The Science Congress and Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), held in India every January, are the largest events of their kind in the world. This year a curious kind of osmosis took place.

Read the newspapers, listen to the TV “debates” and see the WhatsApp-trained ignorant armies clash day and night.

In a politically-surcharged atmosphere, no one should doubt that the appearance of Lord Ram’s idol in the mosque on the night of December 22, 1949 was an act of God.

In the pattern of authoritarianism taking over Indian politics since 2014, social movements, activists, and dissidents find themselves at the receiving end of increasingly brazen forms of repression.

Working up public outrage is an art and not all political parties are able to create mass hysteria.

“India led by you would never think of undoing the Partition. Your party depends on Pakistan for its existence.” A secret letter accessed by the author.

The Hindutva storm-troopers would feel let down, having been trained to abuse the secular Hindus, liberals, intellectuals, dissenting writers and a minority community.

Naipaul always felt that his books would stand the test of time. But which of his books on India, after multiple visits to his ancestral land, will stand that test?

Recent events in some prominent democratic nations have highlighted the internal threats that are hard to see and even harder to counter. A military dictator can be identified.

The major transformative potential of permaculture in India lies in its ability to make small-scale farmers self-sufficient. Hence, it offers viable solutions to the very deep crisis farmers are facing.

Once Britain moved beyond religious nationalism, religion itself became a spent force, though not one prevented from speaking truth to power. Contrast India.

The vitriolic anger directed at the PoA might mean that Indian society is not entirely ready to face the depth of its own ingrained prejudice.

Ravish Kumar has recorded the Republic of Fear for posterity. These are the heroes of World Press Freedom Day.

Many epithets have been used to run down the Commonwealth. The London summit may even be called the Commonwealth Games II…

So, what is the right measure of passion in politics that is good for the health of democracy? There has to be a right balance.

One cynic says that after every election, the new Government can spend its first year in uninstalling the statutes erected by the previous regime.

After his recent win, Mahinda Rajapaksa urged his voters not to attack the losing side, saying: “No matter what they did to us we must set an example”.