As Labour Returns to Power in UK, India Assessing Impact; Why Rahul Gandhi's 'Who Is a Hindu?' Lesson Annoys Modi
A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by, Sushant Singh, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, MK Venu, Seema Chishti, Siddharth Varadarajan and Tanweer Alam | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK
Snapshot of the day
July 5, 2024
Siddharth Varadarajan
Justice Amit Sharma of Delhi High Court on Thursday recused himself from hearing a string of bail pleas linked to the Delhi Police’s “larger conspiracy” case in relation to the 2020 riots in Delhi. The series of bail petitions include those of Sharjeel Imam and other persons booked relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The matter was listed before a division bench of Justice Prathiba Singh and Justice Amit Sharma after a change in the roster of judges dealing with the matter. “Let these matters be listed before a bench of which one of us (Justice Amit Sharma) is not a member, subject to orders of the Acting Chief Justice,” the bench said. The case will now be heard in the bench on July 24. No reason was given.
Talking about (in)justice in New India…
Speaking of which, the day before yesterday, the NDA government notified the appointment of Orissa High Court judge Justice BR Sarangi as chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court. The appointment came after a considerable delay. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended his name on December 27, 2023. Thanks to the delay, he will now serve as chief justice for just a few days as he retires on July 10. His example shines the light on delays by the executive on collegium recommendations, which are frequent now. Are the delays due to inefficiency? Or a deliberate attempt to stymie judicial appointments that the Modi government is unhappy with.
N. Chandrababu Naidu, leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, is pressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for over 100,000 crore rupees ($12 billion) in financial aid, reports Bloomberg. Naidu met with Modi on Thursday to request funds for building the state’s capital city and other critical projects. This substantial demand adds pressure to the federal budget, according to sources familiar with the matter. Following the BJP's loss of its majority in recent polls, the party has been compelled to collaborate closely with Naidu’s TDP. Naidu’s call for aid underscores the significant financial challenges facing Andhra Pradesh and the central government’s balancing act with its coalition partners.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad has predicted that the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre can fall by August and elections can happen anytime. “I appeal to all party workers to be ready, as elections can happen anytime. Modi's government in Delhi is very weak and it can fall by August...,” the former Union minister said. Bihar’s ruling JD(U) is in alliance with the BJP, both at the Centre and the state. RJD leader and Lalu's son Tejashwi Yadav hit out at JD(U) and said that the party compromised with its ideology by allying with the BJP to stay in power.
In Maharashtra, crucial legislative council by-elections are due and will be a major test of strength between the INDIA and NDA camps in the run up to the state’s assembly election later this year.
Keir Starmer, a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer, is now the next Prime Minister of Britain, after his Labour Party delivered a decisive win in the general election with incumbent Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party being dethroned, with Sunak taking responsibility for the “sobering verdict”. Labour has secured 412 seats and the largest majority government in 25 years. Notable Conservative scalps so far include Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt, Grant Chaps and Alex Chalk. “Across our country, people will be waking up to the news that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this nation,” a jubilant Starmer told supporters. But the victory is being called a ‘loveless landslide’ as Labour’s vote share has risen just 2% to 34%.
Modi has joined other world leaders in congratulating the Labour leader. Starmer named Angela Rayner as deputy PM and David Lammy as foreign secretary. Rayner was in India in January for the Raisina Dialogue as a guest of the MEA – a well-timed invitation – but Lammy’s appointment will be seen by South Block as potentially problematic. As an MP, he signed on to a letter in 2020 condemning the Indian government’s revocation of Article 370 in Kashmir. Shabana Mehmood, Starmer’s pick as justice secretary is a declared advocate of self-determination for Kashmir.
In a historic milestone, nine Sikh candidates from the Labour Party have secured seats in the UK Parliament, including Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, a frequent critic of the Modi government. This comes at a time when there are heightened diplomatic tensions between the Indian government and several western countries over an alleged case of transnational repression where an Indian state official is supposed to have been involved in ordering an assassination of someone considered a Khalistani activist (terrorist by India) for making a case for an independent Sikh nation.
