author

Aakar Patel

Aakar Patel is a writer and columnist. You can e-mail the author at aakar.patel@gmail.com

Stories by Aakar Patel

Why Is Media Silent On Kashmir Times?

Why Is Media Silent On Kashmir Times?

Rediff.com   6 days ago

It is shameful that Kashmir Times has been attacked in the way it has and that Anuradha Bhasin has not found more voices to speak in support of her and her paper, points out Aakar Patel.

What Democrats Can Learn From Zohran Mamdani

What Democrats Can Learn From Zohran Mamdani

Rediff.com   5 Nov 2025

His victory means that his party will have to learn from him, because after the rise of Donald Trump, the Democrats have been in disarray. They have had no real answer to the Trump phenomenon and Zohran, with his emphatic and clear policies aimed at working class Americans offers them a national path for a return, asserts Aakar Patel.

How Zohran Mamdani Went From 1% To Frontrunner

How Zohran Mamdani Went From 1% To Frontrunner

Rediff.com   4 Nov 2025

What an achievement it will be if a young Gujarati-Punjabi man is able to give the most powerful nation in the world a new direction, asserts Aakar Patel.

Why We Must Worry About India's Human Rights Record

Why We Must Worry About India's Human Rights Record

Rediff.com   18 Oct 2025

In May, 40 Rohingyas were blindfolded and flown to the Andaman and Nicobar islands and then thrown into the sea and made to swim to an island in Myanmar. And after the Pahalgam attack, at least 300 Muslims were 'pushed back' to Bangladesh from Assam.

India's Foreign Policy Panchnama

India's Foreign Policy Panchnama

Rediff.com   4 Oct 2025

There has never been a moment in India's history when it has been so adrift in the world, so confused about what it stands for and against and so humiliated, asserts Aakar Patel.

Are We Making A Chinese Mistake Again?

Are We Making A Chinese Mistake Again?

Rediff.com   6 Sep 2025

'Xi is an individual led by a harder calculus and would scoff at melting over gestures.' 'That we did not know this was our failure,' asserts Aakar Patel.

The Dangerous Reality Behind Maharashtra's 'Urban Naxal' Law

The Dangerous Reality Behind Maharashtra's 'Urban Naxal' Law

Rediff.com   21 Aug 2025

'The law under the guise of security represents a grave and unnecessary expansion of State power at the cost of fundamental rights,' asserts Aakar Patel.

Why Is US Going Through This Madness?

Why Is US Going Through This Madness?

Rediff.com   9 Aug 2025

The answer is to be found in the rise of the global south and in particular, the rise of China, explains Aakar Patel.

The Leverage Trump's US Has On Xi's China Has Shrunk

The Leverage Trump's US Has On Xi's China Has Shrunk

Rediff.com   31 Jul 2025

The stock and bond markets told Trump firmly that any idea of isolating China would lead to harming the US economy and this forced Trump to backtrack, points out Aakar Patel.

How Jana Sangh Was Born 75 Years Ago

How Jana Sangh Was Born 75 Years Ago

Rediff.com   11 Jul 2025

'As we read and assess what is going on around us in the India of 2025, it is instructive to do this through the lens of 75 years ago and the events that led to the formation of the BJP as we know it,' recalls Aakar Patel.

Does India Have A Foreign Policy?

Does India Have A Foreign Policy?

Rediff.com   21 Jun 2025

This might help explain why our global outreach has received such a tepid response. We have chosen to be transactional with the world, as our UN votes reveal, points out Aakar Patel.

The Indo-Pak Hyphen Became Blurred

The Indo-Pak Hyphen Became Blurred

Rediff.com   12 May 2025

'We are too important to want to be paired with Pakistan but too intensely connected to it to successfully detach ourselves,' asserts Aakar Patel.

How Will Trump Change The World On April 2?

How Will Trump Change The World On April 2?

Rediff.com   1 Apr 2025

We have entered a new era in human history, asserts Aakar Patel.

Leaders, Heed The 11-Year Rule!

Leaders, Heed The 11-Year Rule!

Rediff.com   20 Mar 2025

There is a reason this 11 year phenomenon is a rule as much as it is an observation. It speaks to the nature of man and what humans are like, explains Aakar Patel.

Why Trump Wants All Wars To End

Why Trump Wants All Wars To End

Rediff.com   13 Mar 2025

The US involvement in Ukraine and the Middle East is a distraction which has to end quickly so that the main business of China can be focussed on. China is America's only peer competitor, not Russia and not anybody else. Therefore it makes little sense to be diverted from the overall mission, explains Aakar Patel.

Why The Census Is Important

Why The Census Is Important

Rediff.com   1 Mar 2025

It will be interesting to see what shifts have been recorded in the last decade-and-a-half -- from the effects of demonetisation and Covid's second wave to the drop in fertility and increase in farm workers -- but we will only know this if and when the Census is conducted, points out Aakar Patel.

Heeding Azad, Partition Could Have Been Prevented

Heeding Azad, Partition Could Have Been Prevented

Rediff.com   1 Feb 2025

Abul Kalam Azad chose not to contest Congress Presidency and to throw his weight behind Nehru, instead of Patel, a decision he would come to regret. Patel would have seen his plan through, while Nehru, in Azad's opinion 'gave Jinnah the opportunity to sabotage' it, notes Aakar Patel.

How History Will Remember Dr Singh

How History Will Remember Dr Singh

Rediff.com   1 Jan 2025

Manmohan Singh represented the finest aspects of India, asserts Aakar Patel.

Aakar Patel: China Flourishes While India Digs Up Past

Aakar Patel: China Flourishes While India Digs Up Past

Rediff.com   7 Dec 2024

We no longer have the ambition to rival China save through words. We are happy to be fighting ourselves and digging up disputes from centuries ago as a substitute for real development, argues Aakar Patel.

India, Don't Spurn Bangladesh

India, Don't Spurn Bangladesh

Rediff.com   2 Dec 2024

Our visa operations in Bangladesh constitute the largest visa operations India conducts worldwide. This has taken a hit after Sheikh Hasina's government was overthrown and India reduced its diplomatic presence in Bangladesh, notes Aakar Patel.