Tulsidas marvelled “it is impossible to keep count of the Ramakathas in the world” (Ramakatha kai miti jaga nahi). Valmiki’s account of the evolution of Indian society’s moral and cultural codes, notions of kingship and the limits of political power, and above all, integration of land and people into a … Read More
If Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had not been assassinated by Hindus aggrieved that the Partition of Bharat Mata had taken place, not “over my dead body” as he promised, but over the mutilated remains of millions of men, women, and children, there would have been no hope of Hindu affirmation in … Read More
Tulsidas’ seminal rendition of the Rama story makes no mention of the Lakshman rekha in the episode dealing with Sita’s abduction. The line surfaces only later, in distant Lanka, when Ravana’s wife, Mandodri, advises him to give up his obstinacy and refrain from fighting the illustrious Raghus. She points out … Read More
A course correction in Indian historical and political discourse is long overdue. To begin with, if all we achieved on 15 August 1947 was Dominion Status, it is time to stop berating the Left for not participating in the questionable freedom movement led by the Indian National Congress. Secondly, even … Read More
The Indo-US nuclear deal has exposed our worst kept post-colonial secret – there is dyarchy in New Delhi with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi calling the shots and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh executing her designs, even at the cost of national security and sovereignty. Never before has Ms. Gandhi’s foreign origin … Read More
By the twitching of my thumbs, fresh mischief is brewing over our northern frontier. The signs are ominous: there is renewed violence in Kashmir, including an attack on Amarnath pilgrims. There is Ms. Pamela Mountbatten’s titillating leak that London used Lady Edwina to manipulate Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and subvert … Read More
India’s internal affairs are increasingly witnessing an interventionist American nexus. Even as the Supreme Court asks the Centre to justify giving so-called Dalit Christians a share in Scheduled Caste quotas, it may be instructive to see how American policy has inveigled itself into our domestic discourse, while maintaining severe pressure … Read More
Far from expanding the aura of Islam, the recent Glasgow airport attack only underlines the shrivelling up of the sphere of influence of jihad and Muslim rage. This may seem surprising to those easily alarmed by media overkill about terror cells lurking in every locality, but a brief pause would … Read More
Even before runaway skeletons made her India’s most controversial Presidential candidate, Pratibha Patil earned fame as the most lustreless aspirant to this high office. Barring the slavish Congress party, none could whip up any enthusiasm for this ‘gender rabbit’ pulled out of the hat by the domineering UPA chairperson. Political … Read More
Never in modern India has caste been such a conundrum. If Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati’s varna amity forged a truly elephantine electoral constituency, the narrow jati-vad displayed at Dausa represents a grim challenge to social stability and political-constitutional order. Traditionally, jati has been mobile, mutable, yet resilient; simultaneously the … Read More
