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Home / Columns / Barkha Dutt

Barkha Dutt

Barkha Dutt

Barkha Dutt is consulting editor, NDTV, and founding member, Ideas Collective. She tweets as @BDUTT.

Articles by Barkha Dutt

Siya, Twisha & the wages of society’s focus on marriage

Siya Goyal, 20, is in jail on allegations of conspiring with her supposed romantic partner, Chetan Chaudhary, in the death of her fiancé, Ketan Agarwal.

Updated on Jul 4, 2026 02:03 IST

Don’t drop Twisha Sharma’s death from news cycle

As a former judge and someone with a special course in crime scene management, Giribala Singh has all the instruments at her disposal. (ANI)

Updated on Jun 5, 2026 15:07 IST

Searching for the truth in Twisha Sharma’s death

Sharma’s father told me he regrets not bringing her home sooner. And therein lies a tale — how we as people remain focused on saving marriages, instead of saving our daughters. (ANI)

Updated on May 22, 2026 14:48 IST

After poll defeats, an Opposition in serious disarray

The Congress may have moved too quickly, in panic and without a plan. The aim, its leaders say, was to deny a backdoor entry to the BJP or its proxies. (PTI)

Updated on May 8, 2026 15:20 IST

Iran war diminishes the idea of America, and UN’s relevance

No single entity has been as irrelevant as the UN. The very foundation of the UN Security Council, the most powerful body within the UN, is rooted in a version of imperialism. (Bloomberg)

Updated on Apr 10, 2026 15:50 IST

The Iran war and the shifting Gulf dynamics

UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology has accused Iran of “economic terrorism” for choking the Strait of Hormuz. (Reuters)

Updated on Mar 27, 2026 14:42 IST

In West Asia, the ruins of globalisation

In a Trumpian age — and the world may behave in this manner even after he’s gone —- there is no better protection than the power of your markets and military. (AFP)

Updated on Mar 13, 2026 14:58 IST

Why Centre must rethink disability tax on soldiers

In the 1942 Battle of Sittang, while leading his company against Japanese forces, Sam Manekshaw took nine bullets in his stomach and intestines. He was so grievously wounded that the surgeon hesitated to operate on him. (HT Archive)

Updated on Feb 13, 2026 15:22 IST

India must build its hard power in the age of Trump

Given the collusive threat from two nuclear-armed neighbours, coupled with, at the very best, a disengaged Trump administration, India must spend more on security. (Reuters)

Updated on Jan 16, 2026 16:23 IST

India must speak out against the fringe’s attack on Christmas

A majority of Indians recognise that our pluralism and our diversity are our strengths. We celebrate these just as we celebrate all our festivals. We also know that such incidents only diminish us. (PTI)

Updated on Jan 2, 2026 15:31 IST

Bihar hijab incident: Crossing red lines on bodily autonomy

The debate has been diverted to a predictably shrill one about the veil. This is a red herring — it is actually irrelevant whether you support the hijab or you do not. (HT Archive)

Updated on Dec 19, 2025 15:19 IST

A twisted trail of terror networks from Delhi to Nowgam

Two decades ago, you could still have a convivial disagreement and a political debate in Kashmir. Over the years, not just did positions harden, but culture also changed. (PTI)

Updated on Nov 21, 2025 15:24 IST

In Sivakumar’s story, the best and worst of India

The normalisation of bribery for basic services is the staggering and inconvenient truth of this horrible incident. Nearly everyone has been in a Sivakumar-like situation or knows someone who has. (HT Archive)

Updated on Oct 31, 2025 15:55 IST

India must engage with the Taliban, but do it cautiously

We (India) will need to reopen our doors on visas, medical infrastructure, and education, as well as provide assistance in rebuilding Afghanistan. (AFP)

Updated on Oct 17, 2025 15:39 IST

In poll-bound Bihar, signs of politician Prashant Kishor

Kishor has worked hard on the ground to transition from his earlier life into this new role. And the hard work shows. There’s no question that, at the level of sentiment and recall, he has more than struck a chord. (HT Photo)

