THE Supreme Court verdict has provided a final resolution to the Ayodhya dispute. This judicial route was the only way to settle the matter in a secular republic governed by the rule of law as there was no possibility of a negotiated settlement. That is why the verdict has been generally accepted even though there may be serious reservations, or, even objections to it. 

THE strike by the workers of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has emerged as one of the most significant struggles against privatisation.  48,000 employees of the TSRTC have been on an indefinite strike for over a month, from October 5.  The unity and determination of the striking workers in the face of brazen threats by the chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao, police repression and victimisation have been remarkable. 

THE BJP’s election manifesto for the Maharashtra assembly election has proposed that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the father of the Hindutva concept, be conferred the title of ‘Bharat Ratna’.  This is part of the ongoing strategy of the BJP-RSS combine to legitimise the Hindutva ideology and to create icons out of rabid communal figures such as Savarkar.  In order to do that, the RSS and the BJP are busy myth-making about Savarkar being a great freedom fighter and nationalist par excellence. 

THE Vijayadashami address of the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has revealed glimpses of the fascistic ideology which permeates the RSS. The RSS chief took exception to incidents of mob killings being termed as “lynchings”. He said “By branding such incidents by words such as ‘lynching’, denoting traditions which were alien to Bharat and belong elsewhere, efforts are underway to defame our country and the entire Hindu society and create fear among the so-called minority communities”.

THE spectacle that Narendra Modi put up at Houston before a 50,000 strong audience of Indian-Americans has, once again, underlined the subservience that Modi has brought into Indo-US relations.  The Modi-Trump joint appearance in the stadium was nothing but a platform offered to Trump to woo Indian origin Americans in view of the forthcoming presidential election campaign.