The Guardian describes Rishi Sunak’s tenure as British PM as ‘bittersweet’ for the British South Asians:
“With Rishi Sunak’s tenure as the first prime minister of Indian heritage having come to a crushing end, south Asians living in the UK have had cause to reflect. The Conservative party’s general election capitulation ends a shortlived but historic period for the country, which for the first time was led by a person of colour, and a Hindu.”
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, appears to be stepping back from potential investments in India. According to a report by Bloomberg, which quotes officials in the Indian government, Tesla’s executives have ceased communication with Indian officials, leading to doubts about the electric vehicle (EV) giant’s plans for the country. In late April, Musk had planned to visit India, including a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, this visit was ‘postponed’, and since then, there have been no further discussions between Tesla and Indian authorities. The halt in talks is linked to Tesla’s current financial challenges, with no immediate plans for new investments in India.
Retail car sales in India plummeted by 6.8% in June, marking their sharpest decline in nearly two and a half years, according to a report by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA). Passenger vehicle sales fell to 281,566 units, the lowest since September 2022, as extreme heatwaves deterred customers from visiting showrooms, reducing dealership footfall by 15%. This slump in sales led to an inventory buildup of 62-67 days, significantly above the recommended three-week level, thereby escalating dealers’ financial strain.
Fashion colossus Shein, banned alongside TikTok and WeChat by the Indian government in 2020 under Section 69A of the IT Act for national security reasons, is making a comeback. Now in the safe hands of Reliance Retail, Shein is set to relaunch in a few weeks. As part of the deal, Shein will primarily manufacture in India, store data locally, and receive a licensing fee from Reliance for its brand and process expertise.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke for Modi at yesterday’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit and emphasised its stance on terrorism, calling for it to be dealt with as among the grouping’s priorities and speaking against ‘cross-border terrorism’. The joint declaration from the summit advocated an “inclusive government” in Afghanistan and issued a vague condemnation of the Israel-Hamas war – its language can be interpreted to refer to Hamas’s terror attack as well as Israel’s military campaign – and left out the Ukraine war.
The foreign minister also sat down with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, at the sidelines of the summit yesterday. Jaishankar stressed that disengagement from the remaining points of standoff in Ladakh were necessary for restoring normal bilateral ties, while China reiterated its own view that the border issue “should proceed on a parallel track to the resumption of ties”.
The Delhi High Court held that WhatsApp conversations cannot be admitted as evidence in legal proceedings unless accompanied by a mandatory certificate as required by the Evidence Act of 1872.
The Uttar Pradesh police have said they have arrested six persons including two women linked to organising the satsang of Narayan Sakaar Hari alias Bhole Baba in Hathras where 121 persons were killed following a stampede on Tuesday. However, the self-styled police constable-turned-godman, who was born as Suraj Pal in a Dalit family in Etah, is still out of the grip of the Uttar Pradesh government amid mounting pressure to act against him.
A delegation of 150 lawyers from the Delhi high court and district courts have written to the Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, on the manner in which a judge quashed the Delhi chief minister’s bail without having read the order. The lawyers, according to a report in The Hindu, pointed out that the brother of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain, who stayed the bail order, serves as counsel for the Enforcement Directorate. It is the ED’s case on Delhi’s excise duty policy in which Kejriwal had been arrested and was seeking bail. The letter highlighted a ‘clear’ conflict of interest: “Hon’ble Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain should have recused himself from the proceedings since his real brother is a counsel for the Enforcement Directorate. This clear conflict of interest was never declared by Hon’ble Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain.”
It transpires that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted to record his dissent when the BJP Parliamentary Board overwhelmingly rejected his demand for removal of Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister over Gujarat riots, as per a new biography of former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Venkaiah Naidu: A Life in Service by S Nagesh Kumar. It says, “Naidu’s gentle persuasion led to Vajpayee not recording his dissent officially.” The book, which was released by Modi on Sunday, recalls the political developments following the Gujarat riots and said that the BJP top brass stood behind Modi though Vajpayee thought otherwise. The BJP leadership was of the view that removal of Modi would mean a “permanent blot” on the party and the “acceptance of guilt”. [It is never too late, is our view at The India Cable.]
