It was August 12, 1947, three days before India became free. My father, a practicing doctor, summoned us, the three brothers, and asked what our plans were. I told him that I wanted to stay in Pakistan just as the Muslims would in India.
More gruesome details about the Alwar lynching have come to light. Rakbar Khan, the victim, could have been saved if the police had acted in time. In fact, the force stopped for tea and wasted three and a half hours in reaching the victim to the hospital. He bled to death. If one were to put all the pieces together, one would come to the conclusion that the police delay was deliberate.
The army in Pakistan seems to have devised a way where a particular person is elected even without a valid cause. Imran Khan is a product of such phenomena. Long before the latest elections, his name was tossed around.
I recall after the Independence, politician and diplomat Syed Shahabuddin articulated the Muslim point of view. He did not ask for separation but suggested a self-rule for Muslims within the country. Nobody took him seriously, not even the Muslims because the partition had brought misery to both the communities.
An autocrat can really unhinge a democratic system. This is what President Donald Trump is doing. But he is also turning into an imperialist power.
I feel honoured that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken notice of my criticism. Indeed, he praised me and said: “I respect veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar ji, he fought for freedom during emergency, he maybe a harsh critic of us but I salute him for this.” The prime minister and I are on the same page when it comes to the criticism of the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister.
Certain dates are so important in a nation's history that they cannot be forgotten.
Pranab Mukherjee is a man of all-political affiliations. He has occupied the highest position as a Congressman and has also floated a political party with a few of his associates in the Congress. But one can call him a self-made man in the political arena. He has accepted the invitation to visit the RSS headquarters at Nagpur to address the cadre.
However justified Delhi's Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto may be in calling on fellow Catholic Christians to pray for a change of government at the Centre, he is guilty of committing a grave mistake: mixing religion with politics.
Tactically, the Congress has won the day even though the party has been rejected outright by the people of Karnataka which went to
The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is not just a place of learning. It was in the forefront of a movement for the demand of Pakistan and still leans towards what is considered beneficial to the millat. A photo of Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the wall of Kenney Hall, the most prestigious place in AMU campus, is no surprise. It was there even before partition and it continues to be there all these years.
India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru proudly supported Chinese Prime Minister Chou En-Lai. He had emerged after defeating the First Front Army commander, Chiang Kai-shek. The Chinese premier had supported India's movement for independence when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said that India's independence was not dependent on the victory of the Allies in the Second World War, which was a foregone conclusion when America declared support to Britain and such other democratic forces.
It's sheer arrogance. True, Chief Justice Dipak Misra denied permission to Allahabad High Court judge Narayan Shukla to prosecute a Lucknow-based Prasad Education Trust, which runs a medical college. But this is not such a violation of law which should invite impeachment of the Chief Justice of India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now all in all in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has installed his close lieutenant Amit Shah as the party president. However, people's memory is short. The founder was Atal Bihari Vajpayee who subsequently occupied the office of Prime Minister to lead the NDA government, a coalition of several parties.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has said that the Kashmiri Pandits should visit their place of origin, meaning thereby the Valley.
When former Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that they would not allow the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to return to power, she hinted at joint action on the part of the Opposition. It also means that she does not want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to run for a second term. On its own, the Congress does not have the numbers to pose any threat to the BJP-run government or Modi.
The British government has rejected a petition by the Sikh community in London to make public all papers concerning Operation Blue Star. Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, was close to the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and reportedly helped her to plan the Indian military action at the Golden Temple in Amritsar between June 1 and 8, 1984, to oust militant religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the Harmandir Sahib Complex.
There is a grain of truth in Kashmir leader Farooq Abdullah's statement that Muhammad Ali Jinnah was not responsible for partition.
I have always wondered where we went wrong. After adopting a constitution which was secular in letter and spirit, we have strayed into the territory where every pebble is an impediment to the journey towards pluralism.
Asma Jahangir, who passed away last week, was a popular human rights lawyer and social activist.
Two more policemen died in the valley. This is not the first time that there is casualty in Kashmir. But the disconcerting aspect is that
It's understandable that this year's budget should have an eye on rural India which constitutes some 70 percent of voters.
When the constitution has banned awards why should they be there. They violate the spirit of the constitution and the general understanding.
Whether it was a prover-bial storm in a teacup or something else, the fact remains that the judiciary has been exposed. The impartiality with which it is known has been shaken.
When I was in Sialkot City, now a part of Pakistan, I used to visit cinema halls in the cantonment regularly. What I resented then was that I had to stand up for the British national anthem, “God Save the King…
There may be a grain of truth in the statement by US President Donald Trump that his country has “foolishly” given USD 33 billion in aid to Pakistan in the last 15 years.
Nothing seems to work between India and Pakistan. The meeting of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian prisoner in a Pakistani jail, with his wife and mother could have been an opportunity to foster better understanding between the two countries.
In the rumble-tumble of election, the role of Congress President Sonia Gandhi has not been recognised. No doubt, the contest was
There is no surprise. It was well known that the Congress Party is hopelessly dependent on the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the post of Congress president was along the expected lines.
