Author: Gyanendra Pandey
Three English words — tryst, destiny and stars — are curiously bound to two defining moments in modern India. One belongs to the midnight of freedom; the other to a high-altitude military confrontation more than seven decades later. The first is “Tryst with Destiny”, the immortal address delivered by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to the Constituent Assembly on the night of 14-15 August 1947. Spoken in the Central Hall of Parliament as the Union Jack was lowered and the tricolour hoisted, the speech marked the formal end of nearly two centuries of British rule. It was not merely…
For more than a decade, the growing assertiveness of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has drawn attention far beyond India’s borders. That scrutiny intensified after The New York Times published a detailed investigation in its December 29, 2025, edition, titled From the Shadows to Power: How Hindu Nationalism Remade India. The report, which traces the organisational, ideological and political expansion of the Sangh ecosystem, has since triggered sustained debate both internationally and within India. The report argues that the political rise of Narendra Modi has coincided with, and significantly accelerated, the institutional penetration of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Its influence…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent proclamations hailing the reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates as a monumental success of his government are a masterclass in political manoeuvring. It is an attempt to sell a mirage to the public, hoping they have forgotten the scorching desert of compliance burdens and relentless tax extraction that citizens have endured for the better part of a decade. To celebrate a slight easing of the burden after years of applying a fiscal vice is not a sign of success; it is an admission of a prolonged failure that has crippled ordinary Indians. For…
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) celebrates its centenary in 2025, a hundred years since Hindutvawadi former Congress member K B Hedgewar founded the organisation in Nagpur on September 25, 1925. Marking the occasion, Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat convened a three-day dialogue at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan, bringing together Sangh workers, office-bearers and on the final day, members of the media. The event drew attention for two reasons: both Bhagwat and Prime Minister Narendra Modi turn 75 this year—an age associated in the BJP’s politics with retirement—and the RSS, traditionally a highly private body, hosted a rare public dialogue. That the RSS chose…
