Voter Turnout in J & K is Not Unprecedented, as Modi Government Says; Tanzanian Government in Talks With Adani Group for $900 million Contract; External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Will Visit Pak
30-year old Garba event in Indore Cancelled On Bajrang Dal Claim of ‘Love Jihad’, Govt approves five languages as ‘classical’, Young couple nets Rs 35 cr by promising age reversal to senior citizens
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
October 4, 2024
Sidharth Bhatia
The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Gujarat government on a contempt petition alleging the illegal demolition of centuries-old dargahs and mosques and houses of Muslims by authorities on September 28 at Gir Somnath. However, the apex court refused to pass an interim order of status quo with respect to the demolitions, reports Bar and Bench. Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, for the petitioner, submitted that the structures demolished date back to 1309. In the notices issued to parties, there was no mention of any demolition, Hegde said, adding that the authorities’ actions are against the Supreme Court’s order of September 17, which directed that there should be no demolition without the Court’s prior permission. About five dargahs, 10 mosques and 45 houses spread over an area of 57 acres were facing the threat, Hegde informed the top court. He also placed reliance on the recent order of status quo passed by the Supreme Court on the Sonapur demolition drive in Assam.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar will visit Islamabad to represent India at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s ‘heads of state’ summit on October 15 and 16, his ministry announced today at the regular press briefing. This will make him the first external affairs minister to visit Pakistan since Sushma Swaraj did in 2015. Today Jaishankar also met his Sri Lankan opposite number, as well as President Anura Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa from the opposition, in Colombo.
More in news on the diplomacy front: Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu will arrive in India on Sunday , October 6 and will be here until the 10th, the external affairs ministry said, adding that he is scheduled to meet the president and prime minister and travel to Mumbai and Bengaluru to attend business events as well.
On Bloomberg, Fumbuka Ng'Wanakilala reports citing a Tanzanian official that the country’s government is in talks with the Adani Group for a public-private partnership project worth $900 million to build high-voltage power lines. It was about a year ago when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the east African country. Jawhar Sircar connects these dots, finding that it rings a bell.
In order to “assuage the feelings of the crores of people having faith in the deity” of the Tirumala temple by having an “independent” SIT probe allegations surrounding adulteration in the ghee used to make the temple's laddus, the Supreme Court today replaced the Andhra Pradesh government's SIT with a new body. This ‘independent’ SIT will have two CBI officers, two Andhra police officers and a Food Safety Authority officer, and will be monitored by the CBI director himself. The court also said it wasn’t getting into the allegations by either side in the case, saying it will “not permit the court to be used as a political battleground”.
The Wire’s senior reporter and petitioner Sukanya Shantha talks to Jahnavi Sen about her investigation, the petition that came out of it and features of the SC judgement on official caste discrimination inside Indian prisons.
A nine-day-long garba event scheduled to take place in Indore which has a legacy of more than three decades, was cancelled after the Bajrang Dal claimed the event, whose organisers are led by a Muslim man, was being used to promote ‘love jihad’, the Times of India reports. Anand J Mohan quotes the organiser, Firoz Khan, as saying he had been managing the event for the last 15 years, while the Times cites him as saying the cancellation stemmed from a “political rivalry” as a result of his stint in the ABVP and the BJP. That’s one less event where entrants may be asked to sip cow urine prior to entry.
Cartoonist Sandeep Adhwaryu has a take on militant right wing vigilantism.
(Credit: Sandeep Adhwaryu)
The Union government had made its stand clear on the issue for the first time on record in a preliminary affidavit filed in response to petitions seeking criminalisation of marital rape and opposed the labelling of marital rape as ‘rape’, saying that it would be “excessively harsh” and that alternative remedies in law exist to protect married women from sexual violence. Arguing in favour of the exception, the government said that the issue was more ‘social’ than legal and thus came in the purview of legislative policy, LiveLaw reports. As per LiveLaw, the government relied on 2022 National Commission for Women report which says that the exception should be retained for three reasons: married women cannot be treated at par with an unmarried woman; alternative remedies exist; punitive measures may lead to destitution and vagrancy for the wife and dependent children. Rejecting the petitioner’s claim that marriage is a ‘private institution’, the government said that it was constitutionally bound to regulate certain aspects of marriage, especially those concerned with duties, obligations and consequences. The government also argued that the exception should not be stuck down on the basis of “perceived consequences” such as disregard of wife’s consent. The batch of petitions is being heard by a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. In 2022, the Karnataka high court had ruled that the marital rape exception was an “age-old, regressive” concept. While the Supreme Court had stayed the trial in the Karnataka case, it had clubbed it with a Delhi high court split verdict on marital rape along with other petitions and PILs filed on the matter.
