“Though, I was born a Hindu, I solemnly assure you that I will not die as a Hindu.” So said Dr B.R. Ambedkar, independent India’s first Law Minister, who is credited with reviving Buddhism centuries after its decimation by iconoclasts. As Ambedkar renounced his Hindu roots in despair over repeated … Read More
On Holi, last month, Muslims in some cities stepped forward to shower festival processions with petals and participate in ‘Holika dahan’, symbolising the triumph of purity over evil. This is not the first time the community has made such spontaneous gestures of goodwill. But it is a time when voices … Read More
The sheer scale of The Art of Living’s World Cultural Festival on the floodplains of the Yamuna in Delhi evokes comparisons with New York’s Woodstock (1969) that drew nearly four lakh people for an exposition of ‘Three Days of Peace & Music’. Woodstock is revered as the most iconic moment … Read More
The most dangerous and unheeded aspect of the recent controversies rocking universities across the country is the communalisation of nationalism. The radical leftist elements, mostly deracinated Hindus clamouring for freedom to lionize convicted seditionists and terrorists (even if that itself is not sedition) have overlooked the fact that each idol … Read More
The pro-secession-for-Kashmir meeting organised by the pro-Maoist Democratic Students Union at the Jawaharlal Nehru University on February 9, 2016, could well have been an official function of Delhi University if a particular candidate had become Vice Chancellor in 2010. Readers of this column may recall that in September 2010, the … Read More
The agitation by the Patel community in Gujarat and Jats in Haryana for reservation in educational institutions and government jobs underlines the urgency for a comprehensive and dispassionate review of the country’s quota policies at multiple levels. The onus is on the Supreme Court which in 1992 upheld the then … Read More
The Supreme Court’s directive to the Reserve Bank of India, to furnish the names of loan defaulters who owe more than Rs 500 crore to 29 public sector banks, is a half measure because it comes with the proviso that the list be presented in a sealed envelope. This … Read More
The selection of the pampered New Delhi Municipal Council, merely 3 per cent of the area and population of the capital city, for upgradation under the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission, embarrassingly overlapped with the prolonged strike by municipal workers of the three Delhi Municipal Corporations and highlighted some problems that … Read More
Under a Supreme Court directed public interest petition, the BJP-led Central government will have to articulate its stand within six weeks, on whether personal laws can override the constitutional provisions of equality, regardless of religion, race, caste and gender. This could pave the way for a uniform civil code or … Read More
Microcephaly, a horrific mutation of the head and brain in new born children, is possibly the greatest man-made medical tragedy since the Thalidomide disaster of the late 1950s, when thousands of babies were born with stumps instead of limbs due to a pill prescribed to counter morning sickness. The Thalidomide … Read More
