BC Khanduri: The Turnaround Man In Hill County
CM BC Khanduri was brought in to rescue the BJP’s sliding fortunes. Baba Umar tracks what he’s doing right UTTARAKHAND CHIEF minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri, 77, usually wears one of three faces these days. There’s a furious, shocked one — often worn while facing a confrontational scribe — in which his forehead furrows, cheeks go red, black eyes roll, […]
The Curious Case Of India’s Vanishing Poor
The ongoing SECC census may leave millions of poverty-stricken Indians outside the purview of the BPL category, writes Baba Umar A decade ago when her husband died, Uddi Gujjar (45) mourned for months and struggled to get her life back on track in Tikel Purohitaan village of Rajasthan’s Jaipur district. The widow worked as a manual […]
Why Is The Hardliner Knocking On Moderate Doors?
As Islamabad goes into overdrive to improve relations with New Delhi, Hurriyat (G) leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani is opening communication lines with civil society. Baba Umar reports THE VOICE of Syed Ali Shah Geelani has become tremulous over the years but it remains defiant. “Whether Pakistan supports our cause or not, I have unshakeable faith in Allah, who will help Kashmiris. […]
The human and financial cost of India’s demonetisation
It has been over 80 days since India changed from hard cash to a virtual economy. Yet the dramatic move has been deadly for some and many are still struggling with the digital future. BABA UMAR 9 NOV 2017 SOURCE: TRT WORLD NEW DELHI – The first thing rickshaw driver Satish asks when a new passenger boards […]
How 33 Muslims paid a huge ‘terror’ price
Over 10 years in jail. For a crime they did not commit. Baba Umar on the Muslims whose lives became hell in false terror cases ON 31 July 2001, Syed Wasif Haider’s life changed, going from the humdrum to the hunted in the course of one long night. The plainclothes policemen, who came knocking at his door that […]
Pakistan’s Beauty, India’s Prize
Miss Pakistan is coming to Chandigarh this year. Baba Umar finds out why Pakistan’s beauty queen cannot be crowned at home. SO FAR, choosing the reigning beauty queen of Pakistan was a task that had to be carried out as far away from Pakistan as possible. This year, organisers of the Miss Pakistan pageant, led by the fiery Sonia Ahmed […]