Shobha Warrier has extensively covered the Sabarimala issue for Rediff.com. She is the author of His Days with Bapu: Gandhi's Personal Secretary Recalls among several books. You can e-mail the author at shobhaw@rediff.co.in
'Unemployment barely figures in the Budget except as a derived demand from the industry and infrastructure.' 'There is no effort at direct attack on unemployment.'
'Why should my vaccine certificate, which I got paying my own money, have the picture of the prime minister?'
'There is a vision in the Budget, and the vision is to take India from a largely agrarian, rural economy into a fast-track digitalised economy.'
'We have struggled to pay the rent, we have struggled to pay the electricity bill, we have struggled to send them to school, to buy books and uniforms but there was food on the table every day!'
'The government could not even ensure the payment of wages by the private sector during the lockdown.' 'We have experienced all kinds of exploitation during the pandemic.'
'We are worried for the workers because in the private sector, jobs are not secure, there is no decent work condition and there is no social security.' 'That's why we are opposing the economic policies of this government.'
'I hope the Centre and the states will both act in the spirit of cooperative federalism and find acceptable solutions without testing the law and the limits of each other's power.' 'This should not be considered a wrestling match.'
'From March 2020 to November 2021, the combined wealth of the billionaires of this country has doubled.'
'In Hindi, Mr Modi is unequalled as an exceptionally accomplished orator.'
'You will never be able to do any work for society if you wait to make enough money.'
'Unfortunately, our political class is not interested in making this society equal. They just want to exploit the situation for their own benefit.'
'The reason why we have reached such depths is because of the breakdown of the rule of law, and not the political atmosphere.' 'Yes, the political atmosphere has aggravated the situation.'
'India is a founding and permanent member of this 'club of shame': Journalists are murdered on account of what they write or intend to write, but nobody is finally brought to justice in such cases.'
'Strategy is to divide and polarise electorate on communal lines.'
'Whatever is left of all institutions will also go away.'
'In India, the establishment not only endorses, but many a times instigates anti-Muslim hatred.'
'Rain-fed farms in the drier parts of the country are feeling the pinch of lack of water, and this pinch is only going to increase. Some of the biggest companies have shut down because of non-availability of water.'
'A climate of impunity is created when the fascistic hate-mongers reckon they can get away with anything because 'this is our regime' and this is going to be a 'Hindu Rashtra'.'
'Putting tanks on the Ladakh border is not enough to combat China, what is needed to ensure resilience against any cyber-attacks or attacks in outer space or China flexing its economic muscle, as it did with Australia.'
'A Muslim is lynched somewhere, and you forward the video of the lynching through WhatsApp.' 'So, you participate in that lynching without actually doing it. You endorse it without being a party to it.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances