Articles by Romesh Thapar

This piece was originally published in the 29 February 1964 issue of the Economic Weekly. EPW brings you this article from its rich achives to foster debate and discussion on issues that remain as relevant now as it was back then. 

IT doesn't make sense. Whatever persuaded Rajiv Gandhi to behave like a naughty school boy and cover himself with blatant lies and openly contradictory statements in parliament. The flouting of constitutional norms is even graver. Did he imagine that the president, like the sycophantic Con- gress(I) mob, would remain silent? Or was he about to apologise privately and got caught on the wrong foot?

The Jungles of Today Romesh Thapar WE are on the edge of what are bound to become prolonged nuclear dialogues between India and Pakistan. Boastfully, the Pakistani, scientists, Dr Ali Khan, in his heavily guarded residence in Islamabad, has made some rather loose and provocative statements to the visiting Indian journalist, Kuldip Nayar, and has confirmed our neighbour's possession of the nuclear weapon. Why he gave the interview is already the subject of controversy. On top of it, the statements made are being denied. Kuldip Nayar was right when he said that maybe it will be reported that the interview never took place! The repercussions suggest that either the Pakistani scientist, together with editor Mushahid, who accompanied Nayar, were playing a hawkish role on their own and possibly on behalf of some military-civilian faction, or they planned to use Nayar for a subterfuge with the backing of General Zia and others, to make it look as if India had agreed to a border disengagement because of the bomb. The story got delayed by a month, and now the repercussions have taken on a new flavour. Journalists, beware of suspicious scoops! 1 hope the US State Department is going to take serious note of what has been said. It is proof that Pakistan has elbowed itself into a position where it might not be possible to receive US military aid

will be persuaded to inspect better-smelling A Banana Republic?
pockets of achievement Romesh NO one really knows what's going on.
Speculation on the future of the Barnala government shifts from day to day, depen ding on the expressed and unexpressed sen timents of the Sikh community. Communal reaction is over-emphasised. Even intelligent Sikhs try desperately to find different and less precise adjectives to describe the killers who are blackmailing the community.

Under-Developed War Games Romesh Thapar SO many senior officers have been 'briefing' the editors of our newspapers that our establishment nucleariser, K Subramanian, finds himself reduced to an occasional voice. The editors have become military strategists, with all kinds of borrowed perceptions about the capabilities of India and Pakistan. All this is part of the scenario of confusion in which at least the expression, 'brass tacks', the name of the Indian exercise, has become popular. But we have to go beyond all this clutter.