Much as one loves India --- and I am xenophobic about it --- one cannot help but ask the question, are we a nation which worships symbolism more than substance? As a people are we given so much to tokenism that tokens salve our conscience, tokens dic
Afzal Guru masterminded the attack on Parliament in 2001, which left nine security and parliament staff dead, with five attackers also being killed. He was arrested and tried for his crimes, sentenced to death by the Sessions Court and his convictio
Justice JS Verma Committee that recently submitted its findings titled as ‘Report of the Committee on Amendments to Criminal Law’ has once again brought to focus the urgent need for reforms in the criminal justice system in India. The principal o
The Supreme Court of India, in a Division Bench consisting of Dr. Justice B.S. Chauhan and Mr. Justice Fakkir Mohammed Ibrahim Kalifulla, has disposed of a civil appeal filed by the State of Gujarat Vs. Hon’ble Justice R.A. Mehta on the question of
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012 is out and has already generated discussion on the state of education in the country. A quick survey of some figures seem to point to a mix of a movement forward – especially in terms of infrastruct
The Chambers Twenty-first Dictionary, which is quite an authoritative lexicon, describes ‘system’ in the following words, “A set of inter-connected or inter-related parts forming a complex whole”. The word ‘systemic’ is defined as “refe
When salmon swim against all odds to reach their spawning grounds no obstruction can stop them. The huge number of rape cases now being reported in India reminds me of this annual migration of salmon. Was India free of rape till fairly recently and
The resounding victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent Gujarat Assembly election has once again reinforced the argument that with good governance and a strong development-oriented agenda, it is possible to buck the anti-incumbency t
I may be permitted to start this paper with a personal statement because some controversial issues would be raised in the paper and I want it to be understood in advance that personally I am deeply committed to secularism. I sincerely believe that th
In Delhi along the Yamuna River a stretch of 371 hectares, that is, approximately 927 acres, has come under cremation ground, samadhi, etc., of people perceived as the leaders of the nation. These include Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur