Ghettoing of SCs and Muslims Continues Despite Urbanisation; Swallowing Gandhi and Peace in One Prize

Heat wave diagnosis raises temperatures in Ballia, RSS says Manipur “extremely worrisome”, Modi state visit draws criticism, police excesses in Junagadh, Adipurush threatens Indian cinema in Nepal

A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by MK Venu, Seema Chishti, Siddharth Varadarajan, Sushant Singh, Sidharth Bhatia and Tanweer Alam | With inputs from Kalrav Joshi | Editor: Pratik Kanjilal

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Snapshot of the day

June 19, 2023 

Right after the Nepal PM’s visit to Delhi, which was intended to mend fences, careless cultural appropriation in the blockbuster film Adipurush has endangered Indian cinema in Nepal ― Sita is called the daughter of India though in the epic, her birthplace is Janakpur in Nepal. Kathmandu theatres stopped screening Adipurush on Friday after Mayor Balen Shah said that all Indian films will be off the screens in the capital if the culture grab is not reversed. The “makers are revisiting the said dialogues, ensuring they resonate with the core essence of the film and the same will reflect in the theatres in the next few days.” New York critic Simon Abrams is put off by the tacky CGI ― “a vast computer-generated wasteland” ― rather than the dialogues. Meanwhile, referring to the controversies that the film stoked in India, Malayalam writer NS Madhavan says “don’t diss Adipurush”, because it is just one more retelling of the epic. But the telling that he references is Nina Paley’s much sharper Sita Sings the Blues:

The RSS, which denounced the violence in Manipur as “extremely worrisome”, issued a call for peace in the state on Sunday. Signed by RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, it was issued after the Congress said that the “ideology of the RSS” is to blame for the ongoing conflict. In a sharp departure from tradition, the RSS is making PM Modi look weak.

Protesters in Imphal West said no to Mann ki Baat because the PM is silent on Manipur. They destroyed radio sets to make a clean break with the life of the PM’s mind. 

https://twitter.com/shaandelhite/status/1670360862375432193?s=20

The opposition is running with the ball. “Enough Mann Ki Baat now is time for some Manipur ki Baat. Honourable PM Narendra Modi ji,” tweeted TMC MP Mahua Moitra. “So one more Mann ki Baat but Maun (silence) on Manipur,” tweeted Congress MP Jairam Ramesh. At least 10 Catholic institutions were attacked since the violence broke out, Dominic Lumon, the Archbishop of Imphal, wrote on Saturday, and 249 Meitei Christian churches were destroyed in 36 hours after the violence began. 

Sushant Singh writes on Modi’s continuing silence on Manipur and the damage it is doing to India. “To preside over the wilful destruction of the authority of the Indian State in a sensitive border state cannot be a feather in Modi’s cap. His conduct on Manipur defies common sense.”

The mishandling of Manipur is already eroding the authority of the Centre. On Saturday, the West Bengal State Election Commission moved the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order directing the deployment of central forces in the state, to deal with violence related to the panchayat polls. The day before, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that forces sent to Manipur had had no effect.  

On Sunday, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh phoned Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and requested him to take action for the security of the Meitei population in the bordering State. Meiteis and Kukis make up a sizable portion of the population of Mizoram, and 10,000 members of the Kuki community who were displaced as a result of the unrest in Manipur have also sought safety there. As scores of BJP MPs from the Meitei community in Manipur gathered in the capital over the past few days to visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a request was made to protect the security of Meiteis in Mizoram. This week, the chief minister of Manipur will also be in Delhi. 

At the Centre, the Vishwaguru is maintaining radio silence on Manipur, despite mobs targeting BJP offices and homes of state ministers and politicians. Manipur BJP spokesperson Elangbam Johnson actually said, “The people also will definitely want to know the party’s stand, but we have adopted (the tactic) to remain silent.” Over the weekend, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) – which has played a crucial role in raising awareness and advocating for the rights of the minority Kuki-Zo tribal communities – was blocked by Twitter. 

Human rights groups are criticising the White House for hosting PM Modi on a state visit, saying that it is giving a platform to right-wing Hindutva. “For almost a decade now, human rights activists and others have regularly brought to the White House — Democrats or Republicans — that Modi’s regime is authoritarian, it’s right-wing, it’s anti-Muslim and it’s anti-minority,” Suchitra Vijayan, author of Midnight’s Borders: A People’s History of Modern India, told HuffPost.

In Foreign Affairs, Daniel Markey writes, “If making democratic values the cornerstone of the US-Indian relationship has always been a dubious strategy, today it is clearly doomed – because the very notion of common values has itself come to look fanciful.” The Editorial Board at the Washington Post expects Biden to raise concerns with Modi about India’s attacks on minorities and decline in freedom of expression in India. “Journalists are under intense pressure, some have been arrested, and others have been subjected to online harassment,” it says. Concerns over democratic standards will be set aside as the US regales India’s leader this week, writes John Reed in the Financial Times. And here is the transcript of S Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, in conversation with The Economist. 

The toll of the Balasore rail accident has mounted to 292, though the Minister for Railways had closed the file at 238. 

As Kashmir Walla editor Fahad Shah completes 500 days behind bars, a Quint reporter replays the coverage of his case: “No incarcerated journalist should be forgotten.”

Wrestler Sakshi Malik has said that the minor who had accused Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment had had to change her statement ― which would have led to a POCSO case ― because her family was threatened. 

Adani Digital Labs will buy 100% of equity shares in Stark Enterprises, which owns the Indian train ticketing app Trainman, to establish its presence in the railway sector.  

India will soon get a new spy chief, Ravi Sinha, who will take over as head of the Research and Analysis Wing from Samant Goel at the end of June.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty of India made history on Sunday when they won the men’s doubles title at the Indonesia Open, becoming the first team from their nation to win a Super 1000 tournament. In a thrilling 43 minute match, the Indians outwitted world champion Malaysian team of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-17, 21-18.

Investors have discovered financial irregularities and cooked books at the healthcare startup Mojocare and are moving to scale down its operations, believing that its business model is not sustainable. On Monday, The Morning Context had reported that the startup had been inflating revenues and engaging with vendors related to the promoters. 

A public flogging outside a mosque, violent raids on homes ― Muslims in Junagadh, Gujarat, allege extraordinary police excesses in response to a notice which could have led to the demolition of a mosque.   

The Gita Press of Gorakhpur has been awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize by a jury headed by PM Modi. See The Long Cable below. 

Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, wanted in India, has been shot dead in a gurdwara in Surrey, Canada.