News / Columns / Shashi Shekhar

Shashi Shekhar

Articles by Shashi Shekhar

Farmers’ agitation: We don’t need more Mandsaurs

Fires of dissatisfaction are raging in different parts of the country. This is because every government since 1947 has treated farmers only as a vote bank.

Farmers protest at the Indore-Bhopal highway.(PTI File)

columns

Updated on Jun 12, 2017 08:17 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Crimes against women: A disturbing kind of violence is on the rise

Gang rapes, hackings and disrespecting the dignity of the dead were not what the people of this country were known for

Relatives of Shakeel who shot dead by armed assailants at Jewar, in Greater Noida. A few people from Jevar were compelled to venture out late at night since they were tending to a lady relative who had been hospitalised. On the way, goons robbed them and dragged the women from the family into the fields and gang raped them. The male relative, Shakeel, who resisted was shot dead..(Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

columns

Updated on Jun 19, 2017 07:33 AM IST

Hindustan Times | ByShashi Shekhar

It is all too easy to shoot the messenger

The responsibility of telling the truth to make a living is carried out by vernacular journalists on their own. They have to work in terrain and circumstances that are often labelled as ‘jungle raj’ by their urban brethren.

The English media is relatively luckier than its vernacular counterparts because English is still the language of cities(Hindustan Times)

columns

Updated on May 28, 2017 09:08 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByShashi Shekhar

50 years of Naxalbari: Fighting for the right cause in the wrong way

Owing to their opposition to development, the Naxalite movement is losing its way. Apart from disrupting government projects, they consider roads their greatest enemy. The soldiers attacked in Sukma were overseeing road construction.

Jawans giving a gun salute to CRPF personnel at Patna airport . Twenty five CRPF personnel were killed in a Naxalite attack in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on April 24.(PTI)

columns

Updated on May 21, 2017 09:50 PM IST

Hindustan Times | ByShashi Shekhar

Three years after becoming PM, the pradhan sevak has not lost his magic touch

The people’s verdict can be interpreted as a report card for most politicians. Three years after he took over as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has done well on this parameter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, March 12. The Opposition was expecting that the shadows of unfulfilled promises will take some sheen off Modi’s magic. But the results of the five assembly elections have dashed the Opposition’s hopes.(Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)

columns

Updated on May 14, 2017 10:14 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

UP petrol pump scam: Consumers continue to be short-changed on every platform

Not just ATM and credit card frauds — the revelations in the Uttar Pradesh petrol pump scam have proved that the rights of the consumer are not safe anywhere

Police officers checking a petrol pump machine in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, May 1. The way technology was being used to pilfer petrol and diesel in the state makes it clear that the rights of the average consumer are not safe anywhere.(PTI)

columns

Updated on May 08, 2017 07:14 AM IST

Hindustan Times | ByShashi Shekhar

In the eyes of his voters, Kejriwal is still a hope for the future

The MCD elections have proved that the wheels are coming off the brand of politics that Arvind Kejriwal had promised and used to win an unprecedented mandate

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal with deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and minister Satyendra Jain. In his impatience to win, Kajriwal kept compromising on the very principles he was flaunting to enter the electoral fray. That’s why many of his party’s ministers and MLAs with criminal links had to go to jail(Hindustan Times)

columns

Updated on Apr 30, 2017 09:56 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

The sanctity of our democratic institutions is under threat

The Election Commission must ensure complete implementation of all parameters of the electoral process. Those officers violating this should be given the strictest punishment.

Ghaziabad , India - March 14 A group of protesters on Tuesday held a demonstration at district headquarters and demanded an inquiry into the EVM machines used in recent UP assembly elections . in Ghaziabad,India, on Tuesday, March 14, 2016. (Photo by Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

columns

Updated on Apr 24, 2017 01:23 AM IST

Hindustan Times | ByShashi Shekhar

Kulbhushan Jadhav case: India cannot let Pakistan get away with this

Will the collective rage for our parliamentarians and ministers be enough to save Jadhav’s life? Will he manage to return unscathed to Mumbai to his family?

