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Aakar Patel

Aakar Patel is a writer and columnist. You can e-mail the author at aakar.patel@gmail.com

All stories by Aakar Patel

Why do fire extinguishers attract 28% GST?!

Why do fire extinguishers attract 28% GST?!

Rediff.com13 Nov 2017

'In a nation where safety standards are the lowest in the world, why make compliance expensive?' asks Aakar Patel.

What does Modi really believe in?

What does Modi really believe in?

Rediff.com6 Nov 2017

'If the 'ideology' is just Hindutva, meaning cattle slaughter, temple issue, love jihad, joined with random acts on the side of economics and foreign policy, then we are in deeper trouble than we think,' says Aakar Patel.

Sushma Swaraj's Twitter durbar

Sushma Swaraj's Twitter durbar

Rediff.com30 Oct 2017

'Why do visas require the intervention of India's Union ministers? Does any civilised nation assure visas like this over Twitter?'

Why can't Sreesanth play for another country?

Why can't Sreesanth play for another country?

Rediff.com23 Oct 2017

'None of us has the right to tell Sreesanth what to do with his career and it is childish to expect him to hold the torch of our bogus cricket patriotism,' says Aakar Patel.

Shah Jahan built the Taj in gratitude

Shah Jahan built the Taj in gratitude

Rediff.com19 Oct 2017

'After it was finished, Shah Jahan visited the Taj only twice.' 'There is a letter from Aurangzeb to him after a visit, reporting that the dome was leaking and needed to be fixed.' 'Shah Jahan wasn't bothered: He had moved on to designing his next project, Shahjahanabad,' reveals Aakar Patel.

Why I don't support the cracker ban on Diwali

Why I don't support the cracker ban on Diwali

Rediff.com16 Oct 2017

'How will one day's crackers change pollution levels?' 'And why limit such genius solutions to just the capital when air pollution and pollution affects all of India?' asks Aakar Patel.

Why most don't see communal riots as terrorism

Why most don't see communal riots as terrorism

Rediff.com9 Oct 2017

The American police said that the Las Vegas shooting was not an act of terrorism because he acted alone. The killer was a Christian. Would the police have said the same thing if he was Muslim? I don't think so.

Why Yashwant Sinha criticised Jaitley and not Modi

Why Yashwant Sinha criticised Jaitley and not Modi

Rediff.com4 Oct 2017

To write a criticism of the finance minister's performance without having included the PM's role is deliberate. It is not difficult to see why Jaitley interpreted it as being Sinha's way of sucking up to Modi.

Temples must be open to all, not for 'only Hindus'

Temples must be open to all, not for 'only Hindus'

Rediff.com27 Sep 2017

'Why exclude those who are curious about our faith but not born into it, to experience the temple?'

Why is India rejecting the Rohingyas?

Why is India rejecting the Rohingyas?

Rediff.com19 Sep 2017

'As a great democracy, we must be responsible and uphold the rights of those who come to us seeking shelter.' 'Everything in the Hindu faith tells us that this is obligatory on us,' says Aakar Patel.

Bullet train costs 3 times more than India's health budget

Bullet train costs 3 times more than India's health budget

Rediff.com14 Sep 2017

The vanity project, of absolutely no use to most Indians, will suck money that could be used for health and education, says Aakar Patel.

I won't be surprised if Gauri's killers are not caught

I won't be surprised if Gauri's killers are not caught

Rediff.com13 Sep 2017

'Those who were first at the site of Gauri Lankesh's murder scene noticed that the place was still open for people to casually walk in and out.' 'No forensic evidence of value can remain in such places,' points out Aakar Patel.

Why note ban failure won't affect Modi

Why note ban failure won't affect Modi

Rediff.com5 Sep 2017

'You can accuse him of many things but one thing you cannot accuse him of is being bad at politics,' says Aakar Patel.

Why I have not got an Aadhar card

Why I have not got an Aadhar card

Rediff.com28 Aug 2017

'There must be thousands if not lakhs of people the government is illegally spying on.' 'Why should we enable this criminal activity by volunteering our details?'

Is boarding an airline first the right way of honouring the soldier?

Is boarding an airline first the right way of honouring the soldier?

Rediff.com22 Aug 2017

'The Indian soldier will fight where he is asked to, and he always has.' 'It is up to us as a democratic society to see that his service and sacrifice is for the most useful causes, and that we do not needlessly ask him to die for us,' says Aakar Patel.

Modi's remarks reduced Hamid Ansari to his Muslim identity

Modi's remarks reduced Hamid Ansari to his Muslim identity

Rediff.com16 Aug 2017

He was deliberately reducing Ansari to his Muslim identity by linking his career as a diplomat in the Arab world and educationist and his reflections on intolerance with his religion.

SCARY! India is not producing good students

SCARY! India is not producing good students

Rediff.com10 Aug 2017

'We are not producing good students who are examining issues independently of what they are being fed either by the media or their educators,' says Aakar Patel.

Why the Congress is in panic

Why the Congress is in panic

Rediff.com31 Jul 2017

''The Congress has forgotten how to mobilise people on political issues,' says Aakar Patel.

Nothing wrong in celebrating our city, our state

Nothing wrong in celebrating our city, our state

Rediff.com24 Jul 2017

'Opposition to the idea of a state flag has come from the small thinking pseudo-nationalists, who are the ones pushing Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan.' 'Identifying India wrongly as a one language, one religion nation,' says Aakar Patel.

Lalu, Tejashwi and the Crisis of Opposition Credibility

Lalu, Tejashwi and the Crisis of Opposition Credibility

Rediff.com17 Jul 2017

'On corruption the Yadavs of UP and Bihar will find it very tough to give an answer to the accusations of the BJP and its supporters,' says Aakar Patel.

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