Ahead of Modi’s Moscow trip scheduled for next week, a joint venture between India and Russia has delivered the first 35,000 Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles assembled in Uttar Pradesh to the Indian army, Snehesh Alex Philip reports. He cites sources as saying the production of the rest of the 70,000 rifles planned to be assembled in India as part of an initial phase will be completed by 32 months. The rifles produced under the agreement will have fewer imported parts with time.
And during his Moscow rendezvous, Modi will discuss India’s request for the early discharge of Indians “misled” into fighting for Russia along the frontline of the Ukraine war, Sakshi Dayal and Tanvi Mehta cite foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra as saying today. He also said that according to Indian estimates, around 30 or 40 Indians are already serving in the Russian military.
In the fortnight after June 19, there were 13 incidents of mob lynching or assault in West Bengal, where the victims were allegedly branded kidnappers or thieves, Ravik Bhattacharya and Joyprakash Das report. They speak to the relatives of some of those who were killed and to some who survived the assaults – their accounts suggest the incidents were rather abrupt. Local police are organising ‘awareness campaigns’, and the state’s speaker alleged that the governor’s refusal to sign an anti-mob lynching Bill the assembly passed is part of the diagnosis for these incidents.
Justice Krishan Pahal of the Allahabad high court noted that while the POCSO Act is meant to protect children from sexual exploitation, “there are cases where it has been misused, particularly in consensual romantic relationships between teenage persons”.
A fast-track court in Bengaluru has summoned former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa to appear before it on July 17 so it can consider framing charges in the sexual assault case against him, The Hindu reports. Yediyurappa is accused of sexually abusing a minor girl as well as of destroying evidence and offering a bribe to shield himself from punishment. He denies the charges. The state’s high court stayed the CID from arresting him until July 12.
Less than a week after being bailed out in the money laundering case against him, Hemant Soren is back as Jharkhand chief minister. He is assuming the post for the third time. Here is a quick history of his political career.
Rokibuz Zaman reports on why Meghalaya’s Khasi and Jaintia communities on the one hand and its Garo community on the other are divided over the state’s reservation policy. The first group is unhappy that reservation for Garos is higher than their population share, while Garo groups advocate for backwardness as the reservation criterion and point to how Khasis are overrepresented at the higher levels of government. The issue has had electoral ramifications.
Case of Agniveer death by suicide
An Agniveer has died by suicide in Agra. Srikant Kumar Chaudhary, just 22, was serving on ‘sentry duty’ after joining the Indian Air Force in 2022 as a limited tenure recruit.
The India Cable yesterday extensively reported that “the army and the government have tried to mislead the public by including the Rs 50 lakh of free personal accidental insurance cover provided by the bank as per its own policy for salary account holders – which can change anytime – as an assured benefit from the government. Essentially, the dead Agniveer’s family has received nothing from the government except Rs 39,000 – the rest is insurance cover.”
Prioritise bail, says Supreme Court
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) got told off for delaying the trial in a case under the controversial and repressive Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. The Supreme Court stated that if the prosecuting agency cannot protect the right to speedy trial of an accused, then they cannot oppose his bail application on the ground that the offence was serious. Live Law reports the court as saying, "Howsoever serious a crime may be, an accused has a right to speedy trial as enshrined under the Constitution of India," observed the Court while granting bail to a man, who has been under custody since February 2020 in a case over alleged smuggling of counterfeit Indian currencies from Pakistan.
Justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan observed :
"If the State or any prosecuting agency including the court concerned has no wherewithal to provide or protect the fundamental right of an accused to have a speedy trial as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution then the State or any other prosecuting agency should not oppose the plea for bail on the ground that the crime committed is serious. Article 21 of the Constitution applies irrespective of the nature of the crime."Of course, there are many cases – for instance that of Mahesh Raut – where the Supreme Court itself has been sitting on the bail application of under trials for months.
Study links Chronic Kidney Disease incidence in India to poverty, rural setting
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant public health problem. The burden of CKD in children and adolescents in India is not well described. A study by Angad Singh, Madhur Verma, Milan Das, Pragyan Paramita Parija, Saurabh Nayak and Vivekanand Jha uses data from the recent Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) to estimate the prevalence of impaired kidney function (IKF) and its determinants in children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 19. It finds eastern states and southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as showing higher incidence of IKF. Rural populations are more vulnerable. This is the first nationwide estimate of impaired kidney function among children and adolescents in India.
