Columnists

Ram Madhav

The writer is national general secretary, BJP, and director, India Foundation.

Ayodhya represents a shared sentiment of sacredness

Wed, Aug 05, 2020

The sentiment of sacredness in places like Ayodhya comes not merely because of their association with the epic Ramayana and its hero Ram, but also because of a value system that they represented.

As Chinese ambition expands, Delhi must turn towards PM Modi’s principle of ‘together we grow’

Thu, Jul 16, 2020

Proactive diplomacy together with greater attention to soft developmental needs of the neighbours like connectivity, education, finance and healthcare is the need of the hour for India’s foreign policy mandarins.

Those who have not seen the dark side of dictatorship, don’t truly appreciate the value of freedoms today

Thu, Jun 25, 2020

Ram Madhav writes: The “freedom” that the anarchists and their left-liberal cohorts enjoy in the country’s media and public life today is because we have leaders in the government who fought for that very freedom and are committed to liberal democratic values, not just as a matter of compulsion but as an article of faith.

China has changed tactics, not goals. India must demonstrate strong national power

Thu, Jun 18, 2020

Ram Madhav writes: Post-2014, a policy shift has been witnessed at Chushul in 2014, Doklam in 2017 and Galwan Valley and Pangong Tso lake now. Unlike in the past, our border security establishment actively engages and physically prevents incursions by the other side.

Besieged with multiple problems, Xi seems to be returning to Mao’s Red Book

Thu, Jun 04, 2020

A mature China, that does not resort to 1962 tactics, this time replacing Khrushchev with Trump, nor is bent upon provoking nationalist sentiments back home to ward off leadership challenges, would help roll back the situation.

It is time to allow J&K full-fledged political activity

Thu, May 21, 2020

Certain harsh measures like denial of 4G services, which were necessary under special circumstances, can now be done away with, as the state administration and security apparatus are capable of handling difficult situations.

India can collaborate with the US and Germany in moulding a new world order

Thu, Apr 30, 2020

It is time for a new Atlantic Charter: Environment, healthcare, technology and democratic liberalism can be its foundations.

PM Modi has deftly drafted people into the fight against pandemic

Tue, Apr 07, 2020

Modi has not called the army onto the streets. He has not denied people any fundamental human rights. The lockdown instructions were largely voluntary and for the public good.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was known for firm policy, gentle politics

Wed, Dec 25, 2019

Vajpayee’s humility made him a man of the people and won over adversaries

Citizenship Amendment Bill continues long tradition of welcoming persecuted minorities

Wed, Dec 11, 2019

The proposed Bill is a continuation of that unfinished agenda. It has become necessary that the issue of the illegal immigrants be addressed in one go, as their numbers have swelled to millions in the last several decades.

A Lincoln moment: What PM Modi has in common with the former US President

Mon, Nov 18, 2019

Like Lincoln, Modi too needed an iron-will. Lincoln had to be ruthless with racial fascism in his time. For Modi, it was, to quote Bashir Assad in his book K File, masla-e-Kashmir is no longer political; it is about Nizam-e-Mustafa; it is a pan-Islamic movement now. Lincoln didn’t have any choice. Neither did Modi.

The Ram temple struggle is over, let’s hope for harmony for all now

Sun, Nov 10, 2019

Symbols of vandalism and iconoclasm at the most sacred places of Hindus, like Ayodhya, have been very big sources of embarrassment as the sentiments associated with such places are quite deep-rooted.

For too many Gandhians, Gandhism is only a facade or a tactic

Wed, Oct 02, 2019

Gandhi-haters are still there, though Gandhi wouldn’t mind it. “If I had no sense of humour,” he wrote in 1928, “I would long ago have committed suicide”. Gandhi used to say that, “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, a swayamsevak, was pitchforked to lead Jana Sangh at a critical juncture in party’s history

Wed, Sep 25, 2019

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was the second top Jana Sangh leader to die under mysterious circumstances — the first being the founder, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who also died mysteriously on June 23, 1953. Mookerjee too was 52 at the time of his demise.

Global power axis is shifting eastwards from the Pacific-Atlantic. India’s future lies in the Indian Ocean region

Wed, Sep 04, 2019

The Indian leadership needs to appreciate the fact that in the emerging multipolar world order, India is a natural leader in the Indian Ocean region. By turning eastwards and focusing on building an Indian Ocean Bloc, it can aspire to rise as a guiding pole for many countries in the region.

In Atal ji’s mould

Tue, Aug 27, 2019

Like Vajpayee, Arun Jaitley was a quintessential democrat. Atal ji used poetry to express himself, Jaitley used prose.

A time for new leaders

Thu, Aug 22, 2019

Kashmir needs a new leadership, built not on the separatist narrative of the 20th century but on the development narrative of the 21st century. It is here that the investment and focus of the central government should go.

Correcting a historic blunder

Tue, Aug 06, 2019

Abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A is a much-needed step for the complete emotional integration of people of Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian Union.

This election result is a positive mandate in favour of Narendra Modi

Fri, May 24, 2019

“In the turmoil of battle, the great general maintains a psychological serenity like the needles of the compass in the storm-tossed ship”, writes Clausewitz. Consciously or otherwise, the Opposition has centred this election round Modi. And the results affirm a phenomenon that Marxist social scientist William Davies describes as “the leader becomes the truth”.