Hyper-extremism tends to follow Extremism
by L.K. SharmaThe RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), India's self-styled “cultural” organisation, whose political wing, the BJP, runs the Union Government, held a public outreach programme designed to...
View ArticleUnder Yogi UP turning into another Kashmir!
MUSINGSDuring his election campaigns Yogi Adityanath's speeches carried a particular one- liner, along the strain that under Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Government the State of Uttar Pradesh was turning...
View ArticleUnderstanding Mohanji Bhagwat's Formulations
So perplexing have Shri Mohan Bhagwat's formulations been with regard to the meaning of being “Hindu” that days after his lecture series one is still struggling to understand, if you like, make sense...
View ArticleHighest European Court Ruling Confirms Serious Risks of Gene-Edited Crops
At a time when more and more people in the world are becoming concerned about the serious health risks and numerous other adverse impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops and genetically modified...
View ArticleLessons to be Learnt from Kerala Disaster
by Mahendra VedAt a time when India's political class as a whole, and the government in particular, leave resolution of many contentious issues to the ‘wisdom' of the Supreme Court, taking time off,...
View ArticleWorld Economy — A Decade after the Financial Crisis
by V. Mathew KurianI. IntroductionIn 2008, America confronted a financial crisis which later spread to other parts of the world making it a global financial crisis. The financial meltdown as a...
View ArticleIndian Muslims: Differing Views
IMPRESSIONSIt is the irony of ironies that (a) the Government of India banned triple talaq without getting a proper Bill properly passed in Parliament, and (b) Muslims attacked the “reform”, saying...
View ArticleIndia and the Neighbourhood: New Delhi's Faltering Diplomacy
by Purusottam BhattacharyaNew Delhi finds itself on a sticky wicket at the moment so far as its neighbourhood policy is concerned. (Neighbourhood for the purpose of this article denotes India's...
View ArticleThe Judicial Archer
In a Mahabharata tale, Dronacharya—who taught the skills of warfare to the Pandava and Kaurava princes—overheard Duryodhana saying that he unjustly favoured Arjuna over others. To prove him wrong,...
View ArticleIs Cleanliness Gandhi's Greatest Contribution to Nation-Building?
It has been distressing for me to notice how the entire space for celebrating Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary by the Government of India has been focusing on toilets: public defecation-free India. In...
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Rhetoric and Reality
EDITORIALMahatma Gandhi's 149th birth anniversary was observed this week on October 2, 2018. That was the day when the country decided to launch the year- long celebrations marking Gandhiji's 150th...
View ArticleNext Generation Rights to LGBT Communities
by G.K. Goswami and Aditi GoswamiIntroductionThe recent decriminalising of homosexuality by the Supreme Court of India is a milestone on the bumpy road to recognise and strengthen the rights of...
View ArticleAllround Decadence and Ray of Hope
From N.C.'s WritingsWhile there is no doubt a lot on which to attack those in authority for their dereliction in running an orderly system of governance, one has to ask at the same time why there has...
View ArticleISSSP receives M.L. Sondhi Prize
The 2017 Prof M.L. Sondhi Prize for Inter-national Politics was awarded to the Inter-national Strategic and Security Studies (ISSSP), Bengaluru, and was received by its Director, Prof. Rajaram Nagappa...
View ArticleThe Vajpayee Legacy
At a recent meeting in Delhi a group of journalists, academics, former diplomats discussed the legacy of that great public figure and national leader, Atal Behari Vajpeyee. It was agreed that Vajpayee...
View ArticleRSS: Futile Attempt at Cosmetics by Mohan Bhagwat
Mohan Bhagwat made a laborious and futile attempt at cosmetics of the RSS at a lecture series intended “to reach out to a cross-section of the people” outside the ‘Sangh fraternity'.“You need not...
View ArticleTrajectories of Change in the World's Largest Democracy: India, 2004-2019
by Alf Gunvald NilsenAt the time of writing, India is headed for what is likely to be a fateful general election. Will the neoliberal and Hindu nationalist Modi regime secure another five years in...
View ArticleWhy the Arrest of Dalit Activists, ‘Urban Naxals'
by Ram PuniyaniThe violence in Bheema Koregaon is still reverberating. We recall that on January 1, 2018, thousands of Dalits returning from Bheema Koregaon were beaten up. In that context the names of...
View ArticleThey Come in New Attire!
by Binoy ViswamThese lines are being written on October 2 when Gandhiji and his teachings reverberate in the heart and soul of India. This year Gandhiji is ‘privileged' to be showered with praises from...
View ArticleDestroying Education, Attacking Students
MUSINGSRuckus on the campus of the universities in Uttar Pradesh seems ongoing. The latest news reports of violence on the campus of the Allahabad University and before that ruckus in the Benaras Hindu...
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