Updated on Oct 3, 2025 15:01 IST

Behind New Delhi’s cautious approach to Saudi-Pak pact

The Arab States are displaying their lack of belief in the US as a security stabiliser. The Saudi decision, like so many other geopolitical tremors, has been triggered by the fault lines and seismic shocks of US President Donald Trump’s inchoate foreign policy. (REUTERS)

Updated on Sep 19, 2025 15:56 IST

Stand up to the US, but be careful about standing with China

The age of America as school captain is over. But if India is speaking of multi-polarity and strategic autonomy, then that’s what the coming months and years have to be steered by. (ANI)

Updated on Sep 5, 2025 15:03 IST

Saving India-US relationship from Trump & beyond

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent accused India of “profiteering” from the purchase of Russian oil. But he has also conceded that the Trump administration was taking a 10% mark up on all weapons sold to the Europeans who in turn are selling them to Ukraine. (AFP)

Updated on Aug 22, 2025 15:34 IST

Trump tantrums complicate India’s strategic challenges

Trump’s attacks on India — the uncouth language and sneering style — seem to be personally motivated, well beyond the stated aim of rebalancing US trade numbers. (AFP)

Updated on Aug 1, 2025 15:42 IST

In AI crash, western media spins stories to pin blame on pilot

in pointing fingers at captain Sabharwal, American media outlets do not even consider a plane malfunction or the multiple ignored advisories. (REUTERS)

Updated on Jul 18, 2025 15:12 IST

Grief, grace, and gratitude – in a time of tragedy

While there may be questions about maintenance, surely there should be many sharp questions for Boeing, the manufacturer of the 787 Dreamliner that went down in Ahmedabad. (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 13, 2025 15:46 IST

How the Left and Congress misread Operation Sindoor

The level of disconnect between those still tapped in textbook ideas and how most of the country thinks and feels is astonighing. (ANI)

Updated on May 30, 2025 18:08 IST

After Operation Sindoor, tales of Western hypocrisy

India should become too powerful for anyone to even attempt to lecture it, and a better version of China because we are a democracy (lakshmi)

Updated on May 16, 2025 14:38 IST

The West misunderstands, and misrepresents, nature of Pakistan’s terror policy

There’s an element of massive doublespeak in Vance hoping India’s response doesn’t lead to a “regional war” given that no American politician would have said this to Israel after the Hamas attacks (PTI)

Updated on May 2, 2025 15:43 IST

Kamra vs Kanal is about mob against citizen

Bullying is bullying, and mob violence is exactly that. (Hindustan Times)

Updated on Apr 4, 2025 15:53 IST

Adolescence is a call for conversation, compassion

This series actually tells the story of men alongside women at a time when it has often felt impossible to do so. (Adolescence/Netflix)

Updated on Mar 21, 2025 14:26 IST

The death knell for myth of American Exceptionalism

Trump’s upending of policy, both foreign and domestic, is, by turns, wildly entertaining and often unstable and dangerous (via REUTERS)

Updated on Mar 1, 2025 02:09 IST

Focus on Allahbadia instead of marital rape acquittal is telling

The Chhattisgarh high court has legitimised the idea that a wife is the private property of a husband, to do with as he pleases. (HT Photo)

Updated on Feb 14, 2025 16:02 IST

Saif Ali Khan case shows the culture of misogyny thrives

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan leaves the hospital after her husband Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan was discharged after being treated for stab injuries during a scuffle last week with an intruder at his home in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) (AP)

Updated on Jan 31, 2025 14:36 IST

Congress needs to focus on politics, not polemics

New Delhi, India - Jan. 16, 2025: Congress supporters seen as Sandeep Dikshit, Candidate of Congress Party from New Delhi Constituency for upcoming Vidhan Sabha Elections goes for filing his Nomination Papers in New Delhi in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, January 16, 2025. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Updated on Jan 17, 2025 15:03 IST

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