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Aakar PatelThe Times of India |
The stunning victory of Donald Trump has sharpened focus on America’s relationship with its only peer competitor, China. Eight years ago, Trump had...
"What are your thoughts about atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh?” Before I could react, Uncleji took a swipe at me: “Secular Indians like...
The month-long movement for justice in West Bengal, led by students, women and civil society, has been a battle cry for change. The protestors have...
What is today India’s dominant political force, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has had a history of putting a pause on its ideology for political...
Notwithstanding the rose-tinted optics of his visit to Brunei, Narendra Modi’s third term as prime minister is more ‘through a lens darkly’ for...
India is going through another great Renaissance, as ordained by a gentleman whose own educational qualifications are shrouded in doubt and about...
A series of allegations by the Congress party against Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI), sent shock...
Minority governments have two major concerns: Clearing votes of no-confidence and passing legislation. The first, remaining in office for five years,...
In his 15 August address, the prime minister said his government would work towards changing India’s personal laws. He said, “After 75 years of a...
The NATO definition of the word ‘propaganda’ is: ‘information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or...
Reportedly mentored in her formative years by her maternal grandfather P.V. Gopalan, a progressive Indian civil servant in the Nehruvian era, the...
Supporters of the prime minister have been vocal about their disappointment with the budget — especially aspects which relate to the middle class,...
Weakened leaders of ideological parties are always vulnerable to those willing to be more extreme than them. It’s worth considering this idea to...
Do Indians have freedom of religion? Meaning, do they have the right to invite others into their faith and the right to easily leave their faith? The...
American president Joe Biden, who is 81, says he will not drop out of the election in November and intends to be president again. The problem is that...
On 28 June, India’s foreign ministry put out a strong statement against a report from the United States State Department on religious freedom in...
After 2014, India became familiar with the phenomenon of the “Godi Media”, a phrase coined by the Magsaysay Award-winning journalist Ravish Kumar....
In 2014, India became familiar with the phenomenon of ‘godi media’, a phrase coined later by the Magsaysay Award-winning journalist Ravish Kumar....
India’s new government has a new cabinet that is the old cabinet. The ministers for home, defence, foreign affairs and finance will be the same. ...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the NDA allies in the Central Hall of Parliament just before his swearing-in on Saturday. His message was that...
Let's focus on the positives of 4 June. To the Opposition, congratulations and best wishes. You fought an election against heavy odds. You weren’t...
A painfully long election in our hottest summer has ended. The tea leaves will be read in the exit polls, but one must keep in mind their imperfect...
The Bharatiya Janata Party is India’s largest political force, but its ideology is not properly understood. Some aspects of it — the opposition to...
On 13 May this year, a headline was published that read: 'UN-linked body defers NHRC India accreditation for second year in a row'. Beneath this was...
The primary function of Parliament is to legislate. When we elect people to the Lok Sabha, we are choosing who will write and pass our laws. In India,...
The primary function of Parliament is to legislate. When we elect members to the Lok Sabha, we are choosing who will write and pass our laws. In...
At a civil society meeting in Bangalore this week, the question was asked if a Hindu Rashtra was on the horizon in the event of a third term for the...
Three years ago, on 15 April 2021, the National Taskforce on Covid met for the first time in three months (its previous meeting had been on 11...
Journalist, activist, and author Aakar Patel delivered the 44th JP Memorial Lecture for the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on March 23 at...
In my 55 years of adult life, I have been trying to understand economists and have consistently failed. In my student days, I briefly considered...
Bangladesh is ‘partly free’ in the Freedom House report of 2024. India and Pakistan are classified in the same way. Bangladesh is today, according...
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest just before the Lok Sabha elections will be seen as an attack on democracy, which it is without doubt....
This is not a free and fair election. The repercussions and ramifications of this rigging and fixing will be felt throughout Narendra Modi’s third...
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest before the elections will be seen as an attack on democracy, which it is without doubt. It is also of a piece with...
After implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, can we expect a National Population Register (NPR) and a National Register of Citizens (NRC)?...
After CAA (Citizenship [Amendment] Act), can we expect an NPR (National Population Register) and an NRC (National Register of Citizens)? That would...
There was a popular video recently by a young man named Dhruv Rathee, which irked the government’s supporters. Its broad argument may be understood...
Next year, the world’s largest NGO or non-governmental organisation marks its centenary. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded in 1925...
I am writing this from the United States, where I attended an interesting solidarity meeting. It was interesting because it combined two struggles —...
India’s electoral bonds scheme has been declared illegal, a rare win in court for those resisting authoritarianism. But many elections, including...
India’s electoral bonds scheme has been declared illegal, a rare win in court for those resisting authoritarianism. But many elections, including...
The demolitions in Uttarakhand last week, after which five people were killed in violence, follows a pattern that we see in Bharatiya Janata...
Demolitions in Uttarakhand this month, after which five were killed in violence, follow a pattern we can see in the BJP states. The pattern is, of...
On its website, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says: “The philosophy of Integral Humanism looks at the individual not merely as a material object...
On the third page of its constitution, the BJP lays out its membership conditions: “Any Indian citizen of 18 years or above who accepts Articles II,...
On the third page of its constitution, the Bharatiya Janata Party lays out its conditions for membership: ‘Any Indian citizen of 18 years or above...
Sociologist M.N. Srinivas has written that the use of alcohol and intoxicants in Hindu religious rituals is part of the practices of popular and...
I am writing this from Gujarat, where the government has decided to lift prohibition in one part of the state. As a news report put it, this was done...