After Canada, US Delivers Blow to India With Indictment of Former RAW Official; Modi's Waning Aura
A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Sushant Singh, MK Venu, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Tanweer Alam, Siddharth Varadarajan and Seema Chishti | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK
Snapshot of the day
October 18, 2024
Siddharth Vardarajan
The “Indian government agency employee” the US dubbed ‘CC-1’ last year and accused of directing the plot to kill a man widely understood to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is actually 39-year-old Vikash Yadav, the US justice department said in a second indictment yesterday. It added that at the time of the alleged murder plot, Yadav was employed by the Cabinet Secretariat, which houses the Research and Analysis Wing. The US has filed murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against Yadav, whom it says “remains at large”, in contrast to a recent report that he had been arrested. A federal prosecutor said the charges were “a grave example of the increase in lethal plotting and other forms of violent transnational repression targeting diaspora communities in the United States.”
Despite requests from India, the Canadian government has not taken any action against members of the Bishnoi gang – the very organisation the Canadian police have accused of being linked to Indian government agents in the 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar – the MEA spokesperson said yesterday. "This is a contradiction in terms, which we don't understand," Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India's foreign ministry said, calling it "strange".
About the India-Canada spat and the entry of the US now, ambassador KC Singh says it is now clear that “the Americans were controlling [the gathering of intelligence] and I think the mistake India made was they thought it's just Canada and India. So you can start a boxing match with Trudeau without realising the real thing is that the Americans could not share the entire intelligence because they hadn't yet grabbed Nikhil Gupta, which they did by the end of June, and then they got the extradition done.”
On another (not-so-important) news, this year’s Ramnath Roenka Award for War Reportage is sealed.
The Uttar Pradesh police shot in the leg yesterday two Muslim men accused in the murder of a Hindu man during the Bahraich communal violence earlier this week. Bahraich’s police superintendent said that cops had accompanied the duo to a place where they were suspected of hiding the murder weapon and claimed that the two fired at police with guns they recovered there, following which they were shot. Omar Rashid notes that the police have not clarified how the two men managed to fire these weapons, given the tight security and their being touted as the main accused. Just a day earlier, the sister of one of the two men had expressed fear that he and others may be killed in an encounter.
Meanwhile, the Basaveshwaranagar police in Bengaluru registered a cheating case against Union Minister Pralhad Joshi’s brother Gopal Joshi and two others for cheating by offering a ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, assaulting and verbally abusing the complainant. Along with Gopal, his sister Vijayalakshmi Joshi, and son Ajay Joshi have also been booked on Thursday. In her complaint, JD(S)’s former Nagathana MLA Devanand Phool Singh Chauvan’s wife Sunita Chauvan said the trio cheated her and her husband of ₹2.5 crore, promising a BJP ticket for Devanand to contest the Lok Sabha-2024 polls from the Bijapur reserved constituency. When the ticket was not granted the couple demanded the money back but were harassed, issued threats, and subjected to caste abuse, Sunita alleged. She further alleged that Gopal claimed that the money was for Union Minister Amit Shah in return for a ticket. “Within a few hours of handing over the money, Gopal Joshi visited our house. He clarified that the money wasn’t for him, but was meant for the personal security of Amit Shah,” the woman said in the complaint.
Former Isha Home School faculty member Yamini Ragani and her husband, Satya N. Ragani, have accused the Isha Foundation of Jaggi Vasudev of rape, molestation and gross misconduct. These shocking allegations come in the wake of recent raids at the foundation’s ashram in Tamil Nadu. Ragani described the Isha Foundation as “a breeding ground for child abuse.” She claimed that the foundation's schools, including Isha Vidya, Isha Sanskruti, and Isha Home School, lacked oversight, placing children in danger. “Children are mentally abused, verbally abused, and more. They don’t even teach children properly. There are no qualified teachers,” she alleged. She further noted that there are no redressal or sexual harassment committee at the organisations either. Ragani alleged that her son, a former student of Isha Home School, was a victim of abuse. The couple shared accounts of other children being mistreated, including an eight-year-old girl.
And today the Supreme Court closed a habeas corpus petition filed by a father alleging that his 42 and 39-year-old daughters were being held captive at the Isha Foundation. The court cited the statements made by the women saying they lived there out of their free will and took issue with the Madras high court directing a police investigation of Isha on the father’s petition even after recording the two women’s statements.
While hearing a batch of petitions seeking that non-consensual sexual activity in a marriage be criminalised as rape, the Supreme Court noted that it currently counts as a crime for a husband to wrongfully confine his wife and threaten her but not for him to force her to have sex with him. Krishnadas Rajagopal cites Justice JB Pardiwala as wondering:
“The husband demands sexual intercourse. Wife resists. She is wrongfully confined. She is threatened and criminally intimidated. The wife finally succumbs [to pressure]. So all the preliminary acts make offences under the law, but the act of forced sexual intercourse alone is not a crime?”
