Rushing bills and rejecting discussions on issues of national importance have become the norm. For one full month — the entire Monsoon Session — Parliament was virtually washed out. Who created the logjam in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha? What left Opposition MPs with no option but to raise slogans and repeatedly… Continue reading Dear Union government, let Parliament function
Around 2,400 years ago, Greek philosopher Plato wrote The Republic, a discussion of the principles society ought to be governed by. Of the many concepts he introduced, one especially captured popular imagination and was later familiarised in the proverb “empty vessels make the most sound”. Several centuries later, far away from the Greece of 380… Continue reading Plato in Indian Parliament: Which Are The Empty Vessels Making The Most Noise?
The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), the second largest Opposition parties in Parliament, decided not to nominate any of its members to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) being proposed to examine the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, calling the committee a ‘farce’. Here are three reasons why JPCs… Continue reading Why Joint Parliamentary Committees Are An Exercise In Futility
These cut across health, education and law among other spheres. For one, withdraw the SIR exercise in Bihar. As India celebrates its 79th Independence Day, here are 79 suggestions for the Union government. Unemployment1. Reduce unemployment. Eight out of 10 unemployed are youth.2. Create jobs for the youth. Youth unemployment is over 15 per cent.3.… Continue reading 79 suggestions for the Union government on 79th I-Day
The best time to give advice is to speak to a chair in front of you with nobody sitting on it. Empty chairs have arms. No ears, no minds, no conscience. Tell an empty chair anything and it will listen. And that’s precisely what I have planned to do in this column — give gyan… Continue reading Dear Vice President: Eight suggestions for the new incumbent, whoever that may be
I still remember that muggy morning in Delhi fourteen years ago. For the first time ever in my life, I was meeting a person holding a high constitutional office. The then Vice President of India, Mr Hamid Ansari. It was my first day in Parliament. After being sworn in, he called some of us rookies… Continue reading The Vice Presidents of India I Know
The Monsoon Session of Parliament begins next week. The dates were announced 45 days ago. Unusual. Normally, schedules for Parliament sessions are put out 18-20 days in advance. The reason for the early announcement of dates for this Monsoon Session, by a skittish NDA government, is simple: Avoid a Special Session of Parliament and delay… Continue reading Question Hour is one of the few tools still available to hold this government accountable
In the previous column, your columnist shared how greats like Gandhi, Ambedkar, Azad, Savitribai Phule, Vajpayee and others saw the English language as a liberating force. Today, let us continue the conversation, drawing on different voices to emphasise how English remains a vital thread in our national fabric, in spite of what Mr Amit Shah… Continue reading We Are Indian. Can We Please Say That In Any Language We Like?
Two quizmasters in conversation. Derek O’Brien: This is the first time we’re doing something like this. Thank you, Siddhartha. Siddhartha Basu: It’s the first time ever the both of us have been together, and I’m delighted. DOB: You and I met just three years ago. And it was such a beautiful occasion. We had dinner at home. You… Continue reading Two quizmasters, on the facts
“In this country, those who speak English will soon feel ashamed, the creation of such a society is not far away.” – Home Minister Amit Shah, 19 June, 2025. 121 languages. 19,500 dialects. In a country as vast and diverse as India, English is not only a language, it is a unifier. For the lakhs… Continue reading For Amit Shah, A Note On What Ambedkar, Gandhi, Azad Said About ‘English’
