Supreme Court Stays Mosque 'Survey'; India's Sheikh Hasina Dilemma; Congress Poses Maharastra Puzzle; Growth Slows and Real Wages Stagnate

ISKCON distances itself from Bangladesh monk

Nov 29, 2024

Snapshot of the day

November 29, 2024

Siddharth Varadarajan

Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar of the Supreme Court today asked the managing committee of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal to approach the Allahabad high court to challenge a trial court’s allowing the mosque to be surveyed by an advocate commissioner. The bench asked the civil court not to proceed with the case until the high court issued orders and said that if the advocate commissioner submits a report in the meantime, it must be filed in a sealed cover. Krishnadas Rajagopal quotes the chief justice as telling Uttar Pradesh’s lawyer: “Be sure that you maintain the peace and harmony. It is very important that you be absolutely, totally neutral.”

The trial court in the case allowed the mosque to be surveyed after Hindu petitioners claimed it was built atop a temple dedicated to the Kalki Vishnu avatar. A second survey of the mosque was followed by violence that killed five Muslim men. Police deny allegations that they shot the men with country-made weapons.

But read this impressive CV of Vishnu Gupta, the chief of Hindu Sena who claims there was a temple at Ajmer Dargah sit. His accomplishment include manhandling late CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and distributing swords at a temple.

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh “has been a liability to his own people and his party”, his Mizoram counterpart Lalduhoma said in an interview to Prawesh Lama, adding that President’s Rule would be “much more preferable” than Biren Singh’s government. Lalduhoma also said that a Manipur government under a chief minister who “can acknowledge the significant contribution made by tribal people for [the] freedom struggle of this country” and consider them genuine Indian citizens would also be preferable over Biren Singh and opposed the fencing of the border with Myanmar.

Even as the Mahayuti’s three main leaders met with Union home minister Amit Shah until the end of the day yesterday, it is still unknown who will be Maharashtra’s next chief minister. Eknath Shinde simply said after the meeting with Shah in Delhi that a decision on the chief minister’s and other posts will be taken in Mumbai.

Gurdeep Sappal of the Congress points to what he says are different facets of the ‘Maharastra Election Puzzle’. The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (of which the Congress is a part) had informed the Election Commission earlier that the BJP had been “fraudulently adding new names to the list” of voters. The impact:

In the five months after the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the number of total voters in Maharashtra increased by 47 lakhs!
While, there was an increase of only 37 lakh voters in Maharashtra in five years from 2019 Loksabha elections to 2024 Loksabha elections.

Toppled Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina publicly reacted to the killing of a lawyer in Chattogram following the arrest of a Hindu religious leader saying that those who killed him were “terrorists” and that if the “unconstitutional” and “power [grabbing]” interim administration did not hold them to account, chief adviser Muhammad Yunus would have to face consequences for violating human rights. Hasina also said in the statement shared by her Awami League party that the Hindu leader – whom she said belonged to the “Sanatan” community – was unjustly arrested.

However, leaders of Bangladesh’s ISKCON distanced themselves from the monk, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, at a press conference yesterday saying he had been removed from the organisation for violating its rules. Prothom Alo reports that an executive member of the country’s ISKCON chapter said Chinmoy Krishna did not follow directions he was issued after children raised misconduct allegations against him. Bangla Outlook reports that it found Chinmoy Krishna’s suspension letter and quotes the organisation’s child protection office as alleging that progress into the investigation against him “has been delayed by certain challenges, including his level of cooperation”.

Saif Hasnat, Anupreeta Das and Mujib Mashal size up how the Chimoy Krishna affair fits into the newly strained relations between India and Bangladesh.

Adani Green Energy has failed to deliver a single unit of power to Andhra Pradesh from its massive 3,000 MW solar power project. Originally scheduled to begin supplying power two months ago, AGEL now promises to deliver only 1,000 MW — one-third of the agreed capacity — by April next year, seven months later than the original deadline. Despite failing to meet its commitments, AGEL has begun producing power and selling it on energy exchanges at rates 40% higher than the state-contracted tariff, reaping massive profits while Andhra Pradesh remains in the dark. The central transmission utility’s unpreparedness has been blamed, but critics point to a disturbing pattern of profiteering and lack of accountability. This fiasco highlights the Adani group’s prioritisation of private gain over public obligations, deepening concerns about its controversial business practices.

The Adani bribery case could upend Indian business and politics, writes The Economist. It says, “Adani and Modi may yet survive the controversy, as they have done many others. But the damage to India’s image is already done.”

