Sometime in the mid-1980s, the then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras had asked the assembled leaders of the organisation from all the states a simple question: “Should the RSS plunge fully into the Ram Janmabhoomi movement or allow it to be led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (the body of saints […]
Populist’ is the chosen word of invective for a section of the intellectual elite these days. From newspaper articles by out-of-business columnists to platforms like the World Economic Forum, the buzz everywhere is about populism. Gone are the days of a hue-and-cry over socialism versus capitalism or secularism versus communalism. India’s people have seen through […]
This Independence Day is different. For the first time in 70 years, the high constitutional positions are all held today by individuals subscribing to a non-Congress ideology. When NDA 1 was in power, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat became the vice president and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister. But this time around, the president, vice president and prime […]
The independence struggle as a narrative of the highs and lows of our national will The revisiting of history keeps happening. There are a couple of reasons why one revisits history time and again. One reason, of course, is that we get newer information as time passes. When we chance upon a new document or […]
“We have been waiting for you, Prime Minister!” When I heard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel say this to our Prime Minister at Ben Gurion airport, a three-year-old meeting between the two at a New York hotel flashed across my mind. It was September, 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making his maiden visit to the […]
GST will reset the basic rules of taxation. It is an illustration of PM Modi’s transformative reforms. Modi is on a transformative agenda, the fruits of which will be borne by this nation in a few years’ time. He is setting India’s basics right with a futuristic vision. The PM has quoted Chanakya in his […]
His candidacy for president is being viewed in terms of his caste identity alone. This is an injustice “Maine jaise swayam safalta paayi, vaise tum log bhi mehnat karo (Just like I achieved success on my own, you should work hard for it too)”. These words of Ram Nath Kovind, the NDA’s nominee for president, […]
Decoding a Blast The timing and location of the latest attack in Kabul may be significant. The dots can be joined to the Haqqani Network Exactly a decade after 9/11, on September 11, 2011, a truck pulled up next to the US military base in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan. Within minutes, there was […]
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/narendra-modi-government-third-anniversary-indias-most-trusted-4675577/ In three years, the nation has seen the prime minister and his team work towards a new vision Three years is not enough for any government to transform a nation; but it is enough to judge if the direction is right. Three years of the Narendra Modi government clearly demonstrate that the direction is […]
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/turning-down-china-one-belt-one-road-4659155/ Turning down China But India’s staying away from the OBOR mega show will not affect bilateral relations adversely Belt and Road is China’s most ambitious initiative in history. Popularly known as One Belt One Road (OBOR), this infrastructure project of gigantic proportions attempts to bring under its sway more than 60 countries, from […]
