Modi-Shah’s policies have shattered India’s image abroad

The Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar, has tried to display his loyalty to his boss Narendra Modi by conveying his dislike to the European Union’s move to debate six resolutions pertaining to India’s Citizenship Amendment Act and other policies, in its parliament on January 29 and 30. In his perception, EU cannot do it as it amounts to interfering into the internal affairs of an elected government. In his pursuit, he has used all diplomatic mechanism available to him to convince the EU leaders to drop the move.

Being a professional diplomat Jaishankar should be aware of the fact that this EU move cannot at all be bracketed as the internal affair of Modi’s India. It would have a wide impact on the global scenario. Otherwise, in the past too, EU has debated many issues of international importance. The fact is the EU move will rub off the shine of Modi being a prudent leader which he has assiduously cultivated during his six-year rule.

Giving a twist to EU’s move of an interference in the internal affairs is nonetheless has not succeeded in cleaning the perception that Modi would be denying Indians of their rights of citizenship. It is interesting to watch not less than 626 out of 751 MPs have come out in open in decrying the Modi government for bringing CAA and depriving Kashmiris of their rights. Modi and his government have been claiming that the CAA will not harm Indians, but the EU law makers are reluctant to subscribe to what Modi says.

National, Politics

January 24, 2020

Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh inspires Lucknow’s Ghanta Ghar, Pachrahe and more

Much like the now iconic Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh women protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) at Ghanta Ghar, Lucknow is gaining strength and support with every passing day. In fact, it is infectiously spreading to other cities and women are leading the fight against what is widely perceived to be a highly divisive move by the Modi-Shah government at the centre, that is supported by the Yogi-led state of UP.

The protests at Ghanta Ghar, Lucknow started about a week back along the lines of the ongoing and unstoppable protests at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, where continuous sit-ins have been going on for over a month now. At Ghanta Ghar, heritage site and a Lucknow landmark, a few women started staging dharna in the same vein. Ghanta Ghar, in the old city of Lucknow, has now become the main destination for political leaders, social activists and media persons to throng and support the women who are at the forefront of these revolutionary sit-ins.

One can see thousands of women sitting at the peaceful dharna— raising slogans of azaadi and freedom from CAA-NRC—at the Ghanta Ghar, without bothering too much about shelter or protection from the chilly weather of the January winter.

National, Politics

By Pradeep Kapoor

January 24, 2020

Yogi undermines the social status of the protesting Muslim women

The BJP leadership frequently boasts of their fight against Emergency and claim that they were primarily responsible for forcing the autocrat, Indira Gandhi, to retreat. They are free to make any claim which suits them but, the fact is, the fight during the Emergency was simpler. It was a fight for the restoration of democracy against authoritarianism.

The present socio-political scenario is quite is far more complex and dangerous. At that time the fight was against the autocratic behaviour of Indira Gandhi and state authoritarianism. But now, besides fighting the autocratic rule of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah and the resultant state authoritarianism, the people have to fight against the autocratic behaviour of an extremely communalised state.

During the Emergency, the people of the country were not divided on communal lines. The Congressmen supported the Emergency but their rank was quite small; they were split. Many Congress stalwarts had left the party. But now the vilifying communal propaganda has not only scared the party leaders from speaking against the CAA and NRC, it has unfortunately split the society. A vilification campaign has been launched against Muslims. Every attempt is being made to unleash passions that relegate minorities to second class citizens.

National, Politics

By Arun Srivastava

January 23, 2020

Nitish Kumar must come clean on citizenship controversy

Will Nitish Kumar strive to keep his flock together and united, or will he sacrifice the interest of his party, JD(U), to protect and promote the personal interest of Modi and Shah? This is the question haunting most of the JD(U) leaders. This question has attained huge significance and a completely new dynamics, with the party vice president Prashant Kishor challenging Shah’s assertion at a Lucknow public meeting that Modi government would not succumb to the opposition pressure tactics and withdraw the CAA.

In fact, assiduous silence of Nitish on the contentious issue has been causing severe consternation in the party circles. Both the leaders, Kishor and spokesman, Pawan Varma, have raised this issue at least twice with Kumar, but he refrained from making his stand clear. This wishy-washy response explicitly makes clear that Nitish will not rock his relation with Modi, though only a fortnight back he had, in a private conversation, been apprehensive about the ‘dangerous space’ BJP was leading the country into. This was revealed by Varma who in a letter to Nitish had pointed out that how he had confessed to him that the BJP was leading the country into a “dangerous space” and how he had been “humiliated” by the current BJP leadership.

