Dheeraj Kalgutkar

Across the world, democracy is seeing a fast decline. Now one may deny, dismiss or raise unwarranted doubt over this at one’s own risk but it is an observable fact across the globe. "In Turkey and Egypt, Hungary and Poland, the Philippines and Venezuela, we are witnessing pseudo-democracies taking hold. Meanwhile, democracies that once inspired - South Africa, Brazil - are now marred by depressing stories of corruption. For the 12th consecutive year, Freedom House released its annual survey of democracy being pushed back: between 2000 and 2015, democracy broke down in 27 countries; 71 countries suffered 'net declines in civil and political liberties'", said former director of BBC news, James Harding in his Hugh Cudlipp lecture. Propaganda is fast becoming the chosen tool of politicians and what more, we are seeing that it is working, authoritarianism is on rise everywhere, people especially the young are losing their belief in institutions, citizens n

People including Modi who are saying Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his ideals would be remembered for ages to come are lying. No, they will not. For a decade or more now Vajpayee was inactive in politics but he was alive yet his ideals weren’t. Forget ideals, even his picture slowly disappeared from BJP’s billboards and made way for Modi and Amit Shah’s. His close confidant Advani was sidelined so much so that he is hardly ever given chance to speak in parliament now which he regularly attends, unlike our PM. All these people who day in and day out spew hate against Nehru forget that although Vajpayee was Nehru’s opponent he wasn’t a bitter man. When he had become Foreign Minister, he noticed how Nehru’s portrait that was always visible in South Block was missing. He immediately inquired and had it restored. He opposed Nehru on his policies bitterly but not the man. Upon Nehru’s demise, speaking in parliament, Vajpayee rendered heartwarming elegy “a dream has remained half-fulfille