On December 6, the demolition of the Babri Masjid would be 25 years old. Instead of making amends for what the Congress government did in 1992 with the connivance of then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government is bent upon building a temple at the site where the masjid once stood.
Political parties all over the world have come to be closed shops. What is known as the “High Command” usually dictates on who will be installed as the president. Rahul Gandhi has been “elected” as the Congress president.
The press has been able to consolidate its freedom after several struggles. And today it is generally free from government pressure. There are still other forces which do not allow it to be completely free. Yet among all the democracies in the world, the Indian press is considered independent.
I think the Supreme Court's order to appoint an amicus curiae in Mahatma Gandhi's assassination case is important. More about how it happened and why are two points which need to be pursued.
The government of India has appointed Dineshwar Sharma, former Intelligence Bureau Chief as interlocutor to find a solution to Kashmir's problems.
The Election Commission has never done it before and had developed an independent status since TN Seshan. He had given it a stature which was admired by the electorate.
A gathering for a memorial a few days ago turned out to be disappointing. I thought that the meeting held to bring attention to the murder of Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, would draw many journalists, particularly the senior ones, to the venue.
Utttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said that he would be taking five days off in a month to attend to his duties as head priest of the Gorakhnath Temple. Television networks ran this part of his speech only once.
Communist leader Jyoti Basu ruled West Bengal for two and a half decades. He fought relentlessly against the communal forces. It is surprising how the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has penetrated and practically taken over the state.
For some reasons, mainly male chauvinism, the Women's Reservation Bill has not yet been passed by parliament. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1996 when the then Prime Minister, Deve Gowda, was in office.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is wrong when he says that all of India runs on dynasties.
By "Hinduising" a secular society, the integrity of the country is in danger. Religion can never integrate a nation as the example of Bangladesh cutting itself asunder from Pakistan shows. The attempt to impose Urdu forced the same Muslim East Pakistan to become independent, sovereign republic of Bangladesh.
The problem arises when they indulge in fraudulent and illegal activities, going to the extent of committing rapes and murders. What gives the whole thing an ugly shape is the support of the political parties for their own gains.
The Supreme Court's judgment is harsh and unequivocal. There could be no compromise on the basics of the Indian Constitution, freedom to women and men to lead their lives as they wanted. I wish the Muslim community had accepted the bar on triple talaq, which goes against the spirit of the constitution. But it looks as if the fundamentalists have been having their way.
In a farewell message the outgoing vice-president Hamid Ansari said that Muslims do not feel safe in the country. Instead of introspecting on what he said, the RSS and the BJP have denounced him. Some have gone to the extent of saying that he could migrate to a country where he would feel safe.
My father, who practised medicine, was stopped from migrating whenever he thought of moving out of Sialkot. One day, my mother and he decided to travel without letting people know. They boarded the train unnoticed.
I vainly search for my favourite television anchors like Karan Thapar and, more recently, Barkha Dutt. I am told that they have been taken off.
Whenev-er a state language wants to spread itself to the national sphere, it naturally meets with some resistance.
It was August 12, 1947, three days before India became free. My father, a practicing doctor, summoned us, the three brothers, and asked what our plans were. I told him that I wanted to stay in Pakistan just as the Muslims would in India.
More gruesome details about the Alwar lynching have come to light. Rakbar Khan, the victim, could have been saved if the police had acted in time. In fact, the force stopped for tea and wasted three and a half hours in reaching the victim to the hospital. He bled to death. If one were to put all the pieces together, one would come to the conclusion that the police delay was deliberate.
The army in Pakistan seems to have devised a way where a particular person is elected even without a valid cause. Imran Khan is a product of such phenomena. Long before the latest elections, his name was tossed around.
I recall after the Independence, politician and diplomat Syed Shahabuddin articulated the Muslim point of view. He did not ask for separation but suggested a self-rule for Muslims within the country. Nobody took him seriously, not even the Muslims because the partition had brought misery to both the communities.
An autocrat can really unhinge a democratic system. This is what President Donald Trump is doing. But he is also turning into an imperialist power.
I feel honoured that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken notice of my criticism. Indeed, he praised me and said: “I respect veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar ji, he fought for freedom during emergency, he maybe a harsh critic of us but I salute him for this.” The prime minister and I are on the same page when it comes to the criticism of the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister.
Certain dates are so important in a nation's history that they cannot be forgotten.
Pranab Mukherjee is a man of all-political affiliations. He has occupied the highest position as a Congressman and has also floated a political party with a few of his associates in the Congress. But one can call him a self-made man in the political arena. He has accepted the invitation to visit the RSS headquarters at Nagpur to address the cadre.
However justified Delhi's Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto may be in calling on fellow Catholic Christians to pray for a change of government at the Centre, he is guilty of committing a grave mistake: mixing religion with politics.
Tactically, the Congress has won the day even though the party has been rejected outright by the people of Karnataka which went to