File photo of former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of 'espionage'.(PTI)

columns

Updated on Apr 16, 2017 06:45 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Farmers still fighting the odds: There are hundreds of Champarans today

A century after the Mahatma promised them freedom of exploitation in Bihar, the farmers of India are still fighting the odds.

Children gather around Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at Chanderahia Village, Bihar. A few hours of detention in Champaran paved the way for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to turn into the Mahatma.(Arvind Yadav/ HT Photo)

columns

Updated on Apr 10, 2017 08:04 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad grounded: Why do netas fly high on privilege?

Subjected to the slightest of personal discomfort, these people’s representatives resort to violence. Why can’t they raise their voice for the welfare of the average traveller?

Air India not just barred Ravindra Gaikwad, a Shiv Sena MP from Maharashtra, who had assaulted a staffer, from its flights, it even cancelled his return ticket to Pune .(HT Photo)

columns

Updated on Apr 02, 2017 07:49 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

With eyes on 2019, the BJP is working on many fronts at the same time

The elections that were held between May 2014 and March 2017 have given many indicators that could prove to be warning signals for Opposition parties.

File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah at the party headquarters.(PTI File Photo)

columns

Updated on Mar 27, 2017 07:27 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Asha Bhosle’s voice is the sound of music, it has a timeless quality

There is a timeless quality about listening to the diva of Bollywood music and the advancing years have not diminished her magic

Listening to anecdotes from the life and times of Asha Bhosle ensured that the evening went by like a breeze(Prodip Guha/HT Photo)

columns

Updated on Mar 19, 2017 09:33 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Yogi Adityanath as UP CM: How BJP played the biggest gamble picking the Hindutva leader

So does Yogi Adityanath’s coronation as CM mean that BJP is showing how significant Hindu saints are for the party? This, despite 19.6 % of UP’s 20 crore population comprises of Muslims. Will the move win the trust of Muslims for the party?

Yogi Adityanath (L) elected leader of the BJP legislature party; he will be sworn in as chief minister on Sunday. Deputy CM-designate Dinesh Sharma (R), Keshav Prasad Maurya (L) in Lucknow and Union minister Venkaiah Naidu can also be seen.(Ashok Dutta / Hindustan Times)

elections

Updated on Mar 20, 2017 07:02 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Assembly elections 2017: Only one name matters and that is Narendra Modi

The BJP has scored such an incredible victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that even its leaders could not have imagined.

Youth BJP supporters carrying PM Modi's masks during Holi celebrations in Jammu on Sunday.(PTI Photo)

columns

Updated on Mar 13, 2017 11:27 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Assembly election results: Only one name matters and that is of Narendra Modi

The BJP has scored such an incredible victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that even its leaders could not have imagined.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to people during a road show in Varanasi.(Adarsh Gupta/HT Photo)

elections

Updated on Mar 12, 2017 12:36 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

All that is rotten in our democracy is visible in these elections

Dynastic politics, caste and a political mud-slinging have cast a shadow on these assembly elections

Voters queue up to cast votes at a polling station in Ayodhya, February 27.(Arun Sharma/HT PHOTO)

editorials

Updated on Mar 06, 2017 07:22 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Assembly election results: Only one name matters and that is of Narendra Modi

The BJP has scored such an incredible victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that even its leaders could not have imagined.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to people during a road show in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Modi’s BJP secured impressive wins in UP and Uttarakhand.(Adarsh Gupta/HT Photo)

elections

Updated on Mar 12, 2017 12:31 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Thanks to leaders, lack of drinking water is not an issue in these elections

Lack of drinking water across the 50 districts of Uttar Pradesh should have been an issue in these assembly elections. But our politicians are always too busy muddying the waters

A priest carrying water on his makeshift cart about 50 km from Orchha in drought-hit Bundelkhand, March 17, 2016. As many as 308 districts in the country are grappling with the shortage of drinking water.(Mujeeb Faruqui/HT Photo)

opinion

Updated on Feb 26, 2017 08:46 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Will the assembly polls help in increasing the representation of women?

