Frontline Conversations

In this exclusive interview, Rohan Pethiyagoda, a well-known scientist and public policy advocate in Sri Lanka, talks to senior journalist Nirupama Subramanian about Adani Green Energy’s recent decision to withdraw from its controversial wind energy project in Sri Lanka. In their conversation, Pethiyagoda and Subramanian discuss the wind power project, its environmental impact, Sri Lanka’s energy policy, and political pressures, among other things.

Adani Green’s decision comes amid the Sri Lankan government’s move to renegotiate the Power Purchase Agreement signed under the previous administration. There was also growing scrutiny over the project’s environmental impact and transparency.

The speaker offers an analysis of the project, which has been at the centre of intense debate due to its inflated pricing, lack of transparency, and potential environmental impact. The project, which involves large-scale wind farms in Mannar and Pooneryn, had sparked concerns not only over cost but also about political influence and the environmental consequences of developing in a crucial migratory area for birds.

Zakia Jafri, who fought an over two-decade-long legal battle to secure justice for the victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots, died at the age of 86 in Ahmedabad on February 1. Her husband, former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, was among the 69 people who were killed inside Gulberg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, during the riots.

“Out of hundreds of Gujarat cases, Zakia Jafri’s was the one that insisted: this wasn’t just a personal tragedy, it was an attack on an entire people,” Zara Chowdhary, the author of The Lucky Ones: A Memoir, told Greeshma Kuthar. In a freewheeling conversation, Chowdhary and Kuthar discuss Zakia Jafri’s struggle and legacy, the erasure of collective memory, and Chowdhary’s book set during the 2002 riots, among other things.

On September 20, 2024, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said the State government planned to hold an international conference and install a life-size statue of the archaeologist John Marshall, who announced the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilisation through excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro exactly a century ago.

In January 2025, CM Stalin announced a $1 million prize for experts or organisations that succeed in deciphering the scripts of the Indus Valley civilisation for everyone to understand.

In this exclusive interview, Minister Thenarasu explains its implications for Dravidian history, how artificial intelligence can be used to decrypt meanings, and more.

Ahead of the Delhi Assembly election scheduled on February 5, 2025, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Jasmine Shah’s book, The Delhi Model: A Bold New Road Map To Building a Developed India, was released in New Delhi. It is an insider’s account of the making of the “Delhi model” of governance, which according to the AAP was conceptualised by its party chief, Arvind Kejriwal, in consultation with other leaders and experts.

While the AAP’s political rivals criticise the model as a ploy to seek votes by offering revdis (freebies) to the electorate, Shah shows how it is, on the contrary, a unique road map for development with its emphasis on investment in human capital and putting money in the hands of the people. In an exclusive interview with Frontline's Soni Mishra, Shah discussed his book, the AAP’s method of working, and the importance of Arvind Kejriwal.

In an exclusive interview for Frontline Conversations, former Railway Board member K. Balakesari tells Senior Associate Editor R.K. Radhakrishnan that the hurry to electrify the railway track was misguided as the “pollution is just being moved along the tracks”. In a freewheeling interview, Balakesari shares his insights on the availability of electric locomotives, political considerations influencing key decisions, the relevance of bullet trains in the Indian context, installation of Kavach anti-collision devices, and more.

Rollo Romig, American journalist, essayist, and critic, has spent considerable time in South India since 2013 and his first book, I Am on the Hit List: Murder and Myth-making in South India, takes its title from the late activist and journalist Gauri Lankesh’s own darkly prescient inclusion of herself in a self-prepared list of potential targets of Hindu right-wing elements. The book begins with her murder on September 5, 2017, which shocked both the nation and the world.

Through extensive reportage and research, Romig sensitively captures Lankesh’s life and death, chronicles the investigation that followed, and examines how Indian politics and society have transformed since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014—a context essential to understanding both Lankesh’s life and death. In his first interview with an Indian publication, Romig speaks to Frontline.

In this comprehensive interview, former Indian Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to Moscow, Kanwal Sibal delivers an expert analysis of the recent assassination of Russian General Igor Kirillov and its implications for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Speaking with veteran diplomat-turned-journalist Amit Baruah, Sibal provides unique insights from an Indian perspective on the escalating tensions, Western involvement, and the complex dynamics affecting India's strategic interests.

Najma Heptulla is one of India’s longest-serving parliamentarians, holding the record for the longest stint as Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. Her granduncle was Dr Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a key freedom fighter and independent India’s first Union Education Minister. She was close to the Nehru-Gandhi family, working in Indira Gandhi’s inner circle and maintaining a strong relationship with Rajiv Gandhi. Her political shift from the Congress to the BJP, following a disagreement with Sonia Gandhi, drew widespread attention.

In her recent autobiography, In Pursuit of Democracy: Beyond Party Lines, Heptulla writes about her political journey. Currently living with her daughter in Chicago, she talks at length with Frontline about issues ranging from what went wrong between her and Sonia Gandhi, why she does not consider the BJP or the RSS ideological outcasts, the opposition’s no-confidence move against Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, and what she did to get the situation in Manipur under control when she was Governor.

In this important interview, former Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad talks about how Syria changed forever in 2024. He explains the fall of Assad's government, Israel's new military moves, and what it all means for peace in West Asia.

Historian Ira Mukhoty's latest book, The Lion and The Lily: The Rise and Fall of Awadh, challenges long-held views about the fall of the Mughal Empire and the rise of British rule in India. Through her focus on the kingdom of Awadh, Mukhoty reveals a complex narrative of regional courts resisting British imperialism while engaging in international diplomacy. In an interview with Anirudh Kanisetti for Frontline, she discusses the capable rulers of Awadh, the French influence in 18th-century India, and how British propaganda has shaped our understanding of this pivotal period. Mukhoty's work, drawing from diverse sources, offers a fresh perspective on a transformative era in Indian history.