Archives: Post Timelines

A year of hype sans substance

  By Vijay Darda | 15-06-2012 It would be quite apt to say that Anna Hazare has only flattered to deceive the common masses of the country. Just about a year ago when he catapulted on the national stage as the shining white knight who promised to rescue the masses from the devil of all-pervading corruption Hazare generated a lot

Criticism must be constructive

  By Vijay Darda | 20-05-2012 Media & Politicians TUG OF WAR! My book ‘Straight Thoughts’ attempts to review contemporary issues, problems and also personalities and I have put up my views without any fear or favour in articles carried in the book. I know the importance of adopting a firm stand and I have done it on several occasions

My cup of joy is half full!

  By Vijay Darda | 13-05-2012 As a parliamentarian, my heart is not exactly overflowing with joy as we celebrate 60 years of parliamentary democracy. I certainly hold my head high when I look back at the initial years of our nascent democracy when the Western world had given us very little chance of surviving even as a unified nation,

Lokpal: A remedy worse than the malady?

  By Vijay Darda | 21-12-2011 There is hardly any person who would argue that we do not need to fight corruption. No one would claim that the public services are in the pink of health, and corruption does not eat into their vitals. Truly, corruption is a malady that needs an urgent cure. But the developments of the last

Har Fikr Ko Dhuen Mein Udata Chala Gaya

  By Vijay Darda | 05-12-2011 It is said there are only seven immortal individuals. An immortal is nothing but a person near whom even the shadow of old age and death does not lurk. If you ask any Hindi cine lover, particularly one who has been tracking Indian cinema from the fourth-fifth decade of the last century, s/he will

Why talk of referendum in Kashmir now?

  By Vijay Darda | 16-10-2011 No right thinking person will ever support the brutal physical attack on Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan in his chambers. We are a free democratic country, and freedom of expression is a fundamental right. So, quite rightly the attack has been condemned by all political parties, and it is rightly seen as an expression

Why oppose a Communal Violence Bill?

  By Vijay Darda | 11-10-2011 After the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi went on a three-day sadhbhavna fast for the ostensible purpose of demonstrating his goodwill towards the minority community, we can safely say that at least as a matter of public policy there is no politician who wants to preach any discriminatory treatment towards people based on religion.

Let us not forget what our founding fathers told us

  By Vijay Darda | 25-09-2011 Recently, two issues fired the imagination of our society in an unprecedented manner. As Anna Hazare’s agitation got its agenda, setting 24×7 live coverage from television channels, these issues reached our drawing rooms, and then captured our daily discourse. The first issue was of course corruption, and the second was the functioning of our

A less sensational CAG would be better

  By Vijay Darda | 18-09-2011 In the post-Anna Hazare anti-corruption agitation phase, there is an increased public sensitivity on all these issues. So, the normal parliamentary processes are also being short-circuited, and there is a public hue and cry even when there is a whiff of a scandal. All of us know that there is a set procedure about

Now it’s time to say three cheers for Anna

  By Vijay Darda | 05-09-2011 I am tempted to call it the biggest victory for our democracy. But then one should be cautious while using superlatives in the context of history. Yet, I feel confident in asserting that both the Gandhian crusader Anna Hazare and Parliament demonstrated extraordinary courage and understanding to bring a historic celebratory end to an