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Aakar PatelThe Times of India |
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...
The temple inauguration in Ayodhya closes a chapter in our history that many youngsters will not know about, but the rest of us have lived through. It...
It’s sometimes necessary to remind ourselves of the past in order to understand the present. Four years ago, in 2020, evangelical Muslim...
Sometimes, it is necessary to remind ourselves of the past to understand the present. Four years ago, in March 2020, the evangelical Muslim...
In times such as these, we must remember we are citizens, not subjects. The difference boils down to one fact: we are not being ruled, merely...
Defence minister Rajnath Singh has visited the families of those Kashmiris recently killed in army custody and assured them justice. He told them, it...
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The dictionary says this is a proverbial saying whose popularity is attributed to an official in former US...
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The dictionary says this is a proverbial saying whose popularity is attributed to an official in former US ...
A rational nation, a reasonable State, should be able to distinguish between a peaceful protest, however spirited, and an act of terrorism. That we no...
A rational nation, a reasonable state, should be able to distinguish between a peaceful protest, however spirited, and an act of terrorism. That we no...
Last week, I wrote about South Asia remaining poor compared to many nations in Asia, which have done something different from us. The task is to...
Last week, I wrote about South Asia remaining poor compared to nations in Asia, which have done something different from us. The task now is to...
For 50 years, India has not changed the composition of the Lok Sabha (through what is called delimitation). Enormous power is in the hand of the...
The Emperor’s new clothes—and monikers—are starting to smell stale. Quite foul, in fact. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor once scoffed in a tweet...
Demonetisation’s anniversary came and went, without any defence of the masterstroke from the government. ‘Notebandi’ was the idea of a man with...
Demonetisation’s anniversary came and went, without any defence of the masterstroke from the Indian government. Notebandi was the idea of a man...
The Supreme Court has finished hearing arguments on electoral bonds and will hopefully tender a judgement soon. I say “hopefully” because it has...