Joyeeta Basu

SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF BENGAL

July 26, 2022

To misquote Shakespeare, “something is rotten in the state of Bengal”, a visual manifestation of which flashed across the nation’s television screens last week, as the Enforcement Directorate raided the home of an “associate” of Trinamool Congress minister and secretary general, Partha Chatterjee. There were piles of Rs 2,000 and...

WELCOMING DROUPADI MURMU, PRESIDENT TO BE

July 21, 2022

This week will mark a momentous occasion for India, as it will see the rise of a tribal leader to the post of President of India. Given the support that Droupadi Murmu has been getting, her victory is certain, with the counting of votes and declaration of result a mere...

CAATSA WAIVER WILL STRENGTHEN INDIA-US RELATIONS

July 19, 2022

A piece of good news that came last week concerned the US Congress passing an India-specific waiver to CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) sanctions for purchasing the Russian S-400 missile system. Given that the US has sanctioned Turkey and China under CAATSA—Turkey for buying the S-400—the sanctions waiver...

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE GATHERING SHOULD BE BETTER

July 14, 2022

In recent times, a perception has been growing about how our intelligence gathering and policing machinery can do a better job of pre-empting and preventing internal disturbances. Ever since 2019, post the abrogation of Article 370, we have been witnessing a series of street-level disruptions, sometimes localized, while at other...

SRI LANKA MUST KEEP CHINA AWAY

July 12, 2022

Sri Lanka is in turmoil, with irate mobs invading the Presidential palace in Colombo and setting on fire the Prime Minister’s private residence, fed up with the economic morass that the country has sunk into. At a time when even subsistence level income is not available, when 90% of the...

INDIA MUST KEEP ITS OPTIONS OPEN ON BRICS

July 7, 2022

There is some speculation about the direction that the BRICS platform comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China, is taking. The “three pillars” of BRICS are “Political and Security”, “Economic and Financial” and “Cultural and People-to-people exchanges”. In reality, the thrust of BRICS has always been economic—specifically, encouraging commercial and developmental...

ALL LIVES MATTER, HINDU LIVES INCLUDED

July 5, 2022

Just when one thought that western legacy media had already hit the nadir with its tendentious coverage of India and India’s majority community, in comes another report that is so mendacious in its interpretation of facts that it plumbs new depths of insensitivity and treads into the territory of religiophobia....

PERFORM OR PERISH: DYNASTIES HAVE CEASED TO SELL

June 28, 2022

At the core of the Maharashtra crisis is the dynasty problem, where the not-so-competent son of an illustrious leader is trying to secure his own son’s future on the advice of his “kitchen cabinet”. Word has it that the reason Uddhav Thackeray became Chief Minister of Maharashtra was because of...

PERFORM OR PERISH: DYNASTIES HAVE CEASED TO SELL

June 28, 2022

IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, CHINA WANTS INDIA TO LEARN COEXISTENCE FROM IT

June 16, 2022

Something bizarre was heard this week. Of all countries, People’s Republic of China lectured India on respecting “different civilisations and religions” and on the need to “respect each other and live together as equals”. Chinese government spokesman Wang Wenbin said, “It is always important to discard pride and prejudice, better...

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