The Long Cable
Why Rahul Gandhi's 'Who Is a Hindu?' Lesson Annoys Modi
Badri Raina
The Leader of Opposition was undeniably in well-equipped command of himself, his materials, and of the combined opposition alliance. The interjections thrown at him were met with feisty repartee that seemed to cause unsmiling panic among the most elderly in the front of the treasury benches.
Even the most honourable speaker of the august house had some explaining to do.
Rahul Gandhi clearly could be seen to have arrived, while the venerable prime minister seemed to have declined into petulant grumpiness.
The arrival of the former has come to have registered in popular perception as the result of leg-work extending to thousands of kilometres through the length and breadth of the republic.
The ‘pappu’ of old no longer seemed to be available to cheap mock. However the declining colossus sought to denigrate and painful unease showed in the crow's feet around his stern eyes.
After all, what chicanery can you throw at post-election surveys that showed Rahul Gandhi at 36% as the choice of the sacred lands of Uttar Pradesh for prime ministership against Modi at 32%.
Or, the fact that where the grand old party which was declared to have fossilised into antiquity made a 100% jump in its numbers in the House of the people, the mighty Modi who staked everything on his own "guarantee" lost some 20%, no matter the depths of unlovely desperation to which his campaign sank.
In his speech, the Leader of Opposition made critiques that found no persuasive rejoinders.
The one issue, however, which predictably animated the treasury benches was the one that concerned what Rahul Gandhi said about being or not being Hindu.
In the first place, it is palpably galling to the self-appointed proprietors of Hinduism that this Rahul Gandhi should actually have been making studies into the archives of what constitute the rich complexities of Hinduism, given that most who swear by it rarely bother to dive into its diverse makings through history.
Given the hullabaloo, it may in order to put some facts out among all Hindus of whichever definition or eclectic persuasion.
Those who heard without prejudice of one kind or another what Rahul Gandhi said heard the following: that, in his reading of scripture and the iconography of the Hindu pantheon, to be a true Hindu means being peace-loving, tolerant, truthful, and fearless; and that those who often proclaim themselves to be Hindus are none of these.
When accused by the BJP of brushing all Hindus as violent, the LOP could be heard loudly saying that the BJP did not represent all Hindus, and that, in fact, those who occupied the treasury benches were not Hindus at all.
This contention about who is a real Hindu has been at the heart of cultural/religious claims and counter-claims in the political sphere of our lives particularly since the rise of Narendra Modi.
Are those who regard Mahatma Gandhi as the greatest Hindu of our times Hindus, or are those who saw him and continue to see his legacy as the chief antagonist to true Hinduism Hindus?
Most crucially, is violence anathema to true Hinduism or is violence a defining feature of the history of Hindutva?
In this medley, the LOP could have drawn knowledgeable support for his dualistic argument from a landmark book, Hindutva and Violence: V.D.Savarkar and the Politics of History (2022), by Vinayak Chaturvcedi.
Chaturvedi is no Congress supporter or closet Leftist. Indeed, he, it transpires, was given the name Vinayak after Savarkar himself.
Chaturvedi makes it clear that his main task in the book has been to understand Savarkar's universe of thought, and not to praise or rubbish him. In his study of Savarkar's entire and very considerable oeuvre, Chaturvedi finds that the concept of violence was at the centre of Savarkar's definition of Hindutva.
Savarkar's principal conclusion in Chaturvedi's words was that "Hindus had not only existed in a state of war in the past but they also needed to embrace permanent war as part of their future" for "Hindus understand themselves as Hindus only through acts of violence."
We do of course know that the Hindutva right wing routinely engage in what is called shastra puja, namely the propitiation of firearms etc.
The contention, thus, that came to the fore as a result of what Rahul Gandhi said in his inaugural speech as LOP remains at the core of our continuing theoretical slugfest about what makes a Hindu a real Hindu; and it a contention whose ghosts deserve to be exorcised if we are to obtain the sort of cultural stability within the majority community that is conducive to republican ideas.
Taken together, the opening session of the 18th Lok Sabha is likely to go down in the annals of parliamentary history as watershed in more ways than one.
