September 27, 2008

Following the encounter at Batla House in the Capital’s Jamia Nagar on September 19 (that saw two terrorists being gunned down while an Inspector of the Delhi Police’s Special Cell was critically wounded and subsequently succumbed to his injuries, and another alleged terrorist was arrested) the Delhi Police has made tall claims of having ‘solved’ the case of the serial terror blasts in the Capital on 9/13. Responsible citizens have highlighted the fact that what the police has been saying (…)

Notwithstanding the soothing words of the Indian Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, the Indian economy is in for a great deal of trouble. Looking back at the Great Depression of 1929-33 when the Indian economy was not so much integrated with the world economy as it is now, India’s rural population suffered in an unprecedented manner. During those days very few people in the villages of Bihar and UP could tell you about America and its geographical location. Yet, the slump in agricultural (…)

If diplomacy is a lot about timing, the “Malabar Exercises” have been most crudely timed. Our diplomats should have known that issues of war and peace are hanging by a thread.
The times seem to have changed in South Block. There was a time not too long ago when the Ministry of External Affairs needed to give political clearance to interactions—all major and most minor ones—involving our armed forces with foreign countries. Maybe, with a Congress party stalwart with a Gandhian slant at the (…)

On September 13, between 1807-1838 hours, five serial bombs shattered a peaceful weekend across several popular market complexes in New Delhi. More than 20 innocent civilians lost their lives in the process and nearly 80 were injured. As was the case in the Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad bombings of May 13, July 25 and July 26, respectively, an elusive outfit calling itself “Indian Mujahideen” claimed responsibility for the Delhi bombings via an e-mail stating that the atrocities against (…)

The Batla House encounter at Jamia Nagar in the Capital has raised a few fundamental questions about Indian democracy, its health and its ability to resolve conflicts on its own.
The most important players in the whole episode are the media and the government. The ‘Other’, in this case the Muslim community, is yet to speak up. But let us accept one truth: the media and the government are on the same side. Muslims are alone, on the other side of the divide.
Like earlier blasts and (…)

Religious conversion involves change of belief system and habits, and usually change of name. The changes reflect on the ways of living and doing, and in the way the convert interacts with the world around him or her. This is sometimes precisely what is deeply desired by some people for personal reasons. In such circumstances, denying them the right to convert to another way of life and belief would amount to violation of their constitutional right to freedom of religion.
Problems with (…)

Maqbool Fida Hussain is at the very centre of a storm whose after-effects are extremely relevant for our democracy—both for the democratic structure of our state and for the preservation of democratic values in our society.
It is not that Hussain is at the centre of a controversy for the first time; in fact, it is seldom he is out of one. He has got thousands of fans, not all because of the beauty of his art but quite a large number applauding him for what would have been called (…)

[(BOOK REVIEW)]
HINDU-MUSLIM RELATIONS IN A NEW PERSPECTIVE BY PANCHANAN SAHA (FOREWORD BY DR ASGHAR ALI ENGINEER); BISWABIKSHA, KOLKATA; PP. FORWORD +392; RS 300. Hindu-Muslim relations are very much complicated—the knottiest problem in Indian history. Since the advent of Islam in the Indian subcontinent more than millennium years ago, India faced a powerful challenge from a militant and vigorous religion with an egalitarian appeal. India failed to stem the tide of the rapid spread of (…)

More than two years ago Krishna Kumar, in an article published in the The Hindu, had fervently argued for our collective responsibility towards children and making a legislation for universal elementary education. Since then the government has gone a long way in enacting a law to this effect and allocating budgetary support for education separately. The government has taken a right step in ensuring universal education upto the age of fourteen years under the programme ‘Education for All’. (…)

The history of our freedom movement is the saga of innumerable armed struggles. One after another, these struggles kept on challenging the British rule in India. However, during and after the Second World War, these struggles acquired a new momentum and new strength. The revolutionary spirit of the Indian National Army had greatly affected the British Indian armed forces. Between March 1942 and the beginning of 1946 there were nineteen uprisings in the Royal Indian Navy alone. The most (…)