Several months ago, I wrote this essay on the Economic Exploitation and Drain of Wealth During the British “Raj”.
The essay relied�heavily�on research by Western historians to make the point about economic exploitation during the British domination of�India. It deliberately ignored research done by Indian scholars and historians on the subject�to blunt allegations of bias or non-scientific /lax methodology.
Last week, I came across another very well-written and well-researched essay which substantiated and added to what I had written before. It is�a hard-hitting and fact-laden “account of the East India Company, …

A few weeks ago, Jaya Menon of the Indian Express wrote a report on how fresh converts are being targeted by radical Islamists to swell their ranks. Excerpts from this very worrying piece published 26th Jul ’06.
“Hundreds of men and women from all over the state (Tamil Nadu) , mostly the jobless and Dalits, have been converted to Islam in the last five years. Intelligence agencies say they have reason to believe that the mass conversions could be used as a potential bridge to terror…Every four months, more than 50 Hindus …

Last weekend, I watched a few minutes of a televised discussion on the debate around making “Vande Mataram” compulsory in schools. It was on ITV moderated by Barkha Dutt and the panellists included Swapan Dasgupta, Abhishek Singhvi and Bala (I missed the full name – but he is the producer of A R Rehman’s rendition of Vande Mataram). 
There was a point made by someone from the audience who said that Muslims cannot sing “Vande Mataram” because worshipping any God other Allah is blasphemy and heretical. This is also the reason why …