Weekend Reads
- AG Noorani in Frontline comments on the Supreme Court’s abdication of duty in the manner in which it has deal with habeas corpus petitions in Kashmir, through which citizens are entitled to be told what the state has done to fellow citizens.
- Just because the Bharatiya Janata Party did not register a resounding victory in the just-concluded elections doesn’t mean that all concerns about the Election Commission’s processes and the functioning of Electronic Voting Machines is invalid, writes Kannan Gopinathan on the Polis Project.
- “There is no genteel way to say this so I am going to spit it out: menacing hyper-nationalism does not win elections.” Tavleen Singh in the Indian Express responds to the poll results in Haryana and Maharashtra.
- Meera Srinivasan in the Hindu writes about the dilemma that faces progressive Sri Lankan as they go out to vote in November, with no clarity on who can take on a member of the Rajapaksa clan.
- Some of India’s most affluent states perform terribly on indicators of children’s health, finds Rukmini S in Mint.
- Sanjay G Reddy in Foreign Policy puts forward a critique of Randomised Controlled Trials, the technique that propelled this year’s Economics Nobel-winners to their prize.
- “Vibhishana changes the terms of reference of the Rama-Ravana conflict, when he confronts Ravana on the grounds of dharma.” Amrith Lal asks in the Indian Express if Vibhishana is the first “anti-national”?
- Especially in America, but all over the world, we no longer have a good sense of time thanks to the 2010s. The rhythms of pop culture and current affairs have become extremely skewed, writes Katherine Miller on Buzzfeed.
- Where will gender rights be debated next? Meredith Broussard on Slate says the fight will take place over databases.
- Russian scientists were tracking eagles through SMS transmitters, that suddenly racked up huge charges because the birds flew to Iran and Pakistan, says the BBC.
