Kuldip Nayar

Horrors of Partition came to my mind when I saw television channels beaming pictures of rioting and killing in Bengaluru. I felt the

A few years ago when I persuaded Yasin Malik, the first militant in the valley of Kashmir, to give up his fast unto death, his

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has met around 300 people in Srinagar. Pakistan, too, has offered to have talks on Kashmir. Both steps, however laudable, are late by two to three years. The Kashmiris then wanted a settlement through a dialogue. Leaders like Yasin Malik and Shabbir Shah took part in the conclaves held at Srinagar and New Delhi.

Can the Congress Party be retrieved? This was the question posed to me. Another one was whether or not the party is relevant.

Here were great hopes from the largest ever Indian contingent at the Rio Olympics, but when it came to performance, it fell well short of expectations. India has won only a bronze medal in women's wrestling and a silver in women's badminton.

The British have the reputation of leaving their colonies in a mess when they have to withdraw by force or otherwise. One method they have adopted is to partition the country they have ruled. They did this in Ireland, Palestine-Israel and, of course, India.

Yet another Dalit family was hacked to death because the members were suspected to have eaten beef. The laboratory tests of the

As India prepares to commemorate 68 years of freedom from British imperial rule, it may be worth remembering a dusty town in Uttar Pradesh that suffered the consequences of declaring itself an independent country for a few days in 1942.

The dust of time has covered many a footstep and it is very difficult to find out today who else at the Nagpur headquarters of the RSS had blessed the heinous crime. This was probably the first crime committed in the name of ideology.

There is no doubt that Faraaz sacrificed his life for his friends (one Indian and the other a US citizen), who were the real targets of the terrorists. This does not make amends for the brutal killing, but it does tell a saga of unbelievable bravery. True, he is mentioned with great respect in every Bangladeshi home and cited as an example of courage, but his distraught parents and grandparents can never be consoled.

I find that increasingly, we, the journalists, are failing in the standards required from us. None of this has been helped by the new digital technology that promotes very short stories or sound bites. In fact, things have deteriorated to such an extent today that news columns can be bought. It is an open secret that several stories are nothing more than paid news.

Fortunately, some activists are still trying to bring democracy back on the tracks, but the atmosphere has become so polluted that their job looks tremendous and almost impossible.

If I were to award marks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his two-year governance, I would give him four out of 10.

The pattern of voting and the places where the BJP has won show that the party has uprooted a well-entrenched Congress. What it means in real terms is not the success of the BJP's ideology but people's exasperation over corruption in the Congress.

New Delhi has to appreciate the fact that the Kashmiris' desire to distance themselves from India may not be considered in any meaningful transfer of power from New Delhi to Srinagar. Yet, the impression that the Kashmiris rule themselves has to be sustained.

Corruption in all the three neighbouring countries - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - has become a way of life. A politician's standard of living is now so high that the emoluments which he gets are not adequate to meet his expenses.

The past seems to be catching up fast with President Pranab Mukherjee.

It is clear that the British have no intention of returning the diamond or, for that matter, tons of material which is stored in the basement of museums in London. Though there was no response from England, France complied with the UNESCO resolution and gave up the relics which they had in their possession during their rule.

New Delhi has set up the Central Water and Power Commission to have a systematic plan to harness not only water but also generate power. This has worked to a large extent, but in certain parts of India, the fallout has led to a series of disputes, which remain unsolved even after decades.

Understandably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a panel of officials from the income-tax department, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Enforcement Directorate to probe the matter and apportion responsibility. Yet, nothing concrete would come out of it because the persons connected with the dealings have political clout.