Ban or No Ban, Firecrackers in Delhi Create a Thick Layer of Smog in Delhi; National Conference and Congress Avoid Communal Campaign in J&K Elections; Economist and PM’s Advisor Bibek Debroy No More
Foreign investors pull money out of Indian bourses, JNU removes seminar coordinator for invitation to Iranian Ambassador, South Asian community groups in Canada ask Trudeau to list RSS as a hate group
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
November 1, 2024
Sidharth Bhatia
A thick layer of smog shrouded New Delhi on Friday, after revellers celebrating Diwali flouted a ban on firecrackers. The air quality index stood at over 345 shortly after dawn, according to Swiss firm IQ Air, driving pollution in the sprawling Indian capital to “hazardous.” According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board, the average concentration of PM2.5 in the national capital was 209.3 μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre of air) at 8 am on Friday. The average Air Quality Index value in Delhi was recorded to be in the “very poor” category, with a reading of 362 at 9 am, according to PTI. At 7 am, Anand Vihar recorded an Air Quality Index value of 395 while Aya Nagar saw 352, Jahangirpuri saw 390 and Dwarka saw 376, reports The Hindu. It also put New Delhi at the top of a real-time list as the world's most-polluted city, above Lahore in neighbouring Pakistan.
According to the AFP news agency, police in New Delhi seized nearly two tons of fireworks in the leadup to this year's Diwali, but revellers could still travel to neighbouring states to buy them.
(Credit: DW)
But then when stupidity dictates, actions are bound to be “hazardous”.
(via Mid-Day)
The Congress has heavily criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge in which the polls body had rejected complaints of irregularities in the counting of votes during the recently held Haryana assembly elections. Congress said that it was not surprised that the poll body had given itself a “clean chit” and accused it of being “focused on diminishing complaints and the petitioner”. The party also said that the tone and tenor of the ECI’s response was unbefitting of a government agency. In its letter to the ECI, the party said, “The answer given to the question of the machines fluctuating batteries seeks to confuse rather than clarify. At any rate, the ECI reply is nothing more than a standard and generic set of bullets on how the machines function rather than a specific clarification on specific complaints. In short, while our complaints were specific the ECI response is generic and focused on diminishing the complaints and the petitioners,” it said.
The Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU), India’s first women-led gig workers’ union, observed a Black Diwali across 11 major Indian cities, urging gig workers to switch off their phones and observe a ‘digital silence’. As part of the protest, the union demanded the recognition of gig workers as employees of platform companies, dignified working conditions, implementation of minimum wages, establishment of grievance redressal mechanism for workers and acknowledgement of workers’ rights. It also demanded that the government extend social security rights including provident fund, pension scheme, insurance scheme and more. Other requests included extension of the benefits under the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 to gig workers. Besides turning off their phones on Diwali, the union has also asked the gig workers to share pictures of them and their families with hashtags ‘DigitalStrike’ ‘GIPSWU’ and ‘BlackDiwali’ as a mark of solidarity.
Members of 25 South Asian communities in Canada have written an open letter to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, urging the government to list the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates in Canada as hate groups/far right extremist entities. A statement from the members of the South Asian communities cited a 2023 report published by the National Council of Canadian Muslims that has linked anti-Sikh violence in Canada to the RSS and the Sangh Parivar. “Founders of RSS explicitly espoused Fascist ideology In the ten years of BJP rule in India we have seen blatant examples of this, as the government takes India toward their goal of making the country a Hindu ethno-nationalist state in which the 200 million Muslim population and other minority populations such as Sikh, Dalit, Adivasi (indigenous peoples), and Christians are made second class citizens,” says the statement. The development comes amid an unprecedented escalation of tensions between India and Canada over Ottawa’s allegations that Indian government agents were involved in killing pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in 2023.
