-The Hindu Her murder is an attempt to kill an idea What killed Gauri Lankesh? This is not the same question as “who killed Gauri Lankesh?” This is deeper and a more rewarding question. In any case, this is the only question we can meaningfully answer in the public domain. A murder involves four categories of culpability: those who carry out assassination, those who conspire, those who encourage or benefit from it,...

-Frontline.in The death of nearly 60 children in Gorakhpur because of the unavailability of oxygen can be directly attributed to the larger issue of drastic reduction in budgetary allocations for and the gross neglect of the public health system. THE death of almost 60 children, including infants, in the government-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur within a span of 48 hours raises several issues relating to the state...

-Livemint.com State’s response to organised violence in India often hinges on a political cost-benefit analysis Days before the verdict in rape case against Dera Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, his supporters started gathering in Panchkula. A lot of violence could have been prevented by not letting them come there. Why did the government allow this? The Dera is hardly a benign spiritual organisation. It holds significant political clout and openly declares support...

-The Tribune Noted jurist Fali S Nariman on Sunday congratulated the judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court who pulled up the Centre and the Manohar Lal Khattar government for their failure to prevent the loss of lives and property in the violence after a CBI court convicted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim of rape. “Heartiest congratulations to the brave judges of the Full Bench of the High Court, who...

-Hindustan Times The high court called the PM Narendra Modi-led government’s reaction to the violence “only a knee-jerk” one, dismissing the argument that the havoc occurred in different states ruled by different parties. Chandigarh: The Prime Minister is of the nation and not the BJP, the Punjab and Haryana high court remarked on Saturday as riots engulfed two states after controversial “godman” Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted of rape. The court...