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Aakar Patel Page-5

Aakar Patel | It’s important for media to focus on the reality of life in this country…

India’s media is largely an accomplice of the State here

22 Feb 2022 2:41 AM

The young women say that covering their head is a religious practice for them and the Constitution guarantees this as a Fundamental Right. (Representational Image/ AP)

Aakar Patel | Let women wear the hijab or not: It’s not the job of State to meddle

The hijab issue has again brought what India is doing to its minorities to the notice of the world

15 Feb 2022 1:49 AM

India has, according to the government’s own data, the lowest labour participation rate in South Asia and one of the lowest in the world. (Representational Image/ AP)

Aakar Patel | Why are voters not bothered about economy, absence of jobs?

The curious thing is that the economy does not appear to be a relevant subject in India’s political debate

08 Feb 2022 2:12 AM

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. (PTI)

Aakar Patel | Can BJP lose its vote share, but still win in UP? Wait for results

The broad patterns tell us that to sweep Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has to retain its vote share of the past three elections

01 Feb 2022 2:34 AM

After the world voiced its alarm, an FIR was filed against those who openly called for the mass murder of Muslims at a Hindu function in Haridwar. (file photo)

Aakar Patel | Listen to what the world says: Step back from the precipice…

It is not safe to be dismissive about words like genocide, but unfortunately, that is what India is doing today

25 Jan 2022 12:06 AM

NewsIn February 2021, India and Pakistan made a surprise joint announcement that they would “strictly” observe a ceasefire at the Line of Control. (Representational Image/PTI)

Aakar Patel | Pakistan’s new security policy: How should India respond?

The policy articulates what it sees as Pakistan’s vision and priorities and provides a detailed implementation framework

19 Jan 2022 2:46 AM

It is accurate to say that India has quite consciously been led to the stage today when communalism has completely infected the nation. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Aakar Patel | Are we ready to believe things are not going well with India?

A course can be corrected only if we accept that we are headed in the wrong direction

11 Jan 2022 2:15 AM

Kashmiri children look from behind a closed window of their house during a counterinsurgency operation on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (AP)

Aakar Patel | Kashmirification & Gujaratification of India is here… will be hard to root out

If we observe the events of the recent past, it appears he is right

04 Jan 2022 2:48 AM

The pandemic will itself continue, but we can hope that it does not do the damage that it did either in 2020 or in 2021. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Aakar Patel | As 2022 looms, we can only hope for some easing of pain

Perhaps we should begin from the place that has become frozen in time: Kashmir

28 Dec 2021 1:44 AM

Hate crimes are not registered as a separate category by the State and there is little official information available on the matter. (Representational Image/ DC File)

Aakar Patel | New law likely to spell trouble for Christians in Karnakata

In the first two weeks of December 2021 alone, attacks against Christians were reported in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka

21 Dec 2021 2:02 AM

The key provision of AFSPA is the sweeping empowerment of individuals from the police and the military and the paramilitary forces to open fire 'if he is of the opinion that it is necessary so to do for the maintenance of public order'. (Representational Image/ DC File)

Aakar Patel | Should AFSPA be repealed, or stay? The case: For and against

Later this month the Nagaland Assembly will convene a special session to demand that the law be suspended in that state

14 Dec 2021 3:01 AM

Twenty-three crore Indians fell into poverty during the Covid-19 pandemic and the unemployment rate, which had already reached a post-1947 high of six per cent by 2018, remains there. (Representational Image. PTI)

Aakar Patel | From Dec 2019 to Dec 2021: A time of trouble, problems grow

The state today has no democracy and is the only Indian state/Union territory without an elected government

07 Dec 2021 1:57 AM

Bangladesh has managed to improve manufacturing’s share of GDP in recent years from 16 per cent to 20 per cent while India’s has fallen from 15 per cent to 12 per cent since 2014. (Representational Image. DC File Image)

Aakar Patel | South Asia will be compelled to change as world gets a makeover

In terms of their Human Development Index, India is ranked 133rd in the world, Bangladesh at 135th and Pakistan at 154th

30 Nov 2021 3:11 AM

The compulsory use of Aadhaar to access subsidised grain has meant that many of the poor cannot get their entitlement because connectivity is bad or their fingerprints have been eroded from labour and differ from the record. Representational Image. (PTI)

Aakar Patel | Why farm law recall miffed some in middle class, media

What some of us think are strong, bold and firm decisions are cruel, harsh and unwanted for others

22 Nov 2021 3:26 AM

Aakar Patel | If Indians focus on trivia, ignore hard reality, the future is bleak

On every meaningful measure, life for Indians compares poorly with those in other democracies

16 Nov 2021 11:42 AM

Changing faith or propagating one’s religion: Is it a right or a crime in India?

India allows Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist dalits access to Scheduled Caste reservations but not Christian and Muslim dalits

02 Nov 2021 12:06 AM

Till February 2021, India had ordered only 11 crore doses while it required 200 crore doses for the eligible population, or 270 crore doses for all Indians, including those under 14, assuming there was no wastage. Representational Image. (PTI)

Aakar Patel | The real story behind India’s success in 1 bn vaccine doses

On August 7, 2020, the SII, the country’s largest private vaccine manufacturer, signed an agreement with the global vaccine alliance GAVI

26 Oct 2021 1:35 AM

India went behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal on the Global Hunger Index. (AP file photo)

Aakar Patel | As India’s rank falls in Global Hunger Index, govt is in denial

In 2015, India’s ranking on the Global Hunger Index was 55. Last year, in 2020, it fell by 39 places to land at 94.

19 Oct 2021 1:40 AM

It appears that terrorism is not going down because we have de-operationalised Article 370. Representational Image. (PTI)

Aakar Patel | How has ending Art. 370 helped Kashmir, or India as a whole?

That Article 370 was the root of separatism, terrorism, nepotism and corruption

12 Oct 2021 2:47 AM

Several states which had declared 100 per cent ODF in March 2018 were found by the survey conducted six months later to not have achieved this. (Photo: Twitter/@Swachh_Jalaun)

Aakar Patel | Why focus on sanitation is essential for a cleaner India

This focus on littering and rubbish is what separates Swachh Bharat from the two other programmes for sanitation that were run earlier

05 Oct 2021 7:54 AM

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Shreya Sen-Handley