Aakar Patel is a writer and columnist. You can e-mail the author at aakar.patel@gmail.com
'It would have been much more appropriate if a law such as this, which all of the civilised world has given up, was struck down through democratic politics rather than five individuals sitting in judgement,' says Aakar Patel.
'The individuals whom this government and its media call 'Urban Naxals' should not have been arrested.' 'In any civilised democracy (which India is not) this would not have happened,' argues Aakar Patel.
The England-India series has brought the bowler back into what has been turned into a batsman's game, says Aakar Patel.
'To deny our people help in the time of their greatest need is cruelty,' says Aakar Patel, winner of the 2018 Prem Bhatia Award for Political Reporting.
In any institution that has a passionate ideology, the moderate is always vulnerable to the person who is more extreme, because that is what the supporters want.
'I do not think that we are showing Hindu humanity and humaneness in the process of the National Register of Citizens.'
'I doubt very much if I will ever move on from his music, as I have from so much else through the years,' says Aakar Patel.
'Many fresh faces have come before him on both sides, and every sort of individual -- liberal, conservative, hardliner, dictator -- has come and gone.' 'I think we just seem to be happier when we hate one another,' says Aakar Patel.
Anthony Bourdain thought vada-pao was so good that all other Indian food could be dismissed. He was not wrong, says Aakar Patel.
'What does our conservatism seek to conserve?' 'Of course its values, which are akin to religion and accepted unquestioningly.' 'Such things as respect for elders, studying 'hard', career choices being determined or influenced by parents, the idea of arranged marriage, the marking of ritual and ceremony,' explains Aakar Patel.
'What is required is to make Pakistan less war-like and more modest in its ambitions. To normalise with India and to reduce the State's fondness for religion.' 'It is pragmatism and not charisma that it required and it is by being boring and not heroic that this can be achieved.' 'This is the moment of realisation which brings the Pakistani leader into conflict with the army.' 'Imran Khan will learn the lesson in time,' says Aakar Patel.
'It is unclear whether there will again be such a confrontational moment in our politics before we all go to vote in 2019,' says Aakar Patel.
'Except for the Akali Dal and Shiv Sena, the BJP has not found any permanent friends.' 'This is because most parties are genuinely concerned about what Hindutva politics does to Indian society,' argues Aakar Patel.
'If lynchings are happening frequently in India, it is the responsibility of those who lead the country to try and end them, not promote them,' says Aakar Patel.
'We should not use and confuse the word Right to define Hindutva.' 'Doing so blurs the issue because it gives the BJP attributes that it does not have and does not even want,' says Aakar Patel.
'Many of us hope that India will soon play well enough to be part of truly global sporting tournaments like the football World Cup and the Olympics,' says Aakar Patel.
Aakar Patel tell us why we must travel with open eyes and discover ourselves.
'The bullet train is not modernity itself. It is the product of modernity.' 'It is this modernity that we would be fortunate to be able to import from Japan.' 'It occurs to me that we seem to believe that by acquiring the toys we will become a modern nation,' says Aakar Patel.
'It will be fascinating to see how Modi, for the first time in his political life without a majority, is able to manage the ambitions and the conflicts,' says Aakar Patel.
'What happens in case the party joins a post-poll alliance with another party whose ideology the legislator is opposed to?' 'Should s/he let down her/his voters merely because her/his party leadership has taken a decision in that direction?' asks Aakar Patel.
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