Sonali Ranade

Neither Bal Thackeray, nor Shiv Sena, happened in a vacuum. Both were a product of their times even as they attempted to define it. To understand what empowered Bal Thackeray, and will continue to sustain Shiv Sena, one needs to understand something of the unique political configuration that has trapped Mumbai. Mumbai and its suburbs […]

What does the Sangh Parivar oppose: secularism as enshrined in the Indian constitution or pseudo-secularism as defined by Advani in the 90s or both? Somewhere along the road from the 90s, the shrill brigade’s rhetoric in the Parivar has shifted its attack from aberrations in secularism as practiced by the Congress to an attack on […]

Rape is a cognizable offence in most places in the world, which means it is an offence that should be investigated and an action taken against the offender, irrespective of whether the victim complains about the crime or not. Yet studies show that nine out of ten rape victims do not report the crime, and […]

The summit in Chicago did not go well. The almost daily drone strikes, the standoff over Dr Afridi, and the general noises emanating from both Washington and Islamabad make it clear that even a limited agreement over the situation in Afghanistan eluded both sides. Pakistan used its trump card of NATO logistics in an attempt […]

Back in October 2011, I attempted to summarise Pakistan’s options in Afghanistan in light of the evolving situation then. The article is available at: https://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011102story_2-10-2011_pg3_5. The present attempt is to see how many of the assumptions I made then have come true and to reassess Pakistan’s options in relation to the new situation. The idea […]

The Lokpal Bill (Ombudsman Bill) is being debated in the House as I write this. One is not sure if it will pass in its present form, described as lame by Anna Hazare acolytes, or in its strong form, which in my humble view would ultimately turn Indian democracy into a police state. Be that […]

The wholly avoidable fiasco over allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in big box retailing exposed the lack of coherent leadership at the top. FDI in retail, as the reform was egregiously mislabelled, was not about foreign investment in retailing but allowing the corporate sector, Indian and foreign, into a whole range of activities spanning procurement […]

“I sell gobhi [cauliflower] at Rs 5 and potato at Rs 1 per kg from my farm. If you guys want to pay what you pay, fight the FDI in retail,” tweeted Lieutenant-General (retd) H S Panag (@rwac48). The BJP’s core support comes from the merchant class in small towns who dominate commerce in the […]

India has never had a freely convertible currency since independence. We therefore have no way of knowing its true value in the international market. The currency’s day to day value is loosely determined by demand supply in the local currency markets open only to domestic players and a few authorised foreign banks within a band […]

We are not born equal at birth. We are not made equal in our schools and colleges. Nor can we have equality thrust on us by an artificially created social order. Nevertheless, a yearning for equality is basic to our sense of justice and fair play. To argue otherwise is akin to setting the clock […]