Author: David Devadas

Developments in Ukraine, and the world’s responses, have given India an extraordinary opportunity to try and bring Russia closer to the West, by playing a proactive role in negotiating peace. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been called and acknowledged by top leaders on both sides, could even invite the two presidents for talks in […]

What is happening in Ukraine right now is replete with obvious parallels from recent history — parallels from which Russian President Vladimir Putin ought to take lessons, as should policymakers in capitals such as New Delhi. One obvious parallel is the Cuban missile crisis. Like President John F Kennedy in 1962, Putin has dug in […]

For weeks now, the Russian army’s build-up around Ukraine’s borders has been one of the world’s biggest news stories. Many of us have watched it without much interest, but Indians should be very concerned about how that story plays out. For, the geopolitical repercussions could affect our national security. The most obvious impact is that […]

Although most voters remained wary of sharing their ballot preferences even on polling day, two salient issues —unemployment and price rise — seeped out in conversations with those standing or walking near some of Goa’s polling booths. The veritable cattle market of defections that followed the last assembly elections still rankles. The Congress won 17 […]

It defies belief, but several among the separatist ranks are pleased with the way the delimitation commission wants to realign seats in Jammu and Kashmir. Consider this: the only new constituency they’ve created in the Kashmir Valley comprises people who, by and large, have been pro-Pakistan. The very name of the constituency sends a tingle […]

It’s ironic that JNU Vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar was rewarded this weekend with the chairmanship of the UGC, just when the anniversary of the explosive controversy over anti-national slogans on the JNU campus is round the corner. One wishes Left and liberal academics would take stock of just how much ground their cherished values have […]

Various opposition-ruled state governments have every right to protest against the Centre’s move to take over unilateral authority to post officers at the Centre, or wherever the Centre pleases. Only, if those regional parties’ point is that India’s federalism is being undermined, they are being hypocritical. If they really valued federalism, they would have stood […]

With every step, the government seems to unravel what it sought to achieve with the 2019 constitutional changes on J&K. Given the record, we can only try to imagine what the vision was. With just about everything the government has done in Jammu and Kashmir since taking hands-on control of the place in August 2019, […]

Silent. That’s the word that best describes the current mood in Kashmir. Some would prefer the word ‘calm.’ They could even call it ‘placid’ — for so it is now, like the surface of the dead Dal Lake. Others would want to say ‘silenced’. That works too, for the connection between crime and punishment has […]