Weeks ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Union Cabinet has approved a decade-old proposal to give classical language status to Marathi. The Centre also named Pali, Prakrit, Assamese and Bengali as classical languages. Earlier, Modi had termed the Marathi language as India’s Pride. “This honour acknowledges the rich cultural contribution of Marathi in our nation’s history. Marathi has always been a cornerstone of Indian heritage. I am sure with the status of a classical language, many more people will be motivated to learn it.” A proposal was received from the Maharashtra government in 2013 requesting classical language status for Marathi, but later, the Ministry of Home Affairs had advised to revise the criteria and make it stricter.
Two Meitei young men who were abducted by Kukis – after they strayed into a Kuki area – were released from custody yesterday, coinciding with the release of 11 Kuki men in jail near Imphal, The Hindu reports, adding that the latter group’s release was “one of several preconditions set by the abductors [of the two Meitei youth]”.
Former Goa RSS chief Subash Velingkar has demanded that a “DNA test” be done on the relics of saint Francis Xavier – who is revered as his state’s patron saint – and saying that Xavier cannot be called Goenco saib or protector of Goa, Pavneet Singh Chadha reports. His remarks have been met with criticism.
Omar Rashid reports on some recent cases filed under Uttar Pradesh’s anti-unlawful conversion law, where the ‘allurements’ cited include free (albeit brief) coaching for the civil services exam, cure for illnesses and money.
Results from the autopsy of Pavan, the lone cheetah that was roaming free in the Kuno National Park until it apparently died of drowning, show that it had a build-up of fluids in its lungs and stomach, clotting in one of the chambers of its heart, bloated digestive organs and discharge of fluid from its nose, Nikhil Ghanekar reports. An unnamed wildlife veterinarian noted that these observations were not specific to drowning alone, and scientists have questioned how a big cat such as this could have drowned in a swollen nala. The report Ghanekar cites from has not been made public.
Having come under fire for her statement that Bharat Rashtra Samithi scion KT Rama Rao was the reason why Telugu film stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya divorced – The Hindu reports that she had claimed at a press conference that Rao used to “tap” women actors’ phones to blackmail them and would “make them drug addicts” – Telangana Congress minister Konda Surekha has retracted her statements. Chaitanya’s father Nagarjuna has filed a defamation case against the minister and has said he will not withdraw the suit despite her retraction.
(Credit: Today’s ‘Speak Out’ by Deccan Herald.)
India is failing to create enough jobs and train skilled workers. Every month, around 1 million formal job seekers join India’s workforce. However, 90% end up in the informal sector, where there are no employment contracts, social security benefits, wage protections, or job security. This mismatch is feeding widespread grievances, representing one of the government’s biggest setbacks. The Financial Times explains the frictions in India’s labour market.
A young couple from UP promised senior citizens that a special “Israel-made Time Machine” could convert them into a 25 year old, through “oxygen therapy”. Dozens or more fell victim and soon the couple – Rajiv Kumar Dubey and his wife Rashmi, both reassuringly young – mopped up Rs 35 crore. One victim said she had been cheated of more than Rs 10 lakhs in this ‘scam’ and based on her complaint, the police filed a case. They are now looking for the couple, which is absconding.
FIR against UP priest Yati Narsinghanand for hate speech
The police booked the controversial Hindu priest Yati Narsinghanand for hate speech against Prophet Muhammad delivered at Hindi Bhawan in Ghaziabad’s Lohia Nagar on September 29. An FIR was registered under section 302 (hurting someone’s religious feelings) of BNS based on a complaint by police sub-inspector Trivendra Singh Singh. “We have not arrested him yet,” said Sachin Kumar, Station House Officer, Sihani Gate Police Station, adding the police have taken cognisance of a video of the alleged hate speech that has since gone viral. “Any action will be taken after the investigation of the alleged video,” he said. The speech was given allegedly at an event organised by Major Asharam Vyag Seva Sansthan at the Dasna temple where he is the head priest.
