Political battles must be fought through constitutional institutions, not by turning the streets into an alternative Parliament. The debate over the Opposition’s strategy has entered a serious new phase. Statements attributed to Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have brought the question of regime change, revolutionary politics and the limits of…
The Supreme Court must defend fundamental rights without weakening the State’s duty to maintain public order. There comes a point when judicial observations, however well-intentioned, deserve to be questioned as forcefully as executive excesses. The Supreme Court of Bharat is the ultimate guardian of the Constitution, but its observations cannot be beyond public scrutiny. When…
Every proud Bharatiya should view the Trump administration’s restrictions on H-1B visas not merely as a setback for Bharatiya technology professionals aspiring to work in America, but as a challenge and an opportunity for Bharat to accelerate its journey towards technological self-reliance. What Washington intends as a measure to protect American jobs could, ironically, help…
There comes a point in every political confrontation when rhetoric must give way to facts. The raging controversy over Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Congress-led Opposition’s street agitation has reached precisely that point. The Congress and its allies may continue shouting “vote chori”, demanding the CEC’s resignation and presenting themselves as champions of…
Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi has suddenly discovered that the Election Commission needs to be lectured on electoral purity, constitutional propriety and democratic values. How convenient! Before preaching to the present Election Commission, perhaps Quraishi should spare a little time to revisit his own record as CEC and explain why standards that appear so…
The Russia-Ukraine war has gone on far too long, exacting a terrible human, economic and geopolitical cost. Yet, despite repeated diplomatic initiatives, the world remains nowhere close to a durable settlement. It is in this difficult landscape that Bharat’s emerging role deserves serious attention—not as a country claiming to possess a magic formula for peace,…
Is the global economy once again approaching a point where its shock absorbers are wearing thin? That is the uncomfortable question the latest warnings about recession, stubborn inflation, geopolitical conflicts, elevated asset valuations and mounting sovereign debt should force policymakers and markets to confront. Nobel laureate Michael Spence’s warning that the world could be only…
The allegations of sexual harassment against Delhi Police personnel during Saturday’s protest near Jantar Mantar are serious. They cannot be dismissed, trivialised or explained away merely because the allegations have been made against members of the uniformed force. At the same time, neither can an allegation, however disturbing, automatically become an established fact. The truth…
There are moments when politics must stop at the doorstep of humanity, national pride and courage. The September 30 Flydubai FZ1073 incident was one such moment. A Bharatiya pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, was brutally attacked inside the cockpit by his co-pilot while the aircraft was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Gravely injured and bleeding,…
What really happened aboard the FlySaudi flight may prove to be far more consequential than an isolated aviation incident. At first glance, an incident involving a commercial aircraft can be treated as a matter of aviation security. But when the aircraft, the individuals involved and the destination are viewed against the extraordinarily complicated geopolitics of…
