The relationship between Gujarat chief minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and the media, especially “English maedia” as he puts it, has followed two distinct trends over the last ten years. The …
The contours of the next general election are becoming ever more clearer with the expected “elevation” of Rahul Gandhi as the vice-president of the Congress. Given the repeated rumours on …
If elections were just a bunch of opinion polls and television shows and magazine covers and advertisements and 3D shows, it would seem as if Narendra Modi has already won …
The Bharatiya Janata Party increasingly resembles a franchisee operation like Nirula’s or McDonald’s. Its flag flies high in a number of States, but each of its regional satraps—be it Narendra …
Professor Dipankar Gupta, a former profesor of sociology, currently fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum, in conversation with Sheela Bhatt of rediff.com: Sheela Bhatt: One columnist wrote that the 2009 …
Nothing captures the Indian political sitcom/tragicomedy of tu-tu-main-main better than a strong political cartoon, and nobody does it better than E.P. Unny day after day in The Indian Express. Indira …
The following is the full, unexpurgated text of the convocation address made by the Kannada literatteur Prof U.R. Anantha Murthy at the Jamia Milia Islamia on Thursday, 30 October 2008: …
Ashok Desai in The Telegraph, Calcutta: “The relocation of the Nano plant to Gujarat was not the doing of Gujaratis; it was the government of Narendra Modi that was responsible. …
Narendra Modi‘s Gujarat sent Qutubuddin Ansari to West Bengal. How ironic that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee should return the favour with the Tata Nano. How ironic that BJP ruled Gujarat should quietly …
AMARESH MISRA writes from Bombay: The recent series of bomb blasts that have rocked India—a series which has become a proverbial dark tunnel where no end is in sight—denote a …
By U.R. ANANTHA MURTHY What has happened in Dakshina Kannada is a shame. The Christians in the past had made contribution to the development of modern Kannada. Rev Kittel who …
SHARANYA KANVILKAR writes from Bombay: Waking up at five, switching on the computer, making myself a cup of coffee, and checking mails (and what the world has been upto) has …
A common feature of post-Godhra Gujarat and the Amarnath shrine row are whispers of an “economic blockade” of Muslims by Hindus. In Gujarat, it was reported that pamphlets were distributed …
AMARESH MISRA writes from Bombay: The Ahmedabad blasts mark a turning point in Indian political life. Till now, whenever and wherever a blast occurred, the blame was put squarely on …
A two-judge vacation bench of the Supreme Court of India has restrained the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat from arresting sociologist Ashis Nandy, for an opinion piece titled ‘Blame the …
Ashis Nandy, facing criminal charges for a think-piece he wrote in The Times of India on Gujaratis after the victory of Narendra Modi, tears into non-resident Indians and their support …
First, the Supreme Court shifted the Best Bakery case from Baroda to Bombay after all the 21 accused were acquitted. Then it shifted the Bilkis Bano case because the victim …
The Sikh pogrom of 1984 in Delhi with the Congress in charge is a ready excuse on the lips of those inclined to look the other way on the Muslim …
GIRISH NIKAM writes from New Delhi: Now that the elections are over and done with in Gujarat, one needs to look at the role of the media in that State, …
On the night of Narendra Modi‘s thumping win, Veerappa Moily decided to further expose the intellectual bankruptcy of the Congress. Appearing on a CNN-IBN show hosted by Sagarika Ghose, the …
The pat post-facto rationalisation of the Gujarat verdict is that the Congress was hoist with its own petard because it was speaking a political language that not too care to …
B. Raman, former additional secretary, and director of the Institute of Topical Studies, Madras, in Outlook: In the Hindu diaspora in the West, more young people admire Narendra Modi than …
Swapan Dasgupta in The Telegraph, Calcutta: “In Gujarat, the media were neither disinterested observers nor merely biased against Narendra Modi; they were an active participant. From disseminating ridiculous stories about …
PRITAM SENGUPTA writes from New Delhi: Narendra Modi‘s victory has deep-frozen the political discourse. The pseudo-nationalists are acting as if the kingdom is already theirs—for keeps. And the pseudo-secularists are …
Narendra Modi’s detractors in Gujarat and elsewhere might be squirming at his victory, but one of his most vocal and visible critics, Mallika Sarabhai, says the fineprint is actually encouraging. …