The Young India

Ananth Venkatesh

Secularism is a laudable concept that has been constitutionalised in several countries of the world. France and Turkey are two examples of nations that come to mind. They have an intransigently secular constitution that is vehemently opposed to the infiltration of religion into the affairs of the state.

The Turkish military remains a bastion of obdurate secularism that feels threatened by the Islamist personality of the party that is currently guiding the country. However, it would be prudent to…

Ananth Venkatesh

“Undue reliance on tranquil international diplomacy and forceless intranational diplomacy can backfire badly, thereby humiliating the national ego.”

The monstrosity of terrorists demonstrated by the recent bloodletting in Pune [Photo: top; source] illustrates the deviousness of Islamist fundamentalism. The blameless victims of the blast at a popular store of bakery in Pune are the latest in the enormous list of unfortunate Indians who have been wolfed by Islamist bigots.

India is a nation that has juddered…

Ananth Venkatesh

[Australia enjoyed unquestioned supremacy in International cricket. However, the resurgence of the South African and the Indian cricket team along with the retirement of the finest Australian players has caused the downfall of Australian cricket. Currently it is grappling with consistency and defending increasing accusations of sledging and rudeness
Know more about cricket, here]

The success of South Africa (SA) in the 5-match one-day series against Australia along with its resplendent accomplishments in the preceding 3-Test series is a testament to the effectiveness of the overall structure of the country’s cricketing establishment.

Ananth Venkatesh
Contests between South Africa (SA) and Australia in cricket have historically been colossally competitive, considering that these two nations are proud of their sporting culture. The ongoing three-Test and five-match ODI series of Australia against SA promises to be exhilarating and delightful for the purist cricket lover.

With 20-20 menacing the two conventional formats of the game, Tests and One Day Internationals (ODI), the confrontation between the two Southern hemisphere rivals is surely going to thrill cricket connoisseurs worldwide.

Notwithstanding the unsurprising ascendancy of India in Tests and ODIs lately, the rivalry of ‘Safs’ and ‘Kangaroos’ has traditionally satiated the appetite of authentic cricket fanatics in the globe.

Ananth Venkatesh

Terrorism, a poison that has historically maimed a plenteous number of blameless Indians, rocked India once more for nearly 3 days. Mumbai’s Taj Hotel, a legendary symbol of architectural splendour, was targeted by Islamic bigots. The Oberoi-Trident was also brutalised by the bloody insaneness of the terrorists. Mumbai, familiar with such bigotry, had to endure the chilling ramifications of another intelligence blunder and the ineptitude of the law-enforcement machinery.

Ananth Venkatesh

Terrorism has scourged India uncontrollably ever since the inception of anti-national militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in the late 1980s. The ineffectual rejoinder of the Indian polity to terrorism has intensified the misery of the victims here. The ineffectual response stems from:

* The inability to arrive at a feasible consensus on the issue of anti-terror laws
* The incapacity to steadfastly enact appropriately harsh laws against terrorism.

Terrorism, abetted by the brazenly divisive communalism of some political outfits such as the Congress, the Left front, etc, has become such a common phenomenon in India that people have accepted it to be an immanent constituent of their lives.

Ananth Venkatesh
The protests in J & K over the issue of the revocation of the command of the state Government to transfer 100 acres of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board has brought to the fore the unpleasant divisiveness hidden underneath the superficially secular fabric of the state.

Ananth Venkatesh
My voyage to Kerala and Tamil Nadu was an exemplary one. Jet Airways and Jet Life ensured that. The people there, in whose bungalows I was lodged, along with my paternal relatives, were sufficiently jocund. Palakkad is a Tamil-majority city. That was a revelation, much to my surprise. I had data on the age-old presence of Tamils in Palakkad. But I always felt that Tamils constituted a significantly scanty minority community in Kerala. Nonetheless, the presence of the Tamils was omnipresent.

Ananth Venkatesh
India must quickly establish cordial relations with the dominant force now in the Nepalese polity i.e. Maoists. The gruesome comrades of the Nepalese Maoists in India could learn many lessons from them, with the principal one being unswerving allegiance to peaceful politics.

The ideological closeness of the Nepali Maoists with that of the Chinese might provide some serious obstacles to the Indo-Nepalese alliance in the future.

Despite her loss, Hillary Clinton’s candidature was significant.
Ananth Venkatesh calls it “a measure of the matureness of American democracy and its steady evolution”.

He states clearly the reasons for which American women were suppressed and prevented from the democratic freedom enjoyed by men.