“In India, the quality of students is good. But the deterioration in the quality of faculty across tiers is much greater than the decline in the quality of students.”
Nitin Nohria, dean of Harvard Business School (Forbes, February 6)
“I am for freedom of expression but there are no absolutes in life. Limitless freedom contains within it the seeds of conflict. We must eschew conflict and embrace freedom.”
Kapil Sibal, senior lawyer and former Union HRD minister (India Today, February 9)
“For India which remains very poor and very unequal, policies based on the interest of finance capital and a narrow section of society can only spell disaster.”
Arun Kumar, economics professor at JNU, Delhi, on the NITI Aayog (formerly Planning Commission) ideating solutions that are not just economic but also social and political (The Hindu, February 17)
“The national mood may still be inclined to believe in Modi and his potential but the democratic temper of the Indian polity has reasserted itself. By giving him a close haircut, the Delhi voter has reaffirmed the obvious: Gujarat cannot be replicated in Delhi.”
Harish Khare, senior journalist, on the drubbing of BJP by the Aam Admi Party in the Delhi state elections (Outlook, February 23)
“While it seemed like a good idea for Hindus to be proud of their culture and traditions, very few knew what else came with the package. Bit by bit it was revealed to them: not only must they stay away from learning foreign languages, but also no cell phones, girl friends or blue jeans.”
Dipankar Gupta, well-known social scientist, on how activism of Hindu zealots has undermined BJP’s success (Times of India, February 28)
“We’ve got China on one side and Taliban on the other. Strong role models for our censorship plans.”
Gaurav Kapur, television host, on the Censor Board’s plans to ban 28 swear words (Twitter, February 26)