Columnists

Meghnad Desai

Meghnad Desai loves to cook, watch and write about old Bollywood movies and shuttles between London, Delhi and Goa. He pursues controversies on economics, history and anything else which catches his attention. He is also a British parliamentarian sitting in the House of Lords. He has written over 25 books, over 200 articles in learned journals and hundreds of newspaper columns in UK and India.

No reason why citizens should not take up the task of debating Constitutional reform

Sun, Jul 26, 2020

It is the right and duty of citizens to reclaim their original freedoms as it is more than unlikely that governments of any political party which benefit from their power over citizens will renounce their privilege.

Ram Manohar Lohia was right. The Congress is the problem

Sun, Jul 19, 2020

Nothing will be done to prevent it. Neither by the push me-pull you Rahul Gandhi nor by the longest serving Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Modi can learn from Nehru what not to do

Sun, Jul 12, 2020

Nehru was prime minister already before the 1952 election. His record of 17 years at the top is unlikely to be equalled by anyone. Not that Modi could not win a fourth election but Modi abides by Sangh Parivar discipline and will retire when he is 75 in 2025.

China has followed Deng’s rulebook by unilaterally breaking the Hong Kong Treaty

Sun, Jul 05, 2020

The Hong Kong Treaty was like Article 370. It was designed for international display. Now that the time has come, China has torn it up. The timing is important not just because China is more powerful.

Covid has exposed appalling weaknesses in our societies but soon other problems will take priority

Sun, Jun 28, 2020

In every country, the hospital facilities proved inadequate. The poor of all ages and races suffered. They will stay that way... Relax.

India-China: No conceivable solution, we must defend our people as much as territory

Sun, Jun 21, 2020

The Chinese feel that two centuries since the Opium war signalled its decline, it is now a powerful nation. It wants to be on top, the Middle Earth — as it believes it was. India never was a single Empire; not even the Mughals ruled over all of it.

Mahatma Gandhi has been denounced by several. But why racist?

Sun, Jun 14, 2020

Over his lifetime, Gandhi suffered a lot of abuse and even after his death, 72 years ago, the criticism has not stopped.

The plight of migrants would not have gone unchampioned had George Fernandes been around

Sun, Jun 07, 2020

Socialism in India has never looked after the poorer workers in the private informal sector. They are the overwhelming majority, but they do not count.

China’s war on India: Xi is playing for high stakes for another major plank in Chinese nationalism

Sun, May 31, 2020

Meghnad Desai writes: This time the China-India confrontation will not be an isolated affair with India friendless as in 1962. It will be part of a global (hopefully) Cold War.

When lockdown is over, bring workers back to their jobs but with free rail travel

Mon, May 25, 2020

Encourage local industries or work from home to harness women’s energy. The shramik has waited long enough. They deserve better.

It has taken the coronavirus crisis to bring out the radical in Modi

Sun, May 17, 2020

Modi has a spectacular second victory to his credit with a larger majority. He has nothing to fear from the Congress which has inflicted injury on itself.

The Centre will need to nurse the Constitution and India back to good health

Sun, May 10, 2020

The Centre is asymmetrically more powerful as it can impose curfew on any and every state. It also has much greater capacity to raise money despite the many Finance Commissions which have tried to devolve more revenue in a formulaic way.

Disruption of global supply chains during pandemic creates tremendous opportunities to reindustrialise India

Sun, May 03, 2020

Over the last 70-plus years, India has frittered chances to become a centre of manufacturing on the scale of other Asian countries.

Metros are the weak links against coronavirus pandemic

Sun, Apr 26, 2020

The metros are the weak links against the pandemic. While the chain from the Centre to state to panchayat is clear and backed by money flowing down, the municipalities are in an anomalous position.

Need a plan to help migrants

Sat, Apr 18, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed many weaknesses but the most noticeable is the plight of working people in the informal sector in urban areas, particularly metros, who are normally employed but with precarious livelihoods.

Friends say proudly that there is something unique about India and Indians

Sun, Apr 12, 2020

So far the number of deaths in India has remained small. There seems to be a wave of self-congratulations.

President Xi Jinping cared more for his reputation than to admit a crisis

Sun, Apr 05, 2020

Without exception, every leader has been caught unprepared. China took days to realise and then publicly admit that Wuhan had coronavirus infection.

Out of my mind: Amidst lockdown, poor need karuna

Sun, Mar 29, 2020

The poor cannot afford social distancing. If they cannot work in the metros, they have to flee to their rural homes.

British plan for judges way to go for Rajya Sabha?

Sun, Mar 22, 2020

It is interesting that the nomination of former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha has raised doubts about the independence of the judiciary.

Jyotiraditya Scindia’s exit seals Congress’ fate

Mon, Mar 16, 2020

The question now is why are Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tiwari, Gaurav Gogoi, Milind Deora, Sachin Pilot still wasting away in the Congress when all they can look forward to is Priyanka Vadra taking over since her brother does not fancy the job for which he was never elected.

India has multiple histories that are a fundamental part of its diversity

Sun, Mar 08, 2020

There are attempts to impose a single monistic structure on it but we can see the limitations of doing so. India is many, not one.

Why Delhi CM should be in charge of police

Sun, Mar 01, 2020

One thing is clear. Delhi cannot go on having a dual government. Make it a state so the Chief Minister can take charge of security. The Central government is too remote.

Donald Trump put on a good show for PM Narendra Modi

Wed, Feb 26, 2020

If India is to be one of the richest nations, it has to fashion trade deals. Modi may yet be the prime minister who liberates the Indian economy from its old shackles of protectionism and makes it as large and nearly as prosperous as the US economy. He can if he uses his friend Donald Trump well.

Meghnad Desai writes: India doesn’t need a single story of nationhood

Sun, Feb 23, 2020

India is a civilisation. It does not need a single story of its Nationhood. India is large enough to accommodate many stories of Nationhood. Indeed each linguistic region has its own story of Nationhood. That is its strength. The task is to weave these multiple regional stories into a rich garland that is India.

Meghnad Desai writes: Why Kejriwal win is a game changer

Sun, Feb 16, 2020

Arvind Kejriwal ran an astute campaign for Delhi elections which did not allow the BJP to distract voters from the solid achievements of the Aam Aadmi Party in delivering public services. He did not fight PM Narendra Modi on the CAA, and treated it as irrelevant for Delhi polls.