In many villages of Uttar Pradesh, where women are village panchayat chiefs, their husbands introduce themselves as ‘pradhan pati’ (husband of the panchayat chief). These are people who could not contest on their own owing to women’s reservations, but they fielded their wives instead. They still want to confine women within the walls of their homes. Can there be a bigger betrayal of democracy than this?

Irom Sharmila is living proof of the perversities of our society. She went on a hunger strike for 16 years, demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (Afspa). As long as she was on hunger strike, her family and the people she considered ‘her own’ kept praising her. It helped boost their prestige. People said Irom came from ‘this’ family and stayed in ‘that’ neighbourhood. In the process, they became victims of the ‘VIP syndrome.’(AP)

columns

Updated on Feb 20, 2017 01:28 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

UP election: SP’s Akhilesh Yadav faces a tough fight on home turf

SP followers believe, whatever the differences, the family will close ranks again, though Shivpal Yadav loyalists argue that what happened was not good and the sordid episode would be reflected in the results.

elections

Updated on Feb 14, 2017 12:56 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Etawah | ByShashi Shekhar

Uttar Pradesh’s Muslim vote-bank: A myth or reality?

What is clear is that many are not happy in the way their problems have been addressed over the decades

Displaced victims of the Muzaffarnagar riots show their voter cards and unique IDs in Manawwar Hasan Colony of Kairana, Uttar Pardesh.(HT File Photo)

columns

Updated on Feb 13, 2017 12:57 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

From the heartland: Firozabad, hope and typhoid in UP’s city of bangles

Ahead of Uttar Pradesh election, Shashi Shekhar takes you to Firozabad, the town famed for its colourful bangles, now another victim of unfulfilled poll promises.

Voters stand in queues to cast their votes at a polling station during the fifth phase of UP assembly polls in Firozabad .(PTI Photo)

elections

Updated on Feb 28, 2017 10:53 AM IST

Firozabad, Hindustan | ByShashi Shekhar

From the heartland: Caste, religion and Muzaffarnagar model of politics in UP

Probing the minds of people at a tea shop in western Uttar Pradesh, finding out litany of their sufferings.

Students hold up badges urging people to cast their votes, during an election awareness campaign in Uttar Pradesh. Elections in northern Uttar Pradesh begin on February 11.(AP)

india news

Updated on Feb 07, 2017 08:21 PM IST

Muzaffarnagar/Meerut, Hindustan | ByShashi Shekhar

Who says smaller states don’t face all-round injustice in the country?

Clearly Delhi doesn’t bother about smaller states because they don’t send too many MPs to the Parliament. The apathy of governments forces our soldiers to shed their blood from Manipur to Kashmir.

In Uttarakhand, the Congress and the BJP were in power one after the other but the faces of chief ministers (photo: Harish Rawat) kept changing as if party the high commands were shuffling a pack of cards(PTI)

columns

Updated on Feb 05, 2017 10:46 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

The idea of Gandhi is universal and immortal

Even after so many years, the Mahatma manages elicit a mix of curiosity and respect that too in alien lands

Mahatma Gandhi and some of his followers on their way to the shore at Dandi to break the salt laws. Gandhi’s biggest strength are his detractors. The more they resist him, the more his ideas will keep inspiring people.(Bettmann Archive)

opinion

Updated on Jan 30, 2017 09:03 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

Election 2017: Development off radar in the political theatre of Uttar Pradesh

Political conspiracies are being hatched at a fever pitch in the Hindi heartland. In the blind race for power, issues essential to Uttar Pradesh’s development are being pushed out of the discourse

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (left) with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. The coming together of the SP and the Congress will help unify the traditional voter as well as consolidate Muslim votes on its own.(Raj K Raj / HT File Photo)

columns

Updated on Jan 31, 2017 12:23 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

A trial by fire for Akhilesh Yadav in the upcoming UP polls

By moving away from his feuding family, Akhilesh Yadav pursued a development agenda and created a new vote bank for the Samajwadi Party. But 2017 may prove to be his sternest test yet.

columns

Updated on Jan 15, 2017 11:31 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

2017 assembly polls will be a harbinger for the emergence of younger leaders

How active can Mulayam Singh, Parkash Singh Badal, Harish Rawat and other such elder leaders stay till the next assembly elections?

columns

Updated on Jan 08, 2017 09:39 PM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

With assembly polls due this year, will the penny drop for Modi in 2017?

