Home Opinion Sunday View: The Best Weekend Opinion Reads, Curated Just for You
Sunday View: The Best Weekend Opinion Reads, Curated Just for You
We sifted through the papers to find the best opinion reads, so you won't have to.
The Quint
Opinion
Published:
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A curation of essential opinion pieces from across newspapers – made just for you.
(Photo: iStock)
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Rendering Interim Justice
In his piece for The Indian Express, Congress leader P Chidambaram critiques the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, arguing that several of its provisions violate constitutional principles, especially those concerning minority rights and religious freedom.
He raised four objections in terms of expropriation of Waqf property, the constitutional concerns and larger implication of the law.
The Supreme Court heard arguments for three days on the application for interim stay of the Waqf (Amendment) Act as a whole or, at least, the key provisions. It was unusual for the Court to devote three days to a stay application. Further submissions will be heard when the case is listed for final arguments. In the meanwhile, knowing the character of this government, it will nurse its wounds and plot further assaults on minorities in pursuance of its Hindutva agenda. Malice is writ large on the face of the Waqf (Amendment) Act. If the government were to observe Article 26 of the Constitution scrupulously.
P Chidambaram, The Indian Express
Babu’s Babus
In this piece for The Indian Express, Coomi Kapoor zeroes in on a conflict in Andhra Pradesh between Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s IAS officers ('babus') and MPs from his party (TDP), highlighting tensions about respect, protocol, and power dynamics between bureaucrats and elected representatives.
Kapoor also touches upon Arundhati Roy's new book visiting a past dispute and PM Narendra Modi's openly strengthened ties with the RSS, among other things.
When Naidu came to Delhi for the Vice-President’s swearing-in ceremony, an altercation took place between MP Byreddy Shabari and the CM’s aide Kartikeya Misra at Naidu’s residence. Misra allegedly rudely ordered the woman MP to step aside. When Shabari suggested that Misra show more respect, the officer launched a tirade and she broke down in tears. Her fellow MPs comforted her and senior MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy recalled that the same officer had allegedly once slammed a door in his face. He had earlier quit the YSR Congress because of similar arrogant behaviour. TDP MPs complained to the CM, who asked his official for an explanation. Instead of an apology, at a Collectors’ meet at Amravati last week, IAS officers backed their colleague. It was even suggested that the MP deny the incident, news of which appeared in the media. With both sides incensed, Naidu is caught between a rock and a hard place.
Coomi Kapoor, The Indian Express
Hand in Glove
In this column forThe Telegraph, Mukul Kesavan argues that cricket in South Asia, especially India-Pakistan matches, is increasingly subordinated to nationalist politics. Incidents like Indian players refusing to shake hands with Pakistani players show how political signalling overrides sportsmanship.
"To see a cricket match as the continuation of a military campaign, to offer up its result as a tribute to a nation’s armed forces, is an odd sort of opportunism," he notes.
For the nation-state, patriotism is more important than cricketing decorum. Netas will always tell cricketers that they are citizens first and sportsmen later. If pressed, nearly every athlete will accept that he or she is a citizen first. The trick is not to press them. The balance between patriotism and the spirit of the game is best sustained when national feeling is allowed to rumble underground like a powerful bass line that moves us without being turned into words.
Mukul Kesavan, The Telegraph
Trump’s ‘Super Ambassador’ and the Indo-Pacific Challenge
Vappala Balachandran, a former intelligence officer, in this piece for The Indian Express writes about US President Donald Trump's decision to appoint Sergio Gor as US Ambassador to India and Special Envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs, granting him unprecedented oversight of the Indo-Pacific region—supervising 46 embassies across South/Central Asia and East Asia/Pacific. This also reflects a strategic move by the Trump administration to consolidate efforts in the Indo-Pacific region under a single, trusted official.
What would be Sergio Gor’s charter? The Trump 1.0 strategy was building collective security through a network of regional allies and partners through the Quad and allied pacts, promoting economic prosperity in that area and encouraging good governance and shared principles. This was to be achieved through increased engagement with the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Islands region and to respond more forcefully to Beijing’s efforts, which were meant to undermine the US policy of safeguarding the sovereignty of Indo-Pacific partners. True, the Trump 2.0 emphasis on tariffs with coercion and indifference has made these countries unhappy. That should have helped China to “step in”. However, the “Pacific Islands Forum” meeting in Solomon Islands this month did not entirely go in favour of China.
