All stories by AAKAR PATEL
Was India underprepared for a lockdown?
Rediff.com14 Apr 2020India is going into the longest lockdown in the world, with the least amount of notice given to its people and the least preparation by its government.
Why is India in lockdown?
Rediff.com1 Apr 2020The answer cannot be that we will beat the disease at the end of the 21 days. And the answer cannot be that it is to halt the spread because the spread is going to happen anyway, notes Aakar Patel.
India has no defence against coronavirus
Rediff.com25 Mar 2020One third of all Indians live in one room. Another one third lives in 2 rooms. They cannot self quarantine or isolate and if infected they will pass it on to others. It is impossible for India to control an epidemic, warns Aakar Patel.
India learns the hard way
Rediff.com18 Mar 2020No nation is fully sovereign to do what it wants to do in the face of opposition from others, points out Aakar Patel.
What has Modi's ultra-nationalism given India?
Rediff.com12 Mar 2020'Modi has presided over an ultra-nationalism that has stunted India's growth, been unable to change the country's external situation, brought foreign intervention into Indian affairs,' explains Aakar Patel.
What's the big deal about Parasite?
Rediff.com7 Mar 2020'Are we too close as well-off Indians, all with servants and drivers and tuition teachers ourselves, to be able to understand why it is all so awful?', asks Aakar Patel.
Has Modi given up on the economy?
Rediff.com5 Mar 2020'The government has given up its focus on economic growth because it it not something Modi has been able to fully understand.' 'This explains the extraordinary focus on divisive politics by the BJP even at a time when the world's most important man in visiting India,' notes Aakar Patel.
Make in India is not a strategy, it is a logo
Rediff.com28 Feb 2020'Modi's strategy to redesign India's economy was Make in India, but that has flopped,' says Aakar Patel.
Should the Opposition make Kejriwal its leader?
Rediff.com27 Feb 2020'He is wily and has everything that a political leader needs to succeed at that level.' 'He would be outstanding as a counter to Modi in the Lok Sabha, if he had the Opposition benches behind him,' says Aakar Patel.
Trump has no real affection for India
Rediff.com23 Feb 2020'The best thing that Modi can hope for in this visit is that he is able to mobilise Indians in America to vote Republican and try and help Trump return to power,' argues Aakar Patel.
What the Supreme Court chooses to hear and not hear
Rediff.com12 Feb 2020'Do the Muslims of India think that they are receiving justice from their nation and particularly from the Supreme Court?'
When, o, when will PM shift from ideology to economy?
Rediff.com6 Feb 2020'India is growing at the lowest rate in the last decade.' 'If it continues in that path then the jobs and prosperity that has been promised by this government and on the basis of which it was voted in, will continue to elude us,' says Aakar Patel.
Why politicians are keeping away from CAA protests
Rediff.com31 Jan 2020Why are the protesters still on their own and why are political parties abstaining from joining this mass movement? Aakar Patel explains.
Why these anti-CAA protests are historic
Rediff.com20 Jan 2020'This is millions of Indians standing up for values rather than an individual gain.' 'This is why this protest is unique and this is why this protest has for the first time made this government uncertain and doubtful of what to do next,' says Aakar Patel.
2020: Tough year ahead for India
Rediff.com14 Jan 2020It is going to be a rough and brutal 2020 for India as its government pushes on with its ideological agenda, and the citizens do whatever they can to protect themselves, notes Aakar Patel.
Boris Johnson is not the real villain of Brexit
Rediff.com10 Jan 2020'It is never a good idea to let the broad population determine policy that is the domain of experts and specialists,' notes Aakar Patel.
We have learned no lessons from our history
Rediff.com30 Dec 2019'When one has a lot of power, one can shut one's ears to the other side. This is what is common between the BJP of 2019 and the Congress of 1947,' says Aakar Patel.
Do you know why India is protesting against CAA/NRC?
Rediff.com24 Dec 2019'The NRC is aimed at rounding up and permanently jailing Indian Muslims who cannot produce the documents to satisfy a government which punishes those individuals who do not declare maximum number of Muslims foreigners.' 'It is for this reason that we see so many Indian Muslims protesting these laws and it is for this reason that so many non-Muslims cannot stand by and watch what is happening in their country,' says Aakar Patel.
CAA: A message to the Indian Muslim
Rediff.com21 Dec 2019'We are telling them we have isolated them and their religion as not only unwanted,' says Aakar Patel.
CAA is a self-inflicted problem
Rediff.com20 Dec 2019'The north east does not want the solution that the BJP has given and it has become clear that it has not been fully thought through,' says Aakar Patel.