Retributions  

Mehta advocates an open conversation about ”what new social values signify and how they can be properly embedded in society without repression and conflict.” Useful as it may sound and true as it is, that essentially is the problem with Mehta’s argument: the notion of individual freedom militates against conversations originating within existing societal norms. Understanding the angst against freedom does not automatically translate into an ability to address them without compromising freedom

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!NDTV
While Barkha Dutt goes hammer and tongs against Mr Kunte’s post, guess where it is featured?
“Appalling journalism,” says Chyetanya Kunte, a Netherlands-based engineer, on his web blog Nov 27.
“In one instance, Barkha Dutt of NDTV asks a husband about [...]

Why did we forget Nariman House
Kanchan Gupta was the first to report this story. Now, if a report in the Times of India is to be believed, the government apparently ”forgot” to mention the Nariman House massacre in the United Nation Security Council because it may offend Muslim sensiblities.
Israel has been one of India’s closest [...]

BJP faces a leadership crisis

After the virtual retirement of Atal Bihari Vajpayee from active politics, L.K Advani is, by some distance, BJP’s tallest leader. A master politician who rescued the party from electoral irrelevance, Advani’s position as the party strategist is unchallenged. But has Mr Advani–BJP’s prime ministerial candidate–emerged as a statesman? At least on [...]

The Vasudhara Raje government refuses to learn from its mistakes
As has been pointed out multiple times, the current crisis in Rajasthan owes its origins to the unimplementable promises made to the Gurjjar community before the 2004 assembly elections. Now instead of addressing the root cause of the mayhem in Rajasthan–an unaccountable reservation system which seeks [...]

The false prophets of social justice are responsible for the mayhem in Rajasthan
In his latest column in the Indian Express, Pratap Bhanu Mehta opines that solving the Gurjjar crisis in Rajasthan would require a lot of ”political imagination.” But where is the space for political maneuvering? The Vasundhara Raje government is caught in a bind of [...]

The Supreme Court cannot fight the battle for the people of India
In a judgment which was not completely unexpected, the Supreme Court has upheld reservations for OBCs in central educational institutions. In a series of four different but concurring verdicts the five judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court has held,
a) The 93rd amendment [...]

St Stephen’s Principal Reverend Valson Thampu has finally responded to criticism directed against him for reserving 40% seats in his college for Christians with a sub-quota for Dalit Christians. In his response, Thampu has made two points. First,
If Deenabandhu Andrews were alive today, he would have been appalled by the college as a [...]

St Stephen’s college, one of India’s most prestigious centers for liberal arts education has decided to impose a 4010% Dalit Christian quota. Well-known historian, Ram Chandra Guha has criticized the college’s decision in no uncertain terms and has even dubbed it as march of evangelical Christianity. Guha had made another important point:
It is [...]

Rajasthan Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje Scindia has suddenly discovered that caste-based quotas make little sense and has called for a change in the mindset.
Today, the government’s role has narrowed down. There is an increase in public partnership (with the government),” she remarked, insisting reservations had a greater importance when employment opportunities ’solely’ existed in government.
“It’s [...]