menu_open Columnists

The Statesman

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Salt March and the birth of mass disobedience

Salt March and the birth of mass disobedience

In the early morning of 6 April 1930, on the quiet shores of the Arabian Sea at Dandi in Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi bent down, picked up a handful of...

latest 10

The Statesman

Rajdeep Pathak

Religion is One

Religion is One

“ The world is in the chains of superstition,” said Swami Vivekananda in 1896. He had also said then, “Religions of the world have become...

latest 10

The Statesman

Swami Sandarshanananda

Strangers Within

Strangers Within

India likes to celebrate its diversity, but the everyday experience of many citizens from the Northeast tells a more uncomfortable story. In cities...

latest 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Tariff Leverage

Tariff Leverage

The return of aggressive tariff politics in Washington signals that global trade is once again entering a period of uncertainty. The decision by the...

latest 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Dignity’s Edge

Dignity’s Edge

When the Supreme Court allowed doctors to withdraw life-sustaining treatment for Harish Rana, a man who had remained in a vegetative state since a...

yesterday 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

India and Israel

India and Israel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Israel (25-26 February, 2026) generated a lot of hair-splitting discussions among our foreign policy...

yesterday 10

The Statesman

Jayita Mukhopadhyay

Security Questions

Security Questions

The attempted shooting of Dr Farooq Abdullah at a wedding reception in Jammu is more than a shocking moment of personal danger for an elderly...

yesterday 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Can moral storytelling trump legal reason?

Can moral storytelling trump legal reason?

Since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran, most international law experts appear to be speaking with one voice on the...

yesterday 10

The Statesman

Tamer morris

Mamata Banerjee announces formation of 5 cultural & development boards for ST, OBC, SC communities

Mamata Banerjee announces formation of 5 cultural & development boards for ST, OBC, SC communities

West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, on Friday announced the constitution of five new cultural & development boards for Scheduled Tribe...

previous day 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

The paradox of experience

The paradox of experience

The architectural integrity of any higher education system rests upon the stability of its teaching workforce. In recent years, a growing trend has...

previous day 10

The Statesman

Bhaskar nath biswal

Strategic rejig

Strategic rejig

India’s defence procurement strategy is undergoing a quiet but consequential transformation. For decades after independence, New Delhi’s military...

previous day 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Oil War

Oil War

The expanding conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States has already demonstrated a harsh reality about modern warfare: the most immediate...

previous day 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Forward bases may become America’s Achilles’ heel

Forward bases may become America’s Achilles’ heel

Recent Iranian retaliatory actions targeting U. S. military installations in the Middle East have raised a critical question – whether US military...

previous day 10

The Statesman

Neha kumar

New Benchmarks

New Benchmarks

Reliable macroeconomic statistics are fundamental to economic governance. Last year, the IMF, even while revising India’s GDP growth projections...

friday 2

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Kitchen Security

Kitchen Security

War in West Asia rarely feels distant in India’s kitchens. When tensions rise around the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, the consequences...

friday 3

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Strategic Windfall

Strategic Windfall

Wars rarely produce clear winners, but they almost always produce opportunists. The escalating confrontation involving the United States, Israel and...

friday 2

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Global framework is the need to end all wars

Global framework is the need to end all wars

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union once kindled hopes for a more peaceful world. Those hopes were brutally tested by the...

friday 5

The Statesman

A K Merchant

De-escalation is the only path to economic stability

De-escalation is the only path to economic stability

The US-Iran war has brought back memories of the past gigantic oil shocks of the 1970s and the Gulf War era. The most visible indicator is a sharp...

12.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Abhijit Mukhopadhyay

March to Dandi: The Salt Protest That Shook an Empire

March to Dandi: The Salt Protest That Shook an Empire

On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi stepped out of Sabarmati Ashram with a small group of followers and a simple but radical plan: to challenge British...

12.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Shahid k abbas

Nation-making and women

Nation-making and women

In today’s turbulent time and age, when women across our world are responsibly discharging their duties as Presidents and Heads of State,...

12.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Raju mansukhani

Dynasty Question

Dynasty Question

The death of Iran’s long-time supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli air strikes aimed at crippling the country’s leadership, has triggered one...

12.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Nepal’s Youthquake

Nepal’s Youthquake

The electoral surge of Balendra Shah, the rapperturned-mayor now poised to become Nepal’s youngest Prime Minister, represents more than an...

12.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Bold governance but unenforceable intent

Bold governance but unenforceable intent

When Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rose to present the state budget on 6 March 2026, few expected a digital governance milestone to emerge...

12.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Pravin Kaushal

Unintended consequences of regulation

Unintended consequences of regulation

A three-hour deadline can reshape the internet. Under India’s new AI r ules, platforms must remove flagged content almost immediately or risk losing...

12.03.2026 9

The Statesman

Shrey madaan

The wily Chinese

The wily Chinese

The Chinese famously play the long game. The high priest of realpolitik, Henry Kissinger, coldly noted, “China’s leaders avoid direct...