“Modi’s supporters suggest he was following the post-1960s South Korean model of high economic growth, where politically connected business groups, or chaebols, such as Hyundai, Daewoo and Samsung, got contracts and subsidies in exchange for massive kickbacks to politicians. India is not South Korea, and globalisation has changed the world in the past three decades. One of the models of crony capitalism—with geopolitical goals—pursued during this period has been by Modi’s friend, the autocratic Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meteoric rise of Kremlin-linked oligarchs, serving Putin’s geopolitical purposes while enriching themselves, has been recorded globally. Wanting the world to believe that he was creating a chaebol, Modi has ended up creating his version of the chief Russian oligarch. Instead of creating a national champion, he has left India strategically vulnerable at the global stage.” Sushant Singh looks at how the Adani saga will leave India strategically vulnerable on the global stage.

Speaking of Vishwaguru and its misplaced aspirations, Deccan Herald does a reality check.

Sansad TV now broadcasts Rajya Sabha proceedings exclusively in Hindi, sidelining millions of non-Hindi-speaking Indians, reports The Economic Times. English speeches are muted and replaced with interpreted Hindi, a move allegedly ordered by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. This brazen imposition of Hindi not only alienates South Indian and Northeastern viewers but also obliterates the linguistic diversity that defines India’s democracy. By stripping MPs of their original voices, this policy shatters transparency and reeks of linguistic chauvinism. Dhankhar’s dominance over discussions, often conducted in English but broadcast only in Hindi, is a slap in the face of inclusivity.

India’s GDP growth plunged to a dismal 5.4% in the September quarter, marking the weakest pace since Q4 2022, reports Bloomberg. Falling significantly short of the RBI’s optimistic 7% projection, the slowdown exposes mounting economic vulnerabilities. With subdued consumer demand, industrial stagnation, and persistent global pressures, the numbers raise serious concerns about India’s resilience. The government’s lofty economic rhetoric now faces sharp scrutiny amid waning confidence in its policies.

Real wages in India have remained nearly unchanged over the last five years while they have contracted in states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, reports TCA Sharad Raghavan.

Making “great progress” is how the Chinese defence ministry has described the implementation of the disengagement and patrolling arrangement deal between India and China in eastern Ladakh. Dinakar Peri cites sources as saying that forces on either side would hold a maximum of one patrol a week each at Depsang and Demchok.

Consular officials at the Indian consulate in Vancouver were recently informed by the Canadian authorities that they have been and continue to be under "audio and video surveillance" and that their "private communications" have also been "intercepted”, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told parliament in a written answer. India has protested this violation of diplomatic norms.

Several press bodies have demanded that the Uttar Pradesh Police withdraw its first information report against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, in which it has accused him of endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. The Press Club of India said: “All sane minds have been opposing this section [152 of BNS] as it has the potential. DIGIPUB, an association of digital news organisations, also condemned the “escalating harassment” of Zubair. The association said that the allegations against Zubair are “unfounded and this is a vindictive and unreasonable over-reach by agencies of the state”. It added: “It does as much damage to the credibility of the agency involved as it does to democratic principles.” The inclusion of additional charges “almost two months after the FIR was registered based on a complaint from a private citizen shows that the escalating police action is deliberate and vindictive”, the association said.

Amiya Bagchi, famed political economist and economic historian, has passed away at the age of 88. Bagchi taught, researched and guided research in many institutions and universities including Presidency College, Kolkata, the UK’s University of Cambridge and Cornell University in the US. Economist Jayati Ghosh has described him as “one of the great intellectual giants of our times, whose sharp, insightful political economy analyses taught us so much about economic processes…”. Prabhat Patnaik has an obit noting that Bagchi was a “pioneer who re-established on a firmer footing the propositions first advanced by the Indian nationalist writers, and in the process illuminated with extraordinary clarity the workings of imperialism in producing underdevelopment.”

The BJP has “rekindled” its opposition to an ‘Urdu Bhavan’ coming up in Mumbai’s Byculla amid the possibility of municipal corporation elections coming up soon, Nayonika Bose reports. Former corporator Bhalchandra Shirsat has said that an industrial training centre ought to come up there instead and that there are 12 Urdu schools in the area. He alleged that the corporation illegally did not follow due procedure in cancelling in an earlier proposal to construct such a centre at the plot of land in Byculla.

