This is the first time in its history that Pakistan’s people have risen to vote against Army & defeat it. If this isn’t a win for democracy, how would you describe it?
Indira Gandhi targeting RSS during Emergency & legitimising it, Rajiv giving up mandate in 1989, and Vajpayee, Advani advancing general elections – these errors changed the course of India’s politics.
The key difference between BJP & Congress governments is that ideology guided Congress's policies, never governed them, while BJP's commitment to ideology is almost fundamentalist.
Legatees of political forces Indira Gandhi locked up during Emergency are now redefining some of India's foundational principles. They can be challenged, just as she was in the 1970s.
This is not an argument about Islam, the faith. This is about political Islam, where the faith is the state religion, defines a nation and/or maintains its mostly unelected leaders in power.
Congress refusal to attend Ram temple inauguration triggers questions, including one on its post-1996 ideology in face of today's electoral politics. Could it have joined celebrations with Hindu majority while also criticising Modi, BJP, RSS?
Smarter opposition leaders could pick an issue with emotional potential & conjure up a campaign pitch, a line, to convince a large enough body of voters that it mattered to them.
A DDA flat was a privilege in a city where almost nobody could build anything. Its inventory of unsold flats now exceeds 40,000 at a value of Rs 18,000 crore, and it's still building more.
India’s political geographies display BJP’s strengths & vulnerabilities. Nobody understands this better than BJP and it is because of this hard-headed realism that it keeps winning.
Situation calls for bringing focus back on Punjab. Working with credible political forces, even adversaries, would serve national interest better than fighting in New York courtrooms.
Data shows large public sector banks received highest number of complaints in absolute terms, but fared better than several private banks when looked at on complaints-per-branch basis.
For BJP, CAA was strategic move that did not quite work out because those it would benefit could’ve been accommodated under existing laws, and new entrants would remain excluded.
The first case is more compelling. If Pakistanis have moved from revering or at least respecting to now not even fully fearing the Army, whether it was burning the Corps Commander’s house to turning up in full force to vote for its bete noire, that is a win for democracy. 2. No reason to believe the average Pakistani loves democracy less than the average Indian or Bangladeshi. If the pall of fear created by the Army is lifted, the institutions, bequeathed by the British, will soon recover their elan. 3. Above all, the state of Pakistan’s economy. That requires all hands on deck.
The first case is more compelling. If Pakistanis have moved from revering or at least respecting to now not even fully fearing the Army, whether it was burning the Corps Commander’s house to turning up in full force to vote for its bete noire, that is a win for democracy. 2. No reason to believe the average Pakistani loves democracy less than the average Indian or Bangladeshi. If the pall of fear created by the Army is lifted, the institutions, bequeathed by the British, will soon recover their elan. 3. Above all, the state of Pakistan’s economy. That requires all hands on deck.