“Country with 1.2 billion people wildly celebrates 2 losing medals. How embarrassing is that?”
Piers Morgan, British journalist, on India’s dismal showing at the Rio Olympics (twitter.com, August 24)
“We cherish every small happiness. But ENG who invented cricket & Yet2win a WC, still continue to play WC. Embarassing?”
Virender Sehwag, Indian cricket star, trolling Piers Morgan (twitter.com, August 24)
“Remedying the deep malaise afflicting education in the country requires taking by its horn the bull of school and teacher accountability. Tinkering at the edges will not do the job.”
Geeta Kingdon, professor of education at London University, on the urgent need to tackle teacher accountability (Times of India, August 26)
“The Indian state has unconscionably failed in Kashmir. Its legitimacy is tenuous at best, a legal artefact secured by brute force.”
Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of Centre for Policy Research, on the Kashmir imbroglio (Indian Express, August 27)
“Modi has made headway on many fronts, but there is a lot for him to still achieve. I think the nation believes he is moving in the right direction and that he is the man for the job. That is why India still has faith in him. He must not betray that.”
Aroon Purie, editor of India Today, on Narendra Modi and the NDA recovering ground after a two-year slump (India Today, August 29)
“The period of capitalist triumphalism that began with the fall of the Berlin Wall and then the collapse of the Soviet Union, and in India, the inexorable rise of the utterly callous, malevolent twins, Hindutva and neo-liberalism... the metamorphosis of India itself into a grab-what-you-can-for-yourself capitalist system.”
Bernard D’Mello, journalist, in an essay in the golden jubilee issue of The Ecocomic & Political Weekly (August 20)