Sharp Edge

The moment they start claiming moral superiority and imposing their preferences on others, they take us one step closer to a totalitarian state where it's not just the right to free speech—what comes out of your mouth—but lunch and dinner as well—what goes into your mouth—that is taken away from citizens.

Not only is CAA discriminatory, but it is 'meant' to be discriminatory. If the government broadens its scope to include Muslims, then the Act becomes politically unpopular and, therefore, pointless.

We live in an age when the whole country looks to the judiciary to keep the legislative and the executive branches in check. Should we allow political parties to win judges over to their side?

I believed that getting rid of secret ballots ended the menace of money-fuelled Rajya Sabha elections. But this week’s polls show that we overestimated the dignity of some of our legislators.

I’m glad the Chandigarh farce was called out. I’m pleased too that the SC went back to constitutional first principles in electoral bonds case. But don’t expect it to act as a force against the govt.

We hardly remember politicians who opposed Roosevelt, Thatcher. They weren’t useless, but it became nearly impossible to fight their popularity. I suspect the Modi phenomenon is something like that.

Each time we allow the state to take control of our lives, we are following the path of Mao Zedong, Mullah Omar. It always starts small. But it’s a slippery slope. It never stays small for long.

The chaos at the inconsequential Chandigarh Mayoral election shows the absurdity of Indian politics today.

Gandhi, Advani, now Modi—all of them mobilised people in the name of Ram. So, when did India’s liberals begin to be embarrassed by references to Ram?

Just like BJP supporters don't praise Vajpayee enough because of his refusal to fully embrace Hindutva, Congress supporters fret when asked about Rajiv Gandhi’s achievements.