By embargoing Bt brinjal, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh may have done a greater service to democracy than he intended, says Praful Bidwai.
The official premise that Maoism is India's 'greatest internal security threat' is profoundly mistaken. The Maoists aren't about to capture power, destroy India's unity, or undermine her security. They pose a civil law-and-order problem, which should be tackled by normal police methods, says Praful Bidwai.
With Narendra Modi set to take over as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, a combination of big capital and Hindutva could prove the undoing of the rule of law and Indian democracy. He must be stopped -- to start with, in Gujarat, says Praful Bidwai.
Banning books shows insecurity of the political class, says Praful Bidwai.
At the end of UPA-2's three years in power, India has become a more unbalanced, strife-torn and unhappy society, with reduced human security and tattered social cohesion. Rather than correct policy course, the government deals with the resulting discontent with brute force, says Praful Bidwai
More details will doubtless pour out about Sudipto Sen's rackets as investigations proceed. But one thing is certain. The vast majority of Saradha's victims will only get a pittance from the Rs 5 billion compensation fund set up by the Mamata Banerjee government, to be part financed by an additional levy on cigarettes, of all things. But the investors' stake is estimated at Rs 170 billion, if not more, says Praful Bidwai.
Even if the SP doesn't immediately withdraw support, the UPA government will remain helplessly dependent on the SP and the BSP. Withdrawal of support by either could destroy the UPA's paper-thin majority. It will have to do a balancing act between these two rivals on a day-to-day basis, says Praful Bidwai
'The Aadhaar project has grave civil liberty implications. It will enable the government to profile citizens and track their movements and transactions.'
'No BJP leader trusts him. His bid for the position will sharpen inner-party rivalries. The RSS is wary of him because he is too much of an individualistic autocrat and has destroyed the Sangh in Gujarat,' says Praful Bidwai.
'Second-generation neoliberal policies, coupled with multiple failures on the food front, could do to the UPA what India Shining did to the NDA in 2004,' says Praful Bidwai.
'The government must give up its neo-liberal polices and obsession with GDP growth and shift its ideological centre of gravity leftwards.'
Much of India's big corporate media has acquired a conservative and retrograde character. It faces a serious crisis of credibility. If it does not reform itself, it will find its greatest asset getting rapidly devalued and eventually vanishing, says Praful Bidwai.
The nuclear liability bill is fatally flawed. It's designed to shield the nuclear industry from discharging its public responsibility. It must be scrapped, writes Praful Bidwai
'The less engagement there is between India and Pakistan, the less can New Delhi defend its interests. The wider the two countries diverge, the more mutually hostile do they become.'
India caved in to a bad deal at Copenhagen, says Praful Bidwai.
To investigate the Kaiga episode, we need a truly independent committee, composed of external experts, radiation biologists, safety specialists and representatives of workers and citizens liable to be affected by nuclear mishaps.
The Congress is now at its most vulnerable. For the moment, it has weathered the storm caused by the DMK, but not without some loss of credibility and appeal, says Praful Bidwai.
Durban will create climate apartheid, under which rich polluters evade responsibility, but underprivileged people suffer the worst effects of climate change for which they are least responsible.
The danger of a corporate capture of government isn't imaginary, and corporations represent narrow profit-seeking interests of businessmen whose forte is not Constitutional values, says Praful Bidwai.
Common people's views about the economic policies of the United Progressive Alliance government.
A major antagonism is visible the world over between capitalism and democracy. But the Indian elite and the media continue to glorify capitalism, with all its sleaze. Their celebration of F1 is part of this, says Praful Bidwai.
Under a new industrial relations deal, the worker's basic right to a living wage and decent working conditions, as well as the right of association and collective bargaining, must be respected and made effective.
The BJP has badly lost the plot and risks being sidelined in national politics, says Praful Bidwai
The entire effort to artificially bury the Bhopal legacy is misguided. Unfortunately, the legacy lives on. Justice demands that it is brought to an honourable, dignified closure in a fair and transparent manner. The Group of Ministers has failed to do that, writes Praful Bidwai.
Team Anna must show some humility instead of imposing its will on society. It doesn't hold a monopoly on understanding how to make governance more inclusive, clean and people-responsive. It must recognise that finally, it is Parliament that prevailed on the Lokpal legislative process, and that's how things should be, says Praful Bidwai.
With the June 7 Bhopal judgment, India has been reduced to a Fourth World country. This story of shame can only end if the government appeals against the judgment, gets proper criminal liability restored and seriously pursues the case against all the accused.
A 'pause-and-review' approach to nuclear power isn't extreme. Safety is too precious to be sacrificed to appease our nuclear lobby, writes Praful Bidwai
'The DAE is easily the worst-functioning department of the Indian government, says Praful Bidwai.
A citizen's privacy will be compromised through the unique identity project leading to misuse by the State and other agencies, writes Praful Bidwai.
Building grassroots people's movements is the only way forward for the Left, says Praful Bidwai
Posco was cleared because it is India's largest FDI project and the South Korean government lobbied for it. Such things don't happen in democracies which respect the rule of law, says Praful Bidwai.
The Congress's 3-to-2 score in the five states might appear respectable, but must be seen in perspective. Its Assam win came entirely because of local leaders. The corruption issue hit the Congress in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. And it lost the people's pulse in Puducherry, says Praful Bidwai.
The Left's decline will adversely change the complexion of Indian politics by pushing its centre of gravity further to the right. This would be tragic, says Praful Bidwai.
India already has more than 100 fission weapons, each enough to kill up to two million people. This is deterrence enough, says Praful Bidwai.
Praful Bidwai pays tribute to General Vo Nguyen Giap who was a legend in his lifetime and hailed as one of the greatest military leaders of the 20th century.
Modi's fast has failed to put even a paper-thin moderate or secular gloss on his image. But he has succeeded in shifting the BJP politically to the far right, decisively and firmly, says Praful Bidwai.
The horrifying state of hunger in India adds urgency to the need to implement a new food security law, writes Praful Bidwai.
It should be called the food insecurity bill. It is too weak and mean to fight hunger, says Praful Bidwai
'The challenge can only be met if Sonia Gandhi asserts herself and sets a clear Left-of-Centre direction for the Congress and the UPA. The Congress's best bet lies in building a new social coalition based on the most disadvantaged strata of subaltern groups, including Dalits, OBCs and Muslims, driven by a pro-poor programme.'
As Japan's earthquake and tsunami triggers the global nuclear industry's worst crisis, it is time for India to rethink it ambitious nuclear power programme, says Praful Bidwai
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