After saying that 90 % Indians are idiots, Justice Markandey Katju is ready with his latest controversy. This time he calls Mahatma Gandhi a British Agent in his personal blog. Within eight hours h
[This profile and interview of Narayan Desai, who passed away on Sunday, was published in Governance Now in the January 1-15, 2011 edition.] An octogenarian, sitting on a dais close
From the archives: Narayan Desai spoke to Ashish Mehta in November 2010, when he was in Delhi for the 88th Gandhi Katha. Excerpts from the interview:
Not many people, even in Gujarat, would have heard of Gopaldas Desai (1887-1951), the ruler of a tiny place in Saurashtra. Rajmohan Gandhi’s biography of the ‘prince’ should cure
The Swachh Bharat mission (SBM) was launched on October 2, 2014 for a clean India in accordance with Mahatma Gandhi’s vision by his 150th birth anniversary in 2019. The union cabinet then gav
Saying that if one put one’s views on a public domain, one had to be prepared for criticism, the supreme court today (Monday) said that prima facie it feels that there is nothing wrong in par
On this day 86 years ago, Mahatma Gandhi addressed a gathering in Anand, the central Gujarat town today known for AMUL, exhorting youngsters to join the salt march he had begun five days earlie
SPEECH AT BORSAD March 18, 1930 At one time I was wholly loyal to the Empire and taught others to be loyal. I sang "God Save the King" with
Porbandar is a small city with narrow and congested lanes, bustling with people, shops, cows, and children. Amid this hustle and bustle is a beautiful big white building, Kirti Mandir – where
Porbandar is a small city with narrow and congested lanes, bustling with people, shops, cows, and children. Amid this hustle and bustle is a beautiful big white building, Kirti Mandir – whe
Medha Patkar and the movement led by her, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), evoke sharp responses. Many label them anti-development, anti-technology and in cahoots with those who do not wan
Clothing is one of the basic amenities required by the 1.2 billion strong, and growing, population of India. The Indian textile industry, which caters to this need, has an estimated market size of
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been questioned by both the opposition and the judiciary for his alleged comments which accuse the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for Mahatma Gandhi’
Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of education, ‘Nai Talim’ or ‘Basic Education for All’, was conceptualised in 1937 and is just a year away from completing 80 years. He bel
Is Gandhi still relevant today? Or, is it still a relevant question today? Ramachandra Guha, renowned public intellectual with a biography of Gandhi to his credit, says his political experiments ar
Anupam Mishra, an activist-scholar who redefined cross-connections between Gandhian thought and environmentalism, died Monday morning after a protracted battle with prostate cancer. He was 68
FAKE news – easy to make, easier to spread – is fast becoming the AK-47 of the cyber guerrillas of information warfare. It is one of the choicest weapons in a world being adjectivised a
Gandhi and Nehru. The two people, above all, who defined the national freedom movement, and thus, the moral template of the independent India. (That is not to belittle Tagore, Ambedkar and many oth
“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words
Haryana minister Anil Vij believes Gandhi is a not an impressive brand (Modi is), and
The Universal Basic Income as an alternative to the various social welfare schemes to reduce poverty was advocated in the
Nathuram Godse, who was brought up by his parents as a girl in the first few years of his life, has been reviled for decades for fatally shooting the apostle of peace Mahatma Gandhi. What Godse sai
On April 10, 1917, Gandhi arrived in Champaran division of Bihar, to take up the cause of the indigo farmers. This was not only his first satyagraha after returning to India in 1915 but also his
To tell exactly when the Champaran Satyagraha actually started would be little difficult. However, it was April 10 when Gandhi set out for his journey in Bihar and this month marked the hundr
The Champaran movement, now a century old, was the country’s “first direct object-lesson in Civil Disobedience”, says Gandhi in the autobiography. [The term used in the
Tell us about the documentation work of indigo farmers’ testimonies. The testimonies of indigo farmers of Champaran were placed before the agrarian commission
The Magna Carta, written on this day of June 15 over 800 years back in iron gall ink on parchment in medieval Latin, can be described as the cornerstone of individual liberty in India. It was relev
Ramin Jahanbegloo is a renowned philosopher who is now associated with the Jindal Global University. His latest work, The Decline of Civilization, calls for countering the ‘deciv
Prime minister Narendra Modi finally broke his silence, once again, and denounced the spate of lynching in the name of cow protection. As he visited the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, he also sai
There are two uses of the word ‘change’. The first is lofty, big and all of us know it. Let me start with the one that is not so famous, the lesser ‘change’ – the smal
During Prof Parekh’s recent India visit, Ashish Mehta sat down with him for a chat on Gandhi. Here is what they talked: At 82, Baron Bhikhu Parekh remains as sprightly as ever. He is n
2019 will mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, and finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech has announced that the government plans to celebrate the occasion.
When it comes to nonviolence, Gene Sharp’s influence is arguably next only to Gandhi’s. Sharp, a political scientist who continued his studies on peace and power from the
[Mahatma Gandhi’s Autobiography, first published in book form in 1927 and 1929, had sold 50,000 copies in Gujarati alone, reports the Translator in the preface to the ‘second revise
Gandhi was, as usual, busy on several fronts in April 1918. The previous year had witnessed his frst major satyagraha after returning to India, in Champaran. The previous month had witnessed hi
There are a few fortunate people for whom every day is a World Book Day, but for the rest it comes once in a year. There are all sorts of international days of this and that, but thanks to social m
Self-deception is an essential trait of a revolutionary, particularly of the Marxist variety. Rahul Gandhi as the Congress president seems too eager to internalise this trait in his politics.
