OUR MAY 30 COVER FEATURING the then Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan discussed the possibility of India fighting a two-front war. The general had then pointed to the term’s European roots, set against the backdrop of the two World Wars.
This week, we bring you reportage from the ground in Israel, by Chief of Bureau (Delhi) Namrata Biji Ahuja. And, the talk is about Israel gearing up to fight an eight-front war, with the eighth front being public perception. Namrata was at Tefen, near the border with Lebanon, in the Golan Heights buffer zone, and in the West Bank.
Namrata reports on how the individual fires on Israel’s borders have acquired a life of their own, and these fires respect no diktats—not from Washington, not from Tehran. It is between the IDF and them. It is personal. Hence, the eight-front war.
Adding heft to the package are columns from Omid Babelian from the Institute for Political and International Studies, Iran’s leading think-tank; Aishwarya Airy, a journalist based in Beirut; and Ahmad Al Husseini, a political analyst based in Washington and Beirut.
While on the topic of war, the Malayala Manorama’s Special Correspondent Jeejo John Puthezhath brings you the story of how a company reportedly hoodwinked a group of investors into “joining a project to manufacture weapons for the US in India”. The investment pitch was based on a non-existent “Indo-US Pacific Peace Treaty”, investors told Jeejo.
In other news from Delhi, Senior Assistant Editor K. Sunil Thomas reports on the Cockroach Janta Party and what it represents. Correspondent Badar Bashir interviewed Abhijeet Dipke, founder of CJP. “Funnily, the ultimate success of the CJP lies in its own irrelevance,” said Dipke. “If mainstream political forces were already prioritising the future of students and job seekers, this movement would never have been born.”
Our coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 continues, with New Media Coordinator Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl, Chief Subeditor Karthik Ravindranath and Senior Subeditor Bechu S. weighing in. All of them are mad about football. This week, Karthik looks at Lionel Scaloni’s boys in white and sky blue, and at players with Indian roots.
Bechu wonders if Cristiano Ronaldo will draw level with Eusebio’s nine World Cup goals, or top Portugal’s leaderboard. And, if he does that, what would it mean for Portugal? Sarath has been a Seleção fan forever. Brazil fans are praying for Carlo Ancelotti and his boys to humble the rest of us. It’s a long tournament, boys. Peace.
In @leisure, contributor Jaswant Lalwani profiles artist Alaiia Gujral, co-founder of Future Galerie. Kiran and artist Satish Gujral’s granddaughter, Alaiia trained in fibres, ceramics and print media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is also a trustee of the Gujral Foundation, founded in 2008 by her parents, Feroze and Mohit Gujral.
Alaiia’s story comes at a time when Satish’s celebrated mosaics at Shastri Bhawan are in the news. The seven-storey ceramic wonder was a regular sight for me when THE WEEK’s New Delhi bureau was based in the Press Trust of India Building, just under 3km from Shastri Bhawan by road and much less as the crow flies.
Almost 60 years after they were originally crafted, the mosaics will be moved to an unspecified new home, according to news reports. And, Shastri Bhawan will be reborn as Kartavya Bhawan #4.
