scorecardresearch
Monday, May 13, 2024
HomeThe FinePrint

The FinePrint

It’s a new Rahul Gandhi, a caste-warrior and class-samurai

Sonia Gandhi promised to help the poor without ever threatening the rich. Rahul Gandhi has rejected that approach and gone back in time: to his grandmother Indira Gandhi's rhetoric.

The Age of Anger began in 2014 with Modi. Now it’s time for bargaining, silence

2024 in India is the radicalisation of rights. Regardless of the verdict next month, this Lok Sabha election has silently asserted a return to the original promise of democracy.

Xi Jinping is courting France. India must make sure its European partner isn’t seduced

Xi won’t be walking away from Europe with a win in hand, but his visit will almost certainly ignite arguments about the continent’s geopolitical future.

How Punjab farmers sacrificed high income for a big cause—they gave up Pusa-44 this year

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann thanked farmers for accepting the ban and staying away from the water-guzzling paddy variety Pusa-44. But convincing them about the larger public good is a work-in-progress.

Look at ‘Muslim quota’ from the lens of Pasmandas. Modi-BJP have been wooing them for long

Affirmative action in India has always been a secular project. The argument against Muslim quota ignores three key questions.

Mathura culture, Mahabharata Period — ASI digs Govardhan Hill after 50 years

After Ramayana, the new historiography has shifted its focus on dating Mahabharata, deepening Hindu civilisational history, and finding physical sites.

Karnataka, Maharashtra—Why Phase 3 could mean BJP falling short of the magic number 272

As in the second phase, the BJP-led NDA’s problem in the third phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election is that it has an awful lot of seats to defend — 80 out of the 93 seats that go to polls.

Azad, Antony, Geetha—6 candidates to watch in 2024. Their win can reshape politics in states

While Chandra Shekhar Azad is a streetfighter who has caught the fancy of Dalit youth, Anil Antony is the face of the BJP’s fresh social engineering attempt.

Punjab is undergoing an indie film revolution. Challenging the Jatt Sikh domination in cinema

From Anmol Sidhu to Gurvinder Singh, Punjabi indie filmmakers have gained international critical acclaim. But their films have few takers in Indian theatres.

India must kill terrorists. Nijjar blowback shows it also needs laws to guide assassins

The UK, US and Israel have long staged targeted killings of criminals, terrorists and their adversaries. The moral outrage against India’s assassination campaign is profoundly spurious.

On Camera

A showdown in Kerala Congress expected after LS elections. K Sudhakaran at the heart of it

Congress would be in more trouble if Sudhakaran lost the election—and his KPCC post. That would set off tongues wagging that he could very well leave the party for BJP.

Day after mass sick leave by employees, Air India Express fires crew members, cancels 85 more flights

About 300 employees had called in sick Wednesday, allegedly in protest against mismanagement of airlines. Remaining staff given ultimatum to rejoin work by end of Thursday.

Pensionless Maha Vir Chakra awardee who trained Mukti Bahini continues to fight for rights

Chiman Singh, injured in 1971 India-Pakistan war, was discharged as non-pensioner in 1972. In his petition, he states denial of pension is contrary to settled law.

What’s common between Netflix Chamkila and Trudeau’s trouble-infested Canada? They don’t get Punjab

Even in the weeks leading up to Chamkila’s assassination there were massacres every other day. To airbrush all of this is sheer intellectual cowardice if not a crime.