Reportedly
The Labour Party crossed the 400-seat mark in the UK, echoing BJP’s “400 se par” ambition. This victory contrasts sharply with Indian politics, where the BJP has not achieved anything near a similar feat though Modi is back at PM. Remarkably, UK pollsters accurately predicted the outcome, unlike in India, where pollsters are often aligned with the ruling party. This disparity highlights the need for introspection among Indian pollsters and institutions to address and correct such biases, ensuring more accurate and independent electoral forecasting in the future.
Deep dive
Why are government canteens important when 80 crore people get free foodgrain? Reetika Khera on how “food canteens in cities offer affordable meals to many, especially marginalised groups without cooking facilities such as migrant workers. By enhancing menus, infrastructure, and staff wages, state governments can show political goodwill and also take ownership of this useful scheme.”
Prime number: 33%
Unemployment has driven a 33% increase in youth suicides over the past six years, says Santosh Mehrotra to Karan Thapar, who has long warned about India’s severe youth unemployment crisis, which continues to be ignored by the Modi-led government.
Opeds you don’t want to miss
Modi is a strongman, and strongmen do not change colours so easily. Only a foolish person would bet that Modi will now suddenly turn liberal, instead of doubling down on his anti-Muslim and authoritarian agenda, says Sushant Singh.
From vox-pop to arrest-pop. On why it “reflects a worrying trend where the government is not just targeting political opponents but also those who question its policies from a civil society perspective.” Nirmanyu Chouhan writes.
It’s Modi’s Cabinet that’s ‘disrupting’ Parliament, not the Opposition. Ragamalika Karthikeyan writes that “on the last day of the first sitting of the 18th Lok Sabha, Union Minister Rajnath Singh moved a resolution against the opposition for disrupting PM Modi’s speech — a bit rich coming from a government that has refused to debate pretty much anything.”
Rahul Gandhi is offering us a choice between fear and valour, violence and non-violence, truth and untruth. What would we want our children to choose? R. Rajagopal on Gandhi who “is nudging the leadership to draw from the past to rediscover and rewrite the parameters, if not the pillars, on which India should build its future”.
S Subramanian on why “in an economy characterised by a massively skewed distribution of resources, resulting in undeserved deprivation for the very many and equally undeserved super-abundance for a very few, surely there is a case for at least a modicum of redistributive effort on the part of the State.”
Arun Kumar analyses how a new class of subalterns — victims of unemployment, contractual workers, and low paid working class families — are the forces behind the resurgence of Samajwadi Party in the recently concluded Lok Sabha Election.
Indira Rajaraman suggests that the upcoming full budget should closely follow the interim one, which addresses issues like exam paper leaks and the climate crisis, prioritising action against global warming.
“When Rahul Gandhi takes on the RSS,” writes Shashi Tharoor, “he does so both from the platform of the Constitution and as a Hindu who cherishes the principles of non-violence, acceptance and inclusion he has learned from his faith.”
Listen up
Education is crucial for social mobility in India, leading to protests over widespread cheating in university entrance exams. Listen to this podcast from The Economist on the NEET and paper leak scam, which it presents as the “first scandal” of “Modi’s new government”.
In light of the civil war in Myanmar, some have argued that India ought to review its policy toward the country and establish communication with resistance groups in order to aid civilians affected by the conflict? Should India do this? Hear Kallol Bhattacherjee in conversation with former ambassador Rajiv Bhatia and human rights lawyer Nandita Haksar.
Watch out
Awadhesh Prasad, the Samajwadi Party leader who went from being a nine-term MLA and two-time minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, stunned the Bharatiya Janata Party by defeating it in the Faizabad constituency – home to the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He speaks to Kumkum Chadha about his victory, national politics and whom he would like to see as the prime minister of India. [Hindi]
Over and out
Brahmaputra’s lone female gharial’s long wait for a mate could end soon. “A lone female has been spotted for more than three years in a stretch of the river within the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.” More here
Here is some Afro-indie music, Telugu it is. Pakkane Le.
“For years, Kerala’s movies were limited to audiences within the state, but they are now finding fans farther afield,” writes the Economist in a paean to Mollywood. The magazine credits the rise of streaming for dubbed/subtitled movies like Manjummel Boys now reaching a pan-Indian audience.
That’s it for today. We’ll be back with you tomorrow, 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.