Meghnad Desai

The idea of Pakistan


Meghnad Desai

Oped

Out Of My Mind

The idea of Pakistan

Meghnad.jpg There is good news from Pakistan. After Nawaz Sharif was displaced as prime minister in 1999, it seemed Pakistan would always have a cycle of democratic rule cut short by military dictatorships. Now, ......read more
Inside Track

Signing blindly

In the collegium to select a new member of the National Human Rights Commission, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj disagreed with the majority’s choice of Justice Cyriac Joseph. The minutes of the meetin......read more
Fifth Column

Socialist residue

In the drawing rooms of Lahore last week I met old friends who told me that I had become a hate object in the eyes of the ‘liberals’ they knew in India. I took this as a compliment since I know that m......read more
Flip Side

Conspiracy of theories

Individuals and issues that are making and faking news Indian politics tends to defy all existing political theories and philosophies. There are coalitions within coalitions, fronts within fronts, dua......read more
From The Discomfort Zone

Laddership gaits

My aspiring, ambitious corporate friends on fast-track careers are in a great hurry to reach the top. When pausing for breath in their laddership gaits, they inevitably ask me about how to better focu......read more
Writings on the Wall

Me captain, you team: Very vain, very effective

Oped.jpg That's Imran Khan. Out to slay the 'circus ke sher' (of Nawaz Sharif), solve Pakistan's problems: thrash the thieves, get a driving licence, shoot down the drones, spook the West into giving you a......read more
Writings on the Wall

For democracy and bijli, uninterrupted supply

Shekhar Gupta.jpg 18-hour power cuts have switched off most voters from India or Kashmir. Benazir gone, Zardari is a pale shadow, their angry son exiled to TV land. Nawaz Sharif senses power but beyond his tired tigers......read more

Four years later

Oped.jpg Between 2009 and now, the media’s perception of Manmohan Singh has changed dramatically Four years ago in May of 2009, Manmohan Singh’s reputation was as white as the kurta-pyjamas he likes to wear. H......read more
View from the Right

Do-nothing UPA

DO-NOTHING UPA The Sangh Parivar journal continue to target the Union government over Sarabjit Singh’s death and the Chinese incursion in eastern Ladakh. The latest edition of the Organiser has both i......read more

An inevitable victory

Confusion over ticket distribution in the Congress injected uncertainty into what would have been a dry narrative To any close observer of Karnataka politics, the Congress’s comfortable victory in the......read more

Party in the dock

Citizens’ confidence in the judiciary remains strong, and their trust in the power of the vote is high. But faith in the political party is imperilled Instances of “grand corruption” have become commo......read more
Printline pakistan

Printline Pakistan: The third coming

A register of reports and views from the Pakistan press Nawaz Sharif will return as prime minister for the third time. He won a historic mandate in a terror-scarred election and left the much-hyped Im......read more

While Obama's crisis-managing

Gail Collins There is a list of things to do to make his administration look better Let’s try to come up with some positive thoughts about the recent political fortunes of the Obama White House: Econo......read more

When it is right to copy

Intellectual property litigation is not a binary battle between the rights-holder and the infringer. It involves larger issues of public interest. The Delhi University photocopier case underlines this......read more