Modi’s food policy in crisis
India’s rotting rice stocks have sparked outrage as millions of tons spoil, exposing the Modi government’s failure to address the country’s growing food insecurity, reports Bloomberg. India’s rice exports from April to August, at 6.4 million tons, were down by 24% from the same period a year earlier, government data show. “Lack of infrastructure has been a long-standing problem that contributes to food waste in India, where harvested rice is stored in open fields rather than in warehouses or silos. There’s also limited warehouse space for milled rice, so if stockpiles are high, bottlenecks occur and more raw rice risks spoiling outdoors,” notes Bloomberg.
Hockey India League to return after seven years
The Hockey India League (HIL) is officially making its comeback after a seven-year hiatus, with the much-anticipated tournament set to take place from late December 2024 to early February 2025. This edition of the HIL, sanctioned by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), will feature both men’s and women’s competitions for the first time in its history. Eight men’s teams and six women’s teams will compete, marking a significant milestone in Indian sports.
The Long Cable
J&K 2024 Elections: Modi government’s Claims of Best Turnout Are Not Correct
Salman Anees Soz and Tanuja Pandey
The 2024 Legislative Assembly polling in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has just concluded, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) putting forward a narrative of normalcy and progress throughout its campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the party’s spokespersons have repeatedly asserted that terrorism has been eradicated in the region. They have also drawn attention to the “record-breaking” voter turnout, framing it as evidence that their policies, including the abrogation of Article 370, have led to political normalisation and increased democratic participation in J&K. However, a closer examination of the data reveals a more complex picture, one that does not fully align with the government’s claims.
Before we get to what this column is about, let us make clear what it is not about. In assessing BJP’s claims of progress, we will not discuss J&K’s highest female unemployment rate or the second highest youth unemployment rate, as shown in the periodic labour force survey. We will also not talk about a parliamentary committee report from 2023 that puts the share of drug users in J&K at 10 percent of the population. We most certainly will not discuss terrorism government data that shows that the number of terror incidents and killings of security personnel in the five years since 2019 is greater in the five years between 2011 and 2015 or that terrorism has now spread to Jammu region. There is a lot more that we will not discuss in this column. Instead, we will only focus on voter participation in the just concluded election.
The general perception, fanned by the BJP, the Election Commission, and sections of the media, suggests that the voter turnout this time has been unprecedented. Speaking in Kashmir after the first phase, the Prime Minister noted that “the historic turnout in Jammu & Kashmir’s ongoing assembly polls is proof of a “Naya Kashmir”. At the conclusion of the election, the Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, is quoted as saying that the “J&K Assembly elections have marked a significant deepening of democracy which will echo in the pages of history and continue to inspire a democratic spirit of the region for years to come.” Media reports about “long lines” outside polling stations give the impression that an election like this one has not been conducted for decades, if not ever. Nothing could be further from the truth, however.
As this column will show, the people of J&K have held on to democracy even under the most difficult circumstances. The participation of the voters in the current election, while welcome and a source of comfort, is hardly unprecedented. In fact, Election Commission data shows that voter turnout of 64.4 percent in 2024 is lower than the 65.2 percent in 2014 (after accounting for 4 seats of Ladakh, which are no longer part of J&K after the delimitation exercise). A 0.8-point decline may not seem much, but it directly challenges the BJP’s narrative of enhanced electoral engagement following the abrogation of Article 370. If we step back to look at the historical voter trends in J&K, a more layered story emerges.
In 1996, amidst the height of the insurgency, voter turnout was just 54.1 percent. This plummeted further to 42.9 percent in 2002, as violence and instability dominated the region. Yet, by 2008, voter turnout saw a resurgence to 61.3 percent, eventually peaking at 65.2 percent in 2014. This steady rise in participation had strengthened democracy in J&K.
A deeper dive into the data yields a simple truth. We can make any assertion that we want but the fact remains that even in Kashmir Valley, voter turnout is down compared to 2014. More seats had a decline in voter turnout than seats with an increase. This happened both in Jammu and Kashmir. Overall, 57 constituencies recorded a decline in voter turnout. Of these 57, 31 constituencies lie in Jammu, and 26 are in Kashmir, showing that this trend of reduced participation is not exclusive to one region but extends across the state.
