Myanmarese, Including Junta Soldiers, Flee Fighting Into India; Assembly Polls Litmus Test for Congress and Rahul Gandhi
Russia second biggest exporter to India, 56,000 caste crimes in Rajasthan, Muslims look after Kolkata synagogues, CPI founding member N Sankaraiah dead, premium whisky is posterboy of atmanirbharta
A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by MK Venu, Seema Chishti, Siddharth Varadarajan, Sushant Singh, Sidharth Bhatia and Tanweer Alam | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK | Editor: Pratik Kanjilal
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Snapshot of the day
November 17, 2023
Pratik Kanjilal
Manipur will take legal action against the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum for threatening to establish “self-rule” in three districts dominated by the Kuki-Zo ― Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal.
India-Canada trade talks are on hold pending an investigation into the murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside his gurudwara in British Columbia, Trade Minister Mary Ng has said. “A Canadian killed on Canadian soil” is taking precedence over economic considerations. Canada had hit the pause button before Canadian PM Justin Trudeau accused India of agency in the killing at the G20 meet in Delhi. On November 15, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had asked Canada to provide evidence in support of its allegations about India’s involvement in the killing.
Russia has been India’s second largest source of imports for the last seven months in this financial year due to increased oil purchases from Moscow, reports The Economic Times. Russia’s exports to India shot up from $22.13 billion during April-October in fiscal 2023 to $36.27 during the same period in the current financial year. India’s imports from Russia had risen 67% to $30.42 billion in April-September, driven by crude oil and fertiliser, according to the Commerce Ministry. Earlier, the UAE was in second place. It is now India’s third largest source of imports. China remains in the top spot, with its exports holding steady during the same period (April-October 2023), with a marginal decrease, from $60.26 billion to $60.02 billion.
The RBI has made personal loans and credit card outstandings costlier. Retail loan growth will slow down, irrespective of whether banks pass on the costs to consumers or not.
Israel President Isaac Herzog says that Gaza cannot be left in a vacuum or allowed to become a terrorist hub again, and seeks India’s ideas on the way forward.
Pakistan, which is battling a financial crisis, is trying to appease its all-weather friend China in a bid to restart investment in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), after the bilateral project was stalled, reports Suchitra Karthikeyan.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk has said that widespread outbreaks of disease and hunger seem to be “inevitable” in Gaza after weeks of the Israeli assault. Speaking at an informal briefing in Geneva after visiting the Middle East, Volker Turk said the depletion of fuel would have a “catastrophic” impact across Gaza. It would lead to the collapse of sewage systems and healthcare and end the scarce humanitarian aid being supplied. “Massive outbreaks of infectious disease, and hunger, seem inevitable,” Turk said.
While Southeast Asian defence ministers seek an end to the Israel-Hamas war and want the world to collaborate on setting up humanitarian aid corridors in Gaza, they struggled on how to address the prolonged civil strife in Myanmar in the same region.
A young man summoned to a police station in Kolkata because the cellphone he was using appeared to be stolen goods allegedly died within minutes of his arrival there, adding another custodial death to the 15 registered in the state in 2022-23.
A new drilling machine flown in by the IAF from Delhi began boring through the rubble of a collapsed tunnel on the Char Dham route in Uttarakhand, in a fresh attempt to reach 40 workers trapped underground for five days.
Atmanirbharta has sort of stuttered in most sectors, but premium Indian whisky is its posterboy, reports The Economist.
More than a year and a half since the destruction of homes in Muslim neighbourhoods in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, they remain ruins — a dark reminder of the tenure of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, reports The News Minute. Meanwhile, BJP has turned to welfare schemes amid public anger over price rise. More than half of MP’s women voters have signed up for a cash transfer scheme but many say it is small compensation for the burdens of price rise.
To clear her name, Delhi riots accused Devangana Kalita is seeking the Delhi High Court’s direction to the police to provide her with recorded videos and WhatsApp chats in two cases, including one under UAPA, concerning the 2020 protests against the CAA and NRC. She says that content was cherry-picked to implicate her in a murder charge, while the whole text would establish that the movement was peaceful.
Decades of Hindutva rhetoric in Madhya Pradesh may protect Mamaji’s BJP government from anti-incumbency, says Omar Rashid in The Wire.
