Hasan Suroor
India has voted. But can it still trust the referee?
Record turnout and a decisive mandate underline India’s faith in the ballot. Yet doubts around the Election Commission’s conduct have sparked a wider debate on fairness and credibility
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Why Pakistanis are questioning their government’s role in Iran talks
Pakistan’s sudden role in Iran war talks has put it back in the global spotlight. But at home, scepticism runs deep about how much influence it really wields — and who is actually calling the shots.
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
What if the four incumbents win again? Is that good for democracy?
Mamata, Vijayan, Himanta and Stalin are all facing anti-incumbency pressures. And yet they may return to power on May 4 because they appear to be better placed than their rivals. But is too much stability perhaps not productive for a dynamic democracy?
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
How the Congress shaped Muslim distrust of the Left
A secular Left and a vulnerable minority should have been natural allies. So why do so many Muslims in north India still keep their distance?
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Prohibition is not working in other states. So, why does Kashmir want to go dry?
A renewed call for prohibition in Kashmir has sparked a wider debate on morality, governance and livelihoods. As revenue, tourism and jobs hang in the balance, the politics around liquor turns sharply opportunistic.
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Why the world's largest democracy needs a more representative Lok Sabha
India plans to expand the Lok Sabha — a long-overdue correction to one of the world’s most under-representative lower houses. But can it deliver better representation without triggering political and federal tensions?
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Why does the Commonwealth avoid taking a stand on wars that affect its own members?
As a grouping of 56 countries spanning continents, the Commonwealth was meant to be a collective voice. Today, its silence on wars raises doubts about its purpose.
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Is Trump's Iran war aimed at dividing and weakening the Muslim world?
Critics say this is exactly what America and Israel want: a more vulnerable Muslim "street" that is easy to manipulate
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
As the bombing intensifies, the debate about Iran is missing the real point
As Washington weighs succession scenarios and Tehran trades missiles, the central question goes largely unasked: can Iran change without dismantling the clerical system that holds ultimate power? Until that is confronted, talk of regime change is theatre, at best hollow
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Why India’s real crisis is not religion, but religious illiteracy
Festivals once brought neighbours together. Today, they risk becoming markers of division in societies losing their cultural literacy.
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Why the Left may turn Right on Sabarimala issue
With elections looming, Kerala’s Left Front may back a review of the Sabarimala verdict it once championed — a move critics see as electoral pragmatism trumping ideology. As faith, gender rights and culture wars collide, the party walks a tightrope between secular principles and political survival.
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Why can't we all be like ‘Mohammed Deepak’?
From a gym owner’s quiet act of courage to incendiary speeches by chief ministers, the battle over India’s secular promise is playing out in plain sight. A new PIL asks: who will enforce the red lines the Constitution already draws?
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
How Rahul Gandhi's “arrogance” is driving Muslim leaders out of the Congress party
Shakeel Ahmad’s resignation is not an isolated rebellion but a warning flare. As Muslim leaders accuse Rahul Gandhi of neglect and fear-driven politics, the Congress risks losing its minority base without gaining a Hindu one in return
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
The not-so-liberal face of the "liberal" Muslim youth
A new generation claims liberalism, but sees the world almost entirely through religious identity — leaving little room for dissent or universal values
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
A gradual shift in Muslim politics, and what it reveals
As Indian politics becomes more polarised, Muslim political choices are growing more inward-looking. What this means for national parties is only beginning to emerge.
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
How incendiary vigilantism is wrecking inter-faith marriages
India’s Constitution guarantees adults the freedom to marry across faiths. But vigilante politics, aided by police inaction, is steadily hollowing out that promise
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
A new film revisits Shah Bano — and the change that never came
Forty years after a landmark Supreme Court verdict, a Hindi film holds up a mirror to the realities Muslim women still face. Reform that was promised, but never fully delivered
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
How some Muslim groups are (mis)interpreting the Saudi deportations
A viral YouTube video claims Saudi Arabia’s deportation of Indian workers is retaliation for the treatment of Muslims in India. The evidence doesn’t support it, but the episode reveals how faith-based geopolitics is reshaping public perception and foreign policy debates
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Why Bollywood’s lazy portrayal of Muslims is misleading
The Hindi film industry is not biased against Muslims, but its depiction of the community is
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Why the hijab row is about more than Nitish Kumar
What should have ended with a simple apology has become a farce, laying bare India’s misogynist political reflexes, the cynicism of opposition outrage, and the uneasy coexistence between religious conservatism and a secular, modern public sphere
- Hasan Suroor
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM