Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Endgame for Naxalism

When Amit Shah confidently declared that Left-Wing Extremism would be wiped out from India by March 31, it was not merely political rhetoric. It was the culmination of a decade-long, carefully calibrated strategy pursued by the government led by Narendra Modi—a strategy combining security operations, development initiatives, financial disruption of extremist networks, and ideological countermeasures…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Upper House Edge

The coming round of Rajya Sabha elections may not grab primetime headlines like a Lok Sabha battle, but their political consequences could be far more enduring. As polls for 37 seats across 10 states approach, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) appears poised to consolidate — and possibly expand — its strength…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Dragon, Bear & Fire

As tensions in West Asia spiral following the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the global chessboard is shifting with alarming speed. The United States may believe it has executed a decisive strategic strike. But the responses from Beijing and Moscow suggest that Washington may have merely opened another volatile front in…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Bail Without Balance

There is a thin but vital line between safeguarding liberty and sanctifying lawlessness. When courts blur that line, even unintentionally, the consequences extend far beyond the four corners of a bail order. They seep into public confidence — the one currency the judiciary cannot afford to devalue. A magisterial court in Delhi on Monday granted…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Choose Restraint, India

The reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a coordinated U.S.–Iraq military operation marks a dangerous inflection point in West Asian geopolitics. Whether justified in Washington as pre-emptive security or regime-neutralisation, the elimination of the head of a sovereign state detonates a far larger question: what remains of the international order when…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Bluster Meets Steel

When a so-called nuclear-armed state declares “open war” on social media, it isn’t projecting strength. It is advertising instability. That is precisely what Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif did when he thundered that it was now “open war” between Pakistan and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The outburst followed renewed border clashes after Pakistani airstrikes in eastern Afghan…

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Columnist-M.S.Shanker

Robed Realignment

India has never lacked for faith. What it increasingly lacks is accountability from those who monetize it. The latest controversy surrounding Avimukteshwaranand is not an isolated embarrassment—it is part of a recurring pattern. A self-styled spiritual authority lays claim to exalted lineage, courts attention through provocative declarations, faces allegations or scrutiny, and then—almost on cue—discovers…

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