Imagine a scenario in which Ravana was no villain, but a beloved brother of Rama. Such a fundamental transformation in the portrayal of a key character in an epic could hardly occur without an equally elemental alteration in the status of other lead players. More crucially, this would necessitate a … Read More
Even before the Election Commission could take cognizance of the vacancy in the Rai Bareilly parliamentary constituency, Ms. Sonia Gandhi was on the campaign trail, shrilly shrieking victimhood to the gullible masses of the family’s old pocket borough. Her return to the Lok Sabha is not in doubt. What is … Read More
Defying conventional wisdom, I find myself in sympathy with the rage of Afghanistan’s orthodox clergy at the Karzai regime’s succumbing to Western pressure and literally smuggling a Christian convert out of the country, when he was supposed to be under investigation for apostasy. Coming as this does soon after the … Read More
Now, for the fourth time, Sonia Gandhi has run away from a thorny situation of her own making. Even friendly media analysts find it difficult to support the surreptitious manner in which both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on March 22, when an all-party meeting had decided on … Read More
One of the most critical aspects of the study and appreciation of heritage monuments is their place in a specific historical context, which enables a visitor to envisage the entire socio-political-cultural spectrum of a bygone era, keeping the monument as a reference point. This honest and unbiased understanding of the … Read More
Two deplorable tendencies have of late manifested themselves in the Indian legal system. The first is a nonchalance which gives the rich and powerful unfettered freedom to tamper with evidence and purchase or intimidate witnesses in criminal offences involving themselves, without even the formality of asking witnesses if they need … Read More
Something is churning deep in the heart of Indian Islam, which calls for careful watching and deep analysis, as there are no obvious answers. Yet even a surface view shows that orthodox Muslims, especially religious leaders and scholars, wish to change the old grumpy don’t-enter-my-ghetto approach towards the Hindu majority. … Read More
Though India was fortunate to escape the catastrophic consequences of mad cow disease two years ago, it is undeniably in the grip of an avian flu epidemic in Maharashtra and possibly Gujarat. We shall be lucky if the crisis does not spread to other parts of the country. As the … Read More
The apparently acceptable Indo-US nuclear deal may have caused satisfaction to South Block and the State Department, but America’s Hindu community is feeling psychologically beleaguered as old Hindu-baiters from both countries gang up to abort a necessary correction of school textbooks in California. As the issue has a bearing on … Read More
In an article in The Washington Post, Mr. Flemming Rose, culture editor of Jyllands-Posten, has made the breathtaking claim that after the publication of the Prophet Mohammad cartoons in his newspaper on 30 September 2005, there has been a “constructive debate in Denmark and Europe about freedom of expression, freedom … Read More
