-The Hindu The Union government should dispel the States’ fears of centralisation if it wants to rescue the idea from total rejection The idea of a national water framework law mooted by the Central government has run into strong opposition from the Chief Ministers of several States. The aim of this article is to clarify the issues involved for the information of the general public. I am obliged to strike a personal note...

-Outlook Farmers refuse to give up land for industry On the one hand, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who calls himself a ‘kisan ka beta’, wants to earn a following with farmers. On the other hand, he wants to be seen as investor-friendly. But industry needs land; so do farmers. And farmers seem unwilling to give up their land. Whatever the price offered. On November 13, Sunia Bai, a...

-The Hindu The Betul tragedy shows that the state does not consider emotional or intellectual maturity important in a person who teaches children Picture a small boy facing two adult men. They are furious over something they suspect he has done, so they start hitting him. They feel they have the authority to do so because they are teachers. The boy is absolutely helpless. It hardly matters for this picture whether he...

-The Times of India The Right to Education Act (RTE) mandates that every child has the fundamental right to free and compulsory elementary education in India. March 31, 2013, is the deadline set for full implementation of the Act. However, several challenges need to be overcome, especially to provide education for children in areas of conflict.  In the Indian context, three regions experience varying degrees of conflict - Maoist-affected areas, Jammu and...

-The Hindustan Times The recent arrest of two young girls in Maharashtra - Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Srinivasan - for posting and liking a Facebook comment questioning the shutdown in Mumbai for Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's funeral reminded me of an incident that happened a few years after Independence and Partition. It was 1952 and I was playing in a neighbourhood park when some children coerced me into telling them my name....