Food for Thought… Invoking Aurobindo for Spiritual Sustenance in Difficult Days
As India prepared to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this past week, it signified the culmination of an important cycle in the relations of our two countries. It had begun with Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel last July—the first by an Indian Prime Minister—and heralded the moving forward …
Contours and vision of the ‘Rahul Era’, and what it offers India in the future
The process for the formal anointment of Rahul Gandhi as president of the Congress began earlier this month. Prior to this epochal event for some, there has been an effort by the so-called and self-styled left liberal media and intelligentsia to give Rahul a makeover. The effort began when Rahul …
Need to end the national culture of selective forgetfulness
In our collective reading of India’s history and in that in narrating the lives of those countless personalities who made a contribution to our national awakening—political, cultural, and educational—we have often been selective, constantly eulogising some while marginalising others. This often flaunted habit, especially by an interested and influential section in …
Doklam episode demonstrates India’s civilisational approach
By the time this column appears, the process of disengagement between India and China on the Doklam stand-off might have advanced to a great degree. This is indeed a major diplomatic victory for India and reflects the sagacity, maturity, foresight and fortitude of the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. Not …
Poisonous creed of communism corroding entrails of democracy
“The communist strategy is simple,” philosopher Ram Swarup wrote in his Communists under Communism (1955). “It consists in serial liquidation of ‘enemies’, constituted of all the non-communist opposition and the ‘non-proletarian’ sector of population. Blackmail, vilification, character assassination are the characteristic methods used to achieve this end.” ‘Enemies’ for communists …
Compradors backing satellite ideology out to destabilise India
In his discussion on cultural self-alienation among a section of present-day Indians, social and political philosopher Ram Swarup makes an interesting description. He talks of a satellite ideology, a local satellite ideology that is derived from a dominant imperialist ideology, and then works through its advocates and mouthpieces in its …
Nation-wreckers seek to dilute collective sense of ‘we’ in India
The summer of manufactured grievances is upon us once more, a periodic and unfailing cycle, seen in repeated clockwork regularity in the last three years. The high priests and articulators of this summer of grievances sit in the rarefied and acclimatised climes of privileged quarters of various cities and towns …
Unaware of reality, communists see politics behind triple talaq
When asked what advice would he give the Left-wing writers, leading British conservative philosopher and writer Roger Scruton replied “acknowledge the legitimacy of disagreement”. Scruton’s description of the Left and Communist intelligentsia, and his analysis of their methods of political and intellectual impositions are applicable in the Indian context as …
Modi’s vision of a ‘New India’ fires the imagination of youth
The BJP completes its 37th year this month and continues to exude a robust index of growth and self-renewal. It has succeeded in building and articulating a narrative which is getting increasing acceptance across the spectrum. The successful articulation of a political and governance account is indicative of the positive …
Saffron watershed in UP marks the dawn of performance politics
The sweeping and stunning electoral verdict in Uttar Pradesh in favour of Narendra Modi-led BJP has marked a new watershed in the history of Indian politics. It put to rest many narratives, exposed a number of readings and felled many theories while announcing, in no uncertain terms, a new beginning …
Congress’s reaction on ‘raincoat’ jibe exposes its disturbed state of mind
It was one of those rare days when one could clearly make out what Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, was saying. Usually, his repartees and heavily elliptical arguments are almost always lost because of the raucousness of his voice and wild gesticulations aimed at the Chair and treasury …
Spoilt children of politics rattled by PM Modi’s devotion for nation
In a political culture that is obsessed with dynastism and which has, over the years, developed a deeply entrenched habit of ensuring that political power and position benefit members of the leaders’ families, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s approach towards his immediate and extended family members stands apart. A well-researched story …
Bhakt-intellectuals employed to raise the bogey of dictatorship
When genuflecting intellectuals with cleverly concealed dynastic loyalties write with a clear political objective of denigrating a particular personality, they are explained away—by a section—as genuine scholars. While posing to be neutral assessors of Indian politics, these types have actually spent a lifetime earning laurels, positions and pelf for their …
An intellectual & political class works to denigrate idea of India
The Pantheon in Paris is a must-visit for all those who wish to see for themselves the manner in which the French people venerate those who have contributed to articulating, narrating and shaping civilisational France. Inspired by the vision and idea of the French civilisation, driven by patriotism to perpetuate …