A deep depression off Andhra Pradesh in the Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during the next 24 hours, says the India Meteorological Department, with winds gusting at 40-70 kmph on the coast. Paddy farmers in Odisha are worried following forecasts by weather agencies predicting unseasonal heavy rain, reports Down To Earth.
Myanmarese, including 74 junta soldiers, flee fighting into India
Hundreds of Myanmarese have crossed the Indian border following heavy fighting between rebels and the junta. India is “deeply concerned” and wants a cessation in the violence through “constructive dialogue”. Since last month, the Myanmar military has faced a major coordinated offensive from an alliance of three ethnic armed forces, and has lost control of several towns and security outposts. In the last two days, there has been intense fighting near the Indian border, and some reports state that more than 5,000 refugees have crossed into India. The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday acknowledged that the fighting has led to major border crossings. “As a result of fighting between the Rikhawadar area opposite Zokhawthar area in [the] India-Myanmar border in Mizoram, in the Chin state of Myanmar, there has been a movement of Myanmar nationals to the Indian side,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday.
Bagchi did not specifically address the issue of Myanmar soldiers entering Mizoram after their military camp was taken over by rebels. But on refugees coming into Mizoram, New Delhi said it is “deeply concerned”.
However, on November 12, India allowed 46 soldiers of Burmese junta to enter Mizoram. Now, the total is 74. This is perhaps the first time that India has rescued soldiers of another country’s army fleeing conflict on their soil. By coming to the aid of Myanmar soldiers, India signals its willingness to support the junta, says Nirupama Subramanian.
Maldives dismisses Indian fishing boat appeal
The Maldives government has dismissed the appeal of Tharuvaikulam vessel operator Antony Jayabalan and upheld a hefty Rs 2.28 crore fine imposed by the Maldivian National Defence Force on the Holy Spirit, which was seized on October 22 for trespassing into Maldivian waters with 12 fishermen on board. The penalty encompasses charges such as violating the exclusive economic zone, engaging in prohibited fishing methods, operating without a licence and capturing banned fish species. Speaking to the New Indian Express, Jayabalan said the officials of the Indian High Commision in Maldives did not speak for the Indian fishermen, though the fishermen had a strong argument.
Vietnam offers Delhi smog solution: mushroom magic
Mushrooms and organic fertiliser: Vietnam has a solution for north India’s choking winters, when the air is poisoned by stubble burning. Governor of Vĩnh Long province Bùi văn Nghiêm tells the Hindu that the rice paddies of the Mekong delta had a similar annual problem. He says that India should use Vietnamese farm equipment to deal with the stubble and use it to grow mushrooms and manufacture fertiliser.
The Long Cable
Assembly polls litmus test for Congress and Rahul
Ajay K Mehra
Both processes and results of elections reflect institutional robustness and the resilience of parties, aside from the numbers in legislatures, and processes of power perpetuation and transfer. Equally, they show the endurance and innovativeness of the political leadership.
From these perspectives, both India’s grand old party and its leader Rahul Gandhi have been on test for the past nine years. Striving with limited success against the Modi-Shah BJP, they are on test in Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana. Earlier, the Congress had a morale boosting victory in Karnataka, which was lost to ‘Operation Lotus’ in 2019. The local leadership, Mallikarjun Kharge’s mature handling and the impact of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, in that order, brought about the win.
The political narrative has been dominated by the cult of Modi, Hindutva and economic freebies such as free electricity (courtesy Arvind Kejriwal), free food grains for the poor, cash transfers to poor women, free bicycles and laptops, the revival of the Old Pension Scheme, loan waivers, subsidised fertiliser and enhanced MSP for farmers. A new dimension has been added with the caste census in Bihar and tweaked job quotas.
The GOP has resolved the issue of a non-Nehru-Gandhi party president with the election of the shrewd and low-key Mallikarjun Kharge. It has changed its public perception, ending the uncertainty caused by Rahul Gandhi’s relinquishing the post in a huff in 2019 and the return of Sonia Gandhi as interim president. Kharge’s organisational skills have been visible in Karnataka and Rajasthan. But the larger task of rebuilding the party district by district, state by state, needs gigantic steps. No wonder, busy with election-bound states, he is unable to attend to party issues countrywide.
