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Interviews

Tue, Nov 24, 2009
Tarun Vijay: Barack Obama, us and the US
'India will have to fight its own battles. It cannot expect the US to help us fight them.' Exclusive: Ex-NSG chief's stunning disclosures
'Since I felt there could be more, I had told the local authorities to screen every hostage carefully, since we felt that some could have been staying as guests.' Former NSG director general J K Dutt in an exclusive interview. 26/11: Questions that need to be posed, answered
Strategic expert B Raman on the 17 critical question that he wants answered on the Mumbai terror attacks. Column: Why I am worried about Dr Singh's visit
'A nation that has no long-term strategic intent, and whose leaders can be easily manipulated through flattery, is a banana republic. Unlike China, which intends to rule the world, India, which can only imagine itself as a second-rate power, will remain one.'
Fri, Nov 20, 2009
What Manmohan Singh should tell Barack Obama
'China is not a disinterested observer in South Asia. It is in possession of part of Jammu and Kashmir and has been an unscrupulous supplier of arms and war-like nuclear material to Pakistan.' Why India cannot be an Asian power like China
Power and influence are not given. They are taken. China knows how to take it, India does not, says strategic expert B Raman.
Thu, Nov 19, 2009
The Mamata and Mayawati factor
'The BJP and Samajwadi Party seem to be on a downward slope in UP; the Left Front seems to be on its way out in Kerala and West Bengal.' For Mumbai, slum-free plan may not work
It is surprising that the slum dwellers have so far not revolted and asked the government to pack up and go because, from their point of view, the slums are not a problem but a spontaneous solution to the housing problem in Mumbai which has always been behind the demand curve, the supply kept short deliberately so that progressively higher prices can rule.
Tue, Nov 17, 2009
Will Bonapartist Foneska outgrow Lankan democracy?
'There is nothing necessarily fatal if a soldier develops a passion for politics. An Indian commentator pointed out that, after all, there is the precedent of Dwight Eisenhower. But then, the nagging worry remains whether in the South Asian clime, like the sapling brought in from distant China, Fonseka, a US Green Card holder, may blossom and outgrow the botanical garden that Sri Lankan democracy used to be.' Indian democracy at the crossroads
Some measures like conducting candidate debates, fixing the terms for elected representatives, having a constitutionally empowered political finance regulatory authority and effective policing of campaigns and elections by the Election Commission will go a long way in making India a truly functional and thriving democracy. 'Chidambaram's action endangering peace'
'Operation Green Hunt is nothing but an operation to get the tribals out of their villages. The paramilitary forces and Salwa Judum are attacking innocent old men, women and children,' says Gandhian Himanshu Kumar.
Mon, Nov 16, 2009
Decoding the Headley-Rana case
The key to the conspiracy hatched by David Headley and Tahawwur Rana may lie in Bangladesh and Pakistan. 'The talk of me being a 'Super CM' is rubbish'
'I have been dropped all of a sudden and I don't even know what my fault is,' says Shobha Karandlaje, who was dropped from the Karnataka cabinet following the battle between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the Reddy brothers from Bellary.
Fri, Nov 13, 2009
The BJP's hour may have passed
'The Karnataka crisis clearly showed the BJP in the grip of regional satraps, for whom the national leadership is of little consequence.' The Chicago conspiracy: What is Rana's role?
Security expert B Raman deciphers the FBI affidavit against Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the Pakistan-origin Canadian arrested with David Headley for alleged Lashkar connections, and speculates who could be their handlers in Pakistan.
Thu, Nov 12, 2009
Defeating 'new terrorism': India must act
'There is no option but to successfully defeat the terrorist organisations inimical to India's national security and determined to create a communal-sectarian schism with a view to destabilising India on behalf of the ISI and the Pakistan army.'
Wed, Nov 11, 2009
An open letter to Raj Thackeray
'Your militia can rampage outside the legislature, but it can, and will, be thwarted entry into the legislature. You cannot carry your grudges on any aspect of life in Maharashtra there in the fashion your men have done.' How India must face the Chinese threat
India needs to agressively counter China's imperial ambitions and its plans to encircle and break up the country. The struggle for Dharma is never wholly won
'Indian civilisation has thrived for millennia because of the element of Dharma in society, however strong the demons are.' Will the route of Koda's loot be dealt with?
If there were people willing to offer bribes worth crores of rupees there were definitely other people who were willing to stand behind Madhu Koda's shoulder, offering hints about investing all those rupees. Who were they? asks T V R Shenoy.
Tue, Nov 10, 2009
Chinese media builds up anti-India rhetoric
'There is an upsurge already in Indian and Chinese nationalisms and the attitudes of the two peoples get sharpened on issues like that involving territory, affecting public sentiments.' Every Indian language is a great one
'Why should we have to complain about its forced usage or suffocate having someone pushing it down our throats?'
Mon, Nov 9, 2009
Opinion: Proud to sing Vande Mataram!
'At the far end we have the likes of Maulana Mahmood Madani with their separatist agenda, but that does not mean every Muslim is persuaded by the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind's bunkum.' Aren't we all minorities, Mr Chidambaram?
A secular state cannot subscribe to the concept of a majority and a minority for it is that very inequity that a secular state strives to eradicate, argues Vivek Gumaste Tibet, India's legal ticket to claim Arunachal
'As a responsible law abiding nation, India has a moral responsibility to tell the truth that Tibet is an occupied country,' says Tashi Phuntsok.