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First Person | Modi’s Choice
Cling to the ideology he grew up with, or turn the geopolitical opportunity to his advantage.

First Person | A Truth Too Many
Lies and illogic have to be countered openly and publicly

First Person | Hit and Run
Raising the bar for what is acceptable as a secular democracy

First Person | The Real Story
Home minister's promise to wipe out Naxalism by 2026 is to benefit corporates more than the people

First Person | One Nation, Many Challenges
The manufactured glorious maritime history does not strengthen India

First Person | Dirty Games
Petty politicking in Ladakh will have terrible consequences

First Person | The Easy Way
If veterans only talk about geopolitics, who will talk about the military

First Person | Memoirs of Our Times
Nandita Haksar’s autobiography is the story of India and the loss of a dream

First Person | The Big Slide
Why the Indian Army is no longer a professional fighting force

First Person | Limits of Democracy
Elections do not guarantee security and justice if the majority is radicalise

First Person | Military Power Not Built on Slogans
Aatmanirbharta will remain pipedream as long as domestic defence industry takes shortcuts

First Person | Intellectual Deficit
When the going gets tough, draw a comparison with Pakistan and feel good

First Person | Three Days in Dhaka
Receding democracy, growing cult and a nation on the move

First Person | A Request to Veterans
Writing on China or criticising the government is not an anti-national activity

First Person | Premium on Citizenship
This is leading to denial of government largesse to a section, ghettoisation and insecurity

First Person | A Nobel for Mr Modi
With its aim of ensuring a saffron CM in J&K, BJP blunders on

First Person | Ruse of the Reforms
Driven by compulsions, the Agnipath scheme will militarise the unemployed

First Person | A Shadow in the Dark
India has never been so vulnerable internally and externally as it is today

First Person | The Art of Making Heroes
The government has reasons to seek momentary calm in Kashmir

First Person | The Art of Illusionism
Raisina Dialogue versus Alternative Dialogue

First Person | De-Radicalise, Now
The Kashmir Files film has nothing to do with either Kashmir or the tragedy of the Pandits

First Person | A Matter of No Choice
The Russia-Ukraine war has thrown Indian diplomatic calisthenics off-balance

First Person | The Tale of Two Books
From conundrum to crossroads, how Kashmir continues to exercise hearts and minds

First Person | The Fine Line
The importance of preventing history from becoming a propagandist’s tool

First Person | Leave Afghanistan Alone
We need to focus on our own internal and external problems

Much Talk About Nothing
PM Modi’s meeting with Kashmiri politicians and Stockholm syndrome

First Person | Business of Talks
Too much craft and prejudice has dictated government approach to Kashmir; needed now is far-sightedness

First Person | A Cause Lost to Time
How China, India and Tibetans defeated the idea of Tibet

First Person | While We Slept
How India became a majoritarian State and we didn’t get to know

First Person | Two Books and a New Year
National security, nationalism and the idea of India

First Person | Veil of Terror
The government redefines its focus on terrorism for convenience sake

First Person | The Quicksand of Kashmir
A year after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, the situation remains dire

First Person | Uncivilised War
To end the current bickering between cadre and IPS officers, government must give former its due

First Person | The Uncomfortable Question
The Indian veterans must do more than raising nationalistic slogan

First Person | Closer to Precipice
The new law on domicile status will only further the separatist sentiment in Kashmir

First Person | The Outsider’s Insight
Why sometimes it is more useful to have an outsider’s perspective

First Person | No Time for Games
Kashmir is too serious an issue for opportunistic politicking

First Person | Two Shots in One
For the government of India, casting terrorism as the main threat serves more than one purpose

First Person | Let Actions Talk
Helping martyrs’ families is good, but let’s help the living too

First Person | Price of Peace
By choosing violence over talks we are closing all windows for ourselves

First Person | Public Knowledge
With mere license production, we cannot attain the goal of self-reliance

First Person | A Tale of Two Chiefs
The army chief could have offered better reasons for resisting women in combat

