Best of BS Opinion: How diplomacy and culture stumble only to rise again

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

All of us have come across the pictures of savagery during the slavery era: images of men and women bent like a spine trained by years of servitude, never to stand upright again. Those frames are not just relics of the past. They echo in today’s world, where people still bend under the weight of politics, markets, and technology. Walking through a crowded metro station recently, we all notice commuters stooping under their bags, their bodies curved like punctuation marks which become subtle reminders that freedom too can inherit the posture of bondage. Let’s dive in. 

The US Federal Reserve’s 25 basis point cut to 4-4.25 per cent carried that same uneasy bend. The move, expected by markets, was shadowed by dissent from newly confirmed governor Stephen Miran and amplified by President Trump’s pressure on Jerome Powell and attempt to oust Lisa Cook. As the Fed flagged more cuts ahead, global capital may flow more easily to India, notes our first editorial. But the undertone is unmistakable: independence, like a straightened spine, must be defended before it is permanently lost. 

 

Meanwhile, at the United Nations General Assembly, 142 members voted for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Yet, as the resolution gained traction, Israel’s Gaza assault and West Bank expansion pressed on, shielded by US backing. Even after an Israeli strike on Doha, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood with Benjamin Netanyahu. France, Canada and others may move toward recognising Palestine, but Washington’s grip on arms and energy keeps both allies and rivals bowed in dependence, unable to straighten into autonomy. Read our second editorial for more. 

And as K P Krishnan observes, democracies thrive only when “guardian institutions” resist such bending. India’s regulators, from RBI to SEBI, are designed to stand firm against political overreach, their legitimacy drawn from their ability to say no. Their credibility rests on operating at arm’s length from politics, for once credibility bends, public trust collapses. Strengthening legal protections, tribunal oversight and academic scrutiny is not optional but essential if democracy is to hold its spine. 

Much like how Vinayak Chatterjee reminds us of what standing tall might look like. High-speed rail, scaled beyond the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, could stitch new geographies, generate jobs and lift GDP by trillions. Like highways once did, HSR could redefine India’s posture, no longer hunched over crowded tracks, but upright, moving at speed into a new era. 

And in Saurabh Sharma’s review of Ishita Tiwary’s Video Culture in India: The Analog Era, we see how video changed how the nation carried itself. From marriage tapes inspired by Hum Aapke Hain Koun to Newstrack’s new grammar of “liveness,” video gave Indians a fresh stage. It bent ideas of family, intimacy and even spirituality, but also showed how media could straighten, by challenging monopoly and reshaping culture.  

Stay tuned!