Ashok Malik

    Corner Plot

    Politics - That great Indian obsession

  • Congress’s head-hunting problem

    What explains the sudden chorus demanding Rahul Gandhi take over the leadership of the Congress and become prime minister? Is it only an annual ritual, coinciding with the MP from Amethi's birthday? Is it a trial balloon being floated by … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/06/20/rahul-as-pm/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Doctors are Terrifying

    There are many stressful things in life - Bangalore's traffic, Mumbai's real estate prices, and Chennai's weather (it gets bitterly cold in the winters - even dropping below twenty degrees Celsius. Shiver.). In the past month, I have discovered a … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/06/18/doctors-are-terrifying/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • New monks for old

    In the aftermath of the Baba Ramdev fiasco, spokespersons of the UPA government and the Congress have alleged the yoga guru and religious preacher is a proxy for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – India’s biggest Hindu nationalist socio-political conglomeration – and of its daughter organisation, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP).

  • Why an Al Qaeda-Taliban Nuremburg is impossible

    Afghan intelligence may have jumped the gun in announcing the death of Mullah Omar. Even so, it is clear sections of the Pakistani establishment are planning to facilitate a summary execution of the grand mufti of the former Taliban regime … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/05/23/why-an-al-qaeda-taliban-nuremburg-is-impossible/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • India is the Great Game’s great spectator

    Indian commentary following the killing of Osama bin Laden by a United States commando team on May 1 has come to three conclusions, two of them completely contradictory to each other: - This is the end of the US-Pakistan relationship. … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/05/09/india-is-the-great-games-great-spectator/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The Case Against The Bhushans

    Less than a fortnight after the opening meeting of the Lok Pal Bill joint committee, three trends have become visible. First, the UPA government is doing its best to muddy the waters, to discredit the civil society activists and to … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/04/25/the-case-against-the-bhushans/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Our dissent, their dissent

    How would China's government have responded to an Anna Hazare type challenge? To answer that question, one needs to assess the phenomenon and mechanism of the Hazare-led protests this past week. In some respects, these are more important than the … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2011/04/11/our-dissent-their-dissent/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The End of Privacy

    It will take a long time for any reasoned and reasonable analysis of the 250,000 confidential cables sent by American diplomats and released by the whistleblower website Wikileaks. Understandably, the United States foreign policy establishment is hopping mad. Other than … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/12/01/the-end-of-privacy/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The Challenges of an Emerged India

    President Barack Obama's visit to India and his praise of it as a "global power" that was no more "emerging" but has "emerged" has got many people thinking about the future of Indian foreign policy. No doubt some of the … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/11/16/the-challenges-of-an-emerged-india/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Maharashtra’s Audacious Chief Ministers

    Should he lose his job as Maharashtra chief minister courtesy the Adarsh Housing Society scandal, Ashok Chavan could pass into history as one of the most forgettable heads of a state government. Unfortunately, keeping him company in that 'India's most … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/11/02/maharashtras-audacious-chief-ministers/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Rahul’s Challenge

    As the Bihar election campaign heats up, few in the political class are willing to bet against Nitish Kumar not winning a second term as chief minister. He has a good record as an administrator; his party, the JD(U), has … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/10/19/rahuls-challenge/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Obama’s Winter Date With India

    In almost exactly a month, the President of the United States will visit India. There was a time when such occurrences were so rare, you could count them by the decades. Dwight Eisenhower came to India in 1959, on a … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/10/05/obamas-winter-date-with-india/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • A Question of Caste

    It is now official that the 2011 Census of India will include a question on caste. For the first time since 1931, every Indian citizen will be asked to self-identify his or her caste or sub-caste. The option of saying … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/09/21/a-question-of-caste/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Spot fixing and cricket

    Oriental cunning once gave cricket the leg glance. These days its most newsworthy contribution seems to be an unending chain of fixing syndicates. Every cricket-related betting or fixing scandal in the past decade or so has had an Indian or … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/09/07/spot-fixing-and-cricket/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Mining for trouble

    In recent weeks, the National Forest Rights Act (NFRA) Committee has recommended stopping work on two major industrial projects in Orissa. It has found fault with Vedanta Aluminium's proposal to mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills of the state's Kalahandi … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/08/24/mining-for-trouble/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The Truth about Sohrabuddin Sheikh

    Rather expectedly, and unfortunately, the debate on the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh by a team of police officers from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh has got compressed into a quarrel on Narendra Modi. There are those who see this … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/08/10/the-truth-about-sohrabuddin-sheikh/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Homeland Security and the Lashkar Threat

    Following the failure of talks between the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers in Islamabad earlier this month, the Indian foreign policy establishment has gone back to familiar positioning. There are those who argue that - to borrow Mani Shankar Aiyar's … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/07/27/homeland-security-and-the-lashkar-threat/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The Kashmir Question

    As Srinagar erupted and India's "Kashmir question" returned to haunt it, the buzz in Lutyens' Delhi was near unanimous: Omar Abdullah was not up to the job and needed to be replaced as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir by … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/07/13/the-kashmir-question/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • The Bones of the Buddha

    For 60 years, Indian diplomacy has studiously kept clear of religious symbolism. Even so, in recent days a series of initiatives has made it apparent that India is using Buddhism as a foreign policy tool. Typical of this country, it … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/06/29/the-bones-of-the-buddha/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

  • Beyond the Blockade: The Key to Manipur

    For over two months now, Manipur has been experiencing a crippling blockade. It began when T Muivah, leader of the most powerful faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), said he would be visiting his native village in … <a href="http://blog.tools.news.yahoo.com/opinions/2010/06/15/beyond-the-blockade-the-key-to-manipur/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>