Why the Annawalas must endorse individual candidates in the coming elections This is the original draft of today’s DNA column. Anna’s candidates It’s the season for game-changers. Everyone is proposing one. Here’s mine. After ending his fast at New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan last month, Anna Hazare announced that “electoral reforms would be next on his ...
Where do we go from here? Here’s a piece that I wrote for The Atlantic online last week: India’s Great Middle-Class Moment After decades on the sidelines, the growing ranks of Middle India are starting to find their voice. But can the political system respond? NEW DELHI, India — What should the world make of ...
The Sicilian women who offered this blogger $150m to oppose Anna Hazare An excerpt of my short article in OPEN magazine on the wages of making unpopular points: If the political establishment didn’t know how to respond to Anna Hazare, the mindless thousands who supported him—largely from in front of their television and computer screens— ...
“When the social power is used irresponsibly, or to subvert the constitutional authority, it is hardly distinguishable from terror.” The Maharashtra state government instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice P B Sawant, in September 2003 to inquire into allegations of corruption and maladministration against several people, among them Anna Hazare. The Commission submitted its ...
“Licence-permit-raj generated corruption in election, in public life and in the economy” An extract from Jawaharlal Nehru, a biography, by Sankar Ghose (p250): Tweet ...
And India must focus on economic freedom In the light of the current debate over the solution to corruption, here’s something to think about. There is a correlation between higher levels of economic freedom and lower perceptions of corruption. Here’s an old chart that shows the relationship. It uses 2006 data, but it should hold ...
The unasked question Omair Ahmad’s article on the ugly business of Indian blue helmets in the Congo is titled “rotten olives”. He raises the most important point: That shining reputation will be in tatters if the current charges of misconduct by Indian peacekeepers in the Congo are proved. The Indian government has assigned Lt Gen ...
The shame in Congo What the ‘BBC’ found in its investigation of UN peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo is deeply disturbing. The accusations are serious: Indian peacekeepers operating around the town of Goma had direct dealings with the militia responsible for the Rwandan genocide, now living in eastern DR Congo. The Indians ...