If the rural poor can be given a basic ‘thali’ at subsidized price, they will not only get proper food but do away with the drudgery of cooking, writes Anil K. Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor
India's Electoral Roll Controversy Leaves a Nation Divided and Questions Unanswered
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 Bigger Picture Behind the Electoral Roll Controversy in India
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.
Can India's Election Commission Pass the Gandhian Test of Public Integrity?
The Election Commission belongs neither to the government of the day nor to the Opposition. It belongs to the people of India. Its first duty is to protect the citizens' vote. That is the standard by which the CEC, the two ECs should be examined.
Manipur’s Displaced Still Waiting for Home: Crisis Resolution Needs to Move From Relief to Restoration
Manipur therefore needs to move beyond the language of relief and towards the language of restoration. The ultimate measure of recovery will not be how many camps have closed. It will be how many families can safely return, rebuild their livelihoods, educate their children, access justice and live without fear.
More on Governance, Public Policy and Law
Film on Godse’s killing of Gandhi: Falsehoods galore
The real motive behind murdering Gandhi was that he was for inclusive nationalism, the dream of revolutionaries, and for his attempts to work against untouchability and caste inequality, writes Ram Puniyani for South Asia Monitor
'Learning from Ghalib about the world we live in': Cross-border collaboration around shared couplets
This unique India-Pakistan collaboration developed into this latest venture, “Thinking with Ghalib: Poetry for a New Generation”, a collection of 30 couplets with translation and commentary, write Anjum Altaf and Amit Basole for South Asia Monitor
Can the subcontinental deadlock be broken?
If the meeting of Indian and Pakistani officials—expected to take place next week as per a report in The Hindu– comes through, it will be a departure from the recent past as formal dialogue has remained frozen for almost two years, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
Historic changes at India Gate and their significance
The Amar Jawan Jyoti -- an upturned rifle with a helmet customarily marking a battlefield grave -- amounted to nothing short of a poor apology for a war memorial at India Gate
South Asia's divisive politics: Modi election speech stirs up an 'artificial' boundary issue between India and Nepal
India’s position on the boundary issue is “well known, consistent and unambiguous”, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said, days after political parties in Nepal stoked a simmering territorial dispute in Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned road construction in Lipulekh at an election rally in Uttarakhand state
No travel ban; instead India offers vaccines, life-saving drugs to Africa
Even as most countries began slapping travel bans on African countries, India has offered support for Africa to combat the newly-emerged Omicron variant of the Covid-19 pandemic, including through supply of vaccines, life-saving drugs, PPE kits, gloves and ventilators
Cross red lines at your own peril in Pakistan: Message to opposition and media
The Asma Jahangir Conference in Pakistan last week sparked a somewhat balanced and much-needed discussion on the issues concerning the country
Rising above hate, a Hindu businessman and a Sikh gurdwara offer prayer space to Muslims
In a country known for its traditional inter-faith tolerance and harmony, one of the headline news for the last few months has been how groups of right-wing Hindus, supported by local leaders of India's ruling BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been obstructing and protesting against the offering of namaz in public places by Muslim citizens in Gurugram, a satellite city of capital New Delhi
Decoding Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf's refusal to attend India-hosted regional conference on Afghanistan
On 15 August 2021, the day the Taliban seized power militarily in Kabul, the world watched with trepidation the scenes of an ignominious end to the twenty-year-long efforts of the US to prop up a democratic government there
A Middle East Quad? Scope for synergies, but divergences over Iran
Within the new Middle East/West Asia Quad, there is space for trilateral economic cooperation between India, the UAE and Israel
Fake tea issue: Solution to Indian tea industry's problems lies in cooperation with Nepal and Bangladesh
India should assist Nepal and Bangladesh to obtain GI certification for their teas
The spirit of sport: When hate took a back seat
Will this demonstrable assertion of sportsmanship lead to a revival of bilateral sporting ties, particularly cricket, in the near future?
Making sense of New Delhi’s restrained response to Bangladesh’s anti-Hindu violence
The recent widespread anti-Hindu violence will not make any difference to the bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh, said Dinesh K Patnaik, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), calling the recent events “small incidents”
Anti-Hindu violence does not symbolise Bangladesh; it is terrorism in the name of religion
‘Bangladesh Finalizes Agreement to Build Buddhist Monastery in Lumbini, Nepal’ was the headline of the Hong Kong-based Global Buddhist Door’s news headline on October 11
