From provocative to informative, from illuminating commentary to taxing research—here are the top ten Swarajya pieces of 2015.
1. The Futility of Rights by Seetha:
From our February issue, a clinching argument against the rights-based approach to governance. How all evidence shows that the rights-based approach is inherently wrong. It ignores root causes of problems and places an undue strain on already overstretched State capacity.
2. Modi Government’s Most Critical Power Sector Reform Takes Shapeby Aashish Chandorkar:
If you wish to know about the Modi government’s much appreciated energy policy, then this is the one piece for you. The piece focusses on the UDAY initiative and explains how it seems to be a well thought out, scalable, future proof reform and a restructuring program for the struggling power distribution companies.
3. Subramanian Swamy: This Nehru-Gandhi Family Is Totally Anti-Nationalby Surajit Dasgupta (Interview)
Where Subramanian Swamy reflects at length about his relations with the Gandhis and says things other would think thrice about before speaking.
4. Kargil: How Much ‘By The Throat’ Did The Pakistan Army Have Us? by Syed Ata Hasnain
Of course, Pervez Musharraf’s claims that the Pakistani army caught ‘India by the throat’ in Kargil in 1999 are wrong. Here, Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) explains just how wrong they are.
5. Nobel For Traditional Medicine Of China, Meanwhile In India. . . by Aravindan Neelakandan
In 2015, the Nobel for medicine was awarded for a work derived out of traditional knowledge of medicine in China. While such was the case with India’s eastern neighbour, here is a piece describing how in India itself, researchers making steady progress on ayurgenomics have to suffer a defamation campaign run by sections of the media.
6. Modi’s Challenge: He Has To Begin Selling JAM As Bread Plus Freedom by R Jagannathan
What should Narendra Modi do if he wishes to go down in history as a reformist prime minister? If he only spends his remaining tenure making JAM work, he would very likely clinch that legacy.
7. Plurality in Hinduism Shouldn’t Be Used To Deny Its Integrity(Prof Ramesh N Rao interviews Prof Vamsee Juluri)
WhereVamsee Krishna Juluri, Professor of Media Studies and Asian Studies at the University of San Francisco, discusses his new book, “Rearming Hinduism”, and takes to task academics and media commentators for their concerted campaign against Hindus and Hinduism.
8. Why Amartya Sen Is Wrong by Jerry Rao
There is no doubt about Amartya Sen’s brilliance. But, as this piece argues, he can only help if he is willing to illuminate his discussions with his intelligence and not with his prejudices.
9. Verses Which Produce Magic When Re-Read by Suhas Mahesh
A glimpse into those magical verses from Sanskrit poetry which leave you awe-struck when you re-read them by replacing one syllable with another.
10. What’s With Rasogulla? by Madhulika Dash