Since Rahul Gandhi continues to be projected as the leader, there’s little room for others at the top. The official party website still has pictures of the three Gandhis – Rahul, Priyanka and Sonia, before that of Kharge.
It highlights five issues – Farmers of India, Neighbourhood Lost (foreign policy), Job Destruction, Demonetization and GST. Manifestos for the five poll-bound states are missing online. In any case, the poll manifestos released for three states do not project it as the party with a vision. It is fire-fighting with populism. Rajasthan, the most challenging state, has made promises like cash transfers to women heads of families, laptops or tablets for college students, buying cow dung (sic), the restoration of the OPS, and so on. In Chhattisgarh, it promises a caste census, loan waiver to farmers, Rs 500 subsidy on gas cylinders, free education to students up to the postgrad level, free electricity up to 200 units and other subsidies. Such populist offers are also in the Madhya Pradesh manifesto.
With local variations, the Telangana and Mizoram manifestos are also full of populism. Telangana promises 10 grams of gold and Rs 1 lakh financial assistance for the marriage of poor girls. Mizoram promises health insurance coverage up to 15 lakh.
It is still not clear if any of the manifestoes, on which state leaders have worked with Kharge, reflect Rahul Gandhi’s vision, too. Debuting in politics in 2004, his leadership record is sombre. In 2019, he contested from Kerala. apart from Amethi, which he lost. He abruptly resigned from the party presidency in 2019. His BJY was indeed a major initiative but by all accounts, it has had limited success and very little impact on the organisation. The coming elections would show if the BJY has established him.
He has shrugged off the ‘Pappu’ image that the BJP’s media cell has projected at great cost since 2004, but his acceptability as the alternative national leader is untested. Even though lately, the GOP has reportedly collected comprehensive data on the country’s socio-economic situation, his speeches rarely reflect those. Aping Modi’s Hindutva, he and his party leaders go to temples, and he allows his party leaders to court controversial seers, even build tall statues of the Hindu divinities.
Lately, beyond attacks on the Adani-Modi nexus, he has spoken aggressively, offering to emulate the caste census of Bihar in the poll-bound states. Describing the process as an X-ray or MRI of society, he aims to attract the OBC votes. He has pointedly highlighted that less than 0.5% of secretary and joint secretary level officers in central government are OBC. He has promised to correct such anomalies if the Congress is elected.
Yet he ought to spell out his party’s policy perspective on education, employment, the misuse of institutions such as governor and reform of the highly politicised police and civil service. As a national leader, his perspective on foreign policy also needs clear expression. Obviously, even though he is more visible and has greater public acceptance, his advisors need to work on these aspects of his leadership persona.
Media reports have indicated internal contradictions within the BJP, governance deficit and corruption in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, which may help the Congress to win at least three states. The Bharat Rashtra Samiti in Telangana is also reeling under corruption charges. These could help the Congress. However, a win by default is no long-term solution to the Congress’s own weaknesses. If Rahul Gandhi is the person to lead the GOP, his vision needs sharper public projection.
(The author is former Atal Bihari Vajpayee Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, 2019-21)
Prime Number: 56,000 Over the past five years, Rajasthan has witnessed a disturbing surge in caste-based crimes, with over 56,000 cases registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act from 2017 to 2023, reflecting an annual 22% increase. The conviction rate plummeted from 27.49% in 2020 to 22.38% in 2022. Shockingly, final reports were filed for only 47% of the cases, and chargesheets submitted to courts in 25,762 instances – underscoring a critical need for systemic reforms to address and rectify the justice system's shortcomings in combating caste-based discrimination and violence. The Mooknayak and Newslaundry travelled across Rajasthan to investigate the prosecution of crimes committed against Dalits and Adivasis that made national headlines.
Deep Dive
Ahead of general elections in 2024, when food inflation will determine outcomes, India’s politicians are renewing pledges to fix the farming sector. India has more land under cultivation than any other nation, but productivity is poor. China, too, has a vast population to feed but limited water and arable land. Yet on key grains, China’s yields are well ahead of India’s. Bloomberg has a deeply researched piece covering India’s farmer suicides, which blames inefficiency on unviable plot sizes, unsustainable cropping practices and harmful export curbs. Will institutional structures like FPOs help? Many farmers aren’t optimistic about the future.
