India Today

The past, in India, refuses to rest in peace. Like a restless spectre, it keeps returning to haunt the living—fuelling anger, inciting debate, and increasingly dictating the direction of our political discourse. What ought to have remained the domain of scholars and classrooms has entered the courtrooms, assemblies, and even the theatres of violence out on the streets. This week’s cover story examines a phenomenon that is no longer an anomaly but a pattern: the weaponisation of history for political ends. It is a subject both urgent and uncomfortable. In Maharashtra, the latest flashpoint is not a present-day economic crisis or infrastructure challenge but the grave of a long-dead Mughal emperor—Aurangzeb, who died in 1707. What lit the fuse was the film Chhaava, a historical epic centred on Sambhaji, son…

A late-night fire at the residence of a senior Delhi High Court judge has sparked an intense controversy around the judiciary and its complex appointments system. The incident, which unfolded on March 14 around 11.30 pm, saw a blaze erupt in an outhouse at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma. At the time, Justice Varma and his wife were in Bhopal, leaving only his daughter and elderly mother at home. When first responders—firefighters and police—arrived at the scene, they reportedly discovered stacks of cash in the storeroom, some of which had been charred by the flames. The revelation has raised troubling questions about corruption and accountability within one of the nation’s most venerated institutions. Videos and photographs of the scene, later released by the Supreme Court in an unprecedented move…

On March 20, Punjab Police launched a midnight crackdown on farm union protest sites at Shambhu (on the Patiala-Ambala highway) and Khanauri (Sangrur-Jind border), where demonstrations had been ongoing since February 2024. The operation was one of the most intense actions against farmer protests in the past decade. It was preceded by the detention of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha leader Sarvan Singh Pandher and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non Political) leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal just as they re-entered Punjab after meeting Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal in Chandigarh. The protest sites were forcibly cleared, with hundreds of farmers detained in the process. (Later, about 800 were released on March 24 with the promise to let another 450 go in the coming days.) The move marks a significant…

All her life, Santana Das had watched from a safe distance as others entered the Shiva temple in Gidhagram village in Katwa sub-division in Purba Bardhaman district. Born into the Muchi (cobbler) community—a Dalit group historically excluded from the temple—she had accepted this passively. But, on March 12, wearing her finest saree, she stepped inside for the first time. With her were three women—Pooja Das, Lakshmi Das and Mamata Das—and a man, Shasthi Das, all from the 130 Dalit families in the village. Their entry, under the watchful eye of the local administration, was a declaration of dignity and equality. Later, emerging from the temple after performing the rituals, Santana said, her voice trembling with emotion, “We are elated. I never thought this day would come.” The exclusion of Dalits…

The desert state of Rajasthan has had a somewhat more placid image compared to its neighbours but that reputation is fast losing its shine. Street violence over perceived slights has often been a bane but what’s proving worse is the lack of restraint higher up, with the words and deeds of politicians bordering on the boorish. This year’s Holi brought out some of the symptoms of the rash that has begun to ail the state. It started with the St Angela Sophia School in Jaipur issuing a circular to students to not bring colours to school, possibly because they wanted to avoid any untoward incident of harassment. But it took no time to snowball into a communal controversy, so much so that on March 11, school education minister Madan Dilawar…

First came the shock and dismay—throughout January, the discovery of hundreds of carcasses of Olive Ridley turtles on the beaches in and around Chennai raised the hackles of wildlife conservationists. Then, from mid-February and through March, emerged a remarkable silver lining: the Rushikulya beach in Odisha’s Ganjam district witnessed an unprecedented mass nesting event, with close to 700,000 turtles laying eggs. This astonishing spectacle comes after the site saw no nesting at all last year, making it a moment of triumph for conservationists. Redemption, it seemed, had arrived further up the coast. Olive Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) are the most abundant of all sea turtles and they inhabit the warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Olive Ridleys travel 9,000 km from the Pacific Ocean, as well as…