The case of Norwegian authorities taking away two Indian children for “safe custody” has had several twists and turns. The media may have gone overboard and the government may have spoken on the matter too soon. But were the Norwegians justified in taking away the children? Namita Bhandare asks in 10 questions. A-file-photo-of-Sagarika-Bhattacharya-and-her-child If you’ve been following the twists and turns in the hairpin saga known as the Norway kids custody case, then you’re probably as dizzy I am. It’s been quite a ride. Yes, Anurup Bhattacharya concealed facts about his troubled marriage. Yes, revelations about his wife’s so-called psychological…

Has there been anything more outrageous, cruel and insensitive than the Norway kids case? Dark as a Scandinavian winter, this unbelievable story shows no sign of ending soon. Namita Bhandare writes. Norway-s-child-protection-rights-come-under-scanner Has there been anything more outrageous, cruel and insensitive than the Norway kids case? Dark as a Scandinavian winter, this unbelievable story shows no sign of ending soon. On February 15, three weeks after the ministry of external affairs reached an understanding with the Norwegian government for custody of the minor Indian children, currently in separate foster homes, to be handed over to their paternal uncle, the ministry…

It is up to Akhilesh Yadav to be the change that the voters have sought. Namita Bhandare writes. The burden of hope lies heavy on Akhilesh Yadav. Uttar Pradesh’s 38-year-old chief minister brings expectation that he will break from the past and usher in new beginnings, beginnings that include development not caste, roads not monuments, jobs not patronage. Hope is a tough horse to ride and it has toppled many reputations in the past. Those who voted Akhilesh for the first time were not born when an exuberant Rajiv Gandhi swore to stamp out ‘powerbrokers’ in his Mumbai Congress centenary…

The purpose of education goes beyond a test that asks predictable questions. Namita Bhandare writes. I see them huddled outside the school gates. Some are engaged in chit chat, others stare at unread newspapers as they wait for their children to emerge from the examination centre. They are this year’s batch of anxious parents, prisoners along with their children in the annual rite of board examinations. My daughter has another year to go. Yet, I’m already laying out commandments: coaching classes in the summer, no missing school and just forget about holidays. But I’m no tiger mother. My children have…

Human trafficking continues to thrive because of our misplaced priorities, writes Namita Bhandare. For close to a month, a two-year-old baby girl called Falak has gripped the imagination of a nation. Brought in with a fractured skull, bite marks and bruises, she has undergone four surgeries, and is on and off the ventilator. Who knows how her story will end? Will she have permanent brain damage? Will she end up institutionalised? Will she live? For now, it’s just a struggle to make it through another day. Falak was brought to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences by a 14-year-old…

Symbiosis College should not have ‘postponed’ the screening of Jashn-e-Azadi. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image Days after Salman Rushdie cancelled his visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival, the Symbiosis College of Art and Commerce in Pune, acting on a prompt by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the BJP, postponed indefinitely a seminar on Kashmir that included a screening of Sanjay Kak’s film Jashn-e-Azadi. Elsewhere, in Kolkata, protesting Muslims succeeded in cancelling Taslima Nasreen’s book launch, an event that her publishers held eventually at their own stall at the book fair. Hooliganism’s multiplying effect has been…

If I am to have the freedom to offend, then you must equally have the freedom to rebut – either on a similar platform or in a court of law. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image Three parables from modern India. A man writes a book that offends some people enough to ban it and, for good measure, demand his head. Salman Rushdie goes underground, in time the fatwa is forgotten, he emerges from hiding and continues writing and travelling. Then, a curious thing happens. He is invited, again, to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival. His name appears on the programme,…

There must be zero tolerance for any attempt to justify crimes against women by blaming the victim herself. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image So what was the 13-year-old girl from Lakhimpur wearing when she was raped and murdered in August last year? How provocatively dressed was the 77-year-old woman raped and beaten up in March in Delhi? And surely the two-year-old child who was raped by a 60-year-old man near Ludhiana in November must have had an unseemly display of diaper. I have to ask because everyone from Andhra Pradesh DGP Dinesh Reddy to Bangalore University’s head of the committee…

Now that the rules of eligibility for India’s highest civilian honour have been relaxed, that hardy perennial- Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar — has bloomed again. Namita Bhandare writes. Now that the rules of eligibility for India’s highest civilian honour have been relaxed, that hardy perennial- Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar — has bloomed again. So have a dozen others. Yes, Sachin must get it, but not before hockey player Dhyan Chand. Why not four-time World chess champion Vishwanathan Anand? And surely we must include India’s first individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra. These are good names. Now toss in…

Opening cinema halls in defiance of militants or separatist hardliners, even under security, should be a matter of prestige if not priority. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image Farooq Abdullah is not a man I always agree with. When he suggests that India would be better off as a ‘controlled democracy’, I roll my eyes. When he sacks his brother for disparaging Rahul Gandhi, I am perplexed. But when Farooq Abdullah says he wants cinema halls (and liquor shops) to open in Kashmir, I find myself in complete agreement. Let’s keep liquor shops out for now (after all Gujarat is also…

We must fight for real reforms, not vent our frustrations on easy targets, Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image It was not the slap that landed on Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar that alarmed me as much as Kiran Bedi’s tweet: “Pray proper Lokpal Bill gets passed in Winter session or else pent up anger may come on streets. Politicians may be targeted.” You’d think a former policewoman would know better than to tweet a thinly-veiled call to arms a day after her mentor Anna Hazare made headlines for his novel way of dealing with alcoholics with a public flogging in…

Women athletes deal with sports chauvinism everywhere, every day. Women who must observe hijab by law or custom have the additional burden of demonstrating that their athleticism does not mitigate their faith: switching games, wearing restrictive garments, performing before an all-women-audience, facing fatwas and death threats — whatever it takes. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image In the photograph they are just numbers: 3, 14, 7. But their headscarves, covered necks and full-sleeved shirts do not mask their cheekiness. The one with #3 on her jersey has her chin up and eyebrows raised. The goofball is clearly #14, the tomboy with…