A train, the Jaffar Express, travelling from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in
Pakistan, was hijacked on 11th March 2025, along with 400 passengers, near the Bolan pass, leaving 6 security personnel dead.
The Balochistan Liberation army has claimed responsibility.
The great Hindu festival of Holi, known as the festival of colors, is falling shortly, on 14th March. It will be celebrated with great gaiety, fervor, and enthusiasm in large parts of India, particularly by the youth.
But it is in the region called Braj, which is the region around the city of Mathura in UP, that it is celebrated with particular revelry, festivity, carousal, liveliness and exhilaration.
This is the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan (called Ramzan in the Indian subcontinent), which began on 28th February 2025, and will end on 29th or 30th March (depending on the visibility of the moon).
During this month practising Muslims fast from the time of ‘sehri’ in the early morning, to the time of ‘iftaar’ in the night. In this
period they neither eat nor drink anything, and spend a lot of time in prayers.
I know this article will upset many Hindi protagonists, but that does not matter. I am not a popularity or publicity seeker (whatever some people may think), and I often say things which make me very unpopular. I say things which I believe to be true, whether that pleases people or hurt them.
The truth is that Hindi is not the common man’s language in India, not even in the so called Hindi-speaking belt. The common man’s language is Hindustani (also called khadiboli).
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in a recent vitriolic outburst and fulmination has lashed out against the three-language formula in the National Education Policy, 2020, calling it Hindi colonialism.
We are all Indians, but do we know what is India? I am presenting five points for consideration.
(i) India is broadly a country of immigrants, like North America. About 93-94% people living in India are not the original inhabitants of India. Their ancestors came from outside, mainly from the North West.
Many views have been expressed about U.S. President Trump’s recent meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky, in which he rebuked and lambasted the latter.
By Justice Markandey Katju- (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.) These days, the rage and infatuation all over the world is about AI (Artificial Intelligence). Many people claim it is a revolution, and are rhapsodizing and […]
I was always a great admirer of the Afghan people, and have written several articles about them.
I can hardly think of any people who have suffered so much in history as the Afghans. They were invaded by some of the greatest powers on earth–Alexander the Great, the British, the Russians, and the Americans, but never surrendered to anyone.
Staying presently in California, I came across an old song released in 1977 called ‘Hotel California’, which was a great hit at one time, and moved me.
In 1947, India gained independence, and in 1949, China successfully completed its revolution (which had started 25 years earlier).
At that time, both countries were terribly poor and largely feudal, with the vast majority of their people poor peasants. In fact, at that time, India was somewhat better off than China economically.
Many Pakistanis are raving and waxing lyrical over statements by 2 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Joe Wilson and Rashida Tlaib, calling for release from jail of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been incarcerated in Adiala jail since August 2023.
There are 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives (and 100 members of the U.S. Senate). So, statements of one Congressman and one Congresswoman are hardly relevant.
By Justice Markandey Katju- (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.) I have supported Imran Khan in several articles I have written, as I believe he is a far lesser evil than the fascist Pakistan army which […]
There was a time when Arvind Kejriwal was looked upon as the solution to all of India’s problems, the miracle man who will end corruption in public life and give the people good lives
Kejriwal, who was a former Income Tax official, came to power as Delhi’s Chief Minister by riding piggy back on the shoulder of Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption.
Many people have asked me which sher (couplet) I regard as the greatest in Urdu poetry.
There are many great shers by great poets like Mir, Ghalib, Momin, Faiz, Josh, Sahir, Majrooh, and others. However, when asked for my opinion, I invariably refer to this sher by Firaq Gorakhpuri:
The national aim of the Indian people must be to transform India into a modern industrial giant, like USA or China, for only then can we abolish our massive poverty, massive unemployment, appalling level of child malnutrition (every second child in India is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index, and the situation has become worse in recent years), skyrocketing prices of food, fuel, etc, almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, etc.
To make this transformation and establish a political and social order in which the standard of living of our people is steadily and rapidly rising, and they start enjoying decent lives, will require a Long March i.e. a mighty united, protracted people’s struggle, led by patriotic, selfless, modern minded leaders, stretching over several years, maybe even a couple of decades, with many twists and turns, in which tremendous sacrifices will have to be made.
Despite all attempts by the ruling party for the last 10 years at polarizing Indian society on religious lines to get Hindu votes, despite demonizing Muslims as terrorists and anti-nationals, despite lynching many Muslims, despite bulldozing their houses, despite beating them up for not saying Jai Shri Ram, despite throwing many in jail for many years on fabricated and frivolous charges ( e.g. Umar Khalid ), what has been the reaction of Muslims?
I am presently in California, and have been in America and Canada several times. I would like to mention some differences between America and India.
A friend of mine who has lived in America since 1985, recently sent me this message.
Suleh-e-kul, or equal respect and toleration of all religions and communities, was the doctrine proclaimed by the great Mughal Emperor Akbar ( 1542-1605 ), whom I regard as the real father of the Indian nation.
By Justice Markandey Katju- (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.) Man has two basic attributes, reason and emotion. While the French thinker Voltaire (1694-1778) emphasized on reason, the French political philosopher Rousseau (1712-1778) said that overemphasis […]
Justice R Balasubramanian, whose 80th birthday is being celebrated, was my friend and senior colleague in the Madras High Court, where I was Chief Justice in 2004-2005.
Justice Balasubramanian was very erudite, having vast legal knowledge, and had a very high reputation for his integrity. Since I had been a Judge of the Allahabad High Court before my appointment as Chief Justice of Madras High Court, I was totally unfamiliar with the latter High Court. Hence I often consulted him in matters relating to the Madras High Court, and he always gave me good advice and guidance, without which I could not have discharged my duties as Chief Justice properly.
A tweet by someone has become viral in India. “Bengaluru (Bangalore) is closed for North Indians and people of neighboring states who do not wish to learn Kannada. They don’t need Bengaluru when they can’t respect our language and culture,” it read.
Now closing Bengaluru to North Indians or people from other states would be unconstitutional, being violative of Article 19(1)(d) of the Indian Constitution, which says, “All citizens have the right to move freely throughout the territory of India.”
Many people, particularly the Indian political leaders, and their adulatory acolytes, hirelings speak in glowing terms of the Indian economy, and boast that it is the fastest growing economy in the world, and in a few years time India will have the second largest economy in the world, surpassing China.
By Justice Markandey Katju- (Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.) I was motivated to write this article on reading this link. A University is an institution of higher learning, in which knowledge is not just transmitted […]
Indians settled in USA and other Western countries (NRIs) are doing much better financially than people originally from those countries.
As mentioned there, while an average American earns $65,000 per year, a white American $66,000 per year, and a Chinese American $85,000 per year, an average Indian living in America earns $120,000 to $125,000 per year.