Read writer Amitav Ghosh’s acceptance speech on his coveted Dutch Erasmus Prize 2024 for his writings on climate change and its impact on humanity, especially on the Indian subcontinent. “That is where we find ourselves today, living through a time of monstrous anomalies, when exterminatory violence, like that which depopulated the Banda Islands, can play out on live television; a time when it is possible to speak of the deaths of certain people, but not of others; a time when entire cities can be swept away by flash floods while the world carries on as usual; a time when environmental activists receive longer jail sentences than corporate criminals; when UN forums for climate change negotiations turn into markets for selling oil and gas.”

Dhirendra Shastri, a rabble-rousing Hindutva-oriented godman, has drawn support for his 'padayatra’ to turn India in to a Hindu Rashtra — the actor Sanjay Dutt, son of actor and former Congress MP Sunil Dutt and the iconic actress, Nargis. “Nothing captures the destruction of the idea of the country quite like this,” says Sarayu Pani.

What happened on voting day in Uttar Pradesh’s Kundarki?

Muslim-dominated Kundarki saw a big increase in the BJP’s vote share in the bypoll held there last week. Ayush Tiwari reports that nearly all of the constituency’s 436 polling booths registered increases in votes for the BJP and decreases for the Samajwadi Party. There have also been allegations of voter suppression from Kundarki – in five villages that Tiwari visited, most Muslim voters said they were intimidated by police into not voting. Some also said they were not allowed to vote as they were not given unofficial ‘pink’ voting slips ahead of the polls or had their voter IDs confiscated by ration dealers. However, Tiwari also reports that Muslims in some other villages said they could vote without obstruction.

‘No other refugee children in Delhi other than Rohingya refused education this way’

At least 18 Rohingya children in Delhi’s Khajuri Khas have been denied admission into local government schools over the last few years, Shaikh Azizur Rahman reports. He speaks to a Rohingya refugee father in the locality, who said he submitted his children’s UNHCR cards and affidavits as required to get his children admitted into five schools but was turned away in all cases, with the schools saying they “cannot enrol any Rohingya student”. Ashok Agarwal, a petitioner who unsuccessfully raised the issue of Rohingya children being denied admission in Delhi schools in the high court, noted that “no refugee children in Delhi other than the Rohingya are refused education in this way”. This has ramifications not only for Rohingya refugees’ economic status but also for the preservation of their culture.

‘Part criminal, part Robin hood’; ‘doctor by day, lockbreaker by night’: how a constables’ exam paper was leaked

Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar chronicle the constable exam paper leak in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year, from the backstory of the main accused Ravi Atri and the moment the question papers were stolen from a warehouse to the leak’s aftermath, which ultimately involved a re-test. When asked about the alleged role of his son – who reportedly saw himself as “part criminal and part Robin Hood” – in the leak, Atri’s father said that while his family didn’t see him as a wrongdoer, they would rather the police kill him in an “encounter” were he found guilty. They note in this postscript of sorts that the various exam leaks in India point to a deeper, structural problem.

The Long Cable

Sheikh Hasina, Extradition and International Criminal Law: Examining India’s Options

Aklavya Anand and Shailesh Kumar

On 12^th November, Bangladesh's special International Crimes Tribunal asked Interpol to issue a red notice for the arrest of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in connection with the deaths of hundreds of protesters. This comes a few weeks after it issued an arrest warrant for the veteran leader, who is staying in India after her ouster by student groups. The protest which initially began to challenge and question the affirmative action policies of her government in jobs and education turned into a call for her resignation. Being wanted for alleged crimes against humanity, there is a pressing demand that she should be extradited to Bangladesh.

This demand seems legitimate and is a quite acceptable practice in any democratic country. At least this is how the Ukrainian president was ousted in 2014 with similar examples in several other countries. Important in this case is that Bangladesh is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). When it comes to international crimes, it has strong precedent to show the international community that it genuinely believes in the end of impunity and seeks culture of accountability, as it has established the Bangladesh War Tribunal to punish perpetrators of 1971’s crimes of genocide. It is important to note here that international criminality for international crimes is based on command responsibility and it does not require an act to be committed by the accused herself.