First Person | MeToo for the Military
Women in uniform need a voice too

First Person | The Fist is Bare
The army’s tough-guy act in Kashmir is reflective of the situation not being in its control

First Person | In the Garb of AFSPA
Litigating men in uniform portends ill for the institution

First Person | Humans of Kashmir
A change in perspective is needed for peace

First Person | Hope in Times of Fear
On the escalatory ladder of violence, suppression is met with defiance

First Person | Defence Carnival
A defence trade show’s primary purpose cannot be public entertainment

Media has been Managed
Now they represent the powerful, not the powerless

First Person | Soul of the Nation
India is one of those rare countries which loses so many of its soldiers without a war

First Person | Read. Reflect. Repeat
Lack of reading in the new generation of officers is a serious malaise

First Person | Public Display of Patriotism
Forced sense of nationalism doesn’t help anyone

First Person | No Global Terrorism
The sooner we realise this, faster we will be able to address our problems

First Person | National Pride
When love for the country means being a card-carrying nationalist

First Person | Different Voices
Sectarian violence should be counted as one of the risks to businesses

First Person | No End in Sight
The State needs an empathetic outlook towards the people caught between the Maoists and the security forces

First Person | More Deaths in the Jungle
Without an effective policy, the war against the Maoists cannot be won

First Person | A Moment for Modi
Dreams of a chronic optimist

First Person | The Road Less Travelled
Comparison of the Indian Army with others reduces its accomplishments

First Person | War Got Dirtier
By increasing the role of the IAF in counter-Maoist operations, government is sending the wrong message

First Person | The Balance Sheet
The out-going chief of air staff ACM Arup Raha sums up his tenure in a press meet

First Person | The Idea of Secularism
The Supreme Court’s review of the Hindutva judgment raises hope for maintaining India’s diversity

First Person | Spot the Terrorist
While India laments international terrorism, the home-grown ones flourish

First Person | Self-Inflicted Wounds
Saeed Naqvi’s bold book could have been better had he touched upon the importance of reforms among the Muslims

First Person | Small Men, Big Claims
The recent Pampore tragedy exposed much more than our ill-preparedness

First Person | Public Work
Let this be the domain of public servants, not government officers

First Person | No One Size Fits All
The UN moves towards evolving a framework for global terrorism

First Person | Talk, Not Hector
Threats don’t work, nor does silence

First Person | Prejudice-Train
The enemy may be invisible but we know what he/she wears

First Person | Let’s Grow Apples
Settling ex-servicemen in Kashmir would endanger their lives instead of honouring it

First Person | The Roadmap Please
The Modi government needs to overhaul its approach to Kashmir

First Person | Image Management
The Prime Minister has been too busy cultivating his own image abroad to seriously look into internal challenges

First Person | Invest in the Khaki
As first responders to internal security, police must be professional and honourable

First Person | Old Threats, New Force
With multiple insurgencies in various stages of brewing, we need a new CI force

First Person | Winter Lingers On
The PDP-BJP alliance may have possibilities, but at the moment they look bleak

First Person | On the Same Side
Unless the army realises that the media is not an antagonist it will continue to miss the point about communication

First Person | Halved by Religion
The J&K elections have brought to life the once buried two-nation theory

First Person | Media Management
Intolerance of criticism is a major reason behind blacklisting some journalists who try to do their job objectively

First Person | Road to the Right
Indiscipline is never restricted to one part; it spills over in all aspects of one’s life

First Person | Conditions Apply
While Indian generosity was at its peaks during J&K flood relief, jingoism also raised its ugly head

First Person | Toilet Talk
If we haven’t lost the ancient learning of Ayurveda or yoga, how did we lose engineering skills?

