crown

Subscribe Now

FOLLOW US

Sign in

Home / Columns / Samar Halarnkar

Samar Halarnkar

Samar Halarnkar

Samar Halarnkar is editor of IndiaSpend, a data-drive nonproft focussed on public-interest journalism. He has written two books and has been a reporter and editor for 25 years. He tweets as @samar11

Articles by Samar Halarnkar

Freedom of expression: Despite Trump, it is alive and kicking in the US

A journalist holds a placard reading "free media" during a demonstration for the World Press Freedom Day in Istanbul, May 3. In Turkey, the constitution has been changed by a wafer thin margin and Recep Erdogan is set to be remake his country in his image, while the jails fill with purged bureaucrats, soldiers, journalists and cartoonists.

Updated on May 15, 2017 18:57 IST

‘Recall heritage of love, tolerance’: As new India rises, a father pens open letter to daughter

Much of what you heard when you were a child may now be myth. For instance, that great Ram temple at Ayodhya: There was once a mosque called the Babri Masjid there.

Updated on Apr 6, 2017 03:06 IST

There’s a market for shared experiences, as Hussain Haidry shows

Hussain Haidry’s poem, Hindustani Musalman, echoes the sentiments of an average Indian Muslim whose identity is not restricted by the fact that he/she is born in a Muslim family.

Updated on Feb 22, 2017 17:08 IST

By banning NGOs from foreign funds, the govt is crippling its own services, laws

Diarrhoea, measles, respiratory infections and malnutrition continue to kill Indian children by the thousands. Although India has steadily improved its infant-mortality rate (a 53% drop over a quarter century), a million babies die every year at a rate higher than the average of 154 low- and middle-income countries. (Representative Photo)

Updated on Feb 7, 2017 11:45 IST

Who cares about the facts? How transient rage is driving India’s politics

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and deputy CM Manish Sisodia with social activist Anna Hazare at Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi.

Updated on Dec 1, 2016 08:10 IST

Hindu republic: India is being recreated into a majoritarian state

(Left to Right) BJP MLA Sangeet Som addressing the crowd at Bisada with DM NP Singh, Union minister and Gautam Buddha Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma and SSP Dharmendra Singh.

Updated on Oct 21, 2016 02:42 IST

Mind your languages

HT Image

Updated on Sep 29, 2016 02:46 IST

As Indian cities grow more diverse, public services shun inclusiveness

The two-language formula is manifest in a host of new metro systems across Indian cities and is a metaphor for the exclusion of minorities from other government-run services.

Updated on Sep 28, 2016 15:38 IST

Hate and hope in Kashmir

HT Image

Updated on Aug 25, 2016 07:06 IST

Can Modi discard policy that has brutalised Kashmir?

A Kashmiri protester throws a tear smoke shell on government forces in Srinagar.

Updated on Aug 25, 2016 11:47 IST

Kashmir unrest: More autonomy for states is the only answer

The Kashmiris may not have had to live — and die — through the latest round of blood-letting, if they were treated with dignity, their demands addressed with some seriousness and at least some promises kept.

Updated on Jul 27, 2016 15:42 IST

Why girls must make trouble

HT Image

Updated on Jun 30, 2016 03:38 IST

India needs women to stand firm and know that they are right

Female representation in politics continues to lag the emerging world. Women have indeed pushed their way into the police, the private sector, engineering, the space programme and the defence services — last week, India’s first three female fighter pilots (above) were cleared to fly — but progress is slow.

Updated on Jun 30, 2016 02:20 IST

The past cannot be our present

HT Image

Updated on May 30, 2016 03:39 IST

What India can learn from Masada

An Israeli demonstrator stands in front of a section of the Israeli barrier during a Land Day protest by Palestinian and Israeli activists, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem .

Updated on May 29, 2016 16:04 IST

Unrest in Kashmir: Threat to the idea of India

To equate the security forces with disaffected young men only questions the training and competency of soldiers, demeans India’s democracy and confirms to Kashmiris that India wants their land, not them.

Updated on Apr 21, 2016 13:21 IST

The lunatic fringe is now the Hindutva mainstream

The Babri demolition: When popular governments legitimise hate, it is a matter of time before the majority follows suit.

Updated on Mar 22, 2016 03:42 IST

India’s progress is crippled by Indians holding back Indians

India works for the top 40% of its people, not for the bottom 60%.

Updated on Jan 31, 2016 19:41 IST

Nearly half of India’s districts drought-hit as crisis accelerates

About eight of each 10 households in Bundelkhand were eating rotis with spices and salt. Up to 17% of all households had replaced regular meals with rotis made of grass, according to a survey conducted by Swaraj Abhiyan, an NGO.

Updated on Dec 3, 2015 06:51 IST

Big city or village, India is waging a war against women

Women of the Bishnoi community at a festival near Jodhpur. The strengthening of regressive attitudes is occurring at a time when women are desperate to work.

Updated on Sep 23, 2015 15:18 IST

On India’s roads, there's a scary surge of rage

Traffic-jam

Updated on Apr 16, 2017 11:33 IST

Make-or-break century: India must choose right options

Updated on Jul 23, 2015 08:27 IST

Just posturing: Yoga blitz won't solve India's health crisis

Prime-Minister-Narendra-Modi-joined-nearly-37-000-fellow-participants-at-Rajpath-on-Sunday-to-mark-the-International-Day-of-Yoga-Ajay-Aggarwal-HT-Photo

Updated on Aug 11, 2015 18:34 IST

Desperate for 'timepass', Indians seeking the great outdoors

A-file-photo-of-the-Marine-Drive-in-Mumbai-HT-photo

Updated on May 28, 2015 03:22 IST

Govt's indiscriminate crackdown on NGOs will affect the 'marginalised'

The-order-to-cancel-the-registration-of-such-organisations-came-days-before-the-Centre-s-effort-to-tighten-the-grip-on-prominent-NGOs-that-receive-foreign-funds-like-Greenpeace-India-and-the-Ford-Foundation-Shankar-Mourya-HT-Photo

Updated on Apr 26, 2015 19:33 IST

Concerns of India's underclass could drive country's political narrative

HT Image

Updated on Feb 19, 2015 03:08 IST

What a movie, cabbie, saint, viral post tell about faith in India

Updated on Jan 15, 2015 06:43 IST

Let's be adults, let's talk about tackling porn

Updated on Dec 11, 2014 06:47 IST

Impatience creeps in, aspiring India stressed and dissatisfied

Updated on Oct 30, 2014 05:22 IST

Moment of truth: Floods expose the great divide in J-K

Flood-affected-Kashmiri-residents-ride-on-an-Indian-Army-raft-in-Srinagar-AFP-Photo

Updated on Sep 18, 2014 06:40 IST

© 2026 HindustanTimes