While the entire country was preparing to celebrate the festival of Light, Diwali, one person in posh Kadamkuan locality of Patna, Kundan Pratap Singh, was preparing to light the funeral pyre of his son. He was the unfortunate father of Rahul Raj, one who took hostage a BEST bus and was subsequently killed by police firing. But the insult to the injury for the father was that Rahul Raj was a Bihari first and a son or a brother later. Anybody killed by police action or mob violence in this country is first a Bihari, a Marathi, a Kashmiri, a Keralite or a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian than being a son, a brother or a husband. Perhaps it is the destiny of the family members of all the victims of such actions that the deceased is identified with his regional, religious or political allegiance than the inherited identity. As the fire of the hate politics of Raj Thackeray was...

One friend had picked up an auto-rickshaw from the blast site on Barakhamba Road just ten minutes before the bomb went off. A cousin witnessed the dark smoke and sounds of the blast near Central Park being in his office in the inner circle of CP. Few friends were stranded at the Barakhamba and Rajiv Chowk metro stations. As the information was coming in on my mobile on that fateful Saturday evening of September 13, a feeling of anger, frustration and helplessness was gripping my senses amidst the hustle bustle of newsroom. I was also equally flooded with queries from many friends and family members. As I often used to be at the Central Park after a day of work, perhaps my friends were much worried about me. My usual answer was "nobody can avoid destiny". But in the newsroom I was thinking what if I were there today. I could not think beyond that. Thank god I had cancelled my...

The dull news hub, Odisha, has suddenly become a prime time grosser for the national news channels. The epicentre is Kandhamaal, a small district in the tribal belt of Odisha. This backward district of the country has drawn attention at national and international levels within less than ten months for the second time. The reason is the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda and the resultant anti-Christian riots. The soft hand dealing of the state government of these serious communal clashes shows how poor people can be pawned to get political equations right. As the situation is returning to normalcy the weeklong arson and violence by VHP against the tribal Christians points out the compulsions of a handicap government headed by Biju Janata Dal with support from the Bharatiya Janata Party. In the 147 member house BJP with 32 members is the junior partner to BJD, which has 61 members. The killing of Swamiji and the aftermath riots by VHP has brought out...