Madhu Kishwar

Anti-rape law: Concerns that women will misuse 'draconian' law is why our legal system so murky

The petition puts forward a pretty skewed representation of the anti-rape law, by projecting the idea that rape cases are easy to win, when, in fact, rape convictions were at a five-year low last year.

Rediscovering socialism: Rahul meeting Kanhaiya is not opportunism, but a promising start

When Kanhaiya Kumar captured the nation’s imagination with his televised speech at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus after his release from police custody, it appeared to be nothing more than a storm in a tea-cup because the grounds for his arrest were silly. In the subsequent days, Kanhaiya, however, gained considerable eyeballs and heavyweight fans across the country

Don't underestimate Modi; he can marginalise RSS if he wants: Writers weigh in on the PM

You may love or hate Narendra Modi, but you can’t ignore him. It’s better not to underestimate Modi – this was the crux of the heated discussion that kept the audience at Times LitFest in Delhi on Monday glued to their seats for over an hour.

Free speech for plagiarists: Writer Rajiv Malhotra's supporters reveal hypocrisy of bhakts

Controversial writer Rajiv Malhotra has succeeded where others failed. He has reminded the Indian right wing of the virtues of free speech. Courtesy Malhotra, the book-burning cabals and poster-tearing hooligans of India are rallying around the very right whose value they once questioned. Writer-activist Madhu Kishwar is currently spearheading a campaign against, well, another campaign demanding that Malhotra's books be pulped for allegedly plagiarising the work of several western scholars.

Scrap FCRA, NGOs doing Church work with foreign funds: Experts

The statistics and facts are startling, for sure. But are they reason enough to scrap the FCRA? Yes, felt most of the participants in the conference Towards a Rational Government Policy for NGOs organized by Indic Studies Network, CSDS, at India International Centre in the national capital on Saturday.

Season of ghar wapsi: Intellectuals go back 'home' after brief Modi infatuation

As ghar wapsi rhetoric gathers steam, the PM’s silence gets louder. And the public pundits, many of whom sick and tired of the UPA sarkar, had thrown their weight behind Modi are having second thoughts. In a season of ghar wapsi, some are going back “home” after a brief Modi infatuation.

From potty mouths to lip locks on TV: The Indian woman goes all out in 2014

This is my pick of the women I felt shook up the traditional view of what the Indian woman should say, do or think.

The problem with Smriti Irani: She has proved her detractors entirely right

It's not about whether schools will be closed for Christmas or not. The way the Christmas kerfuffle unfolded shows us, yet again, the larger problem with Smriti Irani.

Mr Foreign Hand: Kailash Satyarthi now gets bashed for Nobel Peace Prize

Modi himself met with Nobel Peace awardee Kailash Satyarthi, said the entire nation was proud of his “momentous achievement.” But others were less gracious.

Women's reservation bill: Madhu Kishwar tears it apart and rightly so

Perhaps the initiatives like the alternative reservation bill suggested by Kishwar will be the first step towards a time when women will be able to make space for themselves in Indian politics, without needing quotas or being held back by political ghettos and glass ceilings.