Allan Octavian Hume, a sidelined official of the British Raj, founded the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885. Born in Kent, UK, Hume was the quintessential gora sahib (white master) who had gone native. He took the initiative to create a modern political platform in a newly colonized and...
Invoking Nehru will not save Sonia Gandhi and the Congress Party from irrelevancy. Sonia Gandhi’s renunciation of power ten years ago is still fresh in the minds of Indians. Her rejection of the prime ministership, and her selection of a non-political, Oxford-educated yes-man...
With Modi in office, the political class and electorate need to reflect on challenges that India faces. The Indian general elections for the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) concluded with the declaration of results on May 16. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defeated the Congress-led...
Amid the euphoria of an overwhelming electoral mandate, enormous challenges confront Narendra Modi. The abdication of governance under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has dragged India into a morass that will need some undoing. The “Accidental Prime Minister” The diarchy of power...
Modi’s main focus will be the economy and India will look to increase trade, attract investment and boost employment. Indian Finance Minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram recently declared that opposition prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s knowledge of economics can be written...
Vested interests in Indian politics are threatened by the rise of Modi. Reza Aslan and Michael Brooks make a litany of charges against Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in their article, “Is India About To Elect a Far Right...
A sexual assault in India raises questions about widespread sexual harassment of women at work. The arrest of Tarun Tejpal, the founder and editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine, for the alleged rape of a junior female employee, symbolizes the corruption that has poisoned India’s soul....
Once christened as the "jewel in the crown," India has since failed to live up to its potential. India is a country that has a plethora of descriptions: "The world’s largest democracy," "Land of spirituality," and "Land of tigers and elephants" are...
With high inequality and corruption that is rife, India is a volcano about to explode. When India became independent, it had a clear idea of its destiny. Gandhi had set India on a course that was democratic, egalitarian and plural. In keeping with India’s syncretism, people speaking a...
The ongoing Ishrat Jahan fake encounter saga epitomizes India’s incoherence in tackling terrorism. Ishrat Jahan, a Mumbai college student, was killed on June 15, 2004, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat. Three other individuals, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali...
