Democracy is not just about voting every five years. Democracy is about the ability to look your government in the eye and say “you are wrong” — without fear of being beaten for it.And yes, July 20 was a sad day for democracy. It was sad to see brutal force used against young citizens. It was sad to see the Delhi Police behave in a manner that shames the uniform.
Data from India's ministry of road transport and highways show that road crashes claim around 175,000 lives each year, with pedestrians bearing a disproportionate share of the toll. In 2024, as many as 36,526 pedestrians were killed, representing 20.6 per cent of all road fatalities.
India must also deglamorise its bureaucracy. Bureaucrats occupy oversized office spaces, are allotted luxury housing, use oversized vehicles, get large numbers of support staff and personal assistants who work like personal valets and concierges. Political leaders across the globe carry their own bags. Here bureaucrats get servants to have their boots polished. This must clearly stop forthwith.
Few regions in India have such an extensive and layered system of representation. Ladakh is therefore not merely creating new councils. It is building a new model of governance based on geography, identity, participation and national interest. It is taking democracy beyond the main towns
The airline brought national disaster. The nightclub hotel was a more localised story. But both mock the nation and its growth story in their own ways, highlighting the hidden costs of a faster growth that has beaten the “Hindu rate of growth” but has brought us a disaster that unfolds at periodic intervals to shock the nation and ridicule its governance structures.
In such a world, the greatest danger is not that AI becomes alien. The danger is that humans start behaving less humanly by outsourcing thinking, surrendering responsibility, and hiding behind the machine while letting it make decisions we should be making ourselves. Leaders may find it convenient to blame the algorithm. Companies may find it profitable to exploit it. Ordinary citizens may find it easier to trust AI’s shortcuts than to cultivate patience and understanding.
IndiGo’s meltdown, telecom’s flip-flop policy history, the fragility of airport PPPs, the helplessness of education regulators—all point to one truth: India’s regulatory state is not yet strong enough to discipline the giants it has created, nor can they rein in monopolies. Until regulators regain independence, authority, and credibility, India will continue to oscillate between private excess and public helplessness. Rogue companies will be blamed, but the deeper fault will lie in a system where rules are flexible for the powerful and rigid for everyone else.
India does not need political rhetoric around its elections. It needs independent, bipartisan, and technically competent audits of its electoral infrastructure. It needs transparent review of data partnerships. It needs clear legal boundaries for foreign political consultancies and digital firms. And above all, it needs to rebuild public confidence that government is derived from consent, not calibration.
Many respected organisations in India have already achieved notable success in CSR and ESG initiatives. They lead impactful programs in renewable energy adoption, community health improvement, environmental protection, gender inclusion, education and ethical governance. Their experience and leadership are invaluable assets for the country.
The problem in the Indian context is not about the legal codes but about the on-ground working conditions that remain markedly at odds with what is professed from the corridors of power and from the boardrooms of owners and directors. When this market reality meets with a government that has not built capital with the workers and is further seen as working in favour of business lobbies, then in effect trust disappears and the government has hurt itself and the so-called reforms by pushing through measures that could trigger fierce resistance.
The real taste of the pudding, the real measure of progress, will be revealed only when the average Indian experiences opportunity, fairness and security as everyday realities. When a dispute is resolved in weeks instead of years, when a farmer receives fair price directly, when a start-up gets clearance swiftly, when a citizen is treated with respect in a government office, then only the transformation will have occurred deep down.
क्या अंग्रेज़ी ने क्षेत्रीय भाषाओं को दबाया? इतिहास इसके विपरीत संकेत देता है। शिक्षा के विस्तार ने क्षेत्रीय भाषाओं को भी मज़बूत किया। लोकमान्य तिलक ( केसरी, महारत्ता ) और गांधी ( नवजीवन ) ने क्रमशः मराठी और गुजराती में प्रभावशाली अख़बार शुरू किए। रवींद्रनाथ टैगोर (बंगाली) और मुंशी प्रेमचंद (हिंदी) जैसे साहित्यिक दिग्गज इसी दौर में फले-फूले।
Did English suppress regional languages? History suggests otherwise. The expansion of education strengthened regional languages as well. Lokmanya Tilak (Kesari, Maratha) and Gandhi (Navjivan) launched influential newspapers in Marathi and Gujarati respectively. Literary giants such as Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali} and Munshi Premchand (Hindi) flourished during this very period.
Within the Muslim community, such marriages often occur among extended families due to cultural acceptance of cousin marriages. With maternal aunts, uncles, and cousins living across the border, arranging these alliances is relatively easier. Hindu cross-border marriages, however, are far less common due to the dwindling Hindu population in Pakistan, driven by its theocratic state policies.
Once I asked him why Pakistan did not stop terrorism against India, the biggest roadblock in the peace process. He replied quite candidly that some in the Pakistani establishment believed that if the terrorism tap was closed, India would never talk about Kashmir. Then he said something which left me stunned, “You see, even if orders are given to close the tap, some amount of terrorism may continue..
In Bihar, too, like has happened in earlier elections in Maharashtra and Haryana for example, the winning side will have to contend with the allegations that they romped home with an umpire whose role remains hotly contested, placing the fairness of the entire electoral process under a cloud. The allegations are more than a case of sour grapes and have now become a growing part of recent election campaigns and results, putting Indian democracy at risk
An important pillar of CSR is the role of non-government organisations (NGOs) as partners in channeling funds to social sectors. While NGOs are committed to social development, their work is severely constrained without funding support. CSR funding strengthens the NGO ecosystem, while corporates gain a credible channel to fulfil their ethical and social commitments. Governments, in turn, benefit from effective partnerships with corporates and NGOs, enabling shared responsibility for social-sector goals.
The exercises project India’s capability and political will to safeguard its territorial integrity. The US seems to acknowledge this: on October 31, 2025, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh signed a 10-year Defence Framework, called a “cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence”.
What needs to be done is as follows. Firstly, restore the public-interest override and RTI balance must be returned. Privacy does matter, but corruption, abuse of State power, and public finance accountability matter more. Secondly, we must reinstate the proviso that information that cannot be denied to Parliament cannot be denied to any citizen. This principle is the heart of democratic equality.
