All stories by AAKAR PATEL
Good politics is not necessarily good governance
Rediff.com14 Sep 2015'One is forced to wonder whether Modi is serious about all the bills people want him to pass. Because to me he has made no real honest effort at getting things moving legislatively,' says Aakar Patel.
Why things have remained the same for the Patels in Gujarat
Rediff.com7 Sep 2015'The reason the protests are not happening in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Noida is that there are options available to the youth in those cities. And many people can access this sort of job because most of them are armed with English, integrating them into the global economy. This is something not available to most youth in Gujarat (the government schools do not teach English till Class 5),' says Aakar Patel.
The problem I have with English news television
Rediff.com31 Aug 2015'I know and recognise that television needs interesting material. I don't even have a problem with them doing entertaining and irrelevant stories, even if they don't interest me personally. However, when something of grave importance is also breaking at the same time, then it becomes difficult for me to forgive such irresponsible behaviour,' says Aakar Patel.
Nationalism in India is being anti-Pakistan and anti-China
Rediff.com25 Aug 2015'The assumption is that the lines have been drawn and the two sides (India and Pakistan) have gone to battle. All of us, whether analysts or politicians or citizens or cricketers or housewives, must see the other side as an enemy and must reject everything it says or does even if we gain nothing from it. I am no longer able to subscribe to this stupidity,' says Aakar Patel.
No place in India for Muslims fleeing religious persecution?
Rediff.com12 Aug 2015'The government is going to introduce legislation that would make it easy for Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Zoroastrians, Sikhs and Jains to migrate legally to India.' 'But looking at that list, my entire well-meaning question, as may be obvious, is: What about Muslims? They seem to have been specifically left out of this formulation,' says Aakar Patel.
The reality of being Muslim in India
Rediff.com3 Aug 2015'There are moments, and the hanging of Yakub Memon was one, where all of the gathered injustices are crystallised. Those gathered at the graveyard were not there to protest. They came to sympathise because they are also victims,' says Aakar Patel.
Disruption in Parliament is India's version of tradition
Rediff.com27 Jul 2015'Blocking Parliament brings attention to a party that has poor speakers like Rahul Gandhi. It is unlikely to shine in debates, assuming we were a nation that enjoyed listening to sparkling intellectual exchange, which we are not.'
Why Yakub Memon is being hanged
Rediff.com21 Jul 2015'I got to know the men accused of the blasts regularly meeting them in court and jail. Some of them, like Dutt, are back in jail. Others, like Mohammed Jindran, a quiet and well spoken middle class man, were killed. And now of course Yakub is ready to be hanged. The first in the case to do so,' says Aakar Patel.
Why Yakub Memon is being hanged
Rediff.com21 Jul 2015Modi is brave in agreeing to go where even cricket teams have refused
Rediff.com13 Jul 2015'The BJP has bent. Pakistan has not changed a single thing. It is the BJP and its supporters who have changed. And this is a very good thing,' says Aakar Patel.
Why Modi retains his personal support
Rediff.com6 Jul 2015'Modi is given a longer leash by his fans than any other leader of our time.' 'Will he be able to continue putting himself above the fray if other scandals continue to emerge in his term? No, the erosion will inevitably come, given the awful state of this country. But for now, he has managed to shine through a period that would have tarnished any other leader but him.'
Are we a nation of thieves?
Rediff.com1 Jul 2015'The major reason is the reluctance of the Indian citizen, particularly in the middle class, to pay his dues. Only around three per cent of Indians pay any income tax and these are mostly those who are employed, and whose taxes are deducted. I often refer to us as a nation of thieves, who steal from our government,' says Aakar Patel.
Will 'Na Khaane Doonga' PM allow corruption of high office?
Rediff.com23 Jun 2015A Union minister and a chief minister stand accused of corrupting their office. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi lets them continue, he will have broken his election promise substantively, says Aakar Patel.
Is Surya Namaskar religious? I don't think so
Rediff.com19 Jun 2015'Few practitioners of yoga doing the Surya Namaskar, including lakhs of Americans and Europeans, see it as a form of worshipping the sun. They do it because it is good exercise.' 'In my view Muslim groups need to be more flexible on such things and not present their problem in terms that are confrontational.' 'Having said that, are they over-reacting? The history and the background of the government and its ministers would lead us to believe otherwise,' says Aakar Patel.
Is this why BCCI wants Sachin, Sourav, VVS?
Rediff.com9 Jun 2015'My speculation is that the BCCI believes that it is dangerous for credible insiders to stay outside its area of influence. It wants people like these three cricketers inside the tent rather than outside it,' says Aakar Patel.
Manohar Parrikar and his big mouth
Rediff.com1 Jun 2015'The defence minister should concentrate on acquiring a bigger stick, rather than brag of using terrorists as State policy.'
Can Modi succeed where Gandhi failed?
Rediff.com26 May 2015'Will Modi succeed with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan? He will not, because cultural change does not come purely from legislation and never overnight. It comes internally and this is something Gandhi understood,' says Aakar Patel.
Will the Supreme Court's 'Tridev' ruling reduce government ads?
Rediff.com18 May 2015'So in the tens of thousands of ads released in India from now on, we will get to see the photographs of only three people: The President, prime minister and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.' 'Political parties will not like the order. It cuts at the single most important messaging tool available to them, and it will be interesting to see how our leaders will work their way around this hurdle,' says Aakar Patel.
Why Bollywood cannot be neutral about Salman
Rediff.com11 May 2015Three or four stars are disproportionately powerful in the industry. All the others in Bollywood, no matter how talented, must be aligned to one of these stars or be reconciled to doing small movies with the others, says Aakar Patel.
Why Shah Rukh, Aamir, Salman had no need for Hindu screen names
Rediff.com4 May 2015'Muslim actors like Dilip Kumar thought they had to give themselves Hindu names to be acceptable. Was their caution justified?' 'My view is that Indians, of all faiths, are tolerant. Secular is a complicated word and I do not know if I can use it in this instance. Tolerance is something that is inherently Subcontinental.'