Politicians and their clothes
POLITICIANS and their clothes can never be separated from politics. It is the side plot which moves along with the main story — scene to scene, act to act —…
Why Modi claims he has won
FIFTY-SEVEN races are still to be decided on Saturday, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he has already won a thumping majority. Let’s see the mind more than the logic…
Modi’s hat-trick
AT the cusp of yesterday, most of his troubles seemed so far away. The published exit polls pointed to a third landslide for Narendra Modi and his allies, even though…
Weaker but still lethal
THE return of Narendra Modi as prime minister for a third term was foretold, but many doubted a landslide victory for his party. While they may be correct, he is still on…
Our Indian mirror
SOON after the Babri Masjid was demolished by Hindu nationalist mobs in December 1992, Fahmida Riaz wrote an epic poem entitled Tum bilkul hum jaise nikle. Three decades later, her…
Fable of the bicycle and a plane
THE inability to accept defeat with grace comes from an authoritarian streak found in enfeebled democracies. Donald Trump and Narendra Modi, for example, are peas in a pod in this…
Renewing democracy
FOLLOWING Liaquat Ali Khan’s assassination in 1951, Pakistan witnessed a carousel of prime ministers, with six leaders in seven years, each serving an average term of 14 months. The wobbly…
Sound leadership
PAKISTAN suffers not only from a famine of funds: it is starved of sound leadership. Those who aspire to lead it should follow Winston Churchill’s advice: “Study history.” Former US…
G20 with a hope and a prayer
THE inveterate Hindu in him spurred the British prime minister to take time off from the G20 summit to offer prayers at Delhi’s riverside Akshardham temple. In so doing, he…
What’s in a name?
PAKISTAN holds an unusual pack of cards. It has no kings. They have been either deposed, exiled, assassinated, or hanged. It has no queens. One potential qualifier Miss Fatima Jinnah…
