Forthright
The successful user-trial of the Agni-IV ballistic missile marks yet another milestone in Bharat’s steady march towards strategic self-reliance and credible deterrence. In an increasingly volatile Asian security environment, where two nuclear-armed neighbours continue to modernise their military capabilities, the latest validation of Agni-IV sends a clear message: Bharat possesses both the technological capability and…
For decades, Bharat watched successive industrial revolutions unfold from the sidelines. We became consumers of many breakthrough technologies rather than their creators. The semiconductor race was largely missed. The internet revolution was dominated by American companies. China surged ahead in manufacturing. The lesson was unmistakable—late entry into strategic technologies comes at an enormous national cost….
How many controversies must Meta stumble into before sovereign nations begin treating it as a geopolitical actor rather than just another social media company? The temporary restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video may have been dismissed by Meta as an “inadvertent technical error.” But India has every reason to ask a far more fundamental…
Democracy is not weakened when questions are asked. It is weakened when questions are dismissed without answers. In a constitutional democracy, no institution—whether it wears political colours, religious robes or spiritual attire—should claim immunity from public scrutiny. If governments, corporations, NGOs and religious organizations can all be investigated whenever credible complaints arise, why should any…
For decades, India lived with a dangerous contradiction. We celebrated our engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs, yet remained heavily dependent on foreign countries for a wide range of critical industrial products. From sophisticated electronics and industrial machinery to components powering renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and electric vehicles, India often remained a buyer rather than a builder. That…
Few debates expose our collective mindset as quickly as those involving symbols. In Bharat, even colours are rarely allowed to remain just colours. The latest controversy over the Bharat hockey team’s jersey changing from blue to saffron is a classic example. Before asking whether saffron should replace blue, perhaps we should ask a simpler question:…
The social media-based Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has apparently mistaken the Narendra Modi government’s patience for weakness. Nothing else explains its latest veiled threat to throw a democratically elected government out of power through street protests. If that indeed is its political ambition, nobody should object. But there is only one constitutional and democratic route…
The time has perhaps come for the Modi government to learn one important lesson from the recent agitation. In its anxiety to appear accommodative and democratic, it has blinked once too often before unreasonable demands. The consequence is there for everyone to see. Every concession has only emboldened those threatening more street protests, more disruption…
The biggest disservice sections of the Bharatiya and international media have done in recent times is not merely getting their facts wrong—it is deliberately getting their characterisation wrong. Calling anarchists, political foot soldiers and habitual troublemakers as “GenZ” is perhaps one of the most dishonest narratives sold to the people of Bharat. Generation Z is…
Will the Opposition allow Parliament to function now that the Minister has resigned? That is the question before the nation after the first week of Parliament’s Winter Session was reduced to political theatre, slogan-shouting and adjournments. If the answer is still “No”, then the country can safely conclude that this was never about students. It…
