Editor's note

With president Narendra Modi as its head, India commemorated the seventieth anniversary of its independence this week. The country has reason to celebrate: India has a powerful economy and is an increasingly important global player.

But, as The Conversation's scholars have written, freedom of speech, expression and religion also seem to be regressing, while nationalism, cow vigilantism, and gender inequality are rampant. Partition, and the creation of Pakistan, which also took place in 1947, remains a hot-button issue today. Today’s Weekend Conversation rounds up our best recent coverage of India, offering an in-depth look at its arts, politics and controversies.

Clea Chakraverty

Commissioning Editor

Lipstick Under My Burkha challenges India’s patriarchal society as well as the film industry’s bias against women. Variety.com

Lipstick Under My Burkha: when real women take over Indian screens

Anubha Yadav, University of Delhi

Alankrita Srivastava's feminist film has Indian censors in a tizzy.

Hindustani classical music played on a river boat in Banaras. Jason Baker/flickr

A sad song of musical censorship in India and Pakistan

Laksmi Subramanian, Center for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta

Are music bans in India and Pakistan an appropriation of art and performances by nationalist imperatives?

Be careful! In Uttar Pradesh, the cow trade is now almost wholly criminalised. Jitendra Prakash/Reuters

'Cow economics' are killing India's working class

Afroz Alam, Maulana Azad National Urdu University

A crackdown on the beef and leather trades has put hundreds of thousands of Indian Muslims and Dalits out of work, vexing already-tense religious relations and hurting India's economy.

India’s tricolour (which actually has four colours) hides a complex subaltern history that originates with Mahatma Gandhi. Adam Jones/Flickr

Minority histories of the Indian national flag

Sadan Jha, Centre for Social Studies

As India celebrates its independence, the flag is on full display, but few people know about the complex origins of this ubiquitous national symbol.

‘Your nationalism is not my democracy’ read the banners of a protest in Delhi against intimidation on campuses. February 28, 2017. Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

Growing intolerance is threatening free inquiry and open debate in India's universities

Aftab Alam, Aligarh Muslim University

Intolerance is rising on Indian campuses, where clashes initiated by right-wing student groups have slowly become the norm and freedom of speech is under threat.