CATEGORIES

Chaos In Bengal

Though ringed with swathes of hope, communalism is slow poisoning Bengal, as politicians fight over the spoils of hatred

Father, Son And Holy Bike

The SP emerges in one piece from the ‘family feud’, with some deft manoeuvring by Mulayam.

The Sins Of Our Fathers

Sex crimes come with a tinge of holy terror when clergymen prey on the laity. An institutional response can’t be different from a Christian one. Why then does India’s Catholic Church not walk its pious talk?

From Amir Khusrau To Filthy Abuse

India these days is ­being ­identified with ­Hinduism. Our history tells us why patriots must stand against this.

Don't Foist Fear Onto Nationalism

Being anti-Hindu is secularism, support to terrorists is human rights, insulting national culture is freedom of expression. Only, love for the Mother is debatable!

Rockbed Of Cultural Renascence

Patriotism is the vitality of a nation and Indians abundantly love their country. Arguments that it can lead to friction are absurd. We can’t live in just the present.

In Lieu of Courting Justice

How Muzaffarnagar is trying to heal the wounds of the 2013 riots and move on

We Need A 'New Deal' To Come Out Of Jobless Growth

Elected general secretary of the CPI(M) last year, Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury, 63, has had a patchy record—an expected electoral win in Kerala was partly eclipsed by a drubbing in West Bengal, where he is said to have willy-nilly gone along with the state unit’s insistence on an “arrangement” with the Congress, against the party’s much-ballyhooed ‘Vizag line’. In a freewheeling interview with Bula Devi, Yechury denies suggestions that the Left is on the decline, demands a ban on futures trading to control prices of essential commodities and claims that only seven per cent of workers today are unionised —the biggest challenge for the Left. Excerpts:

The Third Gender, Free To Fly

A recoiling society banishes transgenders to the wretched margins. As a bill in Parliament pledges protection, these Indians glimpse freedom.

His Fight To Finish

In his gritty tussle with BCCI, Verma had a little help from friends

Sinositis Relapse?

How are South China Sea and Balochistan connected? Via the dragon ofcourse.

Sacredness is a Place

At Mother House, the devout still feel an indefinable presence.

To Swim In Reason

Bikini or burkini... It's a choice best left to the woman.

Different Approaches To A Table

Indian ‘hardliners’ feel confident in reaching out. But Pakistani lines of communication ossify into suspicion.

In the Mood for a Desi Robin Hood

Modi’s demonetisation gambit has paid off and opened the door to bolder reforms.

At The Mainland's Stolid Defence

Cruelly barred from joining cricket’s mainstream for long, Northeastern states have decided on a final fling of the ball

'The Uttarakhand Mafia Has Gone Into Hiding'

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has inherited huge challen­ges—corruption, exodus from border villa­ges, under-development and more. In an interview with Bula Devi, he spells out the measures he has taken to overcome these challenges and put the state on the road to progress. Excerpts:

The Tamil Gag Raj

A cartoonist’s recent arrest is no exception, leaders in Tamil Nadu have always pounded the press.

The Munsif's Mother Tongue

Reform of the lower judiciary is imperative, but a national service will run roughshod over the federal principle, social justice and linguistic rights.

Super Toil Across Years Begets Power

India, still a ‘balancing power’, is central to Trump’s NSS. To reap its benefits, we need long work on core interests.

Nationalism Made In USA

Defence cooperation is part of India’s increasing subordination to US geostrategy

‘The Congress Didn't Respect My Dad After His Death'

Less than three years after its founding, the YSR Congress fell short of power in Andhra Pradesh by just 2 per cent of the votes in 2014 . Its leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, in the middle of a padayatra ahead of the 2019 election, speaks to Outlook about the circumstances of his dramatic departure from the Congress, the problems facing the state today and what he intends to do. 

The Glue Of Contradiction

Both the BJP and the PDP know it’s best to carry on together despite pulling J&K in opposite directions

Mutter Needs More Courage

Angela Merkel’s smaller victory means sterner challenges. Then there’s the AfD threat.

The Crooked Public Schools Road

Unrecognised and illegal, budget schools run by slumlords fleece and fool working-class parents

Only-For-Profit Schools

How private schools work around the bar on profiteering and rake in the moolah

'Police Chased Us Even Into Our Hostel Rooms. We Want An Apology From The V-C'

BANARAS Hindu University’s campus is one of the largest in Uttar Pradesh. It is accessible through several gates, the most renowned and biggest of which overlooks Lanka, a locality in Varanasi. It is at this gate that hundreds of students of BHU, mostly women scholars, were protesting since 6 am on September 21. It is from this historic site that they were lathicharged by police and chased into their hostels. Videos of the all-woman crowd being beaten by police have since gone viral, sending shockwaves through the country.The women students had come out in protest after an incident of sexual harassment on the campus, for which the BHU administration blamed the victim. She was the first to step out to protest against the unequal treatment of women in the university and the lack of basic safety norms there. She was soon joined by other hostel residents, and as she shaved her head in protest, became a symbol of all BHU women students’ demands.

A Novel Catches The Bus To Wagah

Indian publishers are fertile ground for most ­Pakistani writers who have few options back home.

Oedipus Backwards

Thin on patient detail and emotional heft, Pamuk’s hero rushes from scene to scene. Major questions are asked, but they don’t illuminate our readerly selves.

Ripples Turn Into Waves

Changed public sentiment puts Dhaka in a cleft stick on hasty repatriation of Myanmar refugees