The golden jubilee
I am grateful to all my family members, friends and relatives who expressed their best wishes on my 50th birthday on November 1. Birthdays carry special importance for people. This…
Dangerous nationalism
The Tipu Sultan Express named after the famed freedom icon who resisted British colonialism in South India in the late 18th Century is being renamed Wadiyar Express after the Hindu…
Model for faith tourism
On the auspicious occasion of Diwali, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to everyone. For the first time in the 75-year history of independence, Diwali, the festival of…
Religion and respect
All religions of the world are equally respectable and no one has the right to pass derogatory remarks on any religion. However, it is highly unfortunate that lack of tolerance…
The relevance of ancient wisdom
Akbar S Ahmed’s new book, ‘The Flying Man’, is a masterpiece for our times. I use this word carefully to suggest that only a master of his subject could bring…
Divided hells
INTERNATIONAL borders emphasise insularity: Litfests are the corrective reminders of our inherent universality. The Khushwant Singh Litfest draws, as Khushwant Singh’s mind did, from skeins of history, literature, poetry, politics…
Hindu extremists target Muslim sites in India, even Taj Mahal
Thirty years after mobs demolished a historic mosque in Ayodhya, triggering a wave of sectarian bloodshed that saw thousands killed, fundamentalist Indian Hindu groups are eyeing other Muslim sites —…
India and the hijab
Muskan Khan – a hijab-wearing Muslim college student in the town of Mandya in Karnataka, India – shot to international fame when she stood up against harassment by a group…
Modi’s dystopia
Fiction, it is said, is a figment of imagination. However, if decades or centuries later, characters and events from a work of fiction attain reality, one can only marvel at…
Promoting Gandhara
Today, on February 4, the people of Sri Lanka are celebrating their 74th Independence Day to commemorate their freedom and sovereignty from British imperialism. The 5,000-year-old ancient island is also…
