Indian Judge Prosecutes the Press in Global Courtroom: Choudhury

If you believe yourself interested in Indian affairs, and haven't heard of Justice Markandey Katju, this means that -- there is no charitable way of saying it -- there is something negligent or insincere about your commitment.

This is because, for at least three months now, the good justice, recently retired from the Supreme Court of India, has been trying to reach all Indians, and further, all those in touch with Indian opinion. He has been telling them what stage of history India has reached, what is wrong with the fourth estate, what the purpose of art is, how the ancients and the philosophers of the Enlightenment lived, what the guiding principles of the citizenry should be, and who the writers worth reading are. He has published heroically long essays in newspapers, prepared a lecture for every invitation to deliver one, and appeared repeatedly in television debates. Recently, he started his own blog, where he publishes tracts on the history of India, the country's languages, women's emancipation and the caste system. Last week, he debuted on Twitter, where his feed is accompanied by a photograph of him in his judicial robes. What explains this sudden, unstoppable eruption of this 65-year-old comet across the sky?