THE Modi government has left no stone unturned in praising Trump – from "Namaste Trump" to "Howdy Modi." Not long ago, far-right Hindu groups celebrated Trump’s birthday and even performed rituals for his victory. But despite all the theatrics, Trump has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods – the highest in Asia. This export duty, applied as "punishment" for buying cheap oil from Russia, will severely impact leather, textiles, IT, and agriculture sectors, risking millions of jobs. Yet, the so-called "56-inch chest" remains silent.

ONE should ironically thank Donald Trump for compelling the Modi government to undertake a long overdue course correction in India’s foreign policy. For nearly three decades – beginning with the Vajpayee government, to the Manmohan Singh government and then with accelerating speed during the Modi government – India was set on a course of becoming a subordinate ally of the United States.

ON Independence Day this year, a social media post by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas caused outrage and revulsion across the country. Under the title ‘Happy Independence Day’ it depicted four faces – V D Savarkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Shaheed Bhagat Singh. At the bottom was the slogan – ‘Freedom was their gift/Shaping the future is our mission’. The outrage was understandable.

ON August 20, 2025, the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, was introduced in the Lok Sabha. Similar amendments have been proposed to the laws that govern the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Puducherry as well. Following their introduction, the bills were referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for scrutiny.Being constitution amendment bills, they would require a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Parliament for their passage. However, it is very clear that the BJP nor the NDA have the required numbers at present.

IN the early 2000’s a series of bomb blasts targeting Muslims rocked the country. These were Malegaon (2006, 2008), the Samjhauta Express (2007), Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid (2007), Ajmer Sharif Dargah (2007) and Modasa (2008). Before that, there had been several bomb blasts in public places that were claimed by Islamist groups. It was thought that the later blasts were revenge attacks perpetrated by Hindu fanatics. But this proved to be just a pretext because later investigations revealed an insanely more dangerous vision and plan, as we will see below.