Governance and Political Studies
Vimarsha - India 2021: Hazarding Guesses, Guessing Hazards by Shri Gopal Krishna Gandhi

Shri Gopal Krishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal, and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, presented his vision of India in 2021 to an enlightened audience at Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on Nov 7, 2011. Crystal-gazing, Shri Gandhi port....

The Law is Not An Ass – Only People Are

There is a monumentally asinine serial called “The Bold and the Beautiful” which has been shown on the television for several years now. Each time an episode ends one feels that we shall now be spared any further infliction. The next episode beg....

Is Democracy another Word For Anarchy?

‘Demos’ in Greek means the people, which is why democracy means the rule of the people. Autocracy means the rule of ruling elite, monarchy means the rule of a sovereign and mobocracy means mob rule, i.e., virtual anarchy. But what exactly are th....

Promoting Administrative Acumen - Understanding ‘HIKMAT AMLI’

There is a story, alleged not to be apocryphal, about one of the districts of old CP and Berar (later Madhya Pradesh) in which the police was investigating a major case of house breaking. The police had detained a suspect and the Superintendent of P....

The Police in India

A recent incident in Kolkota has set alarm bells ringing. A rowdy crowd from the ruling Trinamul Congress in West Bengal blocked a public street during some celebrations. This led to clashes with workers of the opposition and the police intervened,....

Pakistan and Related Questions

One expected that with the British agreeing to the partition of India and creating at the behest of the Muslim League the country called Pakistan, India and Pakistan would be able to follow their different paths of government and development. Both c....

The Crisis of Government

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold, Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” (The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats) June 25, 1975 was the day on which a state of Emergency was declared by Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister un....

I, The People !!

While campaigning for the by-election in Hisar Arvind Kejriwal, of RTI fame, made the amazing statement that Anna Hazare was right in saying that he was above Parliament, because as a citizen he is sovereign. I tried to excuse this as election rh....

What is Leadership all about?

The one single tract which guides our democracy is the Constitution of India. The Preamble of the Constitution establishes two specific conditions of government in India. First and foremost is the statement that sovereignty vests in the people and ....

Vimarsha - A talk on Proposed Communal Violence Bill with Mr. R.N.P. Singh

‘Vimarsha’, VIF’s monthly series of public discourse on contemporary subjects, was held on September 30, 2011 to discuss an issue of utmost national importance - the implications for social harmony of a proposed legislation titled 'Preventio....

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