Recently the Union government argued against labelling forced sex in a marriage as rape, saying this would be “unnecessarily harsh” and that other remedies already existed to punish the act.
The marital rape exception in Indian law is “more than frustrating; it is angering”, activist Mariam Dhawale tells Salimah Shivji, who speaks to women who have fled their marriages after being raped and otherwise abused by their husbands. Counsellor Monika Tiwari also tells Shivji that despite being widespread, marital rape is a ‘hidden’ problem in India. “People don't understand that this is happening and this is wrong. Women are made to believe that it does not exist and it's not something that is even worth talking about.”
Police personnel and locals in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district suffered injuries following a clash yesterday over authorities’ attempt to cut trees in the Hasdeo forest for a coal mining project, Jayprakash S Naidu reports. He is told by a government source that the project necessitates that around 5,000 trees be felled. Authorities had to pause their plans to cut the trees.
Nawaz Sharif hopes that S Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad earlier this week is a kind of “beginning” and an “opening” for better bilateral relations. “I have said before that we must pick up the threads of our conversation. We have spent 70 years in this way [fighting] and we should not let this go on for the next 70 years,” Devirupa Mitra reports the former Pakistan prime minister as telling Indian reporters in Lahore. Sharif also revealed he still watches videos of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s trip to Lahore and that he would like India and Pakistan to restore cricketing ties.
Next week the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh high court will constitute a special division bench to hear a petition challenging the J&K lieutenant governor’s ability to nominate five MLAs to the state legislature, PTI reports. According to the news agency the petition argues that the lieutenant governor must make the nominations on the advice of the council of ministers lest they be ultra vires to the constitution.
Chant ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ for bail after ‘Pak zindabad’ slogan, MP HC orders
A man accused of shouting ‘Pakistan zindabad’ was granted bail by the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday, with a unique set of conditions attached. Faizal, the accused, has been instructed to salute the national flag at a local police station 21 times and raise the slogan ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ twice a month until the conclusion of his trial, reports Bar and Bench. Justice Dinesh Kumar Paliwal, while granting bail, imposed these conditions, stating that Faizal must report to Misrod Police Station in Bhopal on the first and fourth Tuesday of every month. The bail conditions require Faizal to stand before the tricolour displayed at the station, salute it 21 times, and chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ as part of his routine.
By the time his trial ends, he might be ready for the Republic Day parade – if not as a free man, at least as an expert in synchronised salutes. Maybe next time they’ll throw in a few jumping jacks or a rendition of the national anthem for good measure. After all, nothing says justice like turning court orders into a flag-waving cardio routine!
German Ambassador writes to Prof GN Saibaba’s Daughter
Following the untimely death of former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba last week, the German Ambassador to India Philip Ackermann expressed his shock and sadness at his death. A copy of the letter was shared by advocate Prashant Bhushan on X, calling it a with “very gracious condolence letter”
In his letter to Manjeera, Saibaba’s daughter, Ackermann recalled his meeting with her father in April last year along with his French colleague. “Even though our meeting was brief, it left me with a deep impression,” he wrote. “Your father’s story, his long imprisonment, and his unwavering commitment to civic rights in India commanded a tremendous amount of respect from me,” he expressed. While acknowledging the difficult time the professor’s family is undergoing, the German ambassador wished Manjeera and her family, along with Prof Saibaba’s friends, strength for the future.
Meanwhile, Gauri Lankesh and Saibaba meet up in the clouds…
China calls on India to handle Taiwan issue carefully post consulate launch
In the wake of Taiwan opening its third de facto consulate in Mumbai on Wednesday, China has urged India to proceed with caution on matters related to the self-governing island. On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stressed that official exchanges with Taiwan by countries with whom China maintains diplomatic ties, including India, are “unacceptable”. Mao reiterated the importance of the ‘One China’ principle, which Beijing considers the cornerstone of its relationship with India. “We urge India to handle Taiwan-related issues prudently and avoid interference in the improvement of Sino-India relations.”
The Long Cable
BJP winning elections without Modi is a sign of his waning aura
P Raman
Narendra Modi has been the chief campaigner for the BJP throughout the past ten years. This has been part of the BJP’s all-cult buildup. Special care is taken to choose the venues of the rallies and bring crowds
During his 75-day campaign for the last Lok Sabha elections, he held 200 rallies and roadshows and gave over 80 media interviews. The Modi-Shah duo addressed 108 rallies and roadshows in 26 days during the last Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The BJP had solely relied on his muscular image and perceived magic to win votes.
