Editorial

Uttar Pradesh: Exonerating Communal Rioters

THE expectation that the Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh would maintain the rule of law in the state has been futile.  All doubts regarding  this were completely dispelled by the recent announcement by the chief minister that he has initiated action to take back 131 cases that had been filed during the vicious and bloody communal carnage witnessed in Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring districts in 2013.  These include 12 cases of murder, many cases of attempt to murder, dacoity and other heinous crimes.  All the accused belong to the Hindu community and include ministers, MLAs, MPs

Undermining Parliament

EditorialTHE second half of the budget session of parliament has become notable for the manner in which the Modi government has subverted parliamentary norms and procedures.  Since the session began on March 5, there were disruptions in both the houses of parliament on a daily basis.  The main reason for this being the protest launched by the YSR Congress Party and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which was till then a partner of the ruling NDA on special category status for Andhra Pradesh.  There were other issues such as the Punjab National Bank scam which also agitated the m

Uttar Pradesh Portents

THE BJP has suffered a shock defeat in the two by-elections to the Lok Sabha seats of Gorakhpur and Phulpur. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, these two seats were won by Yogi Adityanath, now chief minister and Keshav Prasad Maurya, now deputy chief minister with a margin of over 3 lakh votes each. This time around the seats were won by Samajwadi Party candidates who were supported by its arch rival, the BSP.There is no doubt that these results will have significant implications for the future.

Long March: A Brilliant Victory

THE long march by kisans from Nashik to Mumbai has been a historic success.  The march by 25,000 kisans began in Nashik on March 6 and traversed nearly 200 kms before arriving at Mumbai on March 12.  The numbers kept swelling and by the time Mumbai gathering took place, there were 50,000 people in the march.The kisan march was unique in the way it was conducted with discipline, determination and a collective display of peasant power.

The Verdict in Tripura

THE Tripura assembly election has delivered an unexpected verdict. The BJP-IPFT alliance has won a two-third majority of the seats polling 50.5 per cent (BJP- 43 per cent and IPFT 7.5 per cent).The Left Front which had been in office for the past 25 years and had won five successive elections since 1993 got only 16 seats though it polled 45 per cent of the vote.How did such a dramatic change take place? The major political feature has been the shift in the alignments in the state.

Reverse the “No Talks” Stance

THE Modi government’s policy towards Pakistan has reached a dead end. Having called off the dialogue with Pakistan in August 2015, the government has steadfastly maintained that there can be no talks till terrorism stops. The surgical strikes across the Line of Control in September 2016 were touted to be India’s firm response to cross border terrorism.

Fraud and Crony Capitalism under the Modi regime

THE Punjab National Bank scam is the most brazen and shocking case of defrauding in the history of Indian banking. Nirav Modi, reputed to be the 85th richest Indian and his uncle, Mehul Choksi are reported to have embezzled Rs 11,400 crores through the repeated issue of fake letters of undertaking (LOUs) by colluding bank officials.That the fraud has been going on since 2011 and peaked in the year 2017 indicates the scale and ease with which such fraud was perpetrated.

Bhagwat’s Army

THE RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, has stated in a speech to RSS workers in Muzaffarpur that while the army takes six to seven months to train its soldiers, the RSS can get its cadres ready for battle in two to three days. This remark has drawn widespread condemnation with the main criticism being that the RSS chief had insulted the Indian army by claiming that the RSS can do a better job than the army in training soldiers.  While this criticism is valid, the intent of these remarks is much more serious.

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