Forthright
For decades after Independence, India’s military posture was defined by defensive restraint—often necessary, often costly. From the trauma of 1962 to the surprise of Kargil, our armed forces were too frequently asked to fight with limited technological support, outdated doctrinal thinking, and a political class nervous about projecting power. But over the last decade, that…
Sometimes revolutions arrive loudly. Others appear as a routine PDF on a Supreme Court website. What the Court uploaded this week looked like a dry docket of High Court appointments under Chief Justice B.R. Gavai. It is not. It is the most radical act of transparency the Collegium has ever undertaken—one that may permanently rewrite…
The Congress party’s Karnataka government—its only major southern citadel after Telangana—is once again on the brink of internal implosion. The latest crisis stems from an increasingly visible, increasingly bitter power struggle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief D.K. Shivakumar. And once again, the so-called “Gandhi family leadership”—Rahul…
For Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of a collapsing Congress party, to declare that the BJP and RSS have “no respect for the Constitution” is not only ridiculous — it is laughable. A party that has spent decades twisting, tinkering, diluting, and weaponizing the Constitution for vote-bank politics now wants to lecture the nation on constitutional…
Universities are often described as temples of learning, places where knowledge is pursued without fear, bias, or ideological coercion. They are meant to be sanctuaries for curiosity and intellectual freedom, not battlegrounds for religious indoctrination. Yet, recent revelations surrounding Jamia Millia Islamia raise an unsettling and unavoidable question: what happens when a seat of learning…
The G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, which concluded yesterday, marked yet another decisive moment in India’s diplomatic journey under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What happened in South Africa was far more than a formal multilateral engagement. It was a clear demonstration of how India—once at the receiving end of global lecturing—has now become a power…
Every time an Indian military aircraft goes down—especially one built indigenously—a predictable chorus springs to life. The naysayers awaken, foreign arms lobbies turn hyperactive, and social-media warriors with little understanding of aviation technology rush to ridicule India’s capabilities. Worse, a private TV news channel promoter, who imagines himself an expert in all things under the…
India today stands at a civilisational crossroads because of one man whose words should have been enough to trigger swift, uncompromising prosecution: Sharjeel Imam. Not because he is an activist. Not because he criticised a law. But because he openly called for cutting India into pieces—and has been rewarded with years of prime-time sympathy, academic…
The recent remarks by PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti—calling the arrest of the Delhi blast accused an “insult to Kashmir”—are not merely irresponsible; they represent a deeper, systemic pattern of political destabilisation long practised by the Abdullahs, the Muftis and their national patron, the Congress. When a mainstream politician attempts to convert a counter-terror operation into…
The death sentence handed down to former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) was expected, yet it has plunged the country into an even deeper political and moral crisis. What is unfolding in Dhaka is not merely a courtroom drama but a clash over legitimacy, accountability, and the very future…
