India
Amritsar: beginning of the end of Empire
The true casualty figures are still hotly disputed 100 years after the Punjab massacre, but its real legacy was the slow death of the Raj
Last Days Of India’s Empress
A biography of Indira Gandhi’s final years offers insights into a dark period of unmitigated corruption in Indian politics
Inclusion in India
What the Indian elections mean for a first-time voter
Delhi’s Delights
‘To go without beer for a day is a small inconvenience which adds a suitable
solemnity to the business of democracy’
Jovial Pragmatists
SOAS’s new exhibition on Zoroastrianism fails to capture the rich cultural and historical legacy of this much-misunderstood and embattled faith
The Making of the Mahatma
Dubious racial attitudes, an obsession with excrement and sexual eccentricities: Gandhi Before India reveals the unsavoury sides of the statesman’s character
Shock Value
For all the Arts community’s grandstanding about its political value, none of its number was brave enough to protest the late, great M.F. Husain’s plight
India: Tariq Ali’s Plan for Pakistan
Although previously banned, Tariq Ali’s books can now be read anywhere in Pakistan. In the aftermath of the jihadist attacks in Mumbai and on the Sri Lankan cricket team, will the Brit-Pak’s fluent words offer any solutions to the problems there?
Don’t Write off America
It’s fashionable to say the US is in terminal decline. Don’t bet on it – still less wish for it
Mumbai: On the ‘Slumdog’ Trail
Standpoint‘s Writer-At-Large visits the slums of Mumbai to assess the Oscar-winning film
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal