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Aakar Patel Page-6

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda. (PTI)

Aakar Patel | Where the BJP has succeeded, over its 2 terms from 2014, and where it failed

It appears to be the case that the BJP has shifted its focus from the economy to its primary social agenda

03 May 2022 12:06 AM

There appears to be no particular advantage or benefit that we get in officially changing our constitutional and legal state from a secular one to a Hindu Rashtra. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Aakar Patel | If India turns into a Hindu Rashtra, what will it mean…

o understand what changes can come here, we must first try to understand what the term Hindu Rashtra means

26 Apr 2022 1:41 AM

India landed on the list, the USCIRF report said, because of discrimination against Muslims through the law (it cited CAA and NRC), restrictions on propagation and violence on the issue of cow slaughter the lynchings. (Representational Image/PTI)

Aakar Patel | India likely to stay on US list of ‘concern’ on human rights

The world is not blind to what is happening in India today and it is uncomfortable with it

18 Apr 2022 11:55 PM

The raids by the Enforcement Directorate (which is controlled by the Union government) on Opposition leaders and parties have become a weekly affair. (Representational Image/ DC File)

Aakar Patel | Venal officers target citizens, keeping India as ‘partly free’

On civil liberties India has only scored 33 out of 60, while the United States has scored 51

12 Apr 2022 1:31 AM

A couple of years ago, I wrote a book whose thesis was that Hindutva has no end state. Meaning that there is no particular goal that it wants to achieve. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Aakar Patel | Why divisive issues hold sway as ‘real’ ones ignored

The mass media in India is largely owned by corporate bodies

05 Apr 2022 12:41 AM

Most experts, including retired generals who write, are of the opinion that Indian land has been intruded on and China is refusing to vacate, and that is the problem. (Representational Image/ AFP)

Aakar Patel | Of democracies, dictatorships & transparency

We should consider that India is not a dictatorship and should be using its natural strength as a democracy

29 Mar 2022 12:34 AM

Aakar Patel | Pegasus spying probe: Can the panel hold Modi govt to account?

The citizens included journalists, key Opposition figures and a sexual harassment survivor

22 Mar 2022 1:08 AM

BJP activists gather during a roadshow of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the seventh phase of the Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections in Varanasi. (Photo: AFP file photo)

Aakar Patel | The real reason for BJP’s huge UP triumph: Not ‘development’

Election victories sanctify the actions of a political party; they do not validate them

14 Mar 2022 11:33 PM

One of the more common ways in which voting is understood here is through the concept of “anti-incumbency”, which is not a phrase that is used in other democracies. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Aakar Patel | Why voters still re-elect govts despite failures on jobs, growth

This piece is not about the parties and elections but about the voter, and why they vote in the way they do

08 Mar 2022 3:32 AM

India’s vote did not really matter in the end, because Russia as a permanent UNSC member has a veto, which it used, and it was known the condemnation would fail. (AP)

Aakar Patel | Vote to abstain at UN will hurt India as it fails to live up to ideals

India’s foreign policy under the current government has not been able to find its rhythm because it doesn’t have a theme

01 Mar 2022 6:59 AM

Aakar Patel | It’s important for media to focus on the reality of life in this country…

India’s media is largely an accomplice of the State here

22 Feb 2022 2:41 AM

The young women say that covering their head is a religious practice for them and the Constitution guarantees this as a Fundamental Right. (Representational Image/ AP)

Aakar Patel | Let women wear the hijab or not: It’s not the job of State to meddle

The hijab issue has again brought what India is doing to its minorities to the notice of the world

15 Feb 2022 1:49 AM

India has, according to the government’s own data, the lowest labour participation rate in South Asia and one of the lowest in the world. (Representational Image/ AP)

Aakar Patel | Why are voters not bothered about economy, absence of jobs?

The curious thing is that the economy does not appear to be a relevant subject in India’s political debate

08 Feb 2022 2:12 AM

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. (PTI)

Aakar Patel | Can BJP lose its vote share, but still win in UP? Wait for results

The broad patterns tell us that to sweep Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has to retain its vote share of the past three elections

01 Feb 2022 2:34 AM

After the world voiced its alarm, an FIR was filed against those who openly called for the mass murder of Muslims at a Hindu function in Haridwar. (file photo)

Aakar Patel | Listen to what the world says: Step back from the precipice…

It is not safe to be dismissive about words like genocide, but unfortunately, that is what India is doing today

25 Jan 2022 12:06 AM

NewsIn February 2021, India and Pakistan made a surprise joint announcement that they would “strictly” observe a ceasefire at the Line of Control. (Representational Image/PTI)

Aakar Patel | Pakistan’s new security policy: How should India respond?

The policy articulates what it sees as Pakistan’s vision and priorities and provides a detailed implementation framework

19 Jan 2022 2:46 AM

It is accurate to say that India has quite consciously been led to the stage today when communalism has completely infected the nation. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Aakar Patel | Are we ready to believe things are not going well with India?

A course can be corrected only if we accept that we are headed in the wrong direction

11 Jan 2022 2:15 AM

Kashmiri children look from behind a closed window of their house during a counterinsurgency operation on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP)

Aakar Patel | Kashmirification & Gujaratification of India is here… will be hard to root out

If we observe the events of the recent past, it appears he is right

04 Jan 2022 2:48 AM

The pandemic will itself continue, but we can hope that it does not do the damage that it did either in 2020 or in 2021. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Aakar Patel | As 2022 looms, we can only hope for some easing of pain

Perhaps we should begin from the place that has become frozen in time: Kashmir

28 Dec 2021 1:44 AM

Hate crimes are not registered as a separate category by the State and there is little official information available on the matter. (Representational Image/ DC File)

Aakar Patel | New law likely to spell trouble for Christians in Karnakata

In the first two weeks of December 2021 alone, attacks against Christians were reported in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka

21 Dec 2021 2:02 AM

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Bhopinder Singh