Existing data suggest that many students carrying out a peaceful protest were killed by state officials. At first blush, such an act committed by the government comes under the category of Crimes against humanity under article 7 of the Rome Statute. Violence which was committed by the Hasina government falls under many headings of enumeration such as torture, murder, enforced disappearance of person, prosecution and other acts of like nature. Widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population and the gravity and scale of these offences do make a prima facie case against Hasina very strong and demonstrate that the state apparatus was deeply involved. Since Bangladesh is an ICC member, it is important to mention the three ways in which ICC’s jurisdiction can be activated – by the state, by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), and by a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) referral. ICC jurisdiction is not an abstract power, but a real one. The ICC complements national jurisdiction, and it is a court of last resort. Considering so, the arrest warrant issued against Hasina has significant implication under international criminal law.

Extradition

Although the accused is harbouring in India, there is no declaration on behalf of the Indian government that it has given asylum to Hasina. Bangladesh has made formal request to India for Hasina’s extradition. Interestingly, the extradition request stands at the crossroads of domestic and international law. Traditionally, there is no obligation on the state to extradite an individual. However, based on state practice, it has evolved as a complex regime of legal space.

Three things are important here, namely: double criminality, rule of speciality and political offences exceptions. Double criminality means an act for which extradition is sought must be criminal in both jurisdictions. Rule of speciality means a person who has been extradited must be prosecuted and punished for the specific offences for which the extradition was granted and cannot be re-extradited without the approval of the requested state. In addition to this, there is a general rule that for political offences extradition cannot be given. Further, the criminal extradition treaty signed in 2013 between India and Bangladesh is an executive act whereas the Indian Extradition Act (IEA) is a Parliamentary statute. So, as a matter of rule, the treaty must be read harmoniously with IEA and section 31 of IEA provides exception to political offences.

In international law, there is no convention on extradition. However, there exists the aut dedere aut judicare (“either extradite or prosecute”) principle, which is a part of treaty law as well as customary international law. It says that in case of certain grave international crimes like genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture, the state under whose jurisdiction the accused is residing must either extradite or punish them. Further, under Article 3 (2) of the draft articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, 2019, there is a general obligation on each state to prevent and to punish crimes against humanity, which are crimes under international law, whether or not committed in time of armed conflict.

Either extradite or prosecute

The State in the territory under whose jurisdiction the alleged offender is present shall, if it does not extradite or surrender the person to another State or competent international criminal court or tribunal, submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution. Those authorities shall take their decision in the same manner as in the case of any other offence of a grave nature under the law of that State. The precedent here is the International Court of Justice judgment on Questions relating to the Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal). In this case, on 19 February 2009, Belgium filed an application instituting proceedings against Senegal relating to Hissène Habré, the former President of Chad and resident in Senegal since being granted political asylum by the Senegalese Government in 1990. In particular, Belgium submitted that, by failing to prosecute Habré for certain acts he was alleged to have committed during his presidency, including acts of torture and crimes against humanity, or to extradite him to Belgium, Senegal had violated the so‑called obligation under aut dedere aut judicare principle provided for in Article 7 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and in customary international law.

The Court found that, by failing to comply with its obligations under Article 6, paragraph 2, and Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention, Senegal had engaged its international responsibility. Therefore, it was required to cease that continuing wrongful act, and to take, without further delay, the necessary measures to submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution, if it did not extradite Habré. Consequently, the Extraordinary African Chamber started the trial in Dakar and sentenced Habré to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture committed in Chad between 1982 and 1990.

India’s options

India, which is aspiring to be a UNSC permanent member, should not support impunity of an alleged perpetrator of crimes against humanity, based on its state practice. However, it may opt for some alternatives. Article 17 of the Rome Statute says the ICC shall determine that a case is inadmissible where it is being investigated or prosecuted by a State which has jurisdiction over it, unless the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution. Considering the widespread clampdown on Hasina’s party in Bangladesh, a case could arguably be made that she will not get a fair trial in Bangladesh as matters stand today. So, Article 17 itself bars the jurisdiction of Bangladesh. Moreover, based on apprehension of torture and degrading and inhuman treatment, India could argue that it is not in a position to extradite Hasina back to Bangladesh. In the landmark judgments of the European Court of Human Rights such as Saadi v. Italy (2008) and Soering v. UK (1989), the Court has held that if there is an apprehension of torture, the accused person shall not be extradited. However, India’s responsibility towards international community requires a rule-based approach. India could possibly either extradite Hasina to a third country as happened in the context of the Lockerbie case or it can hand her over to the ICC with the assurance that Hasina must not be extradited back to Bangladesh.

Aklavya Anand is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.

Shailesh Kumar is a Lecturer in Law at the Department of Law & Criminology, Royal Holloway, University of London, and a Commonwealth Scholar.

