Best of BS Opinion: The culture of the beard, India's arbitrariness & more

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for Saturday

Whether as prison under-trials, in tax cases or for stockmarket penalties, Indian citizens are treated with arbitrary and counter-productive zeal by different arms of the state. But as the Cairn, Vodafone and Devas debacles show, when the state behaves in the same manner with external players, it gets a push-back that it does not usually experience domestically. In India, the state pays no penalty for harassing its citizens. Internationally, once the verdict has gone against it, the state has to accept the consequences of its actions, writes T N Ninan, pointing out that these setbacks should persuade the state to behave differently. Read it here

In other views:

Aditi Phadnis analyses whether the launch of yet another party by Sharmila, the daughter of undivided Andhra Pradesh, the late YS Rajashekhar Reddy, will make a difference to the complex politics of Telangana. Read it here

My column discusses the hidden racism in the institutions of European football

Sandeep Goyal examines the culture of the beard and its significance in these WFH times. Read it here

Shekhar Gupta says mocking new health minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s English underlines the political elitism Modi’s India has rejected.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The traditional barriers of religion, community and caste are slowly dissipating”

Delhi High Court on the uniform civil code