आज भारत-चीन सीमा पर संकट का सामना करने के लिए उसी देशप्रेम की जरूरत है, जिसका परिचय राममनोहर लोहिया और अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी ने साठ साल पहले दिया था। वर्ष 1962 के चीन युद्ध से पहले चीन पर कड़वा सच बोलने से सब कतराते थे। या तो वे नेहरू से घबराते थे, या माओ के मोह में फंस जाते थे। […]
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to India at the intersection of three full-blown national crises, something rarely seen in history. Coronavirus refuses to go away, presenting the biggest ever challenge to public health since Independence. The economy refuses to pick up after the lockdown, threatening the country with the first recession in 40 years. And China refuses to […]
The 45th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency must not be wasted on bashing dead villains or on silly nostalgia. The experience of India’s past brush with authoritarianism must be used to think about how democracies die. Emergency is at once an energising and misleading prism to think about the state and the fate of our democracy. It is energising […]
There was a streak of morbid vanity in Rammanohar Lohia’s oft-repeated statement: “Log meri baat sunenge zaroor, lekin mere marne ke baad (People will surely listen to me, but after I am dead).” Today, nearly 53 years after his death, there are three reasons to listen to what Lohia said about China. First of all, because his was one of the earliest, consistent and […]
‘लाख छुपाओ छुप न सकेगा, राज़ है इतना गहरा’। यह गीत कोरोना संकट के बीच सभी सरकारों की पोल खोलता है। कोरोना का संकट बढ़ चुका है, उससे निपटना सरकारों के बस की बात है नहीं। तो अब सरकारें और उनके दरबारी विशेषज्ञ आंकड़ों को दबाने में जुटे हुए हैं। शुरुआत सरकारी आंकड़े से करते हैं। हम करीब 3 लाख […]
मेरे दोस्त अजय वीर जाखड़ भारत कृषक समाज के संचालक हैं और फिलहाल पंजाब किसान आयोग के अध्यक्ष के पद पर हैं. उन्होंने मुझसे शरारती अनुरोध करते हुए उन किसान संगठनों के नाम और संपर्क विवरण मांगे हैं, जिन्होंने हाल ही में कृषि क्षेत्र के लिए पारित तीन ‘ऐतिहासिक’ अध्यादेशों का समर्थन किया है. सवाल बेशक उन्होंने पूछा है लेकिन वे जानते […]
My friend Ajay Vir Jakhar, who runs Bharat Krishak Samaj and is currently the Chair of Punjab Farmers’ Commission, has tweeted a mischievous request asking for names and contact details of those farmer organisations that support the three “historic” ordinances passed recently for the agriculture sector. He asks this question even as he knows the answer: none. None of the myriad […]
My friend Ajay Vir Jakhar, who runs Bharat Krishak Samaj and is currently the Chair of Punjab Farmers’ Commission, has tweeted a mischievous request asking for names and contact details of those farmer organisations that support the three “historic” ordinances passed recently for the agriculture sector. He asks this question even as he knows the answer: none. None of the myriad […]
The ongoing India-China border stand-off provides the opposition a perfect opportunity to corner the Narendra Modi government on national security, widely considered its trump card. You can hardly blame the Congress for giving in to the temptation of returning the compliment paid by Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Jawaharlal Nehru following the debacle of 1962. Yet, the opposition must resist this temptation. National interest must trump party interest. PM Modi must be let […]
