Hartosh Singh Bal, The Caravan Journalist Profile

Articles

The India-Pakistan conflict is sustaining the political projects of their leaders

1 week ago | caravanmagazine.in | Hartosh Singh Bal

A CEASEFIRE WAS DECLARED between India and Pakistan on 10 May. It came after a tense four days of military conflict—involving missile strikes, heavy shelling along the Line of Control and drone battles—that resulted in nearly two hundred deaths. The Narendra Modi government declared on the day of the ceasefire that any future acts of terror would be considered an “act of war” and would be dealt with accordingly.
The bankruptcy of the Rahul Congress

Mar 1, 2025 | caravanmagazine.in | Hartosh Singh Bal

As the results of the Delhi election began to come in, two things became clear. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s dedication to organisation and detail in its campaign, well documented in a recent piece in The Caravan,had prevailed. But the Aam Aadmi Party was not a spent force. It had fought a close battle, exceeding the vote share predictions of even the more optimistic opinion polls.
What we cannot ignore about Manmohan Singh

Jan 27, 2025 | caravanmagazine.in | Hartosh Singh Bal

The death of Manmohan Singh in December 2024 prompted a reassessment of a man who had faced heavy criticism from his political opponents towards the end of his second term as prime minister. Much of this can be put down to the usual tendency people have of not wanting to speak ill of the dead, but some of it also seems genuine and heartfelt.
Rahul Gandhi’s patronising and self-serving distortions in parliament

Jul 8, 2024 | hindi.caravanmagazine.in | Hartosh Singh Bal

Our cover story this month deals with how, in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party—with the Congress playing, at best, a minor role—took on and defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party. The most important lesson from the election result was that the BJP cannot take its support base for granted. While the party held on to its upper-caste Hindu vote, it lost a great deal of traction, primarily among voters from castes administratively referred to as Extremely Backward Classes.
Hindutva’s consolidation of a varna autocracy is destroying the republic

Apr 30, 2024 | caravanmagazine.in | Hartosh Singh Bal

WE HAVE NEVER had an election like this before, with the people split between elation and foreboding. The majority eagerly anticipates the result, with many among them unconcerned about what it would mean for India or for the compact under which the country came into being. The smaller fraction hopes for, at best, any possible reduction in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s numbers that might bring a temporary respite to its betrayal of constitutional values.
The End Of Secular India

Apr 13, 2024 | independent.ng | Hartosh Singh Bal

Modi’s Quest to Entrench Hindu Nationalism On April 19, India will kick off the largest election in history. Over 44 days, more than 500 million people—or 65 percent of the country’s nearly one billion eligible voters—are expected to participate. The exercise will be spectacular, with ballots printed in over a dozen languages and distributed from islands to remote mountain communities. But the result is not really in doubt.
The End of Secular India

Apr 12, 2024 | almendron.com | Hartosh Singh Bal

On April 19, India will kick off the largest election in history. Over 44 days, more than 500 million people—or 65 percent of the country’s nearly one billion eligible voters—are expected to participate. The exercise will be spectacular, with ballots printed in over a dozen languages and distributed from islands to remote mountain communities. But the result is not really in doubt. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party are expected to return to power for a third term.
The End of Secular India

Apr 12, 2024 | foreignaffairs.com | Hartosh Singh Bal

On April 19, India will kick off the largest election in history. Over 44 days, more than 500 million people—or 65 percent of the country’s nearly one billion eligible voters—are expected to participate. The exercise will be spectacular, with ballots printed in over a dozen languages and distributed from islands to remote mountain communities. But the result is not really in doubt. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party are expected to return to power for a third term.
The Hindu Mahasabha’s mendacious attempt to recreate Ayodhya at Madhya Pradesh’s Kamal Maula mosque

Jan 1, 2024 | caravanmagazine.in | Hartosh Singh Bal |Dhirendra K Jha

IN MID SEPTEMBER 2023, hardly two months before the Madhya Pradesh elections, the police arrested four persons for attempting to place an idol of Sarasvati within the premises of the Kamal Maula Masjid, in the town of Dhar. The persons arrested were associated with the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindu nationalist party connected to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The Hindu Mahasabha later claimed that an idol of Sarasvati had spontaneously manifested itself inside the shrine.
The Mystery of India’s Assassination Plots

Dec 8, 2023 | almendron.com | Hartosh Singh Bal

On November 29, the U.S. Department of Justice made a startling announcement: an Indian government official had tried to assassinate a U.S. citizen on American soil. According to the DOJ, the official offered to pay $100,000 for a hit man to murder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun—an activist who has called for the Indian state of Punjab to secede and form an independent country. He is not the first Sikh separatist Indian that officials have been accused of trying to kill.