Open Magazine - Top Stories

Testament of a Radical Liberal
Testament of a Radical Liberal
16 min read
Liberalism is not a repudiation of patriotism and to reclaim it is not to mimic the West but to rediscover a native grammar of freedom
Behold Gandhi the Hindu: How Sanatana Dharma Shaped India’s Independence Movement and Nationalism
12 min read
He tackled Jinnah, Ambedkar and the Christian missionaries with philosophical panache when his belief in Hinduism came to be directly challenged
Freedom Issue 2026: Editor's Note
3 min read
The Ides of August: The idea of freedom
9 min read
Diplomatic postings in Singapore and Pakistan have given the author a ringside view of how the intersection of history and politics alters the idea of freedom
The Capital of Mobilisation: Delhi and the unfinished argument of the Republic
8 min read
Governments have changed, sometimes dramatically, but the city’s deeper history lay in the claims made upon them. The important question is not only who occupied the seat of power but who was standing ...
‘Could be my last World Cup’: Manpreet Singh wants India to end 50-year wait for hockey glory in 2026
3 min read
With the 2026 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup approaching, India midfielder Manpreet Singh says the tournament could be his last and wants to finally add a World Cup medal to the team’s Olympic success.
Vishesh Bhatt on clash between Emraan Hashmi’s Awarapan 2 and Sunny Deol’s Batwara 1947: ‘I was afraid…’
3 min read
Awarapan 2 director Vishesh Bhatt says the film’s release-date overlap with Batwara 1947 was never intentional. A delayed shoot, shifting release calendar and the Independence Day holiday ultimately b ...
Census 2027 Wants to Know You Better: From Caste and Religion to Aadhaar, Bank Accounts and COVID Jab
3 min read
India’s next Census will go well beyond counting people. Forty questions will cover everything from religion, caste and marriage to education, jobs, migration, digital literacy, bank accounts and COVI ...
Iran blames "foreign aggression" for Qeshm oil spill — trackers say it was self-inflicted
2 min read
Iran on Friday attributed oil pollution along Qeshm Island's shores to "foreign military aggression" in the Strait of Hormuz, with senior officials calling for a coastal management framework — even as ...
open magazine cover
14 Aug 2026 - Vol 05 | Issue 33

Freedom Issue 2026

Shashi Tharoor on being radical liberal | Ram Madhav on how Gandhi used his Hinduism | TCA Raghavan on a diplomat's travels in history | Sumana Roy on the novel beyond the Booker | Carlo Pizzati on the dissolution of Borders
Testament of a Radical Liberal
Behold Gandhi the Hindu: How Sanatana Dharma Shaped India’s Independence Movement and Nationalism
Freedom Issue 2026: Editor's Note
The Ides of August: The idea of freedom