'If Mr Modi continues growing as a Hindu Hriday Samrat, better that it is done by restoring ancient temples than demolishing medieval mosques,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'Savarkar was the closest the RSS had to a freedom movement icon, however flawed.' 'Indira Gandhi wasn't going to gift him to them.' 'And a non-career politician like Dr Singh understands it.' 'It is just that his party never listened to him,' says Shekhar Gupta.
An insistence on only one language will inevitably be resented as a form of imperialism and resisted.
'Modi is the first BJP leader to try to include Dalits in its fold.' 'But the rank and file of his party is backward and want to bash up Muslims and Dalits whenever they have a chance.'
If you think the film is gutsy, you are simply being blind to the truth that the whole men-are-worthless slant is saleable right now, argues Sreehari Nair.
Adityanath said there was no discrimination in the schemes being run by the central government and they were meant for the welfare of all including Dalits and backwards.
Ahmedabad's cultural scene would not have gone beyond the garba, but for Mrinalini Sarabhai's pioneering efforts.
The publishing of the NRC will not rid India from illegal immigrants who are already here. But even if it manages to withhold their political and voting rights, it will be a significant achievement, says Anand Kumar.
'How does relief in the form of citizenship to a persecuted Hindu in Bangladesh put the citizenship of an Indian Muslim in danger?', asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Awful religious practices need to be abolished. But through social and political reformers, not by courts, argues Shekhar Gupta.
During Vajpayee's tenure, he was there as an indispensable insider, witness to every action that had an impact on history: Pokhran-II (nuclear tests in 1998), the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indo-Pak Agra Summit in 2001, intense engagement with the United States on nuclear issues besides the Kandahar hijack.
'This bill is for the children of Partition who are still subject to inhuman barbarism because they profess a faith rooted in India.' 'If India fails them, we shall be no better than a Pakistan which brutalises its minorities and has turned into a factory of intolerant bigots,' says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
'Extravagant new promises can buy him time, but far from solving the problem, they compound the risk.' 'His main alternative is to stress not aspirations, but resentments.' 'He has already de-emphasised aspirational appeals: Nothing has been heard for over two years of the coming of achhe din,' points out James Manor.
'Hitchens asked which State Israel had most in common with -- and then answered his own question, saying "Pakistan".' 'They were both, he explained "confessional States": Founded to succour the followers of a particular faith,' remembers Mihir S Sharma.
Simran Dhir's very readable debut novel Best Intentions portrays the colours as well as the privilege and politics of Delhi life.
The appointment of Yogi Adityanath as UP CM, the revival of the Ram Temple movement, the elevation of a ban on cow slaughter as a national priority, and the targeting of any social behaviour deemed contrary to a set of narrowly prescribed Indian values point to a social regression that contradicts the inclusive and forward-looking impulse that underlies Modi's vision of a modern India.
If we don't want a Hindu version of our neighbour, we must keep open minds -- even when what we hear or see is not what we like.
'But for Rajiv's bloopers, the Hindutva campaign would not have got off the ground,' Amulya Ganguli points out.
Modi-Shah BJP has resurrected dangers and the enemy from the past and built a scary jingoism. It's a great diversionary tactic but history shows it never ends well, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The government's decision to celebrate the day on November 10 last year had drawn much criticism from the BJP and the RSS, who termed this act of the Congress as "minority appeasement".
'This is the first Bollywood film which is about 4 women not falling in love with the same guy.'
The Paresh Barua-led United Liberation Front of Assam has warned of bloodshed and violence if the state and central governments give shelter to any illegal immigrant in the state. The hardlining group has said that it would not hesitate in using arms to evict illegal migrants from neighbouring countries, who have settled down in Assam.
The manner in which a large proportion of common people have mortgaged their rationality and questioning spirit to let hatred, prejudice, and bigotry take over their minds is a cause of worry, observes Mohammad Sajjad.
Sujatha Gidla's scathing observations about Mahatma Gandhi and other highlights from Jaipur Literature Festival 2018.
'In this season of inspired mean-spirited campaigning, it still seemed remarkable that we are more likely to learn civics lessons from school children than our leaders,' says Rahul Jacob.
AMU has once again been pulled into a crossfire of crass political opportunism. In these post-truth times, that the university also had political stirrings not subscribing to the Muslim League is chosen to be forgotten, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'If the BJP becomes the new Congress, then an Opposition within will naturally emerge -- from the right, not the left,' points out Mihir Sharma.
'The verdict must be seen as something more; as a historical balm, a moral restitution and the deliverance of justice to a people wronged,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
'If the museum in his memory inspires and instils among Brahminical British Indians an attitude of equality towards Dalits, the edifice would be worth it,' reports Ashis Ray.
'If any party talks too much about Muslims, it will lose.'
'As we reach 2022 we are creating a very new, different India where the Citizenship Amendment Act will be passed, NRC will be pushed through, Article 370 scrapped...'
Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh 'Mintoo' who along with five others escaped from the high security jail in Nabha on Sunday, was arrested by Punjab Police after he was deported from Thailand in November 2014.
Hindu American Foundation: 'As an organisation that works on issues affecting Hindu minorities... in the civil war although all groups were affected, Hindu temples and Hindu institutions were disproportionately affected, and Hindus continue to be affected.' Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States Prasad Kariyawasam: 'Assume that Sri Lanka is referred to the ICC through the UN Security Council -- which will never happen because Sri Lanka has enough clout to block it. But assume it is. Still, the ICC cannot handle it because retrospectively they don't have jurisdiction.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited the Ramakrishna Mission, a branch of the Kolkata-based Belur Math, at the heart of the Bangladeshi capital on the second day of his two-day visit.
'At this moment, the Trinamool has an edge.'
'It is exceptionally important for Hindus to once again get in touch with the foundation of Hinduism.' 'Aggressive evangelists are reducing Hinduism to its lowest common denominator.'
Here's the full text of President's Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first of Budget Session 2022.
Will a time come when people will look beyond what they see as Modi'S strengths and begin to wonder why they have got poorer or sicker under his rule, asks Vir Sanghvi.
'The BJP is taking a risk in Assam, but it may face a tough time in coming times,' says Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty.
Sunder Navalkar devoted her whole life to the cause of workers' rights, remembers Sanober Keashwaar.
