Aakar Patel
Read biographyAakar Patel is a writer and columnist. He is a former newspaper editor, having worked with the Bhaskar Group and Mid Day Multimedia Ltd.
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Why India doesn’t need to change its rape law
India's cabinet approved the death penalty for rapists, it was reported on Saturday. Does India have a rape problem? No, it doesn't. This is according to a report in the Indian Express on December 9, 2008 ('It's official: India 3rd worst offender in rape cases'). The person filing the report didn't understand #Delhi gangrape case #InMyOpinion #Justice Verma Committee Report
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From pillow to pistol: Manto on the meaning of ‘deterrence’
Saadat Hasan Manto lived through World War II and his most productive writing years in India were 1939-1945. This was the period where nations had converted industrial factories into armaments producing units and the world was awash with weapons. The theory of deterrence also came to be used, though this #Manto'sMusings #Saadat Hasan Manto #World War II
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The SRK example: Why Indian Muslims can’t criticise India
In India, the Muslim lives on sufferance. It is the Hindu who has the freedom to attack India and its culture, its vulgarity. The Muslim who objects to something, no matter how obvious and visible, must qualify his argument. Usually the qualification demanded is that he show himself as patriotic. In India, #India #Indian Muslims #Pakistan #Shah Rukh Khan #ThatsJustWrong
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Why Narendra Modi won’t be BJP’s PM candidate in 2014
Narendra Modi is not going to offer himself as BJP candidate for Prime Minister in next year's election. This will disappoint those who see him as able to transform India. But he is hardly the sort of man who does things because others want him to. This isn't to say that he #BJP #ConnectTheDots #Gujarat #Lok Sabha elections #Narendra Modi #Prime Minister
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Manto on his fifth trial for obscenity and his illness
This is the second essay Manto wrote on his fifth trial for obscenity. It was the last time the state would harass him, and he would die soon after the trial. The piece was published in Naqoosh magazine's issue of March 1956, after Manto was dead. Paanchvan muqaddama (2), by Saadat #Manto's Musings #Saadat Hasan Manto
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Qadri exposes the utopian idea of Pakistan
We should see the demand by Tahirul Qadri to have more moral politicians in Pakistan as part of a sequence. The charismatic religious scholar wants leaders to pass the test of article 62 of the constitution. It requires of a legislator that: "(d) he is of good character and is not commonly #Asif Ali Zardari #Benazir Bhutto #InMyOpinion #Pakistan #Tahir-ul-Qadri
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The frivolities of justice: Manto on the court of law
Courts in British India functioned better than they do now. For us that time is distant, but for Manto, the British leaving immediately brought trouble. Now, in newly formed Pakistan, the laws became more moral and the tolerance of the state declined. Manto was tried several times for obscenity in British #Manto'sMusings #Saadat Hasan Manto
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Pakistan continues its 65-year-old record of forcing out PMs
Editors Note: This blog post was originally published on 24 June 2011, when then Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani was forced out of his post. With the Pakistan Supreme Court ordering the arrest of current Premier Raja Parvez Ashraf, we have decided to republish it, as it portrays how this trend of #Benazir Bhutto #HowThisWorks #Nawaz Sharif #Pakistan #Pervez Musharraf #Yousaf Raza Gillani #Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
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Srinagar’s Urdu media: Published in India, Obsessed with Pakistan
Kashmir in the winter is packed with tourists. More than 1.5 million visited last year, a record. But have things really changed there? Here's a look at the status through Kashmir's Urdu newspapers. There are over 20 Urdu dailies published from Srinagar, which is more than in the rest of India #CriticalPoint #India #Kashmir #Line of Control #Pakistan #Srinagar
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Manto on the violence that trailed Quit India Movement
As we saw last week, Manto was probably the best observer of communal violence in Bombay. It is remarkable that his writing of this period has not been translated till now, 70 years after it was written. In this piece, he writes of the mayhem that came to the city during #Bombay #communal riots #Manto'sMusings #Quit India Movement