-The Hindu There are many parallels but also important differences between the current protests and the JP movement of the 70s, says this eminent historian A historian of modern India, Gyan Prakash is the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University and author of the 2018 book Emergency Chronicles: Indira Gandhi and democracy’s Turning Point. He compares the current situation in the country to the turmoil of the 70s. Excerpts: * How would...

-The Hindu For the first time, the Muslim community is asserting its religious identity as well as its Indian identity, says the IAS officer who quit office to protest the J&K lockdown Kannan Gopinathan, the former IAS officer, first caught the nation’s eye when he stepped down from the service to protest the lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir. He resigned as secretary, power department of the Union Territories of Daman and Diu,...

-Hindustan Times In science, an anomaly in an experiment does not amount to abandoning a certain theory or method involved in the experiment. Experiments are run again, and corrective measures are taken to prevent or minimise anomalies. When it comes to the NRC and CAA, is the Indian State thinking the way a scientist would treat their experiments? How does the Indian State think and reason when it encounters a crisis? Is...

-Hindustan Times The democracy Index referred to the changes in Jammu and Kashmir and the controversial implementation of the (NRC) in Assam. India dropped 10 places in the democracy Index’s global ranking to 51st place, with the survey describing the erosion of civil liberties in the country as the primary cause of the democratic regression. The democracy Index - prepared by Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of The Economist Group...

-The Hindu In a democracy, people participate politically not only during but between elections We are witnessing unprecedented public protests in India. Thousands continue to assemble on the streets to demand that the government rethink the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. Such public protests are the hallmark of a free, democratic society, whose logic demands that the voice of the people be heard by those in power and...