Among the two major coalition formations, the BJP has the distinct advantage of having an agreed prime ministerial candidate; political parties that may join the NDA in the post-election period will have no interest in re-opening this issue. The Congress, by contrast, has already hinted that Dr. Manmohan Singh will … Read More
On the eve of another Republic Day, we face the tragic continuity between a freedom struggle of litigants to the British Crown and a contemporary regime of supplicants before imperial Western capitals. Nothing underlines the sad disconnect between the challenges facing the nation and the Marie Antoinette-like nature of the … Read More
Odd appears to be the new normal with the Indian Judiciary. It is at odds with every other institution, at odds with established convention, and proud to be so. The gains to the nation, if any, from the Judiciary’s sudden desire to defy all norms and emerge as primus inter … Read More
In a world that dithers in the face of minority separateness and secessionism, tiny Sri Lanka has demonstrated lion-hearted resoluteness in crushing the three decade old Tamil insurgency, refusing to surrender to minority unreasonableness in order to maintain national unity. For an India which made its armed forces fight with … Read More
The Pioneer yesterday carried a photograph of Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu being solemnly blessed in a Hyderabad church by Archbishop M. Joji. The natal families of the TDP boss and his wife, daughter of late Chief Minister and TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao, have hitherto had an unbroken … Read More
Afzal Guru of India, convicted for his role in the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001, and Ajmal Amir Kasab of Pakistan, seen striking terror at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal on November 26, 2008, are the symbols of twenty-first century jihad against India. Besides a common commitment to jihad, their … Read More
Since 20 November 2008 when the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act was invoked against Sadhvi Pragya, Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit and others for alleged involvement in the 29 September Malegaon blast that killed six persons, the elaborately conceived ‘Hindu terrorist’ plot has been falling apart. Yesterday [16 December] the … Read More
Archaeology of Fatehpur Sikri: New Discoveries is a meticulous work of excavation and discovery in an area once regarded as confined to the medieval era, with no new surprises to captivate art lovers. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had no idea at all that any pre-Akbar ancient civilisation or … Read More
Camels and cows constituted an astonishing Bakr Id fare in distant parts of the country this year, reinforcing a trend growing over the past few years. Under a pernicious Saudi attempt to Arab-ize and Wahab-ize Indian Islam, Muslims are increasingly transporting camels to various states for the Id sacrifice, spurning … Read More
Girija Vyas has disgraced the office of chairperson of the National Commission for Women and must either be sacked outright, or forced to resign. Not only has the lady been utterly negligent in fulfilling the mandate to care for the legal and constitutional rights of Indian women – the raison … Read More
