The most important lesson from Kolkata and Thane is that if each authority – the hospital and school administrations, the police and government – had performed their legally-ordained duties, the crimes might not have occurred.

As President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi urge governors to usurp the functions of elected administrations, the balance of power in Indian federalism faces a critical test.

The Economic Advisory Council’s report on religious demography has understandably incurred criticism on both its timing and its findings.

Even if this horrifically brutal war ends soon, violence will recur as long as the occupation of Palestinian territories continues.

While the strategic issues are still being debated, our government has dismissed the moral issue by concluding a cheap oil agreement.

That Russia is India's largest arm supplier and has been a dependable ally seem to have guided India's response. But support for Ukraine could have allowed helped India to fuse both principle and its national interest.

Beyond the atmospherics, there appears to have been little to welcome. The prime minister stressed the urgency of completing the delimitation exercise and holding elections but did not agree to return J&K to statehood first.

The metaphoric Fortress Delhi crept up on us over years, but the physical Fortress Delhi has been achieved in days.

We can no longer avoid the question as to why our ruling party is so tolerant of rapists and defenders of rapists.

In the past year, we have seen such blatant disregard of freedom of expression, and such bias in the application of law, that it is difficult not to wonder if the right to dissent is restricted to a select few.

Extracts from Radha Kumar's Paradise at War, published this month, reveal the past wisdom of Vajypaee and Manmohan Singh.

Since the BJP will take no action against its dozens – if not hundreds – of ministers, MPs and MLAs who openly support such acts of brutality, the only possible conclusion is that the party tacitly endorses their stand.

Our constitution requires better from our executive, and our democracy is surely capable of generating more compassion than the current meanness of spirit we display towards Kashmir and Kashmiris.

The government should hold multiple rounds of talks, engage with experts on the possible solutions already laid out and be ready to work with Pakistan.

The BJP may not have been involved in recent incidents of violence but some of its leaders have justified or defended what happened. We hope the party won't take the same time to sideline them as it took Congress to relegate those who organised or defended 1984.