After Nehru, the Congress started practicing opportunistic communalism for the sake of votes- alliance with the Muslim Leagued in Kerala supporting the fundamentalists in the Shah Bano case, authorizing shilanyas at Ayodhya, promising a Christian State in Mizoram and so on. The Janta Dal; has been encouraging minority communalism  a view to exploiting the Muslim vote bank. Its top leader said obeisance to the Shahi imam to obtain a fatwa’s or...

Dear Prime Minister,             I write this letter to you because you seem to be concerned about the poor and the marginalized, and you have mentioned about giving high priority to access of drinking water and eradication of illiteracy among others as your primary concerns. I write to you because AI thinks you will honestly try to take Gandhi’s dream of India forward. It has been deferred too long.             Gandhi...

For two days the nation remained virtually glued to the television watching the live telecast of the proceedings in the Lok Sabha on the Vajpayee govt. motion of confidence. Transparency in functioning and providing he people a sense of participation are important features of a vibrant democracy. The people of India had an excellent opportunity to see the caliber and behaviors of their representatives in parliament. The undue and unbecoming display...

The world today, whether it likes it or not, is in the era of the lone super power of pox Americana of sorts when all other countries are equal and only the united states is more equal than the others. America insists that the cold war is over. But the habits of decades are hard to erase, and in its dealings with other countries, the united states more often than not...

Mr. Chairman, I rise to welcome the Bill. It is timely and I am happy to see That the govt. has moved in the direction of undoing serious, undemocratic public wrongs that had been done as a result of the amendment of the commissions of inquiry act in the year 1986. Even at that time, I had spoken in the same vein striking a note of caution.             The commissions of...

Social tensions are inevitable if excruciating poverty of the masses is juxtaposed with the conspicuous affluence of a few. I have been repeating this at every meeting, and not here alone. Jawahar Lal Nehru used to tell me that the greatest danger to the Indian economy would be the concentration of wealth in a few hands. In those days, 20 years ago, I was the president of the congress and when...