Inclusiveness loses its meaning when it becomes a badge of superiority and other faiths are reduced to stereotypes. A nation cannot have a hierarchy of belonging, least of all when it emerges from the
Fr. Gaurav Nair
A constitutional court can regulate religious organisations without ranking religions or deciding which traditions qualify as culture. When it does otherwise, it is blatantly supporting the Hindutva a
A fundamental distinction must be maintained between carefully examining a case's facts and rejecting an institution's application on that basis, and making sweeping generalisations about an entire re
Adv. Rev. Dr George Thekkekara
Vismaya's public dissent, Riya's demand for justice, and Yashaswinee's defiance of political inheritance are a growing sign that young women are refusing to remain silent spectators. Their courage in
A. J. Philip
The book "Politics, Policy and Predictions: Views from the Front Row of Parliament" by Derek O'Brien, Rajya Sabha MP and leader of the All India Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party, throws light on
As Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi waves the national Tricolour from atop police barricades, and Union Cabinet ministers celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dubious silver jubilee—13 years
John Dayal
Gandhi need not return as another Mahatma. He can live through a generation that resists hatred without hatred, confronts injustice without violence, challenges consumerism, defends the marginalised a
Jacob Peenikaparambil
Formation is not merely about producing priests and religious who follow rules, recite the Creed and wear habits. It is about nurturing conviction, maturity and integrity.
What exactly are we celebrating when our festivities leave children gasping, elders struggling to breathe, animals terrified, and the air poisoned? Culture evolves with human understanding. The real t
P. A. Chacko
The press is the voice of the people. It carries the complaint of the pensioner, the cry of the assaulted woman, the anger of the unemployed graduate and the question the powerful would prefer nobody
Robert Clements
Corrective press notes are not substitutes for accountability. This crisis demands independent investigation, judicial scrutiny and reversal of the SIR. Institutional complicity is the gravest betraya
The revelations have shattered public confidence in the Election Commission. Gyanesh Kumar's continuance as Chief Election Commissioner is untenable. Whether through resignation or impeachment, he mus
Cedric Prakash
It was never the powerful, privileged or educated who kept Indian democracy alive, but the poor who queued under the scorching sun to exercise their franchise. Now, the very machinery entrusted with p
A. J. Philip
The Opposition has a historic opportunity to unite against the erosion of electoral integrity and defend citizens' fundamental right to vote. Delayed response, political fragmentation and narrow inter
Jacob Peenikaparambil
India's institutions were supposed to be built on merit, independence and constitutional accountability. Yet, beneath their lofty credentials, kinship networks quietly reproduce privilege, compromise
John Dayal
Article 342 of the Constitution of India empowers the President to officially specify indigenous tribes, tribal communities, or specific groups within them as "Scheduled Tribes," in consultation with
Pachu Menon
I have seen the professional anti-caste intellectual. S/He arrives. S/He speaks. S/He refers to Ambedkar. S/He cites John Rawls. S/He quotes Michael Foucault.
Before recording a crime, obtain written consent from everyone involved
Robert Clements
How can greater knowledge be accompanied by greater wisdom, greater prosperity by greater solidarity, greater power by greater responsibility, and greater connectivity by genuine human fraternity?
"Deus meus et omnia" ("My God and my All!") was St. Francis of Assisi's favourite prayer. According to early Franciscan accounts, most notably recorded by Brother Bernard of Quintavalle, Francis's fir
St Francis shows that peace begins by freeing ourselves from the urge to possess, control and dominate. His poverty, humility and fraternity offer another way of exercising power: not over others, but
Assisi is more than a pilgrimage town; it is a challenge to the way we live. Eight centuries after St Francis, his poverty, simplicity and service still raise a difficult question: how much do we real
A. J. Philip
St. Francis of Assisi's life and message have much to say to a communally divided India. Dialogue across faiths, standing with the poor and marginalised, respecting diversity, and working together for
Jacob Peenikaparambil
Gandhi and St Francis remind us that renunciation and humility go hand in hand. While their understanding of celibacy and self-denial may invite disagreement, their lives of sacrifice, simplicity, ded
Chhotebhai
St Francis remains a beloved figure because his life joined simplicity, poverty, humility, compassion and love of creation with a deep devotion to God. His message of peace, brotherhood and reconcilia
P. A. Joseph
"Brother Sun has become an energy contract. Sister Water is imprisoned in plastic and sold. Mother Earth is mined, poisoned and stripped of her forests. When she responds with floods, fires and drough
Robert Clements
A diplomatic dinner is more than a meal; it is cultural diplomacy on a plate. India has every right to showcase its magnificent vegetarian cuisine, but excluding its equally rich non-vegetarian tradit
A. J. Philip
Ageing need not mean becoming a burden. With the right opportunities, senior citizens can remain productive, creative and socially engaged. Kerala's emerging Silver Economy offers the Church and civil
Jacob Peenikaparambil
Congress asked Karnataka's Christians to trust its promise to repeal the anti-conversion law. Three years later, the law remains. Repeated meetings, assurances and memoranda have only served to produc
John Dayal
Accountability is travelling from official files to the grassroots. "School Thik Karo" may be satire's latest avatar, but its questions about India's public schools are real.
Pachu Menon
India's education system is in terminal decline because of short-sightedness and corrupt, incompetent academic leadership. The public education system is practically dismantled. Ever since the Nationa
A major strength of the book is that Menamparampil does not examine these issues merely as political or theological problems. He approaches them through human relationships, collective identities, soc
I am tired of the Indian theorists MN Srinivas, Bhikku Parekh, Ashish Nandy, Akeel Bilgrami,
The voter is sovereign. The electoral roll exists for the voter. The election exists for the voter. The government ultimately derives legitimacy from the voter. When crores disappear from electoral ro
The Bible is filled with rulers who believed they could contain God. Today, their thrones are gone, their empires are history, and many of their names are remembered only because they tried to stop Hi
Robert Clements