An Attack on the Right to Liberty
MINT | The Greenpeace activist is entitled to her view. The government was at fault when it stopped her from going abroad without just cause
Fall of a Strongman
TIMES OF INDIA | Lessons from Sri Lanka on the limits of centralised power
Closed encounters of the ominous kind
TIMES OF INDIA | The future of the rule of law, and indeed of democracy in India, will rest on the ability of the courts to do justice in the Sohrabuddin, Kauserbi and Prajapati cases
When a Big Tree Fell
TIMES OF INDIA | Thirty years since THE 1984 anti-Sikh riots, we still need to learn lessons on political accountability
Of Hindus and Indians: Modi’s refugee stumble on Times Now
Ever since February, when Modi said “harassed” Hindus from Bangladesh and the rest of the world had the right to come back to India, the BJP has been tying itself in knots over the issue.
Ilina Sen wrongly booked under Foreigners Act
The FIR filed by the Maharashtra Police against Professor Ilina Sen tells us a lot about the official attitude of the Indian establishment towards dissent, knowledge and intellectual freedom … … Continue reading
Such journalists should be exposed, not honoured
I have written to the jury which gave the Indian News Broadcasting Award for News Reporter of the Year 2010, Hindi, to Neeta Sharma of NDTV India, protesting their choice. … Continue reading
A modest proposal on AFSPA
Change the blanket ban on trials without official sanction to one where the government has the power to bar prosecution in individual cases provided it satisfies the courts that its … Continue reading
Last chance to fix flawed torture Bill
The draft law excludes many scenarios and forms of torture rampant in India. The Rajya Sabha must insist on amendments… 27 August 2010The Hindu Last chance to fix flawed torture … Continue reading
This is not zero tolerance, Mr. Prime Minister
The Central government’s professed commitment to human rights is worth nothing so long as it won’t allow the soldiers indicted for murdering innocent civilians in Kashmir to be prosecuted for … Continue reading
Ottawa, you have a problem
If Canada denies a visa to individuals accused of specific human rights violations, no one would have a problem. But to treat the Indian armed forces as some sort of … Continue reading
Jyotirmaya Sharma on Arundhati Roy’s Bureau of Moral Certification
In 2000, the historian Ramachandra Guha wrote a withering critique of Arundhati Roy, calling her the ‘Arun Shourie of the Left’. Guha attacked her essay on the Narmada project and … Continue reading
Conduct worthy of a police state
The peremptory deportation of a Nepali student from India and the unlawful detention of a tribal woman shot by the police in Chhattisgarh raise troubling questions about the power of … Continue reading
Ten reasons why criminals in khaki get away
Behind every man like S.P.S. Rathore who abuses his authority stand the generals and footsoldiers who help and support him. We need to take them all down… 26 December 2009The … Continue reading
Siddharth Varadarajan 