To Abort or Not to Abort

Firoze Hirjikaka

So, Alabama has fired the opening salvo in the campaign against abortion and, if the Republicans prevail, the epidemic will spread to many more states. 

Is India Developing or Regressing?

Firoze Hirjikaka

According to a news report, a mob of MNS “activists” broke into the residence of a Ghatkopar (Mumbai north) citizen and thrashed him in front of his family. His crime? He posted an online opinion about Raj Thackeray that the MNS stalwarts deemed to be offensive. To compound the comedy of errors, the police arrested – get this – not the perpetrators of the violence, but the victim of their aggression. 

The Changing Face of Narendra Modi

Firoze Hirjikaka

They say: Scratch a politician and you will uncover a warren’s nest of self-serving lies. Scratch an Indian politician and you are kept guessing about what will emerge from his/her mouth. The only certainty is political expediency. Narendra Modi is, of course, a master at this art, but his recent transformation has left many scratching their heads in befuddlement.  

The Politics of Religion

N. S. Venkataraman

“Is Hindu religion discriminated in India?”

It is strange that in a country where around 80% of the population follows the Hindu religion, many Hindus still feel that their religion is discriminated in various ways by successive governments in India.  Although the BJP, described as “the Hindu nationalist party” by the western media, has been in power for more than four years, such a feeling of discrimination persists.

The following few instances highlight this discrimination.

Where is the India I grew up in?

Firoze Hirjikaka

This article is not so much a complaint as a cry of anguish. What is happening to the Bombay, nay India, I grew up in?  As I witness the rising intolerance, tacitly encouraged by the government, both at national and state levels; as I watch the majority systematically attempting to dominate and even ignore minorities, without a thought to the latter’s aspirations and mounting frustrations; as I lament over the inexorable stripping away of our constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of expression in the spurious name of pseudo nationalism, I can only watch in helpless horror the deterioration of the nation’s core values and ethics.  

Triple Talaq Verdict – Remembering Hamid Dalwai

Nitin G. Raut

On 22^nd August, 2017, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India by 2/3 majority judgment struck down the practice of triple talaq as unconstitutional.  In the landmark judgment, Justice R. F. Nariman and Justice U. U. Lalit held that the practice of triple talaq violates the fundamental right under Article 14 which deals with equality before law.  

Elphinstone Bridge Tragedy : No Lessons Learnt

Firoze Hirjikaka

If there is one truism in our “sare jahan se achha” Bharat, it is the near total lack of accountability and responsibility in those we have elected to govern us. Even worse, this is accompanied by a total absence of shame. Despite the usual platitudes from our “netas”, I doubt if there is a pang of conscience or remorse among the lot of them. Their attitude is that these things happen – especially in India where life is cheap and expendable – and that the blame lies everywhere except on themselves. Nothing illustrates this attitude better than the recent human – and entirely preventable – tragedy of the Elphinstone Bridge stampede in Mumbai.  

The National Anthem – A Debate

Keshav Rau

By the time these words appear in print, the euphoria associated with the country’s Independence Day celebrations would have died down.  Every Independence Day is an occasion for a lot of high-sounding pledges being taken by all to safeguard the long and hard-fought independence achieved through the sweat and toil of our forefathers.  Each Prime Minister, since independence, addresses the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort (nowadays within the confines of a fortified enclosure) announcing freebies and policy proclamations to the downtrodden and poor. 

Congress Party – R.I.P.

Firoze Hirjikaka

It is now more or less official. The Congress Party is virtually defunct. The Grand Old Party, whose stalwarts fought for India’s independence, laid the foundation of genuine democracy in a region that had never experienced it, ensured equal representation for all minorities in a complicated and diverse nation, experimented with and then discarded Nehruvian socialism; and put India on the path of economic liberalization in 1991, is now a diaphanous shell of its former self.  

Is India’s Foreseeable Political Future Immutable?

Firoze Hirjikaka

In my previous article “Where is India heading”, I had reflected on the ruling BJP aggressively pushing its Hindutva agenda and, by inference, its growing confidence about the inevitability of remaining in power till at least 2024. This deduction was bolstered by the lost-in-the-woods attitude of a mindless and incoherent Opposition. The certainty of seven more Modi years has been slightly diminished by recent events around the world, which may or may not have an effect on the Indian electorate.