Aakar Patel

The foreign hand

Leaders in trouble have often blamed the outside world

Freedom and the big freeze

When it becomes clear that criticism is difficult without trouble, the circle of one's freedom of expression shrinks

The perennially ruling party

The BJP's narrative has strengthened over the past three decades, and it's easy to see why its dominance will continue

A familiar script along the border

There seems to be a desire for opacity when it comes to confronting China, which has been coded into the Indian establishment. But India would benefit from transparency

Six months that make a leader

As time goes on, most elected leaders run out of ideas. It seems to hold as true for the world as for India

The new face of authoritarianism

It is different from the uniformed and jackbooted fascism of a century ago, but only in appearance

BJP's allure: The lack of a clear ideology

The party is comfortable with the current Constitution and laws of India, which are sufficiently flexible

A glimpse into India@100

What the five resolutions to make India a developed nation in 25 years really mean

Creating a bit of space for freedom

Governments have no incentive to secure the civil liberties of citizens

A worm's eye view of the media

Some of the material is tedious and one is not sure why reproducing the email exchanges leading up to his exit would interest anyone

It hurts to be intolerant

India's engagement with the world is now coloured by what it is doing internally

Gyanvapi mosque: The situation in Varanasi portends a replay of 1992

This is a reminder of the lesson that the most effective tool for mass mobilisation in India is to march against the minorities

An erosion of basic norms

As India drifts away from secularism, undermining the principles of equality enshrined in the Constitution seems to be the goal in and of itself

Ideas that harm

A nation thinking as a mob, in unison and marching in lockstep, is a dangerous thing for itself and for others

The mirage of economic recovery

The prospects for the middle class in India are dwindling

Going down the wrong path

India slips on indices of freedom and the government has not even acknowledged there is a problem

The space race is getting harder

A vast technological gap is opening up as humans race to colonise the solar system

India's pledge of good behaviour

Its endorsement of the G7's Open Societies Statement will give the world a larger say in human rights violations in the country

The confidence that proved disastrous

The government has been inept in all that was required of it

Hindutva: A word of suspense

The ideology that forms the basis of BJP's sociopolitical initiatives is not an ideology at all