In a further twist to the Zakir Naik saga, Hindraf, a non-governmental organisation working for the human rights of Malaysian Hindus of Indian origin, is all set to file the first-of-its-kind Public Interest Litigation in Malaysian courts next week to compel the government to expel the televangelist Islamic preacher … Read More
Jayalalithaa loomed so large in the psyche of her supporters that she was destined to be the irreplaceable leader; hence unfolding events in Tamil Nadu are not surprising. A fierce power struggle which can tear the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) apart has begun, and the controversial vote … Read More
The suspicion of many salaried professionals that successive governments have extracted unduly high taxes from those considered sitting ducks (persons in the formal economy with no escape routes), was vindicated, but not ameliorated, in Union finance minister Arun Jaitley’s budget speech of February 1. A reconsideration of income tax slabs … Read More
Recent years have seen an increase in the biographies of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, but these have failed to examine his contribution as a military leader and strategist, and tacitly treat him as a failure because the Indian National Army’s fate was intricately linked with that of Japan which lost … Read More
After decades of denying rampant discrimination against poor and lower caste converts, the Catholic Church has officially concluded that the only way to ameliorate the social and economic disabilities of the latter is by demanding Reservation benefits for Scheduled Caste converts to Christianity. This, notwithstanding the fact that the Church … Read More
Islamic tele-evangelist, Zakir Naik, who was in Saudi Arabia when Bangladesh authorities accused him of fanning extremism and terrorism in that country, may have found a safe haven in Malaysia, where he is believed to be staying for the past several weeks. Malaysia’s minority communities, however, are agitated over the … Read More
Almost coinciding with the Election Commission of India’s announcement of dates for elections to five State Assemblies, the Supreme Court’s interpretation of Section 123(3) of the Representation of People’s Act (RPA) in Abhiram Singh v/s C.D. Comachen (dead) by Lrs and Ors. (Civil Appeal No. 37/1992) seems destined to be … Read More
Al Qaeda’s virulent offshoot, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS; Arabic, Dawlat al-Islamiyah f’al-Iraq w Belaad al-Sham, Daesh), currently under stress owing to combined operations by Russia and the Syrian Arab Army of President Bashar al-Assad, poses a threat to the world as its foreign cadres flee back home. … Read More
The Allahabad High Court’s comments, declaring triple talaq unconstitutional and violative of the rights of Muslim women, has confounded the confusion over divorce among Indian Muslims as divorce for Muslim men and women are governed by two different archaic laws of the colonial era. Incredible as this sounds, Muslim men … Read More
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa, interred on December 6 after a State funeral attended by both the President and Prime Minister of India, was a complex personality who has left behind a mixed legacy. Surprisingly for one mired in controversy during her roller-coaster life, her final departure was accomplished … Read More