In a controversial move, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) removed Dr. Sima Baidya as Seminar Coordinator shortly after the Iranian ambassador’s invitation to a campus seminar was rescinded. Chairperson of the Centre for West Asian Studies, Sameena Hameed, issued a terse one-line notification, appointing junior faculty member Dr. Vrushal T. Ghoble in her place “with immediate effect.” According to a senior faculty source, this sudden decision bypassed standard procedures: it was neither discussed with the faculty nor shared with other members, breaching the centre’s tradition of rotating the Seminar Coordinator role among faculty members by mutual consent. The move has raised questions over transparency, as many believe the decision was made unilaterally and potentially as a punitive response to the initial invitation of the Iranian envoy, exposing rifts within the administration and casting doubts on JNU’s commitment to academic freedom.
The growing and visible religiosity of India’s Hindus, coupled with the Modi government’s Hindutva political push, rising expenditure on religious infrastructure and smartphone proliferation has created a fertile ground for entrepreneurs looking to cash in on digital Hinduism, writes The Economist on the quest for a ‘Hindu super app’:
“The potential for growth is enormous,” says Manu Jain, the co-founder of VAMA, one such service. He points to super-apps, such as YouVersion Bible and Muslim Pro, that serve hundreds of millions of Christians and Muslims around the world. Hindu startups have a long way to go to reach that scale. But unlike those monotheistic faiths, Hinduism’s pantheon of gods allows businesses to roll out more services, says Mr Jain. Offerings can vary by temple but also by god.”
Noted economist and Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Bibek Debroy passed away in New Delhi at the age of 69 this morning. He was admitted to AIIMS, which issued a statement confirming that Debroy had passed away today at 7 AM due to “intestinal obstruction.” The Indian Express has published a column he wrote for the paper four days before he died, with a note that it was to be an “unusual column” and “short of a requiem.” He wrote in it: “The same boring news, the same boring high-decibel debates. It all seems so transient and puerile. But so am I, transient and puerile, a dot that might have been wiped off. In that event, what would have happened? A few condolences, perhaps even from important people.” In a post on X, prime minister Modi noted, “Through his works, he left an indelible mark on India’s intellectual landscape.”
Major Outflow of Foreign Investor Money
Foreign institutional investors have made clear they wish to invest in China, and “sell India” reports The Indian Express. They have pulled out Rs 61,000 from financial services companies, which is a major chunk of their investment in this calendar year so far.
At present, the total AUM (Assets Under Management) of FPIs in India is $980 billion. Of this, the financial services sector makes up the largest chunk (28 per cent), followed by the information and technology sector.
“In terms of valuation, the Chinese market is much cheaper whereas the Indian market, even after the current 7 per cent correction, remains expensive. It is very rational for FPIs to sell in ‘expensive India’ and take the money to the Chinese market where valuations are very attractive,” VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services told the newspaper.
The Nifty and Sensex have fallen by 7% last month.
DD News Prime Time’s Public Betrayal
When DD News introduced its saffron logo in April this year, it promised to prioritise accuracy, facts, and truth over speed, claims and sensationalism. Aadvik Singh tracked 42 segments of the 9 pm show Do Took and this is what he found out:
“Prima facie, this is in violation of the channel’s responsibilities as outlined by its governing body, Prasar Bharati, whose 20-point programme code explicitly prohibits content that contains attacks on religions or communities or visuals or words contemptuous of religious groups or which promote communal attitudes. A majority of these segments were anti-opposition (59.5%), followed by misinformation and disinformation (28.%), and communal polarisation (7.1%). Only two segments, or 4.8% of the total, focussed on public interest (those two also in the context of opposition-governed states).
(Credit: Newslaundry)
Assam Detention Centre Back in the news
Assam’s detention centre is “filling up again”, reports Rokibuz Zaman. Citing lawyersand activists, he concludes that the recent Gauhati High Court order and Chief Minister Himanta Sarma’s strident campaign in Jharkhand is behind the renewed crackdown, citing lawyers and activists. “Since India does not have an agreement with Bangladesh to deport alleged illegal immigrants, the process of detection and detention leads to no closure – and endless harassment and suspicion of Bengal-origin Muslims.”
The Long Cable
National Conference and Congress Run a Secular Campaign in J & K Kashmir Elections
S N Sahu
One of the distinguishing aspects of the recently concluded elections to the Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the victory of the alliance led by National Conference by defeating BJP was that it was anchored on a secular plank , among others, for restoring the statehood of J&K.
