Page 7 - Shekhar Gupta

Cup, country, club

Club sport and professionalism have softened hard nationalism. It began with football and is playing out in cricket - the ongoing World Cup is proof

Israel & limits of military power

The last eight decades following WW-II and Israel's experience show that relying on military power, however formidable, is an ineffective approach to achieving a larger political, strategic objective

No passion, no partisans, no sport

It's not a good idea to bring religion into the game, but all competitive sport is about passion. To expect a crowd not to be partisan when India and Pakistan play on each other's turfs is a fantasy

Beyond the war in Gaza

Netanyahu persisting with his sledgehammer approach where a scalpel might have worked is not wise. In the war of dead-baby pictures, the question of who's the real victim will be inevitably obfuscated

What Bihar thinks today

Kanshi Ram was a genius and a political visionary, his ideas gave India an OBC Prime Minister. But Bihar-style caste census will be a very sad offering to the rest of the country

Truce for Punjab's non-war

India must press on with its response to international questioning and criticism by Canada and allies

What do the Sikhs want?

About 95 per cent of Sikhs are proud to be Indian and there's no such thing as a Khalistan sentiment in Punjab

When INDIA gets angry

We must accept that the INDIA alliance has the right to boycott anybody it wishes. But the list of TV anchors is almost like painting a target on people's backs

Congress, Modi, Team India

The Congress' support to critical elements of the Modi govt's foreign policy through Manmohan and Rahul's comments marks significant change for the better

One nation, many elections

However one describes India, a union of states or unified federal nation, it would be tough for the Modi govt to exercise the power it has become used to if there are 18 or more states it doesn't rule

Fallacy, fantasy, Global South

For India to think of leadership of the Global South, it needs a reality check. The odds of it becoming a Chinese Bloc in the emerging new bipolar world are high

Lifting Punjab's 'Kohrra'

Punjabis know how to weather adversity. They did so after Partition, and later after the phase of terror and militancy ended in 1993. Then, the state lost its way

PM Modi reopens security debate

He has given us an opportunity to raise and explore one of the oldest questions in our national security debate: Which was the most dangerous decade in our history?

Return of the 'big' state

India's latest laptop import restrictions are a matter of concern as nothing exemplifies the failures of the pre-1991 licence-quota raj more starkly than restrictions on electronic goods imports

Run up to 2024: The BJP and INDIA seem to have skipped the semi-finals

Three factors make it a challenging election for Modi and BJP: Opposition alliance with a well-defined core, consolidation of the anti-BJP vote and a changed geopolitical situation

Confounded by Manipur

If the Congress made errors, the BJP should've given Manipur real change. Biren Singh's statements in the weeks leading up to the flare-up show the BJP persisted with the same policy of divisiveness

Clueless in Imphal

Anarchy prevails in Manipur when India has its strongest central govt since Indira Gandhi's. Not even the writ of the omnipotent BJP high command runs there, as the Biren Singh drama suggests

Phas gaye re Obama

Heads of state speak unfriendly things through proxies. Even as Modi and Biden met in the US, Obama made remarks on Indian democracy. But such interventions are short-lived excitement

The response Manipur needs

The state is caught in anarchy not seen in any part of India for decades. If a state government fails despite all the help the Centre extends, it must go

Pedigree, past & present

India's old elite networks have lost their predominance. Today, its caravan is propelled by tens of millions whom our handful of elite institutions are too small to have produced