All stories by AAKAR PATEL
BJP's Complete Distrust Of Federalism
Rediff.com1 Apr 2024What is to be done to resist the twin thrusts of the BJP's ideology, majoritarian and a strong centripetal instinct against federalism? asks Aakar Patel.
Desis Rally For Secular India
Rediff.com25 Mar 2024The Constitution's Preamble says that we Indians have resolved to secure for Indians 'fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual'. Fraternity can come only when we stand up for each other. The desis of the Boston South Asian Coalition actually attempt to do that, points out Aakar Patel.
Is Modi's Authoritarianism Good For India?
Rediff.com22 Mar 2024We need not spend much time going over what this government has done and is doing to the Opposition, by misusing the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI. There is a daily update on that, notes Aakar Patel.
The Birth Of BJP, Child Of Largest NGO
Rediff.com13 Mar 2024Immediately following its ban being lifted on July 11, 1949, the RSS began debating entering politics in the pages of its house organ, The Organiser. Thus was born the Jana Sangh/BJP, points out Aakar Patel.Thus Was Born Jana Sangh/BJP, asserts Aakar Patel.
Electoral Bonds Exposes Weakness In India's Institutions
Rediff.com22 Feb 2024When a strong executive decides it wants something, even something that is dangerous and unconstitutional, there is little resistance from within to stop it, notes Aakar Patel.
Caste Is Missing In Prohibition Debates
Rediff.com5 Feb 2024The point made by sociologist M N Srinivas, that it represented a Sanskritic act that was linked to caste, is never raised in Indian debates and the disapproval of drink is almost universal, notes Aakar Patel.
Advani: Ram Temple's Accidental Architect
Rediff.com19 Jan 2024As the temple is inaugurated, unfortunately for Advani but unsurprisingly for the rest of us, the architect of the party's rise will not lead the ceremony and claim credit for his achievement, notes Aakar Patel.
Modiji, Why Fix Laws That Ain't Broken?
Rediff.com5 Jan 2024The judiciary, the police, the lawyers and the public will have to know the new laws. It will also endanger settled jurisprudence on the old laws and open up all sorts of minor and major problems that currently do not exist. Whose then was asking for the change? Not the judges or police or lawyers or citizens, points out Aakar Patel.
Modi's Flawed Foreign Policy
Rediff.com21 Dec 2023We should reassess what India's role in the world is and whether we are doing the right thing for ourselves, notes Aakar Patel.
Modiji Census Kab Hoga?
Rediff.com1 Dec 2023Given the reality of the disparity and the enormous shift over the last 50 years, this can be done without an open and frank conversation with the people, something that has not begun and, knowing the style of our leader, is not expected to begin, asserts Aakar Patel.
Demonetisation: Why Did RBI Protect Modi?
Rediff.com17 Nov 2023Events proved that on every count the RBI had accurately predicted both the damage and the lack of benefit. What the RBI was hiding was the fact that Modi had ignored its concerns -- all of which turned out to be true -- and gone ahead anyway, asserts Aakar Patel.
Bandh Karo Yeh Electoral Bonds!
Rediff.com14 Nov 2023Despite the objections raised by Reserve Bank of India and Election Commission, India's politics has been funded anonymously and it is time to end this, asserts Aakar Patel.
Why Supreme Court Drags Feet On Important Matters
Rediff.com31 Oct 2023For the longest time, the court did not even hear important matters that the government did not want it to. Of late, it has begun to form benches. Meanwhile a lot of the damage has been done and continues to be done, asserts Aakar Patel.
Is Ajit Doval Failing India On Security?
Rediff.com14 Oct 2023It is when one looks away from the immediate song and dance and at the granular detail of what has been going on since 2014 that one realises what the quality and competence of thinking and execution is in this project we call New India, asserts Aakar Patel.
The Normalcy Of Extrajudicial Killings In India
Rediff.com29 Sep 2023An unofficial and brutal justice system exists parallel to the official one, and it executes many times more of the accused than the official one executes convicts, points out Aakar Patel.
Will INDIA's Boycott Change 'Media'?
Rediff.com20 Sep 2023One hopes, though one is not optimistic, that this action to some extent corrects the lunacy which has infected our national media and has damaged our nation, notes Aakar Patel.
Special Session: Even Cabinet Is In The Dark
Rediff.com14 Sep 2023This form of government, where secrets and major decisions are kept from the Cabinet itself, appears to be continuing, which is why the speculation around this special session, asserts Aakar Patel.
How Space Travel Can Unite The World
Rediff.com1 Sep 2023All progress in space should excite us and encourage us to be optimists about a better future for our planet and all of us, asserts Aakar Patel.
The Bizarre Case Of Umar Khalid
Rediff.com17 Aug 2023Arrested in September 2019 by the Delhi police for making 'provocative statements' when Donald J Trump was on his visit to India, Dr Umar Khalid has now spent three years in jail without being convicted of an offence, points out Aakar Patel.
Modi Set To Push NPR Again?
Rediff.com3 Aug 2023'The linking of Aadhaar to births and deaths will revive the debate around citizenship.'