Secularism is one of the most abused words in Indian politics. Secularism in a political and social context is a belief in the separation of the state (government and government agencies) and the religious beliefs of the people. To many Indians a secular state also means a state that guarantees their right to practice the [...]
I remember watching Doordarshan the day the Babri Masjid was destroyed by Hindu fundamentalists. The Central and Uttar Pradesh governments knew that this was coming but was totally ill prepared to prevent the 500 year old Mosque from being attacked. But what state controlled media like Doordarshan and All India Radio did was even more [...]
Every time there is a terrorist attack on Indian soil the Indian and Pakistani governments and the people of India go through a very familiar set of rituals. The Indian side will blame the Pakistani government for aiding these terrorist attacks and for not arresting the leaders of these militant groups who live in Pakistan. [...]
In the late seventies and early eighties one of the common phrases that Indian politicians and the members of the media used as a response to what ails India was the phrase “the hidden hand”. The hidden hand (the West, their government and intelligence agencies) was the reason that India was in the bad shape [...]
I have in the past defended both Mayawati and Shashi Tharoor. Mayawati is a traditional Indian politician and Shashi Tharoor represents the more modern and more transparent version. On the surface they look poles apart but I see many similarities between the ways they operate particularly when it comes to dealing with adversity. In general [...]
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) head Swami Prasad Maurya said today that the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati Naina Kumari is a living goddess. He said “Why should the party give an account of the money being giving to its living goddess when unaccounted money is being donated in temples”. Touché!! It is a [...]
Politics is a dirty business. Although I observe Indian politics from afar I try my best to not get involved emotionally with any particular party or politician. I learnt this lesson the hard way after watching Rajiv Gandhi and VP Singh in the 80’s. Rajiv Gandhi was
P. C. Alexander is an IAS officer turned politician. He was the governor of Tamil Nadu and Maharastra in addition to being the Principal Secretary to both Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. In a recent article published in Asian Age Alexander claims that “political leadership has lost moral dimension”. One of the reasons [...]
China International Institute for Strategic Studies (CIISS) has indicated in a report recently that Beijing can easily break up India into twenty to thirty independent states with the help of friendly countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan. This article was published a few days before India’s 62nd anniversary of its independence from Great Britain. The [...]
On August 15, 2009 India will celebrate the 62nd anniversary of its independence from British rule. I would like to take this occasion to list 5 interesting facts about India’s independence. Fact 1: The parliament of the United Kingdom enacted the Indian Independence Act 1947 which basically partitioned India (creating an independent India and Pakistan). [...]
