Indian Opinion

Mukesh Devrari What is communal writing? It includes a style of writing, which tends to create rift among different communities. It also promotes and preaches hatred. It encourages communities to indulge in violence against each other. It draws a picture as if communities are pitted against each other and always vying to establish hegemony over each other. In a country like India, communal writing can lead to rioting, loss of life and property. India has seen many communal conflagrations. In 1984 riots many Sikhs were killed by the supporters of congress party after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was murdered by her Sikh bodyguards. In the ensuing riots after the demolition of controversial Babri Mosque in 1992thousands of Hindus and Muslims killed each other brutally. In 2002 Gujrat riots many Muslims were killed in Gujrat with the connivance of state government led by Narendra Modi.   Communal writing is an immoral thing, but at times even debate around the so...

Mukesh Devrari Supreme Court Judge A. K. Patnaik said, “Freedom of speech and expression is incomplete without the right to information act as uninformed opinion has no meaning. It is of no use. People must have access to information so that they could have an informed opinion on issues. Supreme Court of India gives paramount importance to personal liberty and freedom of speech and expression. It vigorously guards these rights against state’s encroachment”. He was delivering a lecture on Right to Information Act (2005) in the CUJ (Central University of Jharkhand) on 12 April 2014. Justice Patnaik described in detail the rationale behind introducing RTI act and procedure of using it. He also highlighted the grounds on which information can be denied. It includes anything which harms sovereignty and integrity of India, forbidden to be published by court of law, considered as a breach of parliament or state legislatures, fiduciary relations, information received from foreign ...

Mukesh Devrari Ramchandra Guha brings a narrative style to the history writing that his books become more interesting read than the Khuswant Singh’s ‘In the company of women”. Perhaps he is a most celebrated and genius historian of contemporary India. His profound observations and remarkable writing style are reflected in all his works. His books are read by the general public as well as hardnosed academicians. Above paragraph seems highly subjective and hagiographical account of an author, but it can be kept aside for a time being. Despite the remarkable fan following and eminence, his works lack objectivity and criticality. It seems Guha is enamoured by the charm of Nehru as Nehru was by the charm of Lady Mountbatten.  In his book ‘India after Gandhi’ Guha has kept Nehru and his policies at the centre of India. Guha finds no fault of Nehru for the ills of India. He ignores policy blunders and treats Nehru with kid gloves. He justifies all his actions as a politician ...

Mukesh Devrari USA The India-USA relationship is the most important relationship of the century. It was the claim of the Obama administration. No doubt, India can accrue trade, technology and many other benefits from cooperating and collaborating with the world’s largest economy. Both the nations also share some common values like open society, liberalism and democracy. So, better relations with the USA are highly desirable. There is convergence on plenty of issues, but there are also lot divergences on certain issues. USA still in a very subtle manner tries to contain India by cooperating with Pakistan and not extending support to India on some major issues like Kashmir conflict. Devyani Khobragade incident in New York is reminder of the fact how USA diplomats still look at India with contempt. US claims that India has stake in containing China, but India must not support the containment of China whole heartedly. We must not indulge in pursuing a policy o...

Mukesh Devrari Former foreign secretary Rajiv Sikri delivered a lecture on ‘Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy’ in Central University of Jharkhand on 9 th April 2014. It was organized by the  Center  for Human Rights and Conflict Management of the University in collaboration with an influential think tank of retired bureaucrats ‘Public Policy Division’. Excerpts of his lecture based on memory.    21 st century is different from the 20 th century. India’s foreign policy needs readjustments. It is a globalized, interdependent and technology-driven world. Nationalism was the 19th-century  idea. Now it’s a time to form a multi-ethnic society. The USA is still a number one power, now its power is declining in relative terms. On the other hand, Japan is becoming more assertive. Europe is self-absorbed. They are trying to make sense of their unification. Asia will remain the  centre  of the geopolitical turbulence in the world in the ...