M.J. Akbar - The Sunday Guardian

The Congress formula for Indian Muslims is rooted in colonial legacy: divide and rule. The BJP approach has been shaped by rage at partition: avoid and rule. All Muslims want from both claimants...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/still-caught-between-cliche-and-spasm.html

 Who says no one listens to Dr Manmohan Singh? The animals do. Ever since the Prime Minister of India ordered Indians to release their animal instincts, the bears have started a carnival on Dal...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/welcome-to-indian-animal-farm.html

Reboot or rewind to 1963 It is distressing to note that India, which gave mathematics the noble concept of zero, should have missed the chance to offer history a perfect numerical symmetry. If...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/reboot-or-rewind-to-1963.html

The media menu of a last supper “Newspapers are owned and published by rich men. Rich men all belong to the same club. Sure, there’s competition — hard, tough competition for circulatio...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-media-menu-of-last-supper.html

After Pak priacy, an Indian conspiracy There is no reason why defence minister A.K. Antony should apologise. A jury is often asked to distinguish between a mistake and a crime. The first is...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/after-pak-priacy-indian-conspiracy.html

The evidence of humour The fulcrum of a tipping point in public life is that mortal enemy of a politician: humour. A joke might not destroy reputation quite as effectively as a corruption sca...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-evidence-of-humour.html

WISHING YOU THE BLESSINGS OF RAMZAN AND THE UNIVERSAL JOY OF EID.  EID AAPKO BAHUT MUBARAK HO!

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/eid-mubarak.html

For every Telangana, a dozen seeds are being fertilized The relationship between change and economic growth is often logical, but can occasionally lapse into paradox. The history of revolution...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/for-every-telangana-dozen-seeds-are.html

And the nominee for Best Hasty Pudding is.... Every industry must be permitted the luxury of self-congratulation, particularly if no one else is too eager to do the honours. The foundations o...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/and-nominee-for-best-hasty-pudding-is.html

An Indian election, possibly to the dismay of those journalists transfixed by hype, is not a contest between Lord Rama and Bhagwan Krishna. In the real world, it is mostly between General Hocus ...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-doctor-who-turned-out-to-be-pastry.html

The Day of Judgement Human nature, when in a good mood, takes pride in saving a fellow being from impending tragedy. A good case can now be made for saving a person — including one with an ...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-day-of-judgement.html

Mahatma Gandhi was a Hindu nationalist When logic snaps, rational discourse stumbles. Why is it perfectly acceptable to applaud a Muslim nationalist, but denigrate a Hindu nationalist? Either...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/mahatma-gandhi-was-hindu-nationalist.html

Money shouts, conscience merely murmurs Would you walk? Think about it. You have time, which Stuart Broad did not, when he was batting for England on the third day of the first Ashes Test i...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/money-shouts-conscience-merely-murmurs.html

The real cost of a bribe If, in 2002, a traffic cop in the fairy-tale town of Swat had booked a car speeding through its bazaar, NATO troops could have left Pakistan by 2003, Iraq might have e...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-real-cost-of-bribe.html

Byline A history of the future Life’s most traumatic cemetery is surely the memory of pain, for it is buried but not dead. Neither amnesia nor vengeance is a solution, although the timid...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-history-of-future.html

When Chulbul Pandeys shoot first and whistle later M.J. Akbar My one encounter, if that is the appropriate word, with a policeman who had washed his hands in cold blood, was in an empty Amr...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/when-chulbul-pandeys-shoot-first-and.html

Byline  A bus ride to interesting times M.J. Akbar It’s the old London bus principle. Nothing happens for a long time, then suddenly three turn up at the same time. No decision is ma...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-bus-ride-to-interesting-times.html

Privacy: time to kiss it goodbye M.J. Akbar Shakespeare, being a genius, got most things right. But, being human, he also got a few things wrong. A rose by any other name does often smell li...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/privacy-time-to-kiss-it-goodbye.html

Byline The business of politicians is politics M.J. Akbar Very curious. When Barack Obama suspended his campaign for re-election to supervise relief for victims of a terrible hurrica...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-business-of-politicians-is-politics.html

Look, there’s a new caste in the cauldron M.J. Akbar Byelections are far more dangerous for political parties than elections. An election can merely kill you. A byelection can disorient yo...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/look-theres-new-caste-in-cauldron.html

Byline  On The Special Joys of Airport Trash M.J. Akbar The joys of an airport book may not quite meet the escalating demands of an upwardly liberal sensibility, but who can deny it is...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/on-special-joys-of-airport-trash.html

Byline The calm eye of an expanding storm M.J. Akbar Amman: Jordan is as calm as the eye of a surrounding storm. As residents smoke shisham in cafes, and tourists trot out complaints wi...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-calm-eye-of-expanding-storm.html

Shifting sands make for shifting stands M.J. Akbar Margaret Thatcher, who led Britain’s Conservatives from confusion into the promised land of three election victories, believed that a pol...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/shifting-sands-make-for-shifting-stands.html

The price of ‘corrugance’ M.J. Akbar Someone described BJP’s drubbing in Karnataka as an innings defeat. This is true as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go far enough. The game has ch...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-price-of-corrugance.html

No country for confusion M.J. Akbar The results of the Pakistan elections should be far less important than the fact that elections are taking place. There will always be theorists who find com...

http://mjakbarblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/no-country-for-confusion.html