M.J. Akbar, Author at The Sunday Guardian Live

Between hyperbole and ridicule

The question begs to be asked. Has the Congress changed its view of Jaya Prakash Narayan after 35 years, or has the Congress changed...

Between hyperbole and ridicule

The question begs to be asked. Has the Congress changed its view of Jaya Prakash Narayan after 35 years, or has the Congress changed...

Between hyperbole and ridicule

The question begs to be asked. Has the Congress changed its view of Jaya Prakash Narayan after 35 years, or has the Congress changed...

China makes Chinese; Indians make India

When does a small town grow up and become a big boy? Does size matter? Geography is a peculiar addiction. Fat makes you large,...

China makes Chinese; Indians make India

When does a small town grow up and become a big boy? Does size matter? Geography is a peculiar addiction. Fat makes you large,...

China makes Chinese; Indians make India

When does a small town grow up and become a big boy? Does size matter? Geography is a peculiar addiction. Fat makes you large,...

The Sheikh of Options

You know a marriage has gone sour when one of the couple begins winking at the neighbour. The political wedlock between Rahul Gandhi and...

The Sheikh of Options

You know a marriage has gone sour when one of the couple begins winking at the neighbour. The political wedlock between Rahul Gandhi and...

The Sheikh of Options

You know a marriage has gone sour when one of the couple begins winking at the neighbour. The political wedlock between Rahul Gandhi and...

2010 is a century away from 1992

The judiciary is more important than any judgement. Every institution has to be larger than the sum of its members, and nowhere more so...

2010 is a century away from 1992

The judiciary is more important than any judgement. Every institution has to be larger than the sum of its members, and nowhere more so...

2010 is a century away from 1992

The judiciary is more important than any judgement. Every institution has to be larger than the sum of its members, and nowhere more so...

A Supreme walk near the precipice

It is never easy to walk close to the precipice. The Supreme Court must be feeling very sure-footed to test its vertigo level on...

A Supreme walk near the precipice

It is never easy to walk close to the precipice. The Supreme Court must be feeling very sure-footed to test its vertigo level on...

A Supreme walk near the precipice

It is never easy to walk close to the precipice. The Supreme Court must be feeling very sure-footed to test its vertigo level on...

Mandal chapter is now a book

Has the Manmohan Singh Government ordered India’s first Hindu census? The exercise scheduled for 2011 to count the caste populations of the country excludes,...

Mandal chapter is now a book

Has the Manmohan Singh Government ordered India’s first Hindu census? The exercise scheduled for 2011 to count the caste populations of the country excludes,...

Mandal chapter is now a book

Has the Manmohan Singh Government ordered India’s first Hindu census? The exercise scheduled for 2011 to count the caste populations of the country excludes,...

Wanted, a Nobel Prize for Honesty

Now that a legitimate recipient can be identified for a Nobel Prize for Honesty, it is time Oslo introduced such a prize. One sensible...

Wanted, a Nobel Prize for Honesty

Now that a legitimate recipient can be identified for a Nobel Prize for Honesty, it is time Oslo introduced such a prize. One sensible...

Wanted, a Nobel Prize for Honesty

Now that a legitimate recipient can be identified for a Nobel Prize for Honesty, it is time Oslo introduced such a prize. One sensible...

Fiction? Non-fiction? Just a horror story

The most reassuring aspect of Tony Blair’s just-released memoirs was evident in the Reuters photograph of a bookstore shelf stacked with copies on opening...

Fiction? Non-fiction? Just a horror story

The most reassuring aspect of Tony Blair’s just-released memoirs was evident in the Reuters photograph of a bookstore shelf stacked with copies on opening...

Fiction? Non-fiction? Just a horror story

The most reassuring aspect of Tony Blair’s just-released memoirs was evident in the Reuters photograph of a bookstore shelf stacked with copies on opening...

Income shall prevail, but the outcome?

The controversy over the MPs’ pay and emoluments is misplaced. We should lead a campaign to increase the salaries of MPs, but only if...

Income shall prevail, but the outcome?

The controversy over the MPs’ pay and emoluments is misplaced. We should lead a campaign to increase the salaries of MPs, but only if...

Income shall prevail, but the outcome?

The controversy over the MPs’ pay and emoluments is misplaced. We should lead a campaign to increase the salaries of MPs, but only if...

Déjà vu: Back to Army in Pakistan

The reservoir of hatred has to be very deep for Pakistan to reject India’s aid at a time when desperate, flood-affected, marauding men snatch...

Déjà vu: Back to Army in Pakistan

The reservoir of hatred has to be very deep for Pakistan to reject India’s aid at a time when desperate, flood-affected, marauding men snatch...

Déjà vu: Back to Army in Pakistan

The reservoir of hatred has to be very deep for Pakistan to reject India’s aid at a time when desperate, flood-affected, marauding men snatch...

A mosque has no door

Can there be any rational reason for such subliminal fear of a house without a door? A mosque has no door; it is always...

A mosque has no door

Can there be any rational reason for such subliminal fear of a house without a door? A mosque has no door; it is always...

A mosque has no door

Can there be any rational reason for such subliminal fear of a house without a door? A mosque has no door; it is always...

Short cuts are slippery in power

Government never seem to understand a basic fact of the democratic dialectic: no Opposition wants its demands met. It prefers a Government to be...

Short cuts are slippery in power

Government never seem to understand a basic fact of the democratic dialectic: no Opposition wants its demands met. It prefers a Government to be...

Short cuts are slippery in power

Government never seem to understand a basic fact of the democratic dialectic: no Opposition wants its demands met. It prefers a Government to be...

Will rage ever turn to outrage?

Is there a tipping point to corruption, that last straw, or rupee note, on the corrupt camel's back that ignites the dormant fuse of...

Will rage ever turn to outrage?

Is there a tipping point to corruption, that last straw, or rupee note, on the corrupt camel's back that ignites the dormant fuse of...

Will rage ever turn to outrage?

Is there a tipping point to corruption, that last straw, or rupee note, on the corrupt camel's back that ignites the dormant fuse of...

Sudden death, and gradual justice

It would be odd, and wholly unacceptable, if secularism were to be defined by the fate of a gangster in Gujarat. At stake in...

Sudden death, and gradual justice

It would be odd, and wholly unacceptable, if secularism were to be defined by the fate of a gangster in Gujarat. At stake in...

Sudden death, and gradual justice

It would be odd, and wholly unacceptable, if secularism were to be defined by the fate of a gangster in Gujarat. At stake in...

Only 960 years left for Bhutto’s war

The Bhuttos, and Bhutto-led Governments, seem lost in a rut that has become brittle and boring through over-use. Their only measure of Pakistani patriotism...

Only 960 years left for Bhutto’s war

The Bhuttos, and Bhutto-led Governments, seem lost in a rut that has become brittle and boring through over-use. Their only measure of Pakistani patriotism...

Only 960 years left for Bhutto’s war

The Bhuttos, and Bhutto-led Governments, seem lost in a rut that has become brittle and boring through over-use. Their only measure of Pakistani patriotism...