Columnists

Ram Madhav

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

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”.

UNSC action to blacklist Masood Azhar offers Pakistan an excellent opportunity to act on terror

Tue, May 07, 2019

Credit for Azhar's listing as a global terrorist goes to the Narendra Modi government. If Pakistan wishes to overcome this isolation and ignominy, it has to join the world community in the fight against terror.

A PM for the people

Wed, Apr 10, 2019

Dignity has been the running theme of all of PM Modi’s programmes.

Politics in Goa revolved around Manohar Parrikar, irrespective of whether he held office or not

Tue, Mar 19, 2019

Manohar Parrikar's greatest strength lay in his simplicity and transparency, and his reticent nature — not the positions he occupied or the policies he framed.

After empowerment, freedom and dignity

Fri, Mar 08, 2019

The aspirations of women in India have evolved. Policy, public discourse must keep pace.

Kashmir is ours also means every Kashmiri is ours

Tue, Feb 26, 2019

India has a huge problem with the regional narrative in the Kashmir Valley that helps Pakistan enormously.

Betrayal of the Mahatma

Wed, Jan 30, 2019

There were many who had disagreements with Gandhi... but to kill him needed not just difference of opinion, but a certain type of hatred borne of extreme frustration.

On Assam, clearing the air

Thu, Jan 24, 2019

The Citizenship Amendment Bill has stringent applicability criteria. It is not —as it is being made out to be — an open invitation to minority groups in neighbouring countries.

The BJP’s new challenge

Sat, Dec 29, 2018

Party machine has to be aggressively geared up for the election. It needs centralised inspiration, but decentralised initiative.

Despite the people

Sat, Nov 24, 2018

Kerala government is pitting itself against the faithful by imposing top-down reform at Sabarimala

After #MeToo, a better India

Thu, Oct 18, 2018

The movement has highlighted the need for workplaces to be free of harassment and intimidation. Moving forward, society must make women’s equality an article of faith