This seems to be changing. Look at Haryana where the BJP has won the election. After the results came out, an elated Modi said the lotus has once again bloomed in Haryana. But it is the Haryana BJP leaders who achieved this feat after a Modi-mukt campaign. This time, Modi addressed just four full rallies as against 10 in the parliamentary election in 2024.
There were no road shows on which his admirers showered flowers. And the same was true of Amit Shah. He and Modi had earlier practically written off Haryana due to several adverse factors. Apparently, they did not want to repeat the kind of discomfiture suffered in Karnataka where the BJP lost in spite of an intensive campaign by the two.
Therefore, in Haryana, instead of Modi’s machismo and the benefits of his welfare programmes, the state leaders quietly worked on local issues and caste factors. The chief minister chose to rely on local machinery rather than big leader rallies. They carefully steered clear of the two pet schemes of Modi: Agniveer and corporatisation of farming since there had been prolonged anti-Modi agitations in the state over both.
Instead, the local leaders highlighted the marginalized section’s grievances over Jat domination. With this, the BJP’s Haryana leaders taught an important lesson: the party can win elections without the strong leader halo.
“This reflects a strategic shift in BJP’s internal dynamics…. The party seems to be relying more on established local machinery than Modi campaigning in person,” Jyoti Mishra, a researcher at the Centre for Study of Developing Societies said.
For over a decade, have BJP leaders functioned in a highly centralised system. It is the party high command that decides who should be the chief minister and the MLAs then ‘elect’ them. There was no question of an individual staking claims for the post. This is because under Modi, votes are sought and got in his name. Party and local leaders are treated as his instrument.
This time, at least two leaders openly staked claim for the chief ministership: veteran leader Anil Vij and Rao Inderjit Singh. The latter claims credit for the BJP’s success in the Ahirwal region of Haryana. Under Modi, staking such claims is unknown. Because the tussle is so intense, the centre’s strong man Amit Shah himself set out to Haryana as observer in order to suppress the rebellion. This is the time Amit Shah saw fit to be personally present at a meeting to elect the chief minister.
Last year, we found similar localization of state politics during the Karnataka elections. Ignoring the hints, Modi tried to dominate the campaign by holding 19 rallies and nine road shows while Shah held 16 and 15. Despite this, the party lost badly.
Now it is the turn of Maharashtra, where the assembly elections are scheduled on November 20. With 48 Lok Sabha seats, Maharashtra has an altogether different political arithmetic. The BJP had managed to engineer defections in two prominent state-based parties and formed Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi. With at least five political parties jostling for domination, Modi has no role to play in the Maharashtra election campaign.
Once an awesome vote catcher, Modi, at the most, can play a bit role in the state. His rants at election rallies will simply drown in the messy politics of Maharashtra.
This year’s Lok Sabha election itself provides the best evidence for Modi’s vanishing mojo. During the campaign, he had gone on claiming his coalition will get ‘400-par’seats but the BJP ended up losing the majority it had. It is only thanks to three regional parties — TDP, JD(U) and the Paswan party— that the NDA is able to maintain a majority.
Even those days when Modi’s words were orders, his strike rate has not been very encouraging. For, during the 2018 assembly elections, he addressed rallies in 80 constituencies but the BJP could win only 23 seats. It lost in 57 Seats. Modi campaigned at 30 places covering 206 constituencies. Of these, the BJP won 60 and lost 146 constituencies.
For the past few years, Brand Modi has been losing its magic. A stage has come when the BJP cannot any more depend on his rallies for victory. His attacks on the opposition have been losing their once famous sting. Stale topics like dynasty, Rahul bashing and allegations like opposition has ‘negative’ policies and they are ‘helping’ Pakistan have become tedious.
From the beginning, the BJP’s entire election strategy has been assiduously built on Modi’s image and his 150 odd welfare programmes. Since 2014, every election in India, including state assemblies, has been fought on Modi’s persona. His team chose the candidates and funded and organised the campaigns.
Huge crowds thronged his rallies with great enthusiasm. The youth and aspiring middle classes dreamed of industrial complexes coming up in every tehsil thus opening enormous job opportunities. Now, all the old unkept promises are coming back to haunt the leader.
Hence his rallies are fast losing their sheen. A sort of overexposure fatigue syndrome is evident. For ten years, one encountered the familiar face everywhere, always — in print, on TV, digital media, on billboards, walls, every Jan Aushadhi shop and even on rice bags. After all, familiarity breeds contempt.
There is another reason for the decline of Modi magic: adverse judicial pronouncements. Unlike during his early years, the Supreme Court of late has been acting to correct several distortions and miscarriages of justice. It struck down many executive excesses.
