opinion

It indeed needs the courage of conviction to speak out the truth in India, that too when you are judged harshly. Quite contrary to the perception being built that the establishment has been gagging the voice of the opposition, it is mostly the other way round. There is always a collective and group effort to gag the voices of truth and damn these as bigotry. Justice Chandrachud has already been pronounced guilty of bigotry, as how could he make such remarks even when these were based on historical truths and archaeological evidence.

What began as a fictional pirate crew’s emblem almost three decades ago has become a powerful symbol of youth-led resistance, appearing in demonstrations from Indonesia and Nepal to the Philippines and France.

Given the sensitive geographical location of the region, the government will need to be extra vigilant about the forces behind the violent protest.

Several factors make resolution a nuanced endeavour. Constitutional and legal complexities exist, given the distinct religious, cultural and economic interests of Leh and Kargil. And the strategic location of Ladakh, bordering China and Pakistan adds layers of national security considerations as well.

That Russia is not winning, however, is hardly of comfort to Ukraine. Moscow still has the ability to attack night after night, exposing weaknesses in Ukraine’s air defence system and targeting critical infrastructure.

Netanyahu appears to be halfway through achieving this goal, despite all the international condemnation of his war in Gaza and the increasing isolation of Israel.

For decades now, the Congress has remained on the margins and under the shadow of the RJD. It has remained at a distant fourth place after the Janata Dal-United, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the RJD. However, after the 16-day ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ taken out by Rahul Gandhi, with Tejashwi in tow, the Congress has turned into a buoyant and robust mood. The ‘yatra’ witnessed huge crowds all along the route. Even the ruling JDU-BJP alliance has taken note of it. But more than that, it is the RJD that has not only taken note of it but has taken it quite seriously.

Among the big three US newspapers, the Times is the only one so far not to have been intimidated by Trump. The other two, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, refused to endorse a candidate at the election on instructions from their owners, Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong respectively, both of whose wider business interests are vulnerable to Trumpian retribution.

If Rahul thinks that he can win elections by merely accusing the BJP of attacking the Constitution, stealing votes or manipulating the EVMs, he is badly mistaken.

The parallels between McCarthyism and Trumpism are stark and unsettling. In both eras, dissent has been conflated with disloyalty. How far could this go? Like the McCarthy era, it partly depends on the public reaction to Trump’s tactics.

Malik is undergoing life imprisonment after having been convicted in a case of waging war against the state, in which he pleaded guilty in the year 2022.

Despite being the world’s most populous nation with 1.46 billion people, India is staring at a fertility crisis that threatens to rob it of its demographic advantage. This decline signals a long-term transition that will shape India’s population dynamics over the coming decades.