First Person | Our Own Battles
Indians fighting in Iraq should be a wake-up call to the government

First Person | Engage, Not Alienate
If you don’t get the ideas right, you will get the policies wrong

First Person | Much Ado About Nothing
Article 370 is a non-issue and has nothing to do with the resolution of Kashmir issue

First Person | For India’s Sake
For a nation as vast as India, we need a leader who takes pride in its diversity

First Person | While We Were Busy
Maoists are now exploiting the virgin territories of Northeast India

First Person | Age of Mediocrity
Mediocre people support and promote other mediocre people so that they can all co-exist

First Person | No Room for Nostalgia
The reality of Kashmir is so harsh today that romanticism only makes it worse

First Person | It’s Only Words
In his second press meet as CNS, Admiral Joshi played it extremely safe

First Person | The Weak Links
Human resource is an important element for national security

First Person | Warts Within
If Muslims continue to wait for the government to do something for them, they will remain victims

First Person | Honour and Honesty
Among his various loose comments, has Gen. V.K. Singh also admitted to perjury?

First Person | Cost of Conflict
Vested interests across political-bureaucratic divide prevent resolution

First Person | The Right Lessons
Inter-uniform rivalry is alright, derision is not

First Person | United Effort
Each state cannot fight and win the war against Left-Wing Extremism

First Person | Innocence at a Loss
Juvenile delinquents need a State that can adopt and mould them, not punish them

First Person | Collective Complicity
The government killed a terrorist but resurrected a martyr

First Person | Show Management
For the Aero India to be successful, private sector will have to play a bigger role

First Person | Young Force
Indian Army can engage with the Kashmiri youth, but only in a limited way

First Person | Days of Yore
Once there was a media policy, now there is fire-fighting

First Person | The Demon Within
Stealthily, the communal virus seems to have crept into the military blood stream

First Person | No Offence Please
Offended mobs are not as spontaneous as they look

First Person | Justice, it is
The Naroda Patiya verdict shows that certain things do work

First Person | Proud to be Secular
In India, the alternative is not only scary but destructive for nation-building

First Person | Enemy Within
Zabiuddin Ansari’s arrest should be used to understand why he went the other side

First Person | Resolve Now
The government should not let absence of violence lull it into complacency

First Person | Rule of Heart
Policing and development combination is not enough to defeat the Maoists

First Person | Summer’s Hope
Why some of the threats of Islamic terrorism are fantastical

First Person | Heading for Disaster
Government needs to save the CAPFs from the clutches of vested interests

First Person | The End is Nigh
Why some of the threats of Islamic terrorism are fantastical

First Person | Mission Youth
Kashmir University has a new man in charge

First Person | Fatal Flaw
Police modernisation has to move beyond tokenism

First Person | Making Over Modi
The weight of 2002 is not the only thing that goes against the Gujarat CM

First Person | Soldiers All
We also need to remember the unsung heroes of the CRPF

First Person | Matter of Choice
In the end, we are all cogs in the wheels of nation-building

First Person | Life and Honour
We need the quick rethink on our counter-Maoist strategy

First Person | More Deaths in Vain
The government continues to repeat the same mistakes against the Maoists

First Person | Blood Stains
No matter how much Gujarat progresses, 2002 will continue to haunt Modi

First Person | In Gaddafi’s Land
The supreme commander controls even the thoughts of the people

First Person | Embrace the Change
Churning in the Middle East is good for the world

First Person | Majority Rule
The Dara Singh verdict shows that even judiciary is not impervious to propaganda

First Person | Rule of the Khaki
When security overrules governance, calls for justice will have to be silenced

First Person | NHRC’s Job
Discuss human rights, instead of turning it into a competition

First Person | Reign of Triviality
Opportunistic politics compromises India’s national interests

First Person | Lull, Not Peace
We needs both imagination and large-heartedness to resolve Kashmir

First Person | Shades of Azadi
Address the rage and frustration of the youth and everything else will follow

First Person | In Praise of Intolerance
Certain customs and practices deserve not to be tolerated

First Person | Link to the Land
Unless people are made stake-holders, they will not understand development

First Person | Theatre of the Absurd
Media must desist from playing up the fatwa racket

First Person | Anatomy of Loss
Prejudice, delayed justice and a family in ruins

First Person | Lies, Damned Lies
As a nation, we prefer to turn our back to truth

First Person | Such a Long Journey
Omar Abdullah needs one moment of boldness to silence his critics

First Person | Peace and Poetry
India-Pakistan need more than that for a lasting resolution of outstanding issues

First Person | Home Affairs
Chidambaram has offered a perfect remedy for internal security. But will politics let it happen?

