Opinion: India’s bulldozer raj springs from the very opposite impulse of nation building

Nations forged in devastation resemble petty mafias of muscle and flex. Neither a new politics, nor a vibrant economy can flourish in this morass.

Nikita Sud

· May 12, 2022 · 09:00 am

Why are they going after Bollywood?

In the promised horizon of New India, there will be no decadent elites. They must all fall in line with the national will.

Nikita Sud

· Sep 25, 2020 · 06:30 am

Illegality vs informality: What the crackdown on slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh is really about

The state’s rulers aspire to proclaim their moral and legal credentials, which will be utilised in re-ordering society along an upper caste, Hindu morality.

Nikita Sud

· Mar 27, 2017 · 12:30 pm

The Gujarat model: What violence in the name of cow protection tells us about BJP's caste politics

The party wants to include Dalits into its Hindu vote bank, but the age-old caste prejudices remain deeproted.

Nikita Sud

· Jul 23, 2016 · 09:00 am

Holy cow: Our bovine protectors are milking an old script (with new hypocrisy)

Cow protectionism isn’t new in India – but the political cache it commands is.

Nikita Sud

· Oct 09, 2015 · 02:30 pm

The debate around land acquisition law is all good – but what about the landless?

The current debate is centred on the conflict between the interests of farmers and industry. There are many more livelihoods at stake.

Nikita Sud

· Mar 08, 2015 · 08:45 am

Congress is a large tent: it shelters both secularism and communalism

Those who think that the Congress is secular betray an ignorance both about the party and the complex principle.

Nikita Sud

· Jan 26, 2015 · 06:45 am

For Hindu nationalists, striking fear among India’s minorities is the ‘real development’

Emboldened that ‘their government’ is again in power, Hindutva supporters are back to spreading violence.

Nikita Sud

· Dec 25, 2014 · 06:30 am

Is the Gujarat model playing out again in East Delhi's Trilokpuri?

Patterns of communal moblisation evident in the western state seem to be recognisable in East Delhi last month and western UP last year.

Nikita Sud

· Nov 02, 2014 · 07:30 am

It is not agricultural land that is most at risk in India's corrupt land grab

Agricultural land is closely protected by politically active farmers, but other territory is easily repurposed for corporate concerns.

Nikita Sud

· Jul 31, 2014 · 07:36 am