By T.J.S. George Politicians big and small have commented variously on democracy. But the most perceptive observation came from an Anglican priest-turned-Cambridge-professor named W.R. Inge. “Democracy,” he said, “is only an experiment in government, and it has the obvious disadvantage of merely counting the votes instead of weighing them.” What a world of difference there…
By T.J.S. George This is going to be the make or break election. It will either make the idea of India viable, or it will break it completely. The ruling dispensation knows that if they don’t win this time, they won’t win for a long time. And if they win, they’ll make sure they don’t…
By T.J.S. George Pakistan is ruled by its military and the military has an animosity against India that won’t go away. The reason is permanently engraved in a photograph — Gen. A.A.K. Niazi signing papers formalising his country’s surrender to India in Dhaka in 1971. The wiping out of East Pakistan and the creation of…
By T.J.S. George It is good that 12 fighter jets bombarded a terrorist camp in Pakistan with the intention of delivering a blow that would be remembered. More significantly, India crossed the Line of Control (LoC) for the first time to hit Balakot, the terrorists’ nerve centre. The message was heard in other countries as…
By T.J.S. George It’s now two months since the Union Government issued orders that turned India into a surveillance State. Ten investigative agencies were authorised to “intercept, monitor and decrypt” all computer material kept by all citizens. The authorities justified it by saying that the rules were framed by the Congress-led UPA Government. That is…
By T.J.S. George Prime Minister Modi had, and will continue to have, the backing of all of India in his stand against the terrorists who “made a big mistake” in attacking jawans in Pulwama. The attack must have given the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its protectors in Pakistan a cheap thrill of achievement as they managed…
By T.J.S. George Unlike father Rajiv Gandhi and brother Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi has to wear two crosses — the Gandhi dynastic cross and the Vadra controversies cross. The second hurts more. The haste with which the Government has opened the Vadra can of worms points to the viciousness of today’s politics. But the worms…
By T.J.S. George Imagine all South Indian States uniting on a platform of ethnic difference from the North, as C.N. Annadurai briefly contemplated once upon a time. Something similar is happening in the North-East. Ethnically, culturally and historically, the North-Eastern States have been different from the rest of India. North-Easterners often talked about going to…
By T.J.S. George Small men in big chairs are usually dangerous. It isn’t just the Napoleon Complex: the tendency among short men to be overly assertive to make up for their lack of height. A politician who occupies a chair too big for him gets not only overly assertive but also contemptuous of others and…
By T.J.S. GEORGE What a curse democracy has become. It truly is bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people. With no stops. Look at the cabinet circus in Karnataka. Look at Devendra Phadnavis fighting ally-turned-enemy Shiv Sena. Look at Yogi Adityanath still struggling to figure out whether governance is animal or vegetable….
CBI to probe phone tappingAugust 18, 2019
Amidst dark clouds, a silver lining One year ...August 18, 2019
BSY to expand Cabinet on Aug. 20August 18, 2019
Ayyappa Hill at Virajpet unsafe, says GSI tea...August 18, 2019
Recent Comments