11.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Bhopinder Singh

Daughter’s Return

Daughter’s Return

In India, marriage has long been treated as a one-way journey for women. Once a daughter leaves her parents’ home in a wedding procession, social...

11.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Naval Ripples

Naval Ripples

The torpedoing of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean is a stark reminder that distant wars rarely remain distant for India. When a US...

11.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

A syllabus and the pedagogy of trust

A syllabus and the pedagogy of trust

School is not merely a site that produces future doctors, engineers, or professors. The making of future citizens also begins at schools. Young minds...

11.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Angshuman kar

Will Iran’s new leader bring any change?

Will Iran’s new leader bring any change?

The death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, during the holy month of Ramadan marks one of the most consequential turning points in the history...

11.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Mehmet ozalp

Ending Child Marriage: The Power of Collective Action

Ending Child Marriage: The Power of Collective Action

A powerful shift is underway in the global understanding of child marriage. What was long treated as a social or cultural issue is now increasingly...

10.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Paroma Bhattacharya

Women bear heaviest consequences of war, but largely excluded from peace negotiations

Women bear heaviest consequences of war, but largely excluded from peace negotiations

As International Women’s Day (IWD) was celebrated on March 8, the global landscape remains a stark reminder that for millions of women’s equality...

10.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Rajdeep Pathak

Pakistan in a fix

Pakistan in a fix

Pakistan has only itself to blame for its current imbroglio. While the world was aware of the intent of the US and Israel over Iran and braced for...

10.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Harsha Kakar

Women pay the price of war

Women pay the price of war

As we celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March, the global landscape remains a stark reminder that for millions of women ‘equality’...

10.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Rajdeep Pathak

Leadership Gender Gap

Leadership Gender Gap

International Women’s Day 2026, under the theme, “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”, calls for action to dismantle all barriers...

10.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Srinivas madhav

India’s New Order

India’s New Order

India’s emphatic triumph in the latest men’s T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad is more than another trophy in an already crowded cabinet. It...

10.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Gulf Exposure

Gulf Exposure

Wars in West Asia rarely remain distant events for India. The ongoing confrontation involving Iran, Israel and the United States is a reminder that...

10.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Forged Authority

Forged Authority

When Sundararaman Ramamurthy, chief executive of the Bombay Stock Exchange, found himself apparently dispensing stock tips in a slick online video,...

09.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

India and China must choose cooperation

India and China must choose cooperation

In a century defined by rapid technological change, planetary crises, and shifting global power, the most consequential decisions nations make are...

09.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Abhik Roy

Rot in Education

Rot in Education

It would be difficult to decide which was the greater tragedy ~ fiasco at the AI Summit, or admission of students with negative marks in post-graduate...

09.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Devendra Saksena

Slow Pivot

Slow Pivot

When China’s leadership gathers in Beijing for the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress, the numbers announced are usually meant to...

09.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Public Jabs and Missing Signal: Congress High Command Lets Karnataka Drift

Public Jabs and Missing Signal: Congress High Command Lets Karnataka Drift

“Nero fiddled while Rome burned”. This ancient Roman saying perfectly fits the Congress high command when it comes to dealing with the deepening...

08.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Tehseen Poonawalla

Kaziranga Model

Kaziranga Model

In conservation, success stories are rare enough that they often sound improbable. Yet in Assam, the recovery of the greater one-horned rhinoceros at...

08.03.2026 20

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

War Powers

War Powers

When the United States enters another West Asia conflict, an old constitutional question returns: who decides when America goes to war? The latest...

08.03.2026 20

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

India’s lessons for a gender discourse

India’s lessons for a gender discourse

The United Nations’ theme for International Women’s Day 2026 – “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls” is a call to dismantle...

08.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Shehzad poonawala and vijeta rattani

Destruction can never be a strategy

Destruction can never be a strategy

Shortly after the opening salvo of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on 28 February 2026 – with missiles targeting cities across the country, some of...

08.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Farah n jan

Give to Gain: The Women Rebuilding Junglemahal

Give to Gain: The Women Rebuilding Junglemahal

In the red-soil villages and forest fringes of Junglemahal, dawn arrives long before the sun touches the sal and mahua trees. Women step out into the...

08.03.2026 20

The Statesman

Biswabrata goswami

Her Words, Our Worlds

Her Words, Our Worlds

Every year, the world pauses to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women on International Women’s Day (IWD). It...

08.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Rudrashis datta

J & K’s triumph

J & K’s triumph

When Jammu and Kashmir lifted the Ranji Trophy this season, it was not merely a cricket result; it was a quiet rewriting of a national narrative. For...

07.03.2026 20

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

Alliance arithmetic

Alliance arithmetic

When Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar announced his decision to seek election to the Rajya Sabha, it signalled more than the personal transition of a...

07.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Statesman News Service

The ‘Patil Effect’ in an age of thinking machines

The ‘Patil Effect’ in an age of thinking machines

When Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver proposed their famous communication model in 1948, they could hardly have imagined that one day machines would...

07.03.2026 10

The Statesman

Santhosh Mathew