Why the Aam Aadmi Party Is Embracing ‘Hindutva-Lite’; Keki Daruwala, Policeman-Poet Who Took on Modi With Verse

Shankaracharya turned away from Arunachal airport for campaigning against cow slaughter, Income tax exemption for activist Harsh Mander’s NGO revoked, India as “next great cheese frontier"

Sep 27, 2024

Snapshot of the day

September 27, 2024

Siddharth Varadarajan

After a team of Indian mountaineers scaled a hitherto unclimbed and unnamed peak in Arunachal Pradesh and christened it after the 6th Dalai Lama, China has reiterated its claim over the Indian province. Though Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said he was “not aware” of the development, he added: “Let me say more broadly that the area of Zangnan is Chinese territory, and it’s illegal, and null and void for India to set up the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ in Chinese territory. This has been China’s consistent position.” China views Arunachal Pradesh as part of its own territory, referring to it as “Zangnan” or “South Tibet.”

The Chinese protest comes even as both sides continue to engage in efforts to ease tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, at the western end of the long India-China boundary. While China continues to emphasise its territorial claims, India’s focus is on resolving the military standoff through dialogue and disengagement. China’s Defence Ministry, following a meeting between Li Jinsong, its director-general of Asian affairs, and India’s Ambassador to China, Pradeep Kumar Rawat, claimed that progress had been made in “reducing differences” and building “some consensus” on troop disengagement in eastern Ladakh.

So far, India has not responded to China’s renewed claims on Arunachal Pradesh. India’s measured approach – addressing practical disengagement