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There is a pillar in the Somnath temple compound that points south and says, in effect, that there is nothing between this spot and Antarctica. No land. No interruption. Just the Arabian Sea running all the way down to the polar ice. I stood in front of that pillar for longer than I probably needed to and thought about what kind of civilisation plants a stone at the edge of the known world and marks the direction of the void with such complete composure. The answer, I think, is one that has already made its peace with impermanence. Somnath has been destroyed twelve times. Rebuilt twelve times. The current structure was completed in 1951 under Sardar Patel's supervision — the first major act of civilisational reclamation after independence, done over Nehru's quiet objections, consecrated by Rajendra Prasad who attended as a private citizen because the distinction between the state and the sacred was being negotiated in real time and nobody had worked out the correct protocol yet...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman I was too young to understand why we were going Baba Dham  w hen we visited for the first time . Someone in the family was ill, or a car had been bought, or a wedding was being planned. Joy and sorrow both travel the same road to Deoghar, to the Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga, where Lord Shiva receives whatever you bring him without asking why you brought it. My mother carried whatever needed to be offered. I sat in the back and watched the road. That was my introduction to Shiva. Not theology. The road to Deoghar. Representational Image:Nine Dhuni Agni Tapasya; Via: AIR There is a train that no longer runs. It was called the Gyanodaya Express, and it carried students between Delhi and the cities of western and northern India. I boarded it as a student at Delhi University and found myself standing inside Somnath for the first time — on the Arabian Sea, where the shore holds the memory of every invasion that tried and failed t...

India's prison system confines approximately 5.7 lakh (570,000) persons as of the most recent Prison Statistics India (PSI) data — of whom approximately 75–76% are undertrials (not convicted, awaiting trial). This proportion — among the world's highest for democratic countries — reflects the interaction of India's mass arrest practices, stringent bail provisions for special statutes (UAPA, NDPS, PMLA), the poor defendant's inability to meet bail surety requirements, and India's court pendency backlog.  The nationally sanctioned prison capacity is approximately 4.25 lakh — meaning actual occupancy at 5.7 lakh represents an overcrowding rate of approximately 130%, making India's prisons among the world's most overcrowded. Representational Image: How India's Prisons Work The prison system is a state subject under the Seventh Schedule; each state operates its own prison department under the state Home Ministry; central prisons (typically at district level), ...

India's legal framework for protecting women and children is comprehensive on paper: the Domestic Violence Act (2005), the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961), Section 498A IPC/BNS (cruelty by husband and relatives), the POCSO Act (2012), Child Labour prohibition laws, the Trafficking Act framework, and the BNSS's strengthened victim rights provisions collectively create a legal architecture that is more protective than many comparably developed countries.  The challenge is the gap between legal protection and enforcement reality — a gap that is both institutional (police resistance to registering FIRs, court pendency, forensic limitations) and social (community pressure on victims not to pursue complaints, family honour considerations, economic dependence on abusers). Representational Image: How India Handles Crimes Against Women and Children NCRB 2023 data documents: crimes against women 4.48 lakh cases (marginal 0.7% increase from 2022); crimes against children 1.87 lakh cases (9....

India's rape law underwent fundamental reform following the December 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder — the case that sparked nationwide protests, the Justice Verma Committee review, and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013.  The 2013 amendment expanded the definition of rape to include oral sex, digital penetration, and use of objects; eliminated the "two-finger test" as admissible evidence; introduced minimum sentences (7 years for rape, 10 years for gang rape, 20 years for rape resulting in death); mandated fast-track courts; expanded stalking and voyeurism as criminal offences; and criminalised acid attacks.  Representational Image: How India Handles Sexual Violence Cases The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO, 2012) created a specialised legal framework for sexual offences against children with mandatory minimum sentences and child-friendly procedures. The BNS (effective July 2024) carried forward the 2013 rape provisions with some modification...

India's organised crime landscape is characterised by multi-domain criminal syndicates operating at the intersection of land, real estate, construction, and political patronage in major metropolitan areas; trafficking networks (human, drug, and wildlife) operating transnationally; and the increasingly important digital-criminal complex centred on fraud operations.  The Mumbai underworld — historically associated with figures including Dawood Ibrahim (D Company, currently believed in Pakistan), Chhota Shakeel, and successor networks — remains a reference point in organised crime discourse; its contemporary influence on Mumbai's film industry (extortion), real estate (land acquisition), and contract killings is documented but significantly diminished from its 1990s peak following sustained police and ED pressure.  Representational Image: How India Handles Organised Crime More significant in the current period are land-based syndicates operating in urban periphery areas of D...