When Politics is ‘War’
As a 24×7 news journalist, late nights are an occupational hazard. After almost three decades as a newsman, you think you’ve seen it all. And yet, when a Rajya...
Corruption and Communalism: No False Binary please!
“We are coming together to defend secularism by defeating Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and the RSS,” proclaimed Lalu Prasad with typical bombast in September 2015 just ahead of the...
Decoding Gujarat’s ‘resort’ politics
If Bihar’s business is politics, then Gujarat’s business is business. The sharpest Gujarati minds have usually gone into ‘dhandha’: the stock market ups and downs worry the average Gujarati...
The six lies of Bihar
No political journalist’s education is complete without understanding Bihar. If Mumbai’s business is business, then Bihar’s business is politics! In no other part of the country — not even...
Cricket’s chak de moment
In the early 1980s, Diana Eduljee, who was then the Indian women’s cricket team star bowler, would bowl at the Cricket Club of India nets in Mumbai. “Whatever you...
Bengal, Kerala: the BJP’s last frontiers
When a few days ago, Delhi BJP leader Nupur Sharma tweeted pictures of the 2002 Gujarat riots and attempted to pass them off as Bengal 2017, she was only...
An abusive Phone Call
Why aren’t you in Basirhat, you bloody xxxx Muslim supporter, an anonymous caller asked me last night. I normally don’t respond to the abusive callers but for some reason...
A tale of two ‘events’
This is a tale of two distinct events: One staged by the common citizen, the other by our VVIPs. The ‘Not in My Name’ protests were held in several...
The Poison of ‘kuch log’
Last night, I interviewed Junaid Khan's father Jallaluddin when he said something that left me numb: 'why do they hate us so much sir that they kill us because...
Silence please, we are in power!
“We don’t need to be told by media or opposition what we need to do for farmers. We would rather listen to farmers and not to carping, negative opposition...