To what extent has the current BNP government been able to realise the vision that drove the 2024 mass uprising in Bangladesh? Will the BNP government, too, manipulate state mechanisms and law enforcement agencies to serve its own interests, much like the previous Sheikh Hasina regime, to suppress the opposition and silence critics? The government must therefore take serious steps to amend police laws and prevent deaths in police custody. This is one of the crucial reforms facing the administration.
The Commission's authority rests ultimately on public confidence. Like Caesar's wife, the Election Commission must be above suspicion. It should welcome scrutiny and answer legitimate questions, especially when millions of voting rights are involved.
If the government and EC are confident, the answer is not a counter-letter but transparent data: a district-wise, gender-wise audit of deletions, restorations, reasons – all details to be placed on affidavit, as Lokur panel demands.
The ongoing SIR is not merely about helping a particular party win an election; it points to a much deeper design - to create a customised electorate in the country. It is intended to turn India into a Republic in which only some sections of the population remain politically relevant.
India did not get subdued by colonial culture in totality. What we are facing today is the promotion of religiosity and conservatism. Since politics is stalking the streets in the garb of religion, India's traditional syncretic culture is coming under attack from conservative and orthodox values.
But what cannot be rejected is the increasing need to recognise the role of cities and make them the vanguard in combating climate change.
Unless there is a quantum jump in the expenditure on (quality) education and a massive generation of productive employment, the youth and the poor will remain marginalised and excluded.
This exercise which began with just four countries and has now reached a participation level of over twelve times that number goes to show the recognition of India as a naval power and as a regional maritime security provider.
It is noteworthy that a strong and vociferous point of view against the developments in Ayodhya has come from religious leaders rather than the political opposition, which has struggled to frame its line of argument clearly.
I feel one of the important reasons for rural migration is the non-availability of good high schools. Too often good people go to big cities for better schools for their children. Excellent schools in rural areas can help attract good educated and professional people to these areas which in turn can also benefit from their contributions in various fields.
Be it charkha or khadi, the symbols Gandhi espoused have remained so strong that even now when we talk of a "Atma Nirbhar Bharat", (a self-reliant India), they ignite our minds with a sense of mission and pride.
With both India and France supporting a multi-polar world order led by democracies, France has been a supporter of India’s claims to permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Hysteria cannot be combated by hysteria. We need the ideology which binds the weaker sections of society, the Dalits, religious minorities, women, workers and Adivasis.
During Operation Sarpvinash, several terror bases containing large food storage, communications devices, arms, ammunition, and even medicines were destroyed. With the kind of supplies and the discovery of a large number of bunkers during Operation Sarpvinash, there was some comparison to the infiltrations India saw during the Kargil War.
The problem each year repeats like the weather itself, simply because of the awful behaviour of the airline ground staff. Our airline ground staff are perhaps the worst amongst developing/developed nations.
It would seem as if the Congress Party were going for broke by rejecting the invitation quite aware that it is unlikely to win even the moderately right-leaning Hindu electorate, let alone the hard Hindu right, in the foreseeable future.
The anti-Christian violence is a low-radar activity where the priests working in remote areas are apprehended when they are conducting prayer meetings in particular.
For nations like Bangladesh, it is an issue of concern since it will be difficult to successfully carry out national climate action plans for adaptation and mitigation in the absence of explicit financial commitments from wealthier nations.
What is perceptible is the government’s intention to destroy the fabric of human rights protection in India and to increase the power of the government to control and oppress the people of India.
