Amritsar Calling: The expletive repository of the nation
The folks in Amritsar are accustomed to a more colourful rendition of the mother tongue, way more deep-rooted to the expletive traditions than we refugees. My father once told me that the most derogatory term in Kabul was Pisreh khanzeerast. Thus, calling someone the son of a pig in Farsi was sacrilegious to the hilt. […]Read More
Explained: Why students from Punjab, Haryana go to Ukraine to study medicine
According to the Ministry of Education and Science in Ukraine there are over 18,095 students from India in Ukraine. Caught in the crossfire of Russia’s attack on Ukraine are countless Indian students. Stuck in Ukraine amid an escalating military crisis, several had gone there to pursue an education in medicine. Among these medical students are […]Read More
Ground Report: In Punjab’s Famous Dhabas, a ‘Khichdi’ Has People Worried
Customers and dhaba employees alike refer to the unique multi-cornered contest in the assembly polls this time as a ‘khichdi’. And many are aware that it could complicate things. Famous roadside dhabas in Punjab, which serve delicious food as well as embody its culture, have hosted heated political discussions as the state votes in a crucial assembly […]Read More
February 11, 1982, Forty Years Ago: Assam Talks Fail
After a four and a half hour marathon meeting of official sources and the movement leaders reported the virtual failure of their renewed efforts to evolve an acceptable principle for the detection of foreign nationals. The second round of tripartite talks on the future of foreigners in Assam ended in a deadlock. After a four-and-a-half-hour […]Read More
Punjab elections: Poll affidavits reveal how assets of Congress ministers swelled in 5 years
MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who represents Gidderbaha and became state’s Transport Minister after CM Charanjit Singh Channi took over, leads the list of ministers for registering maximum increase in his assets. The assets of majority of ministers who served in Punjab’s incumbent Congress government registered a significant increase over five years after they were […]Read More
Modi’s Aim Isn’t to Pay Tribute to Netaji and the INA But to Put Mahatma Gandhi in His Place
The central figure of the national movement was the man assassinated on January 30, 1948 precisely because he was the central figure. It was the first act in a brazen conspiracy to appropriate the freedom movement by forces who played no part in it. We are seeing the second and third acts now. There is […]Read More
Jobs, Crime & Economy: How Did Congress Perform in Punjab in Last 5 Years?
Find out how the current Congress government in Punjab did as compared to the previous BJP-SAD government. The current Congress government in Punjab, first under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh and then Charanjit Singh Channi, made several promises in its election campaign including ensuring one job per family, loan waivers and ending drug trade. The breadbasket of the […]Read More
Freedom on the Waves: The Story of the 1946 Indian Naval Mutiny
‘For the first time the blood of men in the Services and in the streets flowed together in a common cause’. The Royal Indian Navy’s mutiny will now be commemorated in a Republic Day tableau. Note: This article was originally published on February 18, 2016 and is being republished on January 24, 2022, in light […]Read More
December 7, 1981, Forty Years Ago: Ahmedabad fire
At least 60 persons were burnt to death in a blaze that gutted a jute and wooden replica of the Himalayas set up for a religious exhibition outside the Neelkantha Mahadev temple in the labour suburb of Asarwa. At least 60 persons were burnt to death in a blaze that gutted a jute and wooden […]Read More
From the Archives (December 7, 1921): Asphyxiation of prisoners
Mahatma Gandhi writes in the current number of “Young India” thus: My letter to the Liberals speaks for itself. In it, I have not touched upon unapproved or one-sided accounts of the happenings in Malabar. But I have before me correspondence which mentions inhumanities before which the Punjab ones dwindle into insignificance. The asphyxiation of […]Read More
