Modi Ducks Manipur in Lok Sabha Response; Analysts Fed on Government Spin Demand Facts from Rahul Gandhi

New law to ensure govt appoints election commissioners, China without India ambassador for 10 months, new bill will exploit 28% of India’s forests, Birmingham music shop promoted Nusrat and crossover

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 and Anirudh SK | Editor: Pratik Kanjilal

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Snapshot of the day

August 10, 2023

Pratik Kanjilal

The no confidence motion was triggered by the violence in Manipur but it’s been one hour into Narendra Modi’s response to the debate in Parliament on Thursday and he has made no mention of the crisis there. Instead, the Prime Minister has trained his guns on the opposition for a host of sins, most of which revolve around claims that his government’s achievements have been acknowledged the world over but not by his political opponents.

To chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ from the Treasury benches and ‘India, India’ from the opposition side, the PM opened his speech with the ironic observation that for the BJP, a no confidence motion is “auspicious”. Indeed, it gave him an opportunity to rehash his own campaign trail speeches. Manipur featured in the form of posters in the Opposition benches, from which the Sansad TV cameras quickly flinched away. And then an Opposition chorus of “Manipur”, like a background score.

The Union government has tabled a bill in Parliament stating the process for selecting election commissioners, including the chief election commissioner. Candidates will be shortlisted by the cabinet secretary and two other bureaucrats of secretary rank. The selection committee will be chaired by the prime minister. Its other members will be the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a cabinet minister to be nominated by the prime minister. Which means that the ruling party will always get the election commissioners it wants. The draft law is a response to the Supreme Court’s March 2023 ruling directing the government to pass legislation on the matter. The bench’s proposal was that the collegium comprise the PM, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.

Kerala may allow films to run without the on-screen warnings against drinking if filmmakers pay the government half a lakh in advance. The Pinarayi Vijayan government wants to decriminalise non-felonious offences, and has replaced the present punishment of six months in jail with a cash disincentive. Earlier, the filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan had said that the intrusive warnings mar scenes which feature drinking, which is an element of everyday life. 

In Pakistan, President Arif Alvi approved the dissolution of the National Assembly at midnight last night on the advice of outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, marking an end to the current government’s tenure. A caretaker government will now take charge until elections are held. Polls may be delayed well into next year because the completion of the country’s census required updation of voter records and other poll-related processes. Dawn has an explainer on the way ahead for Pakistan. Interestingly, Sharif had announced his departure in July, 

Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, who will lead a bipartisan delegation of members of the US Congress to attend PM Modi’s Independence Day speech, has “expressed his desire to protect minority rights in India”, reports The Hindu. He has met with “representatives of a ‘coalition of Indian-American organisations’ including Hindus for Human Rights, the Indian-American Muslim Council, and India Civil Watch International in Washington. 

China has not had an ambassador in Delhi for 10 months. This is unusual, ahead of the G20 summit and possible meetings between the heads of government of the two nations, whose relationship remains oppositional. It is among “the top ten coveted posts for Chinese diplomats as the Ambassador acquires a rank of Vice Foreign Minister”, says The Hindu. It has not been vacant for long periods before. 

“As Prime Minister, [Imran] Khan posed a problem to America the moment that he said ‘absolutely not’ to a question about moving US forces from neighbouring Afghanistan to bases in Pakistan. When he uttered those words in June 2021, I knew that the US would move heaven and earth to get rid of him,” writes Yvonne Ridley in the Middle East Monitor. She says that Khan is down but not out. The Intercept has also published a 2022 cable from Pakistan’s ambassador in the US to his headquarters in Islamabad noting the Biden administration’s anger with Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow on the day Russia invaded Ukraine and dropping broad hints that Pakistan would have better ties with the US and Europe if Khan was replaced as PM.

A 52-year-old man has died after a midnight raid on his house in Singar village in connection with the communal violence in Haryana’s Nuh district. While Jabbar Khan’s family claimed that he died after being beaten up by the police, police have denied the allegation and said that he was just “shocked” by the raid. The family is not complaining because they are poor.

In Nuh, state vigilante bulldozer justice is superseding the courts, says the BBC. Among the homes demolished was that of a Muslim man who had actually sheltered some Bajrang Dal activists from the violence.

“We don’t intend to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments”: More than 50 panchayats across southern Haryana said in nearly identical letters they issued seeking to bar Muslim traders from entering their villages. The first sarpanch to issue such a letter said his decision was prompted by the Nuh violence as well as theft cases he said were caused by certain “outsiders”. The Narnaul SDM has asked for show-cause notices to be sent to the panchayats in his jurisdiction.

After their flight following threats of violence, Gurugram is realising that Muslim migrant workers are crucial for everyday life.

“The Indian government has shut off the internet in Manipur, giving cover to murders, rapes, and arson,” says Wired. When the violence in Manipur began, it did not take much time for fake news to begin. Three months on, Manipur is divided by misinformation and polarisation, says Boomlive. 

The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee has decided unanimously to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.50%. The standing deposit facility rate remains at 6.25% and the marginal standing facility rate and the bank rate at 6.75%.

The four airlines owned by Tata Sons have posted cumulative losses of Rs Rs 15,530 crore in FY23. Air India Express was the only profit-making entity, bringing home Rs 116.84 crore. Air India, AirAsia India and Vistara were all deeply in the red. 

Of all airports operated in the PPP model, only Bengaluru, Kochi and Hyderabad were profitable during the last fiscal year, reports Hindu Business Line. Adani’s airports also make losses.

Former British teacher Matthew Smith has been sentenced to 12 years for paying two Indian teenagers £66,000 (Rs 69 lakh) to sexually abuse Indian boys ages under 13 and film their acts, as instructed over a messaging service. Smith worked in orphanages and NGOs across India in 2007-14. The offences were committed in 2016-2022.

Rahul Gandhi’s return to the fray from his legal battles may help convince the public that he was unfairly treated, and counter his image as a spoilt, gilded princeling. But he’s a long way from seriously denting Narendra Modi’s overwhelming dominance, The Economist notes.

The controversial Data Protection Bill now only needs Presidential assent in order to become law. It was cleared by a largely Opposition-mukt Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, amid a walkout to protest the government’s stance on Manipur.

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