The decision in Maharashtra to ban dance bars is an instance of the state government donning the garb of the moral police. But the centre?s action in recommending the dissolution of the Bihar...
Of Life, Letters and Politics
Narendra Modi has survived the furore over the US denial of a visa and the party rebellion has been quelled. Modi has created the myth of ?I am Gujarat? quite successfully. Such myths are good as...
With the inauguration of the second Bush presidency, the American neo-conservative empire is set to perpetuate itself. The empire has also generated its own lexicon, where words like 'freedom' and '...
Notwithstanding the increased frequency of talks between India and Pakistan, the unresolved issue of Kashmir continues to vex relations between the two neighbours. Perhaps it is time for new...
The present battle over key portfolios in Maharashtra, including that of chief minister, reflects a sad loss of vision on the Congress' part. A vision of bringing together Congressmen of all hues was...
We as a people are passing through a peculiar phase. From planning to terrorism we find ourselves at a loss. We need foreign agencies or their nominees to help us evaluate ourselves. Naturally some...
Reagan was the first president to have made unabashed power play into an art. It was an art in the sense that he made it into a moral principle. All those who opposed or appeared to oppose the...
Six odd tests do not a nuclear summer make. But these tests by India and Pakistan served one purpose. The act of opposing nuclear power was resistance to several things, the most important of which...
The basic issue is to figure out why a given government loses or is likely to lose its credibility. To speak in terms of the so-called antiincumbency factor is to beg the question. But then the...
It is now of little significance who forms the government and with whose support. The NDA and the Congress are using the secularism debate to make sure the economic plight of India does not become...
There is more to these fairs than unaffordable books. An encounter and an experience.
The whole episode of vandalism of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune recently tried to wipe out a tradition of alternative history which began with Phule and reached its zenith with...
Even before the trial of Saddam has begun the American president has started discussing the sentence the deposed Iraqi president should get. The neo-conservatives who dominate the power lobbies in...
Most protesters against censorship are rather selective in their approach. They let some forms or instances of censorship go unattacked. But there is a further question. Can we subordinate the...
Talks between India and Pakistan should begin and begin early. The two countries are at a point in history where they might well discover that going under with or without Kashmir is unlikely to lead...
