Art and science of crowd control (Bikram Vohra, Arab News)

The Sivakasi Syndrome still stalks India. The little township, which accounts for 95 percent of India’s consumption of fireworks in a $400 million business, was mute witness to its produce causing the deaths of 110 people and rising in the Paravur temple in Kerala. While the investigation will show that many people died in the stampede following the explosion triggered by an errant cracker that set ablaze a mountain of magnesium and potassium nitrate and sulfur.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/909531

Ties set to soar higher (Bikram Vohra, Arab News)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will round up his trip to Brussels and Washington with a visit to Saudi Arabia on April 2 and 3, on his way back home. His visit comes at a time when the Gulf region is absorbing the ramifications triggered by falling oil prices. Uppermost in his mind is the fact that India gets its energy from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council members. In the last decade, India’s political, economic and security relations have strengthened with the Kingdom. He will also be seeking a firsthand account of the situation in the battle against Daesh and the ongoing conflict in Syria and Yemen.

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Crime has no race, caste or religion (Bikram Vohra, Arab News)

Two cattle traders hanged from a tree. A 15-year-old Jharkand boy murdered in cold blood. A student beaten by cops for cooking up a dinner in a besieged university. A dentist slaughtered because his son’s game of cricket turned bizarre when the kid darted onto the road to chase the ball and was lightly struck by a biker. Result — mob rage, not road rage. It is a sad and sorry litany of spiraling violence that knows no end.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/902436

Rise and fall of a student star (Bikram Vohra, Arab News)

Kanhaiya Kumar, the overnight celebrity of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has had an incredibly unusual 30 days. Through him so has the country. His rollercoaster ride with enough steep ups and downs were sufficient to cause anyone trauma. He must actually be bewildered by it all.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/898881

Bridging the gap (Bikram Vohra, Arab News)

How does one bridge the gap between Indian soldiers dying in Pampore, Kashmir from hostile gunfire and civilians being held hostage on the one side and a bunch of picnicking youngsters calling each other “comrade” and masquerading as champions of liberty on the other.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/884781

Talk about the trolley trouble (Bikram Vohra, Arab News)

Isn't it incredible how at an airport the human race underscores the short distance it has traveled from savagery on the long road toward civilized conduct.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/883151