This raises an important counterfactual: if elections were held as scheduled in 2019, before the abrogation of Article 370, would the region have seen normal elections with a potentially higher voter turnout than in 2014? The data suggests this might have been the case. The 2019 general elections also saw significant participation, and if Legislative Assembly elections had been held in tandem, there is reason to believe that voter engagement might have continued on a positive trajectory. However, using the abrogation of Article 370 as a political tool, breaking up the state, demoting it to union territory status, and imposing direct central rule for 6 years, the Modi government set back the cause of democracy in J&K. Trumpeting a Supreme Court mandated election with a decreased turnout as a political win reflects BJP’s destructive instincts to place its own interests above the nation’s.
The complex situation in J&K requires a more nuanced approach than the one employed by the government. The people of J&K deserve a political approach that prioritises their dignity, peace, and democratic engagement. A lasting solution will require an honest acknowledgment of these challenges and a commitment to addressing them in a way that respects the rights and aspirations of the people of J&K.
Salman Anees Soz, a former World Banker, is a member of the Indian National Congress and Tanuja Pandey is a Research Assistant.
Reportedly
In his regular column, media maven Dilip Cherian raises an intriguing question-why was there no FIR filed with the police after a reported heist of Rs 50 crore from the home of a retired IAS officer? The officer’s home is in the hills of Uttarakhand and he is said to be extremely close to the chief minister. While he has not filed a complaint, the officer’s wife is reported to be distraught.
Deep dive
It’s raining investments in Tamil Nadu, with India’s most industrialised state and largest exporter of cars now competing with Vietnam and Mexico and not just Gujarat or Maharashtra. Menaka Doshi writes about the model of doing business in this Bloomberg’s India Edition newsletter.
(Credit: Bloomberg)
Prime number: <40%Farmers’ share of the consumer rupee spent on fruits and vegetables such as bananas, grapes, tomatoes, onions and potatoes are less than 40%, Lalatendu Mishra cites working papers released by the RBI yesterday as saying. On the other hand their share is higher when it comes to milk, eggs, poultry meat and pulses.
Opeds you don’t want to miss
The narrative of contemporary war films now serves an obvious political purpose: of catering to and expanding an audience that consumes toxic bigotry, militant nationalism and majoritarian jingoism. Sushant Singh writes on why India makes bad war films.
Military technology in India lags three decades behind modern warfare, writes Lt Gen H S Panag (retd) arguing that “the Indian armed forces are adopting emerging technologies for incremental change and not transformation—which is the need of the hour.”
Lalu Prasad on student politics timely reminding why there is no better preparatory ground for politics than universities.
India won’t grow without taking on the world, says Mihir Sharma.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta takes stock of why the arguments for and against One Nation One Election are flawed.
The renaming of Port Blair as ‘Sri Vijaya Puram’ is a classic case of decolonisation being used as a foil for appropriating history for nationalist sentiment, commonplace in Indian politics today, says Anirudh Kanisetti. There’s no archeological basis for a Chola naval base in Andaman, Nicobar or anywhere in South East Asia, he writes.
Why our obsession with ranking universities does more harm than good. S Swaminathan writes on “the metrics-focused system” which has “created a situation which implies that education is a market rather than a citizen’s right and the state’s duty”.
Listen up
Is there a need for the Election Commission to ensure internal democracy among India’s political parties, which are often “driven by individual charisma rather than internal democracy” and “struggle to maintain democratic structures”? Joining The Hindu’s Sreeparna Chakrabarty to discuss the question are former chief election commissioner OP Rawat and PRS Legislative Research’s MR Madhavan.
Watch out
Watch this chilling documentary from Al Jazeera which uncovers Israeli war crimes in Gaza through a year-long analysis of photos and videos shared online by Israeli soldiers, revealing illegal acts such as the use of human shields, looting and murder of civilians. A must watch ahead on the eve of October 7.
Over and out
Last fortnight was the centenary of the formal announcement of the Indus Valley Civilisation’s discovery. While the jury on the links of the ancient civilisation’s people to the Dravidian languages continues to be out, T Ramakrishnan recalls the discourse in favour of this idea, including by the two prominent scholars Asko Parpola and Iravatham Mahadevan, albeit containing a few asterisks.
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.