THE statement by union home minister, Amit Shah, that it is essential for India to have one language and it is Hindi that can unite the country has not come as a surprise given the stand of the RSS and the Hindutva forces. Amit Shah was also indirectly stating that Hindi should be the national language. V D Savarkar was the first to call for “Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan”.  The RSS has been advocating “One nation, One language, One culture”.

A MONTH has elapsed since the security clampdown on Jammu & Kashmir was imposed on August 5.  For 30 days, the people of Kashmir have been deprived of all basic rights. They have been confined to their houses. There is no communication with mobile phone networks, landlines and internet connection closed down; they have no right of movement with barricades being put up in main roads and highways; there is no public transport. Government offices have not been functioning as employees are unable to attend their duties.

THE recent remarks by union defence minister Rajnath Singh with regard to nuclear weapons have set alarm bells ringing. He said that while India has firmly adhered to No First Use (NFU) policy with regard to nuclear weapons in the past, what happens in the future “depends on circumstances”.Ever since India came out as a nuclear weapons power in 1998, it has adhered to the NFU, which was formally established as part of India’s strategic doctrine by the Cabinet Committee on Security Affairs on January 4, 2003.

WHAT was notable about the spate of legislations presented in the first session of parliament was the hurried manner in which they were passed without any legislative scrutiny.  There was no reference to the standing committees or select committees to get the bills vetted and considered.

THE image of President Trump speaking to the media in Washington in the presence of Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, about Modi’s purported request to him to mediate on Kashmir has had a shattering effect. The issue is not whether Modi actually asked Trump to mediate or not, but how this episode has revealed the fiasco that Modi’s foreign policy has turned out to be. Imran Khan’s visit to the United States was an affirmation of how the Trump administration has changed its approach to Pakistan.