Columnist M S Shanker, Orange News 9

Vote Bank Games, Border State at Risk

West Bengal today stands at a dangerous crossroads—not merely politically, but demographically and institutionally. And at the heart of this churn is the increasingly desperate rhetoric of Mamata Banerjee, whose latest allegation of a “₹1,000 crore deal” to split minority votes is less a political charge and more a revealing confession of insecurity. Let’s call…

Read More
Columnist M S Shanker, Orange News 9

Keralam’s Hindu Moment?

As Keralam votes to elect its 140-member Assembly, this is no routine electoral exercise. Beneath the orderly queues and sealed EVMs lies a deeper political churn—one that could well redefine the state’s entrenched binary. For decades, Keralam has oscillated between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), a predictable pendulum that…

Read More
Columnist M S Shanker, Orange News 9

Ego Pauses, Humanity Breathes

For once, humanity appears to have edged past brinkmanship. The 39th day of the West Asia war—already soaked in over 5,000 lives, including more than 1,600 Iranian civilians—offered a fragile pause. Not because the war exhausted itself, but because Donald Trump chose, at the eleventh hour, to step back from the precipice he had so…

Read More
Columnist M S Shanker, Orange News 9

Now or Never: SC, EC and Centre Must Act

West Bengal today stands at a perilous tipping point where democracy is no longer merely under strain—it is being brazenly subverted. The shocking developments in Malda, where judicial officials, including women, were allegedly held hostage by political goons, are not stray incidents. They are stark indicators of a deeper institutional collapse that has steadily eroded…

Read More
Columnist M S Shanker, Orange News 9

The War That Refused to Bend Iran

In the theatre of modern warfare—where technology, sanctions, and shock-and-awe tactics are expected to deliver swift victories—one uncomfortable truth has resurfaced: nations with deep civilisational roots and hardened political will do not collapse on cue. If anything, the ongoing confrontation between Iran and the United States has once again exposed the limits of brute force,…

Read More