Reportedly

The Union Finance Ministry may be the first major government department to shift to new premises coming up along the Central Vista in New Delhi. The shift may begin as early as the spring of 2025.

Deep dive

Social science scholar Alice Evans notes that while the workforce participation of Hindu women in India is low, it is higher in diaspora communities. Having conducted a global comparative analysis, she argues that Hindu women’s low participation in the workforce in India “stems not from religious doctrine but from the persistent influence of caste-based status-seeking through Sanskritisation”.

Prime number: Rs 3.14 lakh crore

The top 100 companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange possibly saved Rs 3.14 lakh crore in corporate tax payments ever since concessions were introduced in FY20, Samreen Wani estimates.

Opeds you don’t want to miss

India’s best interests in Bangladesh are served by the success of Chief Advisor Yunus and the interim government he leads, writes Jon Danilowiz in the Dhaka Tribune (https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/366502/is-it-time-for-new-delhi-to-reappraise-its):
“Their success would enable elections to take place with a popular government coming to power in a system that would constrain their ability to repeat the misdeeds of past elected regimes…. Rather than promoting the success of Bangladesh’s interim government, it appears that Indian policy is intended to weaken and destabilize it.”
Delhi didn’t face demands for the extradition of the Dalai Lama or Varatharaja Perumal, so Bangladesh’s request that Sheikh Hasina be sent back to face trial “is new terrain with unknown consequences” for India, says Nirupama Subramanian.
All faiths in India have institutions for charity, all are governed by unique laws, so too the Waqf, write MR Shamshad and Nabeela. Jamil. “While waqfs need reform, the 2024 Amendment Bill, unlike past laws, seeks not to improve governance, but to facilitate government control – a case of discrimination in the present political milieu.” (https://www.theindiaforum.in/law/wakf-reforms-or-bid-control-waqf-properties)
“I admit to criticising Modi at times. In mature democracies, criticism of rulers is an accepted practice,” writes Julio Ribeiro in a public rejoinder to a letter he received from a reader accusing him of “anti-Hindu” and “anti-BJP” bias.
Barney Ronay has a lyrical essay on Jasprit Bumrah’s “art” of fast bowling.
“There was something tender, painful and even a little disturbing about what Jasprit Bumrah did to Marnus Labuschagne during the first Border-Gavaskar Test in Perth. In the space of 23 Bumrah deliveries Labuschagne was dropped, hit in the ribs, beaten five times, left completely scoreless, and basically de-cricketed, reduced to a series of strange, formless movements, stabbing at the ball like an under-gardener swatting midges in the dark … Bumrah walked off at the end of the day with combined figures of nine overs, five for 10 against Australia’s top order. It felt at times like a category error. These are cricketers with Nasa‑level reflexes, who have lived in the cocoon of elite performance from boyhood, but reduced to the level here of club cricket under‑nines facing an average county tearaway on a strip of bouncy, plastic grass.”
Read an excerpt from Namit Arora’s Introduction to ‘When I See, I Sing: Verses in Translation of Baba Farid, Namdeo, Kabir and Rahim’, translated by Pavitra Mohan on how mystic poets Baba Farid, Namdeo, Kabir, and Rahim fostered secular sentiments in their poetry.
All We Imagine As Light film review — a modern and melancholy portrait of Mumbai life.

Listen up

Nagraj Adve is in conversation with G. Sampath on the failures of COP 29, on what Trump coming to power may imply for the climate and the need for a just transition. He argues that the Baku agreement is a grave abdication of responsibility by rich countries towards the world’s poor. Listen here.

Watch out

How did love beyond conventional social boundaries come to be seen as a revolutionary act? What is the personal experience of interfaith families? Harsh Mander in conversation with Natasha Badhwar, Asif Iqbal and Sadaf Chaudhary.

Over and out

We’ve covered the Mughals exhibition at the V&A in London before and it’s now the New York Times’s turn to be captivated. For Susanne Fowler, a “dagger and scabbard that features rubies, diamonds and emeralds” is the showstopper.

‘Muharram Procession at Hazaribagh’, a hitherto unexhibited watercolour made by Sita Ram of the Company School some time between 1815 and 1825, is not just a beautiful painting but also a reminder of another era when the boundaries which are all around us today were much less rigid.

Lalit Modi, the controversial—and some say disgraced—former boss of IPL cricket has revealed in an interview that he paid someone to take his SAT exam and forged his degrees and marksheets to get into university in the US.

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.

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