The Tamil Nadu government’s unexpected ordinance banning religious conversions through force, fraud or inducement, has brought a prickly issue into the open. While the move has upset communities that are not content with the constitutional freedom to practice their faith freely, it has been received with a sense of relief … Read More
The legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the last credible advocates of the nation’s civilizational integrity, received a cruel blow on this birth anniversary when a Polish missionary in India was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (Times of India, 3 October 2002). The Puri-based Father Marian Zelazek who works … Read More
The English language media’s inability to come to terms with the possibility that Narendra Modi may win even the delayed elections in Gujarat has inspired vituperative outbursts against the former RSS pracharak. Yet the declamations are notable for the fact that, for the first time in several years, they avoid … Read More
Any honest assessment on the anniversary of the World Trade Centre tragedy must surely conclude that there is no global coalition against terrorism. There never really was. The coalition was a polite term coined by President George Bush Jr. to garner the support (or mitigate the opposition) of the international … Read More
In Half a Life, V.S. Naipaul narrates the tale of a rich merchant plagued by domestic woes engendered by the folly of two marriages. Approaching the hero’s father, who runs a sort of ashram, for help, he seeks to win sympathy by comparing himself with King Dasrath who had three … Read More
This fortnight is particularly rich in issues of national concern, what with the Election Commission and the President both going to Gujarat, and the continued turmoil in Jammu & Kashmir. But I’m going to give it all a miss for a matter of more fundamental concern in a nation that … Read More
By the simple act of removing his own shoes at Mahatma Gandhi’s samadhi, President Abdul Kalam has subtly rewritten the rules of political etiquette in a nation long inured to the wanton disregard of democratic and republican values by its ruling class. It is to be hoped that in future … Read More
A report in a daily newspaper alleging that the Centre has decided to “go after” Time magazine correspondents in India by denying them official access seems an appropriate occasion to introspect on the nature of contemporary journalism and the merits of arguments raised in the controversy over FDI in the … Read More
It is to be hoped that by the time the Shankaracharya of Kanchi next visits Nepal, His Majesty, King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, would be in a position to cock a snook at rootless modernists and perform the aswamedha and vajpeya yagnas. More power to his throne. The tragic circumstances … Read More
By all accounts, the elevation of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to the office of President of India originated in an apparently innocuous manner in the unofficial backroom parleys between political parties of both the ruling coalition and the opposition alliance. The emissaries shuffled around the old tired names of tenacious … Read More
