As young middle-class Indians gathered to express their anger at corrupt governance, it was a significant moment for Indian democracy. The country has witnessed many protests for wages and land, self-determination and human rights. But this campaign was different. It's decades since educated and privileged young people felt stirred enough to take to the streets, seeking hope of a better India. But this is not a one-time eruption and the...
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Why tar all politicians with the same brush? by Madhu Purnima Kishwar
We should be grateful to Anna Hazare for dedicating his life to the people and battling for accountability in governance. Millions look to him for inspiration and guidance. We are all sick of mismanagement, venality and the lack of accountability that plague not only governance but also other institutions, including many NGOs that call themselves “civil society” institutions, the term made fashionable by international donor agencies. The support base of this...
More »Corrupt means taint the nuclear deal by Brahma Chellaney
The new Bribery revelations, a rigged process to import reactors and safety-related concerns must lead to the long-blocked scrutiny of the nuclear deal by Parliament. The world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl raises troubling questions about India's plans for a huge expansion of its nuclear power programme through reactor imports. Given its low per-capita energy consumption, India must generate far more electricity to economically advance. So it needs more nuclear-generated power....
More »PM Manmohan Singh misleading public on US cables: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange says Indian leaders are trying to mislead the public by challenging the authenticity of US diplomatic cables suggesting some MPs were bribed during a 2008 parliament trust vote. "It is not correct to say that all these cables are mere opinions by US diplomats, that is not true," Assange told NDTV's Prannoy Roy in an interview telecast on Monday. "These are official correspondence sent by ambassadors, sent in...
More »Bribery charge must now be investigated by Siddharth Varadarajan
The Embassy cable suggests a serious crime was committed on Indian soil to which U.S. diplomats were privy. The Prime Minister cannot cite lame arguments to justify inaction. Since politics is a distraction, consider the following retelling of the WikiLeaks tale. An activist dies in a traffic accident. CCTV footage from a bank nearby suggests he might have been murdered but the case is never investigated properly. Three years later,...
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