Sheela Bhatt explains why the judgment in the title suit in the Ayodhya case -- despite a delay of over half a century -- still comes at the wrong time for the Centre and several state governments.
Dr Singh's services are not going to be asked for in the electoral battle of 2009 as it wasn't used in the last five years. His presence in the Congress scheme of things was more of symbolic value than political. But, all said and done, he was a stable symbol that has now been shaken due to his absence from office.
'This is a great myth that there was never mediation over Kashmir. There was always private mediation. The talk of China mediating is just propaganda from both sides. It is irrelevant,' says British journalist Adrian Levy in Part-II of an interview with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Sheela Bhatt on whay India's main Opposition party expelled one of its founding members.
The message that emanates from China's denial of a visa to General B S Jaswal has multiple messages, says Sheela Bhatt.
"They argue that talking is a sign of weakness by India in view of what happened in Mumbai. I would argue that talking at this point is significant not for its goals but for the process itself, which needs to be started again," says noted British journalist Adrian Levy.
Sheela Bhatt was present in Mumbai special court that pronounced Ajmal Kasab guilty in the 26/11 terror attacks case. She sums up a dramatic day of courtroom action.
'We know the reason behind it. We also know who is behind the curtain (in prompting Kasab to withdraw his confessional statement), says Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.
'Whoever thought that building toilets and providing free rations to the poorest of poor Indians would give Modi a halo other political leaders would envy?' asks Sheela Bhatt.
Sukhois alongside Chenchus. Sheela Bhatt argues that the search for YSR brought India face to face with Bharat.
Sheela Bhatt reveals how Sonia Gandhi has decided to take an active role in governance with the resurrection of the powerful National Advisory Council. A rediff exclusive!
Nearly a decade after Kutch faced its worst-ever earthquake, rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt travelled to Anjaar town to assess the public sentiment today about the tragedy that robbed the lives of 183 children.
'The priority at the moment should be to strengthen our internal security arrangements and improve coordination among the intelligence agencies, state governments and military authorities,' says Naresh Chandra, India's former ambassador to Washington.
In the first part of her analysis of the results of Election 2009, Sheela Bhatt wrote about how the Congress party was recasting itself for a new India. In the second and concluding part of her column, she writes about Rahul Gandhi's drive to return the party to its democratic roots and what he means for the Congress's future.
'There is an understanding between the people of two countries that violence is not going to solve the Kashmir issue. A final understanding will take time,' says former national security adviser Brajesh Mishra.
In the first part of an interview to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley spoke of his party's election campaign and the performance of the United Progressive Alliance government.
'Generally people say the terrorists come from madrasas or slums. But that is not the case. Those who have been recently nabbed, they had very good schooling in towns of India and there are some technocrats and IT-savvy people. By and large women are generally not found in the modules, or in planting or making of bombs'
"So far, conclusive evidence has not been obtained but in any terrorism case the turning points in investigations always come only after the confessional statements of the accused," a senior officer said.
Managing Editor Sheela Bhatt provides an inside view of the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing that culminated in the trust vote in India's Parliament last week
In an interview to Sheela Bhatt, the yoga guru said, "Austerity should be a way of life. It is possible to do away with luxuries if you understand that public money is not for oneself, but for the poor people."
Even though he doesn't say it in enough words, Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi wants people to take the H1N1 pandemic in their stride and not go by the coverage in electronic media.
The second and concluding part of Sheela Bhatt's eyewitness account of one of the most talked-about trials in the country, that of Ajmal Kasab, lone surviving terrorist accused in the dreaded Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11
Strategic thinker and former bureaucrat, K Subrhamanyam says that India is not doing enough, just yet, to respond to Mumbai attacks.
'We have gone through the entire CCTV coverage of Taj Mahal, Oberoi and CST, that count gives us the figure of 10. When Kasab was arrested in the morning of November 27 we immediately interrogated him and he told us they were 10 people. This confusion is more or less a creation of the media,' says Mumbai's Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Rakesh Maria
In an exclusive interview, former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra argues why he has changed his earlier opposition to the India-US nuclear deal.
Riding against all odds, Narendra Modi has won convincingly. In one line, the victory shows that it is a people's mandate for his personality. It's the clear vote for a person and leader called Narendra Modi.
'There is absolutely no reason for India and China to even contemplate a conflict! Yes, but we are rivals.' says National Security Adviser M K Narayanan.
'From one seat to a majority in the assembly in 20 years. The evolution of the BJP in Karnataka is a script in itself,' says Arun Jaitley, the party's strategist for the election.
'This indoctrination of uneducated youth that is going on in Pakistan is a danger to the whole world, not just to India.' Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria, the lead investigator in the attacks case, in his first interview on the acts of terror. Exclusive to rediff.com
Kasav is no phantom in police custody -- he is for real and was captured a couple of hours after his career as serial murderer began.
Dr Shirin M Mazari, an Islamabad-based analyst, speaks of terrorism and violence in Pakistan and what Pervez Musharraf's presidency has done for the country.
'People are so much more aware of what is what. There is no degree of passivity today,' says National Security Adviser M K Narayanan.
Just six years after his father's Rath Yatra, the BJP came to power in New Delhi in 1996, points out Jayant Advani.
'The British Empire came to India too late and left too early. Without England, India would have been 20 republics and not better than the Afghanistan of today,' says Dalit activist Chandra Bhan.
'Terrorism creates suspicion among neighbours, suspicion among communities, which could be a major blow to India's otherwise widely hailed and widely recognized society'
'Russia is not out to violate what they see as their international obligations.' India's Ambassador to Russia Kanwar Sibal in an exclusive interview.
'Their offices are in Pakistan. Some of their hideouts are in Pakistan,' says Afghan envoy Masood Khalili.
Could Jairam Ramesh's frank comments work to the BJP's advantage?
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