Free from the deployment or religion or any polarising narrative as an election campaign plank, the victorious alliance represented a sharp and refreshing contrast to the unabashed use of Islamophobic statements by the BJP’s Hindutva-spouting leaders, including prime minister Modi to appeal for votes.
It is quite tragic that the Modi regime, which in 2019 scrapped the special status for J&K provided by Article 370 of the Constitution, dissolved the State Assembly, and took the unprecedented step of downgrading the State to a Union Territory. It did not conduct elections all these years and in fact shut down internet connectivity for a record long spell in violation of the Supreme Court’s observation that any such shut down infringed fundamental rights.
All along, the people of J&K struggled for the conduct of elections and restoration of statehood. Very remarkably, that struggle remained rooted in secular values without in any way invoking any religion or religious creed.
On the contrary, it was BJP leader and Union home minister Amit Shah, who often sharply attacks the Congress for its so-called appeasement politics to mobilise the votes of Muslims, himself attempted to reach out to the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir for their electoral support by stating that during Eid and Muharram they would get two gas cylinders free if the BJP were to form the Government. In contrast the National Conference and its allies ,including the Congress, while demanding the conduct of elections and restoration of Statehood, stayed away from invoking religion.
The Modi regime and the BJP, which used the scrapping of special status for J&K as an election plank for garnering votes in the rest of India never ever set a definite time line to conduct elections in the re-organised Union Territory.
Even though Amit Shah had assured that statehood would be restored after completion of the delimitation of J&K’s constituencies and the conduct of elections, no specific time-frame was scheduled to fulfil those assurances.
Prime minister Modi, who took pride at the national and global level, repeatedly stating that India was the mother of democracy woefully faltered in restoring the democratic and political process in J&K.
Eventually, it was the Supreme Court, which, in its judgement of December 11, 2023, while upholding the scrapping of the special status mandated by Article 370 very sharply observed “Direct elections to the Legislative Assemblies which is one of the paramount features of representative democracy in India cannot be put on hold until statehood is restored”.
“We direct,” the court stated, “that steps shall be taken by the Election Commission of India to conduct elections to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir constituted under Section 14 of the Reorganisation Act, by 30 September 2024”. It proceeded to add, “Restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest and as soon as possible”.
It is doubtful thus that the BJP, including prime minister Modi, would have held elections had the SC not mandated it.
The formation of the elected Government in J&K by the National Conference with Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister (CM) and Surinder Kumar Choudhary from Jammu region as Deputy CM and Abdullah’s statement “I fulfilled the promise of giving representation to all the regions equally; our endeavour will be to walk together” represents the spirit of Kashmiriyat which is all inclusive and remains integral to the secular credentials and democratic spirit defining idea of India.
Twenty seven years back, when elections were organised in J&K and an elected Government was formed after the tragic and long spell of terrorism causing havoc to the State, the then President of India K R Narayanan addressed the convocation of University of Kashmir in November 1997. He referred to the liberal and tolerant spirit of the people of Kashmir and remarked that “…it was inevitable that Kashmir would get over the unhappy period of intolerance and turbulence it has passed through….” He then stated, “We rejoice in this outcome, in the restoration of normalcy and elected democratic Government in the state” and congratulated the leadership and paid tribute to the spirit of the people of the state.
In that context, he invoked Mahatma Gandhi who at the time of unprecedented, Partition-related communal violence in several parts of India pointed to Muslim majority Kashmir, which was devoid of any riot in the name of religion and appealed to people in the rest of India to learn lessons of communal unity and solidarity.
In June 1947, while speaking at a prayer meeting in Delhi Gandhi recalled the history of Kashmir and said:
“In days gone by, when accompanied by Hindus, Zainulaabideen Budshah (he was the Sultan of Kashmir, a contemporary of Rana Kumbha of Chittor, the great grandfather of Rana Pratap Singh) set out on a pilgrimage of Kashi, he got repaired all derelict temples he passed on the way. The name of Allah is inscribed on the Victory Tower of Chittor”.
