'IndiGo is fooling the country and the government has succumbed to it.'
If the Thackerays don't save a Marathi school in their backyard, who will, wonders Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Ministers arrested post-2014 who, if the 130 Constitutional Amendment had been in effect, would have been unseated from office.
'The implementation of the judgment has largely been left to the discretion of the very executive authorities it sought to restrain.'
'The natural barrier that is Aravalli, you are demolishing it, then who will stop the desert?' 'In future, I predict that people will roam around with oxygen cylinders in Delhi because they won't be able to breathe.'
'It makes law-making on the part of the state governments much more difficult and throws up bottlenecks as governors are not acting on bills.'
'The BJP only talks of Kashmiri Pandits when elections are held.'
'Even as the Supreme Court's anti-punitive demolition judgment nears its first anniversary, no formal contempt proceedings have been initiated either by the Supreme Court or any high court against officers or demolition squads who have acted in violation of it.'
'When you compare Bihar's poverty from its earlier times, then there is a huge difference. Things have improved a lot. And migration has played an important role in reducing poverty.'
A seasoned politician and two-term Member of Parliament, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who has served as a Union minister and senior Congress leader, resigned from the Congress party, marking the end of his decades-long association with an organisation that his family has been part of for three generations. In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff he speaks why he quit the party.
'The BJP's top leadership realised that their cadres are not happy with them, so they changed the ministers and got in new faces.'
'He is a man of action and goes to the ground and solves the problem.' 'Be it the Air India crash of Ahmedabad, Morbi bridge collapse, Deesa blast or Gambhira bridge collapse, he is on the spot.'
'He is the same man who has won honours for the country across the world.'
'We have 38 Dalits who are MLAs and ministers. But that does not mean the Dalits of Bihar are prospering.'
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
'Punjab floods are a calamity.' 'Right from Firozpur to Amritsar nearly 1 lakh homes have been completely damaged due to floods.'concern about the state of affairs.
'Pakistan is uncomfortable with the Indian presence in Afghanistan. They want the Taliban to ensure that there is no Indian presence in Afghanistan.'
'Pakistan wanted India out of Afghanistan to which again the Taliban told Pakistan to take a walk.' 'Six months after they came back to power in 2021 India was back in Afghanistan at the request of the Taliban.' 'The Taliban realised that India has no agenda of its own in Afghanistan.'
'I want to request the central government that they should not target someone just for the sake of targeting him if he has not done anything wrong.'
The trade relationship between India and the United States has been strained by the imposition of 25% tariff by the US on Indian goods.
'The people who were protesting and getting violent were all in the age group of 14-25.'
Salakaar is full of heart, and emotionally satisfying, applauds Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'As a defence lawyer I won't know if a policeman under cross questioning is being prompted to answer by someone behind his computer screen.'
'The government is distributing land in Ladakh as if they are selling cinema hall tickets.'
'Vijay is not in the mood to care for the people even now.' 'Everybody is traumatised but Vijay is not consoling them.'
Poor writing, unrealistic plot points, and weak performances drag Sarzameen down, sighs Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Anyone they don't like can be potentially arrested and thrown in jail for 30 days to induce regime change.'
Visuals of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah scaling the gate of the Naqshband Sahib graveyard and jostling with securitymen deployed there have gone viral.
'These Marathas are farmers and they only do farming. They have no other business other than farming. Now, they want reservations because farming is no longer a profitable business.'In this interview, veteran farmers' rights advocate and founding member of the Shetkari Sanghatna, Vijay Jawandhia, with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff unpacks the historical and structural roots of the agitation.
SEBI alleges Jane Street placed bets on the stock market falling and then acted in a way to make the market actually fall so it could win its bet.
'Techies who did a master's there and moved to US companies look down on Indian companies who they consider as just doing body shopping.'
'If the INDIA bloc ever forms the government, they will be more than tempted to use such provisions to bring about regime change in BJP-ruled states.'
You are hooked on The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case from the first episode, applauds Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Devendra Fadnavis is stating that Marathas must feel OBCs are not happy with reservations for the Marathas and therefore they are protesting.'
During Operation Kagar, 350 Naxalites have been killed so far, including some of the movement's top leaders.
'I hope we can move towards peace, stability, and national unity.' 'I believe most Kashmiris want that too.'
'China reduced its exports of urea to India gradually.' 'In 2020-2021 we imported 28 lakh tonnes of urea which reduced to 16 lakh tonnes in 2022-2023 and that has now reduced to 1 lakh tonnes in 2024-2025.'
'The government only wakes up after devastation.' 'The government does not understand the gravity of the situation nor they do not want to understand the gravity of the situation.'
'The background for the Saudi-Pakistan agreement is the fact that the regional security order has collapsed due to the Israeli attack on Doha.' 'The Americans have largely abandoned their security guarantee for West Asia and the region has no choice but to look at alternatives.'
'This is just the beginning. You have to wait and watch to see things getting better.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances