the Shri Lakshmi Narayan temple here on Saturday.

It was a memorable moment for the children’s mother and aunts, who were beaming with a glint of joy in their eyes. Earlier, Mayur’s older cousin Nikhil Ramesh, who held the baby while his sisters tied the red rakhi on his wrist, also got his rakhifrom his younger sister Jaya.

Meanwhile, Faqira Vikash got a rakhi from Radhika Parmar. They were not real brother and sister but Radhika said that she saw Vikash as her protector and wanted to honour him by making him her brother.

Raksha Bandhan, the bond of love and protection between sisters and brothers, is celebrated annually on purnima, a full moon, in the Hindu month of Shravana, which is also commonly known as Sawan in North India. It is the fifth month of the Hindu lunar calendar.

Hindus celebrate the festival of siblings on the full moon of Sawan

There are many myths and legends attributed to Raksha Bandhan, one of which is about Lord Krishna injuring his hand which was quickly bandaged by Daupadi who tore off a strip of cloth from her saree pallu to do the needful and stop the bleeding. She always looked up to him as a brother.

Later, when she was harassed by some rascals who pulled her saree pallu, Krishna came to her rescue. With his extraordinary powers, the pallu kept unwinding as the men pulled without any end to it.

The rakhis used in this sweet ritual were available in abundance in an extensive variety from right outside the temple. You could buy 12 Pakistani rakhis for a hundred rupees and Indian rakhis, brought here in personal baggage, for double the price.

All the vendors were surprisingly Muslim. But then it was also not surprising to find Muslim women also coming to buy the rakhis for friends whom they look up to as brothers.

“In Pakistan, the festival may carry religious significance for Hindus but for Muslims, it is also a cultural festival. I’m going to tie a rakhi around my friend in college, who is always looking out for me,” said Ayesha Mahmood, a customer buying several threads from a stall.

Asked how many were she going to tie around one person’s wrist, she laughed and shared that many of her female friends had also requested her to get a rakhi or two for them as they also wanted to honour someone special.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025