Tamil actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan’s woes, ostensibly related to Muslim protests over an unflattering portrayal of the community in his Rs. 125-crore blockbuster, Viswaroopam, could be linked to his advocacy of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram as the next Prime Minister. There could also be covert disapproval to the demeaning of … Read More
Though the ‘Pakistan Spring’ launched with fanfare at Lahore on December 23, 2012, fizzled out when the January 15, 2013 Islamabad rally failed to gather momentum, it’s enduring lesson is that nations targetted for ‘revolution’ by foreign-returned messiahs must subject the putative saviours to close scrutiny. Someone in Pakistan would … Read More
In his first presidential address to the nation on the eve of our 64th Republic Day, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee invoked the glorious heritage of Indian civilisation and History to rouse the nation to address its contemporary challenges in a manner befitting our great legacies. It was a glorious departure from … Read More
Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s formal ascension as vice president of the Congress can be said to be Mrs. Sonia Gandhi’s ‘Dhritarashtra moment’, the occasion when Indian polity’s supposed great renunciate failed to resign her own post and transfer power to her aging son and heir-designate of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Far from … Read More
An unmistakable thread is now visible between the impressive victory of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Akbaruddin Owaisi’s diatribe aimed at polarising voters ahead of a possible election this year, the arrest of a Hindu sadhu who challenged Owaisi in Hyderabad, and the Union Home Minister’s attempt to revive the … Read More
Deft political management seems to have saved the beleaguered Pakistan government, and the January 15 crisis created by a simultaneous attack by the Judiciary and the Barelvi cleric Tahir ul-Qadri, which few believe was coincidental, has diffused somewhat. As crowds thin at Jinnah Square, it would be appropriate to examine … Read More
Above the sound of gunfire and improvised explosive devices was the deafening silence of the human rights industry. Binayak Sen, Arundhati Roy, Mahasweta Devi et al, quick to berate government for alleged atrocities against Maoist marauders, did not squeak when Maoists in Jharkhand planted IEDs in the bodies of two … Read More
Has the December 31, 2012 raid on the premises of Tamil Nadu trader T.M. Ramalingam landed in cold storage following an ‘understanding’ between the Government and the alleged true owner of this mind-boggling wealth of International Bills of Exchange worth $5 billion? Readers may recall that the small town agricultural … Read More
The duplicitous games played with the only monarch who embraced Indian nationalism long before freedom could be seen on the horizon, whose accession retained India’s civilisational and geographical link with the land of sage Kashyap, is best gauged from his anguished letter to President Rajendra Prasad on 16-17 August 1952, … Read More
Maharaja Hari Singh’s agony over the conduct of the war to liberate the invaded territories in 1947 raises serious questions about Delhi’s intentions towards the kingdom and people of Jammu and Kashmir. Did a core leadership in the Congress and native Indian bureaucracy have a secret understanding with the British … Read More
