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Firmly denying she belonged to the activist-writers’ category, the author of The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy, on Saturday said it was wrong to label her an activist just because her writings take up the cause of marginalised sections of society. Replying to a question, Roy, the first Indian to win a Booker prize for literature, said activism was a subject that needed elaborate discussion, stressing that her non-fictional writing was her way of expressing “myriad forms of resistance” to “wrong” policies. The writer, known for her straight talk and anti-establishment views, had reservations about the application of the term “activist” in her case by whom she referred to as “market-driven” media, who by and large considered this breed as “boring” people who just repeated ad nauseam whatever they had to say. There wasn’t a slightest hint of arrogance or harshness in her words or demeanour as was widely attributed to the writer, whose second fictional work the literary world wa...

Just a few weeks back everything was picture-perfect for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Though India’s main opposition party has been a pariah among the secular parties because of their communal ideology, it got wider acceptance as a reliable opposition that could fight the ruling front mired in neck-deep corruption allegations. With general election fast approaching, the party was getting ready with their knights and rooks in the corners. It even tried to woo and take sides with anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and his India against Corruption (IAC) movement. But dashing all the hopes of BJP, Kejriwal who has targeted the ruling front at Centre, exposed party chief Nitin Gadkari’s bogus companies and how he amassed wealth of inappropriate proportion. While the party was struggling to get over from corruption charges, Gadkari was caught in a bigger controversy for drawing an unholy comparison between Swami Vivekananda and don Dawood Ibrahim. Later he disowned his statement...

Just a few weeks back everything was picture-perfect for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Though India’s main opposition party has been a pariah among the secular parties because of its communal ideology, it got wider acceptance as a reliable opposition that could fight the ruling front mired in neck-deep corruption allegations. With the general election fast approaching, the party was getting ready with its knights and rooks in the corners. It even tried to woo and take sides with anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and his India against Corruption (IAC) movement. But the party’s chief Nitin Gadkari has damaged that built-up image with his unholy don-seer comparison remarks, disowning it and finally offering a regret to save his as well as the party’s image. Even before that Kejriwal has dashed the BJP’s hopes of coming back to power at the Centre and proved how equally corrupt the country’s leading opposition too is. His bait was none other than Nitin Gadkari, who they al...

If politics is a lucrative business, corruption is its net profit! Never before Indian politicians were seen neck in deep with nepotism and corruption. The money, the muscle power, they amass in short span of time is humiliating to smugglers and looters and they started joining the bandwagon of MLAs and MPs. Sorry for not substantiating with the exact figure of criminals in our parliamentary democratic system. The latest of the series of shocking graft allegation is BJP chief Nitin Gadkari,which was exposed at a crucial time with Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat going to polls and he due to be reinstated as party president for second term. A big blow to the party who tried to batter Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son-in-law Robert Vadra. This is what we common people believe in-poetic justice. Give a blow to your opponent, and receive it back with big bang! As Congress party and BJP are fighting each other to get into top slot of corruption and nepotism, where is a way out fo...

No doubt miscreants are out there to divide humanity on religious lines. The latest of this attempt is the release of Innocence of Muslims video which is indirectly meant to provoke Muslims on Sept.11 anniversary. Once again, cliched questions arise-why Muslims are easily being provoked and why they are targeted? Is Islam a taboo subject? Is Prophet Mohammed beyond discussion? A true believer is supposed to have faith in him/herself and the religion he or she believes in. The violence unleashed across many parts of the Muslim world is quite contrary to this. If someone tries to tarnish the image of prophet Mohammed and his religion, will it vanish into thin air? So long as people believe in Mohammed and Islam,so long as the universe exists, both will withstand test of time and space. Not just Mohammed,if someone does the same with Christ or Krishna or Buddha or whoever belongs to that category of men and women, the believers should stop for a while and use their reason to rea...

We have seen how far rumour mills created chaos in a country where millions migrate to different states just for work to have a decent life. Most of the northeast people who have fled metros in southern states were either doing menial jobs or studying aimed at having quality life back home. According to reports mass exodus and fear over attack continued on the eve of Eid though it has subsided. The rumours of attack after Eid has just proved how insecure the minds of common people who just struggle to make both ends meet. This is far from the 'prosperity of nation'projected in figures and boasting of a nation secular and democratic. But who are the real culprits? Is it the six arrested by the Karnataka Police or some sly powers trying to destabilise India's emergence as a powerful nation? When the entire Middle East is before us burning with the issue of regime changes in the pretext of bringing democracy to the region;naturally India could be a possible target for...

Meeting a living poster icon of democratic India's notorious episode in the pages of its history, that too on its anniversary, was awesome. It was purely a coincidence that I met K. Ajitha, a firebrand socio-political activist, on July 26! To my surprise she has forgotten that it was the 36th anniversary of Declaration of Emergency in India. An embarrassed look and silence, upon my reminder, spoke volumes of harsh experiences she had met as a young radical leader in late 1960’s and 1970’s. The only daughter of hardcore Naxal leaders Kunnikkal Narayanan and Mandakini, the 19-year-old revolutionary took part in Pulpally Station attack on Nov.22, 1968 along with a group of armed activists. Ajitha was arrested, sent to solitary confinement, and she left the movement after spending more than seven years in jail. But in her inimitable stoic manner, she did not allow that ‘closed’ chapters of history to invade her thoughts while talking about her present activities rang...