Now, paid greetings from local dons
On the eve of Independence Day 2010, readers of a major Hindi daily in Varanasi were in for a surprise. The day's newspaper carried a full-page colour advertisement carrying Independence Day greetings to all fellow-Indians — from one of the most dreaded dons of Uttar Pradesh. This gangster, who according to police sources has had close links [...]
Cut out the middlemen
In the brows-furrowing debate about whether the Government of India should hold talks with the Communist Party of India (Maoist), one fundamental question is being relegated to the side: what is the ultimate purpose of putting an end to the Maoist menace? The question, perhaps sounding too obvious to merit a reply, is a valid one because answering [...]
Rape Ruckus
On the eve of International Women's Day, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan came up with a strange suggestion. Addressing a meet on justice for rape victims, the CJI said that "due regard" must be given to the wishes of a rape victim if she wants to marry the rapist or give birth to a child conceived following the crime. The CJI's statement [...]
R.K. Raghavan: Humanising the Border Security Force
The arrest of Border Security Force Commandant R.K. Birdi in Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly ordering the shooting of a 16-year-old Kashmiri should send shock waves across the ranks in that critical paramilitary force. K.F. Rustamji, the legendary founder of the BSF, was a dynamic and respected policeman who built the BSF brick by brick and paved [...]
Manjul Bajaj: Destiny’s Daughters
Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu. Tina Isa. Hatin Surucu. Vandana Bhadodiya. A Sikh girl from Toronto. A Palestinian girl in the US. A German-Kurdish girl living in Berlin. A Gujarati girl from Vadodara city. Women of different backgrounds, from different countries, of different religious persuasions, yet united by the circumstances of their death. They were [...]
BSF arrest a positive
The arrest of a BSF commandant for the killing of a 16-year-old schoolboy in Srinagar last month, is a first-ofits-kind event in Jammu and Kashmir. It shows, for a change, that politics rather than security paranoia, can guide policy in Kashmir. This is wholly in the right direction and the underlying logic needs to be carried forward. And that [...]
Chetan Bhagat: Chocolate Cake And Terror
The last time I went to German Bakery, my twin sons insisted on having a slice of chocolate cake. I told them we could have it next time, since we came to Pune so often on weekends anyway. I broke my promise. For the next image I saw was the bakery blown to bits. A newspaper sketch diagram showed the bomb placement exactly where my family used to [...]
End the Violence
The Maoists, reportedly, want to talk to the government. The suggestion, aired through the media, has come from Kishenji, a spokesperson for the CPI (Maoist). The government needs to assess the offer very cautiously. Just as the talks offer was being discussed, members of People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) attacked a police camp [...]
Hasan Suroor: How real is British outrage over “killer” passports?
It was billed as the moment when, we were told, Britain would read out the riot act to Israel over Mossad's suspected link to the abuse of British passports by the killers of Hamas commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Dubai last month. But the first thing that the Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor did as he emerged from a meeting with the Foreign [...]
Broken measures
West Bengal is broken. Nothing that is the state’s own works anymore. Very soon, it may need to import all kinds of services and personnel from other states or from the Centre. Even in countering the gravest internal security threat to the country, Bengal is yet to step out of its kindergarten picnic. How can it? Its own senior police officers [...]