The apex court has also watered down provisions that enable the ED/CBI to keep political rivals indefinitely in jail. It restored the rule that bail, not jail, is the preferred practice. The ED and CBI were widely misused by the Modi regime to intimidate the opposition leaders and thus get them to defect to the ruling party.
Another judicial verdict that halted executive excesses relates to the controversial electoral bonds scheme. Its opaqueness was taken advantage of by the government to grab the bulk of corporate donations to political parties. It unabashedly coerced large corporate firms to donate to the BJP on a quid pro quo basis.. The Supreme Court also forced a reluctant State Bank of India to reveal the hidden numbers on bonds and publish the entire list of beneficiaries.
Unfortunately for Modi, a Balakot-type bravado or boasts about a 56” chest cannot any more sweep an entire country. People want their immediate problems and livelihood needs addressed rather than keep dreaming of a Viksit Bharat by 2047. People live for the present and they realise what Modi is offering does not add up to much.
(P Raman is a veteran journalist.)
Reportedly
The MEA is caught in a bind now that the US has formally indicted Vikash Yadav, a RAW official at the time of the Pannun murder plot. Ever quick to fire off a salvo in response to Canadian action, the ministry’s tongue is tied in the face of American action. It’s been more than 12 hours but the government has yet to react to the news.
Deep dive
India’s solar sector may be undergoing a facelift with aggressive policies like import tariffs and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to bolster domestic manufacturing, but the reality is far less rosy than it seems. In a three-part series, M Rajshekhar reveals how these efforts are only scratching the surface, benefiting a handful of manufacturers and developers while leaving key stakeholders like discoms to bear the brunt of the burden. The supposed gains from reclaiming the solar module market are overshadowed by a glaring imbalance in how risks and rewards are distributed. While the industry elites revel in profit, discoms and others are left in disarray, exposing the government’s failure to ensure a sustainable and fair transition in the renewables sector.
Prime number: 700T
That is the number of onions the ministry of consumer affairs has shipped to Delhi from Nasik via train for distribution to wholesale markets across NCR. Opeds you don’t want to miss
“Canada, without military or economic clout that would cause an adversary to think twice, is too easily bullied in an era when harassment and extrajudicial killings on foreign soil are becoming increasingly common,” writes the Toronto Star in an editorial titled, ‘Justin Trudeau hasn’t always been right on India. But he is this time’.
India is testing its friends’ trust, writes Mihir Sharma. “New Delhi’s furious response to Canada’s claims about the killing of a Sikh activist is raising eyebrows”.
Of the Supreme Court’s judgement upholding Section 6A of the 1955 Cititzenship Act, Shadan Farasat says that by “pegging the concept of citizenship under our constitution to the concept of fraternity … the court has quite emphatically accepted a liberal and broad-based view of the meaning of citizenship”. He also says the individual judges’ opinions are “an important first comment on various aspects of citizenship in India”.
In India we still ask the wrong question about food insecurity, Dipa Sinha argues: “While there is a reduction in hunger narrowly defined as not being on an empty stomach, ‘food security’ defined as ‘having access to safe and nutritious food that meets dietary needs and preferences’ is still not a reality for a large section of the population.”
The challenges posed by a delimitation exercise that would result in the North gaining at the expense of the South can be met with a different approach altogether, writes R. Rangarajan. Why not expand state assemblies so that the elected representatives can better serve the people, rather than messing with the balance between states in parliament?
Gideon Haigh writes about A Tale of Two 46s – the reference being to India’s recent batting collapse, and an earlier one by England in 1994. He notes: “Five of Test cricket’s lowest twenty scores have come since 2010, compared to four in the preceding six decades. Yet perhaps because T20 has normalised the batting collapse for a generation of cricket fans, we see such events less as cultural indictments and more as natural disasters - of the newly virile batsmanship we so fetishise an unavoidable byproduct.”
Listen up
Although the Congress’s social justice messaging was commended after the general election, the party’s loss in Haryana has raised questions about whether this messaging has “percolated to the lower rungs of the party organisation”. Is this right? Abhinay Lakshman of The Hindu is joined by political scientist Sudha Pai as well as sociologist Aditi Narayani Paswan to discuss.
Watch out
Listen to the brilliant Shailaja Paik, renowned scholar, MacArthur Genius Grant winner, and author of acclaimed books such as Dalit Women’s Education in Modern India and The Vulgarity of Caste, in conversation with Anurag Minus Verma.
Over and out
In From the King’s Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi, Pushpesh Pant writes about how the makeover of Delhi’s Hauz Khas transformed the city’s food scene.
That’s it for today. We’ll be back with you on Monday, on a device near you. If The India Cable was forwarded to you by a friend (perhaps a common friend!) book your own copy by SUBSCRIBING HERE.