Tavleen Singh

Tavleen Singh, a leading Columnist associated with The Indian Express. Find all Columns from Tavleen Singh here.

Saving democracy, really?

Sun, Apr 22, 2018

Is last week’s move by the Congress to impeach the Chief Justice of India part of a crusade that began even before Narendra Modi became Prime Minister?

One other group of Indians remained unmoved by what happened to the little girl. Hindutva hyper-nationalists. Their voice has got louder, angrier and uglier in the past three years, and especially on social media.

Beyond urban squalor, hope lies with Swachh Bharat’s rural footsoldiers

Wed, Apr 11, 2018

The more urban the landscape became the filthier it was and in most towns and cities the story is the same so from an urban viewpoint Swachh Bharat appears to have made no difference.

Fifth column: Hindutva against Hindus?

Sun, Apr 08, 2018

Ironically, it is the Hindutva mothership that has noticed what is happening before most political commentators have.

Fifth Column: Officials need exams, not students

Sun, Apr 01, 2018

The official in charge of the Central Board of Secondary Examinations must be sacked if she has not already been persuaded to resign by the time you read this.

Bad news, bad times

Sun, Mar 25, 2018

Everyone agrees that the chances of Modi becoming Prime Minister again in 2019 have diminished in recent days, so it is important to examine what we could get instead.

Fifth column: Alarm bells start to ring

Sun, Mar 18, 2018

The lesson for Modi is that he must stop pretending that achche din (good times) are already here. They are not.

Fifth Column: The past is still with us

Sun, Mar 11, 2018

If the Modi government has set up a committee to examine ancient India, it is to be welcomed. But, we must hope that there are real historians and scholars who constitute it and not the kind of pamphleteers who flock to the RSS.

Fifth Column: Hankering for political power

Sun, Mar 04, 2018

Only recently did Rahul Gandhi admit publicly that he needed to speak with respect when he spoke of Narendra Modi because he was Prime Minister of India.

Fifth column: Only one bank robber?

Sun, Feb 25, 2018

Some TV channels were so determined to find this ‘third generation diamantaire’ that fearless TV reporters were sent off to an apartment in New York where he was supposed to be hiding.

Fifth column: Narendra Modi’s media problem

Sun, Feb 18, 2018

Mr Modi does not like journalists... But it is time to get over it, or the Prime Minister could find himself friendless and alone at a time when he needs friends in the media, not sycophants.

Fifth column: The price of Hindutva?

Sun, Feb 11, 2018

It could be time for the Prime Minister to notice that in the name of saving cows he has alienated Dalit communities across India and not just Muslims

Fifth Column: Broken promises

Sun, Feb 04, 2018

This kind of desperate poverty exists in some measure in most states that the BJP has won since 2014. And, it was in the hope that things would change dramatically that BJP chief ministers won resounding victories.

Thanks to Karni Sena, it feels like we are in middle of a surreal horror film

Sun, Jan 28, 2018

It is an atmosphere so infused with latent menace and terror that it is hard to believe that the Prime Minister actually came to Davos last week to tell foreign investors that they were welcome to India.

Modi in Davos

Sun, Jan 21, 2018

There was a brief moment 10 years or so ago when India was the flavour of Davos. There were Indian fashion shows and art exhibitions, Bollywood songs played in cafes and people danced to them in nightclubs.

Fifth column: Aadhaar – An idea gone very wrong

Sun, Jan 14, 2018

The one thing that has changed is that they are all forced now to have an Aadhaar card, and if they want work under the MNREGA, they need to upload their details to get a job card

Fifth Column: Lies and deceit

Sun, Jan 07, 2018

Prime Minister Modi demonstrated real weakness when he said during the Gujarat election campaign that Pakistan was interfering in the election with the objective of defeating him in his home state.

Goodbye, 2017: Now, it’s time for BJP governments to show ordinary Indians they are there to serve them

Sun, Dec 31, 2017

Things that must happen, at least in BJP states, if Narendra Modi is to once more make parivartan and vikas his leitmotif in the general election in 2019

Fifth column: Not a good week for Modi

Sun, Dec 24, 2017

The acquittal of everyone charged with bribery and corruption in the 2G scam would have come as a personal blow to Modi. He made this the fulcrum of his campaign in 2014

Fifth column: When it comes to Sonia Gandhi’s political legacy, there is less to admire

Sun, Dec 17, 2017

If under Sonia Gandhi the Congress party reached its lowest point in a century of existence, it was because ordinary voters discovered that India had become a country in which they could never hope for more than a few scraps from the high table.