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Aakar Patel Page-4

ASER survey covered 616 rural districts (which is more than 85 per cent of the total) and engaged 6.9 lakh children in the age group of three to 16. (AA Image/Deepak Deshpande)

Aakar Patel | Why getting our kids educated is a true sign of good governance

Crores of Indian families have become poorer and can no longer afford private education for their children.

24 Jan 2023 12:27 AM

In 1960, Golwalkar said that caste could be used for cross-breeding superior humans, like it was done in animals. (Representational Image/PTI)

Aakar Patel | What ideology of RSS stands for… Why it often sets off social friction

The issue is whether the RSS is misunderstood and, particularly, whether the RSS’ ideology is misunderstood

17 Jan 2023 12:05 AM

Trade among South Asian countries now totals just $23 billion — below an estimated current value of at least $67 billion. (Representational Image)

Aakar Patel | If our trade with China can see a rise, why not with our neighbours?

The World Bank says that trade between South Asian nations accounts for only five per cent of the region’s total trade

09 Jan 2023 12:05 AM

We will need to write the doctrine and the strategy, and that will not be easy for a government that prefers certitude over doubt. (Representational Image/AFP)

Aakar Patel | India’s Pakistan obsession: Can doctrine shift to focus on China?

Building intelligence capability now to counter our primary threat — China — will not be easy

03 Jan 2023 12:05 AM

Aakar Patel | Dulat memoirs an eye-opener on how India’s spooks think…

What this ex-head of RAW, who was also one of the IB’s senior-most officers has written is astonishing

27 Dec 2022 12:05 AM

Other parties are divisive because of their propensity towards casteism but, and this is the thinking, the BJP is above caste. (Photo: PTI)

Aakar Patel | The caste factor and the BJP-RSS’ Hindutva politics in today’s India

The fact is that Hindutva wants Indians to worship caste, but it doesn’t want them to talk about it

20 Dec 2022 12:05 AM

Aakar Patel | Demystifying the G-20 presidency: What it means for India & the world

There will be no end to the claim that this is India’s moment to lead the world, or at least lead it till the next leader takes over

13 Dec 2022 12:05 AM

Patel was part of the earlier generation, and, along with Jinnah and Gandhi, passed on shortly after Independence. (Representational Image)

Aakar Patel | Sardar worked differently from Nehru, but had the same ideals

There is a belief that Sardar Patel would have “sorted out” Pakistan and we would never have had the Kashmir problem

06 Dec 2022 12:05 AM

File photo of BJP workers welcoming PM Narendra Modi as he, along with BJP president Amit Shah, arrives at the party headquarters to celebrate the party’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections in New Delhi (Photo: AP)

Aakar Patel | After decisive win in 2019, has govt run out of steam?

The listlessness shows in endless political campaigning conducted without much reference to performance, only to charisma

29 Nov 2022 12:05 AM

Newspapers and magazines got 53 per cent of all advertising as recently as 2005. In 2022, digital will get 45 per cent and television 40 per cent. (Representational Image)

Aakar Patel | If print media loses ground, democracy is threatened too

When citizens do not know what is going on in schools, hospitals, police stations and govt offices, how do they hold the State to account?

22 Nov 2022 12:00 AM

Aakar Patel | With institutions of democracy undermined, fears for the future rise

Government blocked reports that reflected poor state of economy

15 Nov 2022 12:21 AM

Is it that we no longer care about tyranny and due process and individual rights? Or has it now become fine just because it’s not the foreigners who are doing it? (Representational Image)

Aakar Patel | Raj lessons for today’s India: Why do we see fewer protests?

The question is -- why should one protest in a democracy? There are many reasons

08 Nov 2022 12:05 AM

Pakistan is looking ahead to a general election next year. (Representational Image)

Aakar Patel | Pak’s journey in 7 decades: Military juntas to democracy

Though once again the Army is in the news, it appears that Pakistan is now out of the cycles of periodic military rule

01 Nov 2022 12:05 AM

The introduction of religion into politics by the BJP in 1989 cleaved India’s electorate in a way it had not been before, and gave the BJP unprecedented electoral rewards. (Photo: PTI)

Aakar Patel | How BJP’s line changed over civil liberties & social reforms

It may interest readers to know that from its formation till the 1984 general election, the BJP had no interest in Ayodhya

26 Oct 2022 12:00 AM

In 2020, out of 107 nations, India fell to number 94 on the Global Hunger Index (Representational Image/AP File Photo)

Aakar Patel | India at a new low in Global Hunger Index: Does anyone really care?

This year, India’s child wasting rate has increased to 19.4, the highest in 20 years

18 Oct 2022 7:18 AM

In March 2020, the year before Covid-19, merchandise exports were $314 billion. Meaning there was no growth in merchandise exports in six years. (Representational Image)

Aakar Patel | The rise & fall of India’s exports: Can we take it up to $1tr by 2030?

Unless India does something proactively that affects our exports positively, trade growth will decline as it has with the world trend

11 Oct 2022 12:05 AM

India's Arshdeep Singh bowls during the second Twenty20 international cricket match between India and South Africa at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium in Guwahati on October 2, 2022. (Photo: AFP)

Aakar Patel | Why does Indian cricket deify the batsmen, but look down on bowlers?

The bowler is a second-class citizen in the commonwealth of cricket. The rules are written and rewritten to undermine and deter him

04 Oct 2022 12:05 AM

Aakar Patel | Is govt trying to finish off civil society & India’s NGOs?

PM Modi continues a common theme where he has attacked what is called “civil society”, which he sees as an enemy

27 Sep 2022 12:05 AM

Aakar Patel | Can the whole of South Asia work as one to develop itself?

We have not opened ourselves to each other and returned to the sort of geography and economy that we had before 1947

20 Sep 2022 12:05 AM

The State sees protest — and fundamental rights in general — as a nuisance which must exist on paper but not exercised in defiance of the State (Representational photo/AFP).

Aakar Patel | Protests can’t be limited only to ‘designated’ areas in India

The State sees protest as a nuisance which must exist on paper but not exercised in defiance of the State

13 Sep 2022 1:35 AM

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Columns

Mohan Guruswamy