On August 15, 1947, he woke up at 2 am, an hour earlier than usual. The whole nation – nearly a fifth of the humanity – was soon to gear up for its greatest moment in history, but Mahat
Advancing technology has made the world a global village, but its basic foundation is being threatened by crime and mass violence which pose a threat to human existence. To reimagine the idea of co
Forget sainthood. Mahatma Gandhi has been put through the whole gamut of deification. From lurid calendar and poster art to austere and sublime works by great artists, every genre has painted a h
Root meaning of politics "Let it be borne in mind that I do not regard politics as something different in kind from other national activities. The root meaning of poli
Gandhi: The Years that Changed the World by Ramachandra Guha
As the nation celebrates the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we continue to receive reminders on daily basis of how deep is the chasm between his vision of India and the reality, between his f
What would be the one thing you would do if you are prime minister for the time it takes to throw a lemon up in the air and catch it? Mahatma Gandhi’s answer, the anecdote goes, was tha
No expert would hazard a guess as to when humankind began to spin cotton, wool, and other fibres into yarn. But it is accepted without much doubt that the spinning wheel was invented in Asia, proba
Some of the developments in India during the past four years, such as lynchings, growing polarisation among communities on caste and religious lines in every walk of life and the consequent fear ps
On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 71st death anniversary, prime minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the “National Salt Satyagraha Memorial” at Dandi, Gujarat on January 30. T
Mahatma Gandhi said, “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” Development of the health sector from primary up to the tertiary sector in an economy triggers
For a novice reader, MK Gandhi presents a formidable challenge.
As you drive down from Varanasi airport, the elevated road that takes you to the city says it all. It takes less than 20 minutes to reach the cantonment area where the British established their gar
‘Gandhi and Philosophy’, by Shaj Mohan and Divya Dwivedi, stands out among the ever increasing output of scholarship on the father of the nation. Prefaced by eminent French philosop
What if Mahatma Gandhi were a policymaker in today’s modern world? How would he have framed public policies? Would he have gone with the trendy ‘evidence-based’ policymaking, or s
Public participation and voluntarism has been the hallmark of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the reason for its success, prime minister Narendra Modi has said. Thanking the entire country for the wholeh
The world today is eager to know Gandhi and ready to accept him, and thus it becomes India’s responsibility to keep reminding the world of the abiding relevance of Mahatma and his vision, pri
Ramchandra Gandhi: Talks and Writings Edited by A. Raghuramaraju Orient BlackSwan, xxxiv+274 pages, Rs 995 Epithets like ‘maverick&r
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: Restless as Mercury: My Life as a Young Man Edited by Gopalkrishna Gandhi Aleph, xvi+377 pages, Rs 999 The Collect
Defence minister Rajnath Singh’s statement, that Mahatma Gandhi had asked V.D. Savarkar to file a mercy petition before the British, has ignited a debate. Vikram Sampath, a historian and
Tagore & Gandhi: Walking Alone, Walking Together By Rudrangshu Mukherjee Aleph, 186 pages, Rs 699 Two men born in the 1860s, more than any
Truth Digger: The Best of Shovon Chowdhury Edited by Urmila Chowdhury and Sandipan Deb Aleph Books, 270 pages, Rs 499 When Shovon Chowdhur
Scorching Love: Letters from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to his son, Devadas By Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Tridip Suhrud Oxford University Press, 528 page, Rs 14
On Gandhi Jayanti this year, the Khadi India outlet in Connaught Place in the capital once again set a new record of khadi sales in a single day. In a single day, the Khadi India sh
This year, as the nation commemorates the 75th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, Rajesh Talwar, a prolific author who is also a legal advisor to the UN, is all set to release a
UNDERSTANDING B.R. AMBEDKAR’S “ANNIHILATION OF CASTE” By Sayed Sayeed Permanent Black, 252 pages, Rs 595.00 A just-rele
ReFocus: The Films of Shyam Benegal Edited by Sneha Kar Chaudhuri and Ramit Samaddar Orient BlackSwan, 272 pages, Rs 1050 Shyam Benegal, a tra
The Essential U. R. Ananthamurthy Edited by N. Manu Chakravarthy and Chandan Gowda Aleph Books, Rs 899, 312 pages
Gandhi`s Travels in Tamil Nadu. By A. Ramasamy, Translated from the original Tamil by P. C. Ramakrishna.
A Plain, Blunt Man: The Essential Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Edited by Urvish Kothari Aleph, 328 pages, Rs 799
The Peacemakers Edited by Ghazala Wahab Aleph, 280 pages, Rs 799
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi along with the leaders of other G20 member nations paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat Sunday morning. Modi underlined that Gandhi
On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, renowned academic publishers Sage have opened access to many notable articles and essays on the Father of the Nation. Here we reproduce a
Selected Works of C. Rajagopalachari: Vol. VIII, 1946–48 By Ravi K. Mishra and Narendra Shukla (Editors) Orient BlackSwan, 460 pages, Rs 2,575
I Am an Ordinary Man: India’s Struggle for Freedom (1914–1948) Edited by Gopalkrishna Gandhi Aleph, 456 pages, Rs 999
Becoming Gandhi: Living the Mahatma`s 6 Moral Truths in Immoral Times By Perry Garfinkel Simon & Schuster India, 264 pages, Rs 699
