Opinion

When “Why?” Becomes a Threat: Is West Bengal’s Democratic Space Shrinking?

West Bengal’s recent clashes over classrooms, universities, the press and cultural institutions raise a larger question: what happens when political power enters spaces meant for independent thought? The incidents may not be connected, but together they reveal how easily institutional autonomy and dissent can come under pressure.

‘Assalamu Alaikum, Inshaallah, Jazakallah’: Peace, Hope and Gratitude Don’t Cancel Out Your Merit

Dr Bushara Bano’s use of “Assalamu Alaikum”, “InshaAllah” and “Jazakallah” has sparked controversy. But can three expressions of faith overshadow an IPS officer’s qualifications, competitive achievements and professional record? The debate raises a larger question about identity, neutrality and merit in public service.

You Can Crack IIT. Can You Crack Its Caste System?

IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode’s suicide has revived questions about caste discrimination, merit and student rights in India’s elite institutions. As allegations of harassment and casteist abuse emerge, the larger concern is whether campuses meant to nurture talent are becoming hostile spaces for marginalised students

What Is India’s Youth Asking For: Cultural Identity or the Right to a Future?

India’s youth have always questioned power, from the student movements of the 1970s to the Anna movement. Today, programmes in Ujjain and Indore raise a new question: is young India seeking cultural identity, political recognition or something more basic — the right to shape its future?

BRICS Isn’t Beijing’s Game. It’s India’s Strategic Autonomy

India’s BRICS engagement is not about choosing China over the West but protecting its strategic autonomy. As the global order turns multipolar, India must retain strong ties across competing blocs while defending its independent foreign policy and ensuring that national interests, not Western approval, shape its international choices.
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Covid-19 and Indian Muslims

“It’s a matter of common decency. That’s an idea which may make some people smile, but the only means of fighting a plague is...

Indo-China Conflict: A Renegade’s Reading

More romantic than Mao Zedong but much less strong-willed, Jawaharlal Nehru was a democratic socialist. He was inspired by egalitarian ideas of Marx- Lenin...

Indo-China conflict: A Renegade’s Reading

The world’s longest territorial dispute on the Himalayas could have been nipped in the bud if Mao Zedong and Jawaharlal Nehru, the helmsmen of...

Indo-China conflict: A Renegade’s Reading

Can a student of history afford a sense of sadness, a subjective feeling over the past and its present spillovers? Knowing very well that...

PV Narasimha Rao the economic liberaliser was wary about taking credit

July 24, 1991. It was on this day the powerful chains controlling the Indian economic elephant were removed by Prime Minister P V Narasimha...

Vagaries of Akashvani (All India Radio)

Under the present dispensation, Akashvani has become whimsical. Programmes are started, dispensed with, renamed or disrupted abruptly, reminding of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s whimsical...
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