Santosh Desai

Much has been said about the question of the right to free expression in the wake of the Taslima Nasreen and Rushdie affairs as well as instances of other perceived acts of offensiveness including those allegedly committed by Jay Leno and Jeremy Clarkson. Arguments on both sides have been made, with opinions being divided on… Read more »

Bonfires are never sad. They crackle, blaze, shimmer, simper and flare; they snap, chortle, wheeze, hum and haw. They are inexorable magnets that draw us to them and to other people. We huddle around a fire, we bask in its heat as we do in the warmth of fellow baskers. Bonfires create circles where there… Read more »

What if there are riots and lives of some innocent people are lost? Would Salman Rushdie’s visit to the country still have been worth it? Does a symbolic defence of an abstract principle warrant such an outcome, whatever its likelihood? This is the argument used in this case and in several others in the past…. Read more »

As the Lokpal temperatures cool for the time being, it might be a good time to think about the idea of transparency and the role of a systemic mechanism to bring about change. It is clear that corruption in its institutional form has penetrated deep inside the most cherished institutions of democracy and has indeed… Read more »

In the battle between a weak yes uttered by a majority and a strong no asserted by a small group, it seems as if the latter always prevails. Over the last few months we have seen the truth behind this statement several times in the parliament and outside. The Centre cobbles together a plan for… Read more »