Lazy populism once again took centre stage with the renaming of Aurangzeb Road in the capital as APJ Abdul Kalam Marg, in memory of the 83-year-old former president who died in July. However, the choice of road has been objected to by Muslim groups and politicians who claim it to be the result of an anti-Muslim political agenda.   read more

The Mumbai police have not exactly covered themselves with glory with their recent moral policing raids. First they booked several couples for alleged indecent behaviour. Following a public outcry, the police decided to order an inquiry. But the officer leading the inquiry found himself transferred out of Mumbai on a ‘punishment posting’. Then, barely 24 hours later, the state government cancelled his transfer. Does anyone in charge know what they are doing?   read more

The Maharashtra government has sparked a controversy by declaring that madrasas, or Islamic seminaries, that do not teach primary subjects such as English and mathematics would be considered "non-schools" and their students "out-of-school" children. Muslim leaders and opposition parties have criticised the move as discriminatory and unconstitutional.   read more

Since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court judgement last month that legalized same-sex marriages in that country, there has been some introspection in India about Section 377 that continues to criminalize “unnatural sex”. However, in the past few days this debate has descended into farce, with BJP leader Subramanian Swamy claiming his party’s position is that “homosexuality is a genetic disorder”.   read more

The opposition’s attempt to attack the NDA government over the growing scandal surrounding absconding cricket entrepreneur Lalit Modi seems to be a blatant attempt to embarrass Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That Modi himself has not spoken about the row is not helping matters, with his silence encouraging the vocal voices in the Congress party and AAP.   read more