Only a day before, Varma once again had raised this issue and cited the private confession to question Nitish’s decision to strike an electoral tie-up for the Delhi polls. He also sought to know,“If these are your real views, I fail to understand how the JDU is now extending its alliance with the BJP beyond Bihar, when even longstanding allies of the BJP, like the Akali Dal, have refused to do so”. Kumar has, in fact, preferred to put the issue on back burner than to join the debate.

National, Politics

By Arun Srivastava

January 1, 2020

Future of India’s secular democracy at stake

The fortnight since the adoption of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill by parliament has been witness to one of the significant moments in recent political history in India. It has revealed two facets which are interrelated but opposite in nature. The first facet is that the Modi government has emerged as a full-fledged authoritarian regime. The second is that the widespread protests against the CAA and the NRC countrywide, have established the gathering resistance to the onslaughts on secular democracy and the constitution.

The Modi government at the centre and the BJP-ruled states have unleashed a frontal attack on the democratic rights of citizens–on the right to assembly, the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which prohibits the assembly of more than four persons, has been widely used in all the BJP-run states and in Delhi where police and law and order are with the centre. The most extreme form was seen in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh where the entire state was put under prohibitory orders.

The use of Section 144, a colonial law resurrected in the Criminal Procedure Code, in this manner makes a mockery of the right to protest which is constitutionally sanctioned.

National, Opinion, Politics, Society

By Prakash Karat

December 30, 2019

The Paradoxical Sharad Pawar

Barely three months before the first phase of voting for the 2014 Parliamentary elections, when the Congress party was busy explaining the perils of a Narendra Modi Prime Ministership, then Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar set the cat among the pigeons when asked about Manmohan Singh’s statement that it would be disastrous for the country if Narendra Modi became Prime Minister—Pawar said: “I make it a point to use words cautiously when speaking about both my friends and my opponents.”

Veteran Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai cites an oft-quoted saying in Mumbai’s political circles about Pawar and his brand of politics: What Pawar thinks, what he says, and what he does are three entirely different things. A closer look and analysis of Pawar’s political life spanning over five decades will reveal how aptly the statement defines Pawar’s brand of politics.

Pawar’s remarks on how he is cautious when speaking about friends and foes, in early 2014, might have raised eyebrows in the Congress party but more importantly, his remarks on poll eve were an exception to his brand of politics as it exactly matched his thoughts and deeds.

National, Politics

By Omkar Poojari

December 27, 2019

The political consequences of Mamata’s anti-CAA stance

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, has hit the streets again in her usual style of aggressive politics—which she often practiced during her stint as opposition leader of the state against the Left Front government. This time her fiery attack is directed towards the BJP. The reasons are—the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, which grants citizenship to the non-Muslim refugees who came to India on or before December 31, 2014, and the nationwide NRC.

There have been violent protests across the state of West Bengal. Strikingly, these protests, unlike the ones of Assam or other parts of the northeast, started much later—almost after four and two days of passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha respectively. No doubt, these developments raise eyebrows. The protests weren’t peaceful with agitators vandalising or setting fire to railway stations and trains or even pelting stones to the passing trains, But for Mamata Banerjee, these are “small incidents”.

Actually, the Citizenship Amedment Act and the following violent protests that followed in the state which are mostly organised by the Muslim groups, have landed the ruling Trinamool in a fix. The state ruling party’s fear is that these protests would only strengthen the hands of BJP—the worry as expressed by state minister and Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim, the party’s key Muslim face. The party can’t afford to take strong actions against the protestors—as it fears that it may offend the core vote bank of the party, the Muslims, who account for 27 per cent of the state population according to the 2011 census. On the other hand, the party also runs the danger of losing the support of the majority Hindus. The saffron party’s massive gains this year in the Lok Sabha elections at the expense of Trinamool was due to the shift of a substantial Hindu vote towards the BJP.

National, Opinion, Politics

By Sagarneel Sinha

December 23, 2019

Government’s gag order smacks of a colonial mindset

The gag order issued by the Information & Broadcasting ministry to news channels asking them to refrain from broadcasting content which is “likely to instigate violence or which promotes an anti-national attitude” smacks of a colonial mindset.

The order, the second in a fortnight, specifically asks the channels “not to show content that contains anything which may affect the integrity of the nation, maligns or slanders any individual in person or certain groups, segments of social public and moral life of the country”.

The phrase ‘anything which may affect the integrity of the nation’ is so sweeping and vague that anything can be interpreted as affecting the integrity of the nation, particularly so when the NDA government has been viewing even the most innocuous thing as offending to nationhood.

National, Politics

By K Raveendran

December 21, 2019

Jharkhand Election: Opposition banks on Tribal disaffection

In its 19-year history, Jharkhand has never voted for a single-party government. And, prevailing trends suggest that the state is unlikely to break the habit this time as well. Elections to the 81-member assembly, which were held in five phases, were over on December 20. With the ruling BJP failing to keep its allies together, chances for a fractured mandate are high when the votes are scheduled to be counted on December 23.