Against such a historical backdrop, the conduct of elections in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir following the secular struggle of the people of that part of India and, of course, on the direction of the Supreme Court, offers vital lessons for rest of India which is confronting polarised narratives spun by Hindutva forces and tragically peddled by BJP’s leaders.
Professor Zoya Hasan in her article. “ J&K elections break the political stalemate”, very sensitively observed, “This election took place in the backdrop of the region’s ongoing struggle to regain statehood, but it is noteworthy that religion does not form the basis of this demand. It is animated by a common history shared by Jammu and Kashmir”.
This is the lesson offered by the struggle of people of J&K to the rest of India.
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah had stated that union territory status of J&K is temporary in nature and assured that statehood for J&K would be restored after the delimitation of constituencies and conduct of elections. Recently the Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet in its very first meeting passed a resolution for restoration of statehood and the Lieutenant Governor accorded his approval to it. The Supreme Court in the aforementioned judgement on Article 370 flagged the point that ‘Restoration of statehood shall take place at the earliest and as soon as possible”. Therefore, the Modi government must honour the people’s secular assertion for statehood by restoring it without any further delay.
(S N Sahu served as Officer on Special Duty to President of India KR Narayanan.)
Reportedly
The Lieutenant governor of UT Jammu & Kashmir Manoj Sinha faced massive loss of face yesterday as newly elected MLAs from all parties, including BJP MLAs, skipped the so-called Union Territory Foundation Day celebrations he chaired. Sinha tried to put on a brave face by questioning the MLAs’ “double standards”. The UT administration ‘celebrated’ the fifth anniversary of the creation of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on October 31. One BJP UT leader claimed that BJPwalas were busy in Diwali celebrations and hence could not make it. A poor state of affairs.
Deep dive
Saurav Das profiles the equivocations of Justice DY Chandrachud, the outgoing chief justice of India whose tenure “has been two steps forward, four steps backward, six steps sideways.” [PDF]
Prime number: GDP down 24.7% by 2070A new report by the Asian Development Bank says the impact of climate change – under a high-end emissions scenario – on GDP could be catastrophic for India, reducing national income by 24.7% by 2070. The projected GDP loss for the Asia-Pacific region as a whole under the same scenario is 16.9%. [PDF]
Opeds you don’t want to miss
An important historical and geopolitical reflection by Sandeep Bhardwaj on the hurdles in India’s pursuit of semiconductors. “The global semiconductor supply chain is heavily influenced by geopolitical factors, essentially US dominance. India’s foreign policy & its relationships with major powers will significantly limit its ability to become a major chip-making hub”.
Asheef Iqubbal on the tussle between privacy and need to share, the dilemmas posed by health data.
Forty years after she was assassinated, have we learnt any lessons from that traumatic episode, asks Harish Khare.
Dipa Sinha draws attention to the trend of feminisation of public employment in India and highlights the need to focus not only on the quantity of jobs in the public/government sector but also their quality.
Read an excerpt from Jonathan Galton’s ‘Fake Gods and False History: Being Indian in a Contested Mumbai Neighbourhood’ looking at how Dalit Buddhists in Mumbai are resisting caste hierarchy.
Listen up
Prof Tirthankar Roy, who teaches South Asia and Global history at the London School of Economics, speaks on “The Hidden Truth: How the British Empire Shaped India’s Economy”, in with Daniel Freeman, Managing Editor, Institute of Economic Affairs. The discussion covers the state of the Indian economy under Mughal rule and the effects of British rule on India’s economy.
Watch out
Asia Society Policy Institute hosted the launch of the latest book by Kevin Rudd, On Xi Jinping: How Xi’s Marxist Nationalism Is Shaping China and the World, which explores Xi Jinping’s ideological worldview and its implications for China’s future direction and global influence.
This has implications on India. Watch.
Over and out
Here's a tribute to C.K. Nayudu on his 129th birth anniversary, the giant who helped shape Indian cricket. Usually lists of greatest stars lean towards the TV era, but Nayadu’s is a story of courage and resilience.
Flight crews know how to see a lot in a little time. Here’s pilot and author Mark Vanhoenacker’s plan for 24 hours in Mumbai.
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.