2018

Every year around June 26, on the anniversary of the Emergency imposed in 1975, the present government attempts to highlight the supposed wrongdoings committed at that time. However, the government’s blitz this year was much beyond the normal. Press conferences, govern-ment advertising and Prime Minister Modi’s blasting speech raise the question of just what was so special about this 43rd anniversary. The answer is that we are now less than a year away from the general elections and the (…)

The recent arrests of some noted civil/human rights activists have raised fundamental questions about the present state of our democracy. In the wake of the arrests, the eminent professor of political theory, Neera Chandhoke, reminded us:

There are now unmistakable signals from the top echelons of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that a section of the organisation is not happy with the way Narendra Modi is going about his administrative and political duties. There are reasons behind it. Even die- hard supporters of the Prime Minister will admit that Modi has failed to show results in three most important areas of administration

Indians are generally shy of statistics. No election is won or lost on the basis of figures. But, figures are crowding into the otherwise personalities-based discourse as the country prepares for general elections.
Many of these figures are unflattering, and should worry the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he has just won the mandate to lead his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) into these polls.
For, long after he stormed to (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
After forty years of the foundation of our independent republic, the Frankenstein has appeared again

MUSINGS
There is something or everything so very bizarre and frightfully horrific about last week’s arrest and detention of the country’s well-known activists and academics who have been raising their voice and concerns for the tribals and minorities, and also for the atrocities taking place in the conflict zones of the country, and this includes the Kashmir Valley.
Instead of paying heed to their concerns, we see the establishment of the day lock them up. If not in prisons, in their (…)

Look as far back as you will, all the way to the Garden of Eden, and you will find that the chief source of the power of ruling establish-ments has been the generation and possession of knowledge.
Thus Adam and Eve were thrown out of Paradise for the sin of getting to acquire knowledge of good and evil. Prometheus was enchained by Zeus for stealing the knowledge of fire. Socrates was obliged to drink hemlock for sharing knowledge with the generation next. Vedic mantras were forbidden entry (…)

The matter of 400 serving soldiers (the term

by Abid Ahmad Shah
India is the confluence of 29 States and seven Union Territories, with a distinct demography, language, culture, lifestyle, etc. Jammu and Kashmir forms a part of the northern portion of the country with the privilege of being special status State among a whole gamut of States. The Constitution, as the basic guide of principles, gives rights to all the people of the country, common and special.
The Indian Constitution is the sum total of Articles, Schedules, rights, (…)

IMPRESSIONS
With M. Karunanidhi’s death, a chapter turns in history. That is rare because most political leaders constitute mere footnotes in history, let alone a page. Karunanidhi was more a cultural reformer than a politician, a recognition that led people to confer on him the popular title of Kalaignar, a man of the arts and letters. He was an ideas man alongside Periyar and C.N. Annadurai. The Trimurtis nurtured a previously unarticulated Dravida civilisational value-system, thereby (…)