The BJP has adopted a cautious approach after Maharashtra and Haryana threw up disappointed results. Its government led by Raghubar Das—Jharkhand’s first non-tribal chief minister —is the first in the state’s history to complete its five-year term. The party has set a target of winning at least 65 seats. However, even in 2014 during the peak of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, the party failed to win outright majority and had to rely on support of All Jharkhand Students Union, which had five MLAs. In 2009, the BJP had tied up with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to form the government, with Sibu Soren as chief minister and Das as his deputy. The JMM now leads the opposition in the state.

The BJP is seeking votes with the promise of a double-engine government controlling the levers of power in Delhi and Ranchi. But with the AJSU, the Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party walking out of the NDA, the BJP is facing a stiff challenge, a tough fight in at least 50 constituencies. Rajya Sabha MP, Om Mathur, who is BJP’s election in-charge in Jharkhand, however, expressed hope that his party would retain power as its double-engine government had ensured that all central government schemes reached the people.

National, Politics

By Harihar Swarup

December 18, 2019

An open letter to my fellow Indians

There have been plenty of developments in India in the past year. However, sadly these ‘developments’ are far from those promised by the party when it was being elected to power. Nonetheless, this is not a statement where I say the current government is unsecular. I believe that is automatically implied when the Citizen Amendment Act 2019 entails every illegal migrant, other than Muslims, to be eligible for citizenship.

This is also not a statement where I say our economy is at one of its worst phases. I think it is understood when our former Chief Economic Advisor, Arvind Subramanian, described the current situation as “Great Slowdown” alongside Daimler AG and Audi announced almost 20,000 job cuts in the past three weeks.

I do not intend to take potshots at the government. It lowered itself when it sent the police to beat up students at the Jamia Milia Islamia, one of the most reputed educational institutions in Engineering and Journalism in India. I won’t tell you that the government has been lying to you from the beginning because instead of a bullet train the only things in sight is the increasing petrol prices.

National, Opinion

By Faiz Yusuf

December 18, 2019

Why Mamata is goading the Centre to dismiss her

There is every reason to believe that Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee is sparing no tricks in her book to provoke the BJP-led Centre into dismissing her Government. Her systematic public humiliation of Bengal Governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, is only one element in her overall larger anti-centre strategy.

Kolkata-based observers agree that both sides—the ruling TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders—are well aware of the subtle political factors at play in Bengal. The BJP leaders know well that given the present realities prevailing in Bengal and the existing balance of political forces, the TMC needs a big shot in the arm to do well in the 2021 Assembly polls. As present, it is caught on a sticky wicket. For the TMC, only a BJP defeat, nothing less, will ensure its survival. After the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, defeating the BJP has turned into an existential challenge for the TMC.

The best option for the TMC is therefore , to provoke—if necessary, to contrive—some kind of conflict with Delhi, predicated on any ‘ideology’ or’ principle’, real or fancied. Nothing appeals more to Bengali voters more than standing up for the ‘victim’, the supposed underdog.

National, Opinion, Politics

By Ashis Biswas

December 17, 2019

Citizenship Amendment Act is a fraud on the Constitution

After a charged debate, the Constituent Assembly of India settled for a “jus soli” approach to citizenship. The first Home Minister of the Republic and a key contributor to the debates in the Constituent Assembly, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, while arguing for a broad based, non-discriminatory criterion for citizenship, said “There are two ideas about nationality in the modern world, one is broad-based nationailty and the other is narrow nationality…It is not right for us to take a narrow view.” (CAD, 29th April 1947)

It should be kept in mind that even after being witness to the horrors of partition, the framers of our Constitution did not budge in favour of religion-based criteria. After the constitution was commenced and enacted, Patel again appreciated the framers for adopting an “enlightened modern civilised” approach for the Indian citizenship while stating the ethnicity-based citizenship as outdated. Sardar Patel and his colleagues from the Constituent Assembly, like Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Maulana Azad among others crafted a framework for citizenship which could cater to diversity and historical experience of the subcontinent. Unfortunately, the duo from Gujarat who swear by the name of Sardar Patel is destroying the vision of the constitution towards creating this federal republic brick by brick.

Time and again, history has shown that religion cannot be the determinant of allegiance towards the nation. The principle of ‘Equality before Law’ irrespective of one’s religion, race, sexuality and gender is an absolute necessary precondition for the functioning of a just society. Making religion a criterion for offering citizenship and excluding one religion from it is an insult to the legacy of this country’s freedom struggle and the values it upheld, a fraud on our constitution and most importantly a nefarious attempt to institutionally otherise Muslims and plunge them into precarity and fear.

National, Opinion, Politics

By D Raja