First Person | The Babri Monster
Let’s just bury it and move on

First Person | The Good Muslim
The ulemas should help remove prejudices about Islam

First Person | Winds of Change
Centre’s decision to engage with Kashmiri Separatists was long overdue

First Person | Push against the Wall
A case for the CRPF cadre officers

First Person | Baptism by Fire
Lessons from the Kashmiri streets

First Person | Deadly Cocktail
Dangers of playing politics with religion

First Person | Defeating Taliban
Take the war to the next generation

First Person | Assuming Victimhood
Pakistan has built Taliban as a monster to highlight its helplessness

First Person | Dangers of Law
Sometimes the saviours turn into villains

First Person | Don’t Sweat over Swat
We need to focus on terrorist groups that are targeting India

First Person | Rule of the Mob
State must treat hooligans as criminals

First Person | Uncivil War
Pakistan military is emasculating the civil society

First Person | Weep India Weep
At least now deny terrorism the cloak of religion

First Person | Mental Ghettos
Bad times can throw up good opportunities for Muslims

First Person | The Battle has Come Home
Madrassas cannot provide a balanced world-view

First Person | The Next Generation
The challenge is to prevent the alienation of the next generation of Kashmiris

First Person | Importance of Being Iran
A strong, mainstream Iran will help stabilise the Middle East

First Person | What Terrorism?
First Person | What Terrorism?

First Person | Solitary Marcher
The indomitable spirit of the Indian soldier

First Person | Action Time
The government needs to take definitive action on Naxalism

First Person | A Poem for Fanatics
Use culture to fight terrorism

First Person | Don’t Count on Democracy
Fighting terrorism has nothing to do with democracy

First Person | Let the Music Play
Don’t take fun out of faith

First Person | The Devil is Out
Religion brings out the saint or devil in the faithful, depending upon how it is used

First Person | War of Words
As Indian forces do internal security jobs, they should shun euphemistic war jargon

First Person | Appeasement? Really?
When on the defensive, the BJP and its cohorts raise the bogey

First Person | In the League of their Own
Soul searching in the month of Ramzan

First Person | Justice for All
Fight against terrorism should take the causes into account

First Person | Men to Sacrifice
Replace mammoth CRPF with multiple highly-trained forces

First Person | Remains of the Fire
Indians continue to remain oblivious to the Naxal problem

First Person | Fact and Fiction
The importance of perception management

First Person | Kill Ratio
Should be made irrelevant to career growth

First Person | Left Scare
Even without the foreign hand, Naxalism has increased its reach in India

First Person | Heart of the Matter
On terrorism, India and Pakistan have different world views

First Person | Fighting a Ghost
When it comes to national security, who dare argue

First Person | In Defence
AF(SP)A is not the only act we need to worry about

First Person | Borderline People
Reservation is not the answer to bring Muslims in the mainstream

First Person | Veiled Threat
Leave the women alone please

First Person | Killer Streak
Irrespective of religion, violence is intrinsic to human beings

First Person | Another Chance
Terrorist violence is too cheap a price to squander peace

First Person | On Whose Side is God?
In an unjust war it is very difficult to tell

First Person | Age of Radicalism
The practice is more important than the text

First Person | Fight Among Equals
The government must stop arming civilians to fight the terrorists

First Person | Need to Think Again
Presence of democracy is no guarantee against terrorism

First Person | For God’s Sake
You cannot make a point about peace through violence

First Person | Democracy’s Devastating Dance
Elections are no antidote for terrorism

First Person | Issues of Image
Changes will have to come from within

First Person | Burden of Guilt
The motive of terrorists is always political than religious

First Person | Wahhabi, Deobandi or Barelvi?
In the age of global war on terror, get your religious nuances right