A democracy should aspire to use force that is precise, proportionate and accountable. Weapons designed to hit many people simultaneously belong to another age.
In 1977, Constituent Assembly member MR Masani wrote about how only governments vulnerable to being voted out by the electorate will genuinely prioritise civic needs.
Speaking at ThePrint Off the Cuff in Mumbai, ex-foreign secy Gokhale also said that for a China that wants to overtake US as world’s dominant economy, excluding India’s vast consumer base makes little sense.
At least from what is visible in public discourse in the United States, I have yet to see consistent evidence that the intensity and theatre of congressional hearings are regularly matched by commensurate institutional outcomes.
If moves like SIR and gerrymandering are made all over the country, India will have elections and it will not be a full-fledged dictatorship. But it will not be a democracy either.
The professional man, the businessman in a free economy, the landed peasant, the artisan and the self-employed man stand on their own legs and can disagree with the government.
The promise of democracy in India is real. But its delivery in the space between elections remains the country's unfinished and largely unaddressed business.
Most poor countries that experimented with democracy failed to sustain it. While some collapsed into military rule, others slid into one-party states or ethnic autocracies.
A look at the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry shows imports rising faster than exports, as Indian firms continue to rely on Chinese components for manufacturing.
ThePrint has learnt that more than one woman fighter pilot were involved in targeting military locations during the 87-hour conflict with Pakistan last year.
Forty years ago this week, ‘Khalistan Commando Force’ assassins were closing in on Gen Vaidya. So callous was the security of the just-retired Army chief that he was given a solitary police gunman
India, with its colonial mentality and incompetent police who do not know basic line formation for crowd control, does not have the courage to ban shotguns. Indian police will continue to wear cricket helmets and cricket pads while charging at protesters. I saw textbook crowd control policing during the UK riots when David Cameron was PM. The British taught all the wrong things to our police and left.
My first memory of pellet guns is from school in Poona. Used to hunt pigeons. ( Whom we feed at home ). They should not be used on Indian citizens. Not in Kashmir, not in Delhi. The Supreme Court has the power to ban their use by security forces. With profound respect, it should.
India, with its colonial mentality and incompetent police who do not know basic line formation for crowd control, does not have the courage to ban shotguns. Indian police will continue to wear cricket helmets and cricket pads while charging at protesters. I saw textbook crowd control policing during the UK riots when David Cameron was PM. The British taught all the wrong things to our police and left.
My first memory of pellet guns is from school in Poona. Used to hunt pigeons. ( Whom we feed at home ). They should not be used on Indian citizens. Not in Kashmir, not in Delhi. The Supreme Court has the power to ban their use by security forces. With profound respect, it should.