Ram Madhav

Dharma: Decoding the Epics for a Meaningful Life

Ram Madhav, February 11, 2021

When K M Munshi authored the 7-part Krishnaavataara series on the life of Bhagwan Krishna, traditionalists found it demeaning to bring down the divine to a mundane level. But through that path-breaking work, Munshi helped take Hindu classical religion into the drawing rooms and boardrooms of India’s new rich and modern, to the elites and […]

Ideology and Vision of Mahatma Gandhi: Global Relevance in 21st Century

Ram Madhav, February 9, 2021

Text of Shri Ram Madhav’s Keynote Address at International Conference (Virtual) on “Ideology and Vision of Mahatma Gandhi: Global Relevance in 21st Century” organised by Panjab University in association with India Foundation, Nottingham University and Nottingham Trent University on 1-3 February, 2021. I congratulate Punjab University for hosting the conference on “Relevance of Gandhi in […]

Shaivism in Kashmir

Ram Madhav, February 2, 2021

Text of Shri Ram Madhav’s address at the Book Release of Hungarian translation of Swami Lakshman Joo’s works on Shaivism in Kashmir, organised by the Embassy of India in Budapest, Hungary on 28 January 2021. Swami Lakshman Joo was a great mystic scholar of Kashmir Shaivism in the last century. Born into a Kashmiri Pandit […]

In The Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century

Ram Madhav, February 2, 2021

Southeast Asia was never a homogeneous region. It is vast, diverse and widespread. The Indian and Chinese voyagers were the first to reach these distant territories – Indians went with their culture while the Chinese with their people. Arabs came later to do business and also transmitted their religion Islam in some parts. Then came […]

Gandhian Approach to Duties and Rights

Ram Madhav, January 30, 2021

All through his life, Gandhi fought for the rights of people. Whether in South Africa or in London or back home in India, Gandhi’s struggles were for the people who were helpless, politically, economically and socially. Gandhi launched major agitations against the oppressive colonists in South Africa as well as in India for securing the […]

A roadmap to reform democracy

Ram Madhav, January 25, 2021

Elected institutions must become less majoritarian, while other institutions must give voice to non-majorities and provide balance The new American President, Joe Biden, has announced his intention to host a summit of democracies in the first year of office. The growing democracy deficit in the world is bothering the world’s oldest democracy — the United […]

A New Challenge in the Valley

Ram Madhav, January 19, 2021

After DDC election results, it’s time to curb radicalism and start winning Kashmiri hearts and minds again Several weeks after the completion of the District Development Council (DDC) elections and declaration of results, the Gupkaris are struggling to form the councils. In an exuberant mood, the Gupkar leaders declared the results to be a victory […]

Civil-military friction in US, army supremacy in Pak

Ram Madhav, January 9, 2021

Pentagon’s anxiety had a reason. It stemmed from a series of statements by Trump’s close aides about his authority to impose Martial Law in the country. When Donald Trump supporters stormed the Congress building on the Capitol Hill on 6 January, minutes after the joint session of the House and the Senate began counting votes […]

Indo-Pacific is the Power Axis of the 21st Century

Ram Madhav, January 4, 2021

Year 1992 was momentous in the history of the Indo-Pacific. In February that year, the Chinese legislature passed a resolution innocuously named as the ‘Law Concerning Territorial Waters and Adjacent Regions’. This resolution was the starting point of China’s ambitious and aggressive maritime adventures in Nanhai or Nanyang – the Chinese name for the South […]