Gautam Benegal

The idea behind Article 370 was to respect culture, history and a political agreement made with immense belief. That stands broken today and the effects won't be limited to Kashmir.

As India’s best creative minds write a serious missive to PM Modi, urging him to curb communal crime, some others are complaining about the complainants themselves. Why is evident.

The tokenism is funny, if it weren't frightening. It's like carrying the Union Budget wrapped in a 'bahi khata', not a colonial briefcase, but arriving in a BMW to do it.

Once words of calmness and beauty, the Hindu chant is now a signal, a dog-whistle, a weapon in the hands of lynch mobs targeting the most vulnerable.

Once known as the gentleman’s game, the sport has turned bats into weapons for hyper-nationalism and for advertising opportunities. This is now war, of a different kind.

Mocked once as 'lower class' compared to the suave Buddhadev and the urbane Jyoti babu, Mamata is now the only hope of the same bhodrolok against the surge of the Sangh Parivar.

The Hindutva mob is now emboldened and could victimise minorities with impunity. If you call them out, you're labelled the ‘Khan Market gang’. Is this the real India we voted for?

India has finally shrugged off the 'socialist', 'secular' tags of the Nehruvian generation. If the spirit of 2014's mandate was ever in doubt, the 2019 choice has cleared it. But what lies ahead now?

The very politicians whose foot soldiers are blamed for shattering Vidyasagar's statue are vowing to rebuild it with ornate ‘panchadhattu’. This is exactly the outlook Vidyasagar stood against.

It has been helpful to Modi and the BJP to cover up failures and flaws with insults and allegations. However, when the Opposition responds in kind, the PM doesn't seem to like it.