The many undertones of the rape debate on April 22, 2016The extensive media coverage of the phenomenon of rape in India seems to have fanned conservatism, spawned amorphous fears, and threatens to shackle women in non-metro urban centres where gender equality is a battle won or lost almost daily. It also appears to have provoked a backlash against the national media, prompting the moffusil (semi-urban […]
What unites and divides South Asians on April 19, 2016Anyone who has even a passing interest in the history of the subcontinent knows the circumstances in which the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India and the subsequent decades of bloody consequences. But what few know is the story of the accession of Manipur to India. A state tucked away in India’s northeast, […]
The Pakistani itch of Rushdies parents on April 19, 2016In his lavish autobiography, Joseph Anton, Salman Rushdie expresses bewilderment at the decision of his father Anis to choose Pakistan over India late in his life. We are not provided the precise year in which Anis and his family took residence in Karachi. We are told only this much — at the time of their […]
The rise and fall of Sonias son-in-law on April 18, 2016The Gandhis and the Bhuttos share similar traits and fate in many astonishing ways. At least two generations of their families have ruled their respective countries, their members command indisputable charisma and an enviable following, and some of them have met tragically violent deaths. To this list we can now add the questionable business dealings […]
Global hypocrisy on April 16, 2016The sheer predictability of both the crass provocation of the 14-minute video, Innocence of Muslims, as well as the violent response to it has prompted many an analyst to scrutinise the minutiae involving the principal actors of this drama. Their analyses pertain to answering three interlinked questions. What were the motives of those who produced […]
Visa woes of Indo-Pak couples on April 15, 2016On the day India and Pakistan signed a new visa agreement, my Indian friend and his Pakistani wife staying in a third country called excitedly to say they were raising a toast to sanity, an element often missing in the conduct of relationship between the two countries. Their impromptu celebrations were because she could now […]
The bogus enemy called the outsider on April 15, 2016Pakistanis must have been a tad amazed at the threat of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray to disrupt the shooting of the forthcoming TV programme Sur Kshetra, which pits a team of singers from Pakistan against a team from India. Billed, quite literally, as a war of tunes, the promos of the show […]
The bogus enemy called the outsider on April 14, 2016Pakistanis must have been a tad amazed at the threat of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray to disrupt the shooting of the forthcoming TV programme Sur Kshetra, which pits a team of singers from Pakistan against a team from India. Billed, quite literally, as a war of tunes, the promos of the show […]
India’s hostility towards Pakistan on September 6, 2012Pakistanis must have been a tad amazed at the threat of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray to disrupt the shooting of the forthcoming TV programme Sur Kshetra, which pits a team of singers from Pakistan against a team from India. Billed, quite literally, as a war of tunes, the promos of the show […]
Euro 2012: the politics of national anthems on June 28, 2012Among the more magical moments of Euro 2012 is the sight of players of opposing teams falling in a row, their bodies taut and heads held high, lip-syncing the lyrics of their national anthems as their tunes echo in the stadium. In the galleries, their supporters, on their feet, hands over their hearts, sing aloud […]