(From: Bloomberg)
Opeds you don’t want to miss
The idea of wooing the Global South to create a new world order run by the North has always been a fantasy. The conflict in Gaza just called it out, says Pankaj Mishra.
Manu Sebastian writes about the “bizarre logic in the Supreme Court’s judgement denying bail to Manish Sisodia: Though the Court exposed certain fallacies in the ED and the CBI cases, it refrained from taking the judgement to the logical conclusion.”
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam strives for gender equality in politics, but challenges raise questions about its effectiveness. Can numbers truly capture progress? Trishali Chauhan and Christophe Jaffrelot on the Women’s Reservation Bill, which is one step forward and two steps back.
“Labelling all criticism of Israel as antisemitic, as is often done, is an attempt to elide Israel’s responsibility in the world, impugn the character of the critic, and draw attention away from very real acts of antisemitism.” In The Guardian, Moustafa Bayoumi hits the nail on the head.
The Indian military should move away from the traditional ‘male warrior’ culture. Just increasing the recruitment of women is not sufficient. “As a large number of women are to be recruited in the Indian military as Personnel Below Officer Rank, armed forces must lay down laws to deal with gender-based crimes,” writes Lt Gen HS Panag (Retd).
The real question about Madhya Pradesh is: is it ready for change, and will the election trigger it, ask Yogendra Yadav and Shreyas Sardesai.
The National Food Security Act’s nutritional goals can’t be met if it becomes a free food scheme, writes Himanshu.
N Sankaraiah, a founding member of the Communist Party of India, has passed away at the age of 102 ― without a degree or a doctorate. He was first denied one in 1941 by the British, who arrested him, and now by the BJP’s puppet governor in Tamil Nadu. In July, the state government announced that Madurai Kamaraj University would award Sankaraiah an honorary doctorate. Though the University passed a resolution, Governor RN Ravi refused to give his assent due to his affiliation because Sankaraiah was communist. Azeefa Fathima explains in The News Minute.
With the death of chit fund mogul Subrata Roy, even the most diehard optimist among his depositors may have to give up the hope of ever seeing their money again, says Sharat Pradhan.
Apoorvanand cites US political scientist Norman Finkelstein on why “Hamas didn’t take weapons to its command and control centre beneath al-Shifa. No, it decided to leave these weapons lying around in the radiology ward so as to give Israel a photo-op.”
Aerial bombing’s history began with the European powers using it on colonial targets. Ever since, the victims of bombing have been invisibilized, writes Raghu Karnad.
“Nina Simone burned a hole in my heart. As the husband puts it, jazz is despair and soul-searching, joy that comes from a dark place.” Priya Ramani’s love for Hindi music preceded her interest in jazz, but they had something in common.
Listen up
What does the Indian Supreme Court’s own data say about its functioning? What cases does it hear? Why does the law take so long? How do post-retirement incentives impact decisions? On Grand Tamasha, Aparna Chandra discusses the constitutional crisis India’s Supreme Court currently faces.
Watch out
In the Ashoka University Nobel Prize Lecture Series, Ashwini Deshpande explains the contribution of this year’s economics prize winner Claudia Goldin, who worked on women’s participation in the workforce ― a matter of especial interest in India, where the figures are abysmal. It includes issues like the men’s room as a locus of power, from whose dealings women workers are excluded.
Over and out
On the morning of November 27, 1984, UK diplomat Percy Norris was shot dead near Flora Fountain in Mumbai. The Abu Nidal Palestinian group was suspected but Julio Ribeiro, then Bombay Police Commissioner, who had been Norris’s guest the evening before, took the failure to solve the crime personally. A strange case from before India had full diplomatic relations with Israel, which made Bombay a battleground in the struggle between Israel and Palestine.
Indian Muslims are the caretakers of Kolkata’s synagogues. Though Israel is bombing Gaza, that is not going to change, reports Monideepa Banerjie in Al Jazeera.
Elizabeth Debicki’s spookily authentic portrayal of Princess Diana is overshadowing the Queen in Season 6 of her own Netflix serial, The Crown.
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.