A Vacuous Tribute

THE winter session of parliament is to begin with a two-day special sitting to observe the 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar and the adoption of the draft Constitution on November 26, 1949. There is no doubt that the legacy of Dr Ambedkar, the champion of social equality and one of the main architects of the Constitution should be commemorated. But the question is, how it is to be done.

Paris Outrage: Change Course in Syria

ANOTHER terrorist outrage, this time in Paris. On November 13, on a Friday night, gunmen wearing explosive vests mowed down 129 people and injured 200 others in six places in the city. The fact that most of those killed were young men and women who had gone to a concert or were in restaurants for fun and relaxation makes their deaths more reprehensible and poignant. That this happened in the French capital which is the centre of European culture and civilisation makes it a barbarous crime. There were other terrorist attacks in the same week.

BIHAR VERDICT: Major Setback for BJP

THE Bihar elections have resulted in a resounding defeat for the BJP. The alliance of the JD(U)-RJD-Congress has come to power with a big majority. This election verdict will have important ramifications for the politics of the country.The BJP had sought to repeat the tactic it employed in the Lok Sabha elections – talk of development interspersed with communal appeal. In Bihar, hundreds of RSS cadres were deployed as during the Lok Sabha polls to take the communal message to the people and create a polarisation. At the top, both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah spewed anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Stop Bullying Nepal

THE Modi government’s confrontationist policy towards Nepal has led to an unprecedented breach in India-Nepal relations. After adopting a negative attitude to the Constitution promulgated in Nepal on September 20, the BJP government has gone ahead with further exacerbating tensions.

No Protein for the Poor

DAL prices have continued its upward trend causing real suffering for the people. Tur Dal is now more expensive than chicken with its retail price at Rs 220 per kg. Prices of arhar and urad are double what it was in October 2014. The prices of pulses is not just a problem of price rise, it is also of food security as the bulk of the population derive its protein requirements from pulses. As against the recommended daily requirement of 50 to 60 grams, current availability of pulses is less than 30 grams per day.

In the Name of the Cow

DADRI was not just an aberration or an isolated incident. Following the killing of Mohd Akhlaq by a mob in a village in Dadri on the false accusation of eating beef, there have been a spate of similar attacks using cow slaughter as the pretext. The death of 20 year old Noman after a truck carrying cattle was attacked in Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh was followed by an arson attack in Udhampur on a truck carrying coal from Kashmir valley. Twenty three year old Zahid Ahmed died of burns sustained in this attack which was based on a malicious rumour about the killing of two cows.

Writers Stand Up

INDIA’S writers have done the country proud. They have stood up to condemn the rising attack on freedom of expression, the worst manifestation of which was the killing of Prof M M Kalburgi who was murdered by extremists on August 30.

Black Money Farce

NARENDRA Modi’s boastful claim that he will bring back all the black money stashed abroad is fast turning into a farce. Modi had promised during the Lok Sabha election, to bring the lakhs of crores of rupees illegally kept abroad. He had declared that when all this money comes home, every person in India would get Rs 15 lakhs. The government had got a legislation passed in parliament Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income & Assets) Imposition of Tax Act 2015.

West Bengal: War on the People

THERE was an all-out assault on democracy when elections to the Bidhannagar municipal corporation, the Greater Asansol corporation and the Bali corporation were held on October 3. Trinamul Congress gangs led by its leaders indulged in booth capturing and false voting. The elections in Salt Lake under the Bidhannagar corporation were completely falsified with fake voters being deployed from outside, attacks on genuine voters who tried to vote and assaults on journalists who sought to cover the rigging of the elections. The fact that 13 journalists were injured here shows the ferocity wit

Malabar Exercises: Cog in US Strategy

THE Malabar joint naval exercises, to be conducted between October 14 and 21, illustrates the tightening India-US military collaboration. The Malabar exercises began in 1992 as joint naval exercises between the Indian and US navies. Subsequently, joint exercises were extended to the air forces and armies of the two countries. It got expanded and institutionalised with the Indo-US defence framework agreement that was signed in June 2005.

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