Vappala Balachandran, The Indian Express
Genesis of the Nepali Uprising: Beyond the Ban of Social Media Platforms
SD Pradhan, former chairman of India's Joint Intelligence Committee writes in The Times of India, that the uprising in Nepal was not just about censorship or internet access. It was a broader demand from Nepal’s youth for dignity, opportunity, justice, and accountability. While social media was a tool that enabled their voices, the protest reflected deeper frustration with the government.
In sum, Nepal’s uprising was not merely about apps or platforms. It was about a generation demanding to be heard in a nation where their future feels hostage to corruption, privilege, and inertia and the mechanism to be heard was non-existent. Some important conclusions flow from the Nepali uprising. First, though social media platforms played an important role, the flaws in the system were the real cause for the uprising. Social media acted as the catalyst and megaphone, making it difficult to contain the anger. The protest was against the system in which political leaders of all parties were overlooking the real problems and were interested in clinging to power.
SD Pradhan, The Times of India
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India in the Crosswinds
In this piece for the Deccan Herald, Captain GR Gopinath (retd) focuses on how India is under increasing international pressure for its handling of Russian oil imports, being accused of acting like a “laundromat” for Russian oil, which is seen as indirectly helping fund Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Nehru’s policy of non-alignment was effective and steered India through tough times. These are different times that call for new strategies to navigate an evolving multipolar order. Even for countries that had a sense of what to expect from Trump, the chaos that ensued has been a jolt. Modi and S Jaishankar are not the only ones who have been caught unaware – some of the US’s traditional allies and trading partners in the Americas, Europe, and Asia have found themselves in Trump’s crosshairs. While countries such as Mexico and Canada have stood up in defiance, some in Europe have tried to placate Trump – the bottom line is that none have been able to read the president.
Capt GR Gopinath (retd), Deccan Herald
2 Ways To Kill Free Speech: ‘Kindness’ & Brute Force
In this piece for the Deccan Chronicle, Ranjona Banerji reflects on the complexities of free speech and the challenges of choosing what to write about. She examines how free speech is being undermined in two contrasting ways: through brute force (censorship, suppression) and through a kind of enforced kindness or moral policing, arguing that both extremes are dangerous.
This seems connected to the current trend to be kind to everyone who says something you like and yet to label and cut down everyone who disagrees with you. Both kindness and free speech in the liberal world mean that the right to decide what someone else can say is only for those who give themselves that right. But conversely, I pondered over the other trend to say whatever hurtful things you want about other people because you have free speech but get full of rage and violence if anything hurtful is said to you because free speech is not for everyone.
Ranjona Banerji, Deccan Chronicle
We are Building a Generation of Yes-Men
In this article forDeccan Herald, Mohammed Zeeshan argues that the modern society is fostering a gene+ration of "yes-men" who lack exposure to diverse perspectives. He states that that today's society is encouraging conformity rather than critical thinking and that especially young people are being conditioned to agree, rather than argue, question, or hold dissenting views.
In the pre-Internet age, public debate and discourse may have been restricted to a tiny, educated elite. But those who did partake in debate were also forced to engage with opinions that flew against their own. Village elders in the public square and senators in parliament had to establish their following by arguing against the substance of opposing views. Media outlets were limited in number and covered all sides of the debate in their reportage. The social media age expanded the public square by giving more people a platform. But it also created ideological silos and echo chambers. Instead of a large, noisy public square where a plethora of ideas and opinions mingled freely, social media allowed people to form isolated rooms full of folks like themselves. Contrarian thinkers were often publicly humiliated and then expelled, until they too found a room full of like-minded people.
Mohammed Zeeshan, Deccan Herald
As Manipur Rivals Tussle In State, Let’s Keep India’s Focus On Larger Picture
In this piece for The Asian Age, Pradeep C Nair emphasises that while ethnic tensions between the Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur remain acute, India must look beyond immediate local disputes and focus on broader strategic and developmental goals.
He highlights Prime Minister Modi’s visit, the promise of infrastructure projects, and relief for displaced communities as important steps, but stresses that true progress requires psychological healing and trust‑building.
The highlight of the PM’s visit was not the infrastructure projects that were announced by Mr Narendra Modi, but the healing touch that this visit has provided to the people, despite the opposition by certain groups and the protests during his visit. These, however, were a small minority and did not reflect the true sentiments and aspirations of Manipur’s people at large. The PM’s commitment that he was with them has given the people the necessary assurance that they were seeking. The greatest need today in Manipur is the psychological and mental healing of thousands of traumatised people
