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Monday, December 22, 2025
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National Interest

Lesson from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan: if you have no patience, you don’t deserve democracy

Sri Lankan transition was smoothly managed. Check Bangladesh for contrast. They forced their incumbent into exile, installed a mostly unelectable govt of non-political people.

BJP’s Northeast policy has lit new fires & reopened old wounds. And it still won’t blink

Manipur represents BJP’s unique ideological approach to governing Northeast by playing identity politics jiu-jitsu. It hasn’t gone well yet, is getting worse, but the party insists on continuing.

You can put words in Mrs Gandhi’s mouth & get away. But too much fiction, and you mess with Bhindranwale

The IC-814 and Emergency controversies show we are still too thin-skinned to accept anything but deification of our leaders, biopics or biographies. This runs across the subcontinent.

PM Modi wants US to protect Hindus in Bangladesh. Hasina’s debacle must not be India’s

Bangladesh has dumped Sheikh Hasina. Are we dumping Bangladesh in turn? We can’t choose our neighbours. But you know what, we can choose to be the kind of neighbour we want to be.

Modi govt is caught in the 3C trap. To escape, it must embrace the 4th: Consensus

Modi govt preparing for Census leads us to examine new reality, marked by 3 ‘C’s: caste, coalition & Constitution. BJP machine could take all 3 in its stride. This election has changed that.

Subcontinental setbacks have a message for India: Junk victimhood & respect thy neighbour

Bangladesh is just latest example of disquiet in India's neighbourhood. We need to junk domestic politics & excessive religiosity, acquire humility in our approach to neighbours.

Opposition attack on the counter has BJP playing defence. It has set agenda with caste, revdi, jobs

Third Modi govt has quickly moved away from dismissing all Congress ideas as unimaginative and is now implementing several of them. Think poll-bound Haryana and Maharashtra.

Coaching centres are a sign of broken-window economics. See how China crushed it all overnight

How broken does our governance have to be, and how incredible our hypocrisy, that we cannot make profits from educating young Indians, but earn thousands of crores by giving them tuitions?

Middle class is reacting like slighted lovers over Budget 2024. Their anger won’t last

What Modi govt got wrong with this budget and in its signalling is in moving away from its generally upbeat, ‘India is on the rise, growth will get steeper, markets are red hot’ messaging.

Rahul has laid 3 painful questions to rest. If he doesn’t shoot & scoot now, he can revive Congress

Congress party's score of 99 in the Lok Sabha elections has vaporised three painful questions dogging Rahul Gandhi for two decades. His record so far deserves a closer look.

On Camera

Violence over Osman Hadi is about Islamist Bangladesh. India-baiting is a distraction

The attack on Chhayanaut, newspaper offices, and the public lynching of a Hindu man show that Bangladesh is heading toward Islamist rule, far removed from electoral democracy.

China is taking India to WTO over subsidies, again. Here’s what it’s arguing before trade body

Dispute will now move to consultative process, which allows the two sides to come to an amicable agreement within 60 days.

Israel has ‘realised who its real friend is’, eyes defence expansion in India amid arms curbs by others

It is argued that India-Israel ties are moving from buyer–seller dynamic to one focused on joint development & manufacturing partnership, a shift 'more durable' than traditional arms sales.

Dhurandhar shows hard cinema is soft power and Pakistan is unapologetically the target

If Pathaan gave both conservatives and liberals room to hide, Dhurandhar extends no such courtesy. Aditya Dhar ripped open that tent of hypocrisy and turned the knife.