Unknown to most Indians, the raging controversy over the California school textbooks being challenged by Hindu American parents is rooted in the staunch commitment of certain academics to the Biblical version of Creation. Herr Michael Witzel, whose professional reputation is linked to the Aryan Invasion Theory, which derives from a … Read More
Wipro chairman Azim Premji has firmly articulated corporate India’s dislike of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s politely veiled threat to introduce caste-based reservations in the private sector. Though other voices have been more moderate, there can be no mistaking the dismay caused by the UPA government’s insistence on imposing a non-professional, … Read More
The Election Commission having forced the Centre to postpone Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh’s controversial attempt to impose a reservation quota hike from 22.5 percent to 49.5 percent in 20 central universities and institutions such as the IITs, IIMs, and medical colleges, political parties would do well to set … Read More
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
