Butchered in Bihar: A View from the Outside
After being decimated in Delhi and fallen short in Kashmir, the BJP has now been butchered in Bihar. Maybe a mauling awaits it in the coming Maharashtra civic polls. The question I want to raise here is very simple: what does this election tell us about the Indian polity? The first thing the political pundits will want to do is to apportion blame. More...
Narendra Modi: The Man Who Bounces Back
Indian politics has always been loaded in favour of the dynasty or those with money and muscle power. On top of that the RSS was an outright pariah a long time after Independence and till 1977, no party other than More...
Towards a New Cosmopolitan Muslim Mindset
During one of my recent summer trips to India, an incident in the Mewat region of Haryana reported in a local newspaper caught my attention. A road accident had escalated into a communal riot between Muslims and More...
How the Congress Manufactures Intolerance
Preface With the early winter march to Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday, Congress wielded its brahmastra on a government elected with a huge popular mandate. Leading from the front was the President and Former De facto More...
Award Returnees Dislike Indian Voters
The swelling outpouring of angst about alleged calamities being visited by Narendra Modi on India are unlikely to be coordinated, but clearly each one is inciting others. This is a bemusing puzzle. The fact of the More...
Indian Media’s Selective Silence on Durga Desecration
Does the Indian media have an unwritten code not to report atrocities on minorities in India’s neighbouhood? It appears that taking after the Narendra Modi government, Delhi media needs a “Look East” policy. More...
An Open Letter to Gulzar
Dear Gulzar Sir, (Actually I wanted to address you as“Ji” or “Saab,” but you might have construed it as religious intolerance) When I read your recent statement that “We have never witnessed this kind More...
Rahul Just Doesn’t Have It
Every time I sit down at my computer to put down my thoughts on the present scenario of India I feel utterly dejected and disgusted — rather confused, that I give it up. For one I am at a loss on where to More...
Decoding the Honourable President’s Advice
Is the current holder of the executive power of the Union of India passing under a spell of divine or its opposite force? Are the media, the Congress Party, some 30-odd shitakes and some Nehruvian intellectuals More...
Acche Din for Economic and Political Weekly
From now onwards, a large section of the media in India could well be perceived to be a little less independent or, for that matter trustworthy. Pranjoy Guha Thakurta, 14 June 2014, EPW As far as advertising More...