Apart from a verdict on the incumbent governments , these assembly elections will also be a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “bold” demonetisation decision

People stand in a long queue to withdraw money from an ATM in Allahabad. PM Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move triggered a nationwide cash crunch.(PTI)

columns

Updated on Jan 02, 2017 07:40 AM IST

ByShashi Shekhar

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Shashi Shekhar

Fires of dissatisfaction are raging in different parts of the country. This is because every government since 1947 has treated farmers only as a vote bank.

Gang rapes, hackings and disrespecting the dignity of the dead were not what the people of this country were known for

The responsibility of telling the truth to make a living is carried out by vernacular journalists on their own. They have to work in terrain and circumstances that are often labelled as ‘jungle raj’ by their urban brethren.

Owing to their opposition to development, the Naxalite movement is losing its way. Apart from disrupting government projects, they consider roads their greatest enemy. The soldiers attacked in Sukma were overseeing road construction.

The people’s verdict can be interpreted as a report card for most politicians. Three years after he took over as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has done well on this parameter.

Not just ATM and credit card frauds — the revelations in the Uttar Pradesh petrol pump scam have proved that the rights of the consumer are not safe anywhere

The MCD elections have proved that the wheels are coming off the brand of politics that Arvind Kejriwal had promised and used to win an unprecedented mandate

The Election Commission must ensure complete implementation of all parameters of the electoral process. Those officers violating this should be given the strictest punishment.

Will the collective rage for our parliamentarians and ministers be enough to save Jadhav’s life? Will he manage to return unscathed to Mumbai to his family?

A century after the Mahatma promised them freedom of exploitation in Bihar, the farmers of India are still fighting the odds.

Subjected to the slightest of personal discomfort, these people’s representatives resort to violence. Why can’t they raise their voice for the welfare of the average traveller?

The elections that were held between May 2014 and March 2017 have given many indicators that could prove to be warning signals for Opposition parties.

There is a timeless quality about listening to the diva of Bollywood music and the advancing years have not diminished her magic

So does Yogi Adityanath’s coronation as CM mean that BJP is showing how significant Hindu saints are for the party? This, despite 19.6 % of UP’s 20 crore population comprises of Muslims. Will the move win the trust of Muslims for the party?

The BJP has scored such an incredible victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that even its leaders could not have imagined.

The BJP has scored such an incredible victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that even its leaders could not have imagined.

Dynastic politics, caste and a political mud-slinging have cast a shadow on these assembly elections

The BJP has scored such an incredible victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that even its leaders could not have imagined.

Lack of drinking water across the 50 districts of Uttar Pradesh should have been an issue in these assembly elections. But our politicians are always too busy muddying the waters

SP followers believe, whatever the differences, the family will close ranks again, though Shivpal Yadav loyalists argue that what happened was not good and the sordid episode would be reflected in the results.

What is clear is that many are not happy in the way their problems have been addressed over the decades

Ahead of Uttar Pradesh election, Shashi Shekhar takes you to Firozabad, the town famed for its colourful bangles, now another victim of unfulfilled poll promises.

Probing the minds of people at a tea shop in western Uttar Pradesh, finding out litany of their sufferings.

Clearly Delhi doesn’t bother about smaller states because they don’t send too many MPs to the Parliament. The apathy of governments forces our soldiers to shed their blood from Manipur to Kashmir.

Even after so many years, the Mahatma manages elicit a mix of curiosity and respect that too in alien lands

Political conspiracies are being hatched at a fever pitch in the Hindi heartland. In the blind race for power, issues essential to Uttar Pradesh’s development are being pushed out of the discourse

By moving away from his feuding family, Akhilesh Yadav pursued a development agenda and created a new vote bank for the Samajwadi Party. But 2017 may prove to be his sternest test yet.

How active can Mulayam Singh, Parkash Singh Badal, Harish Rawat and other such elder leaders stay till the next assembly elections?

Apart from a verdict on the incumbent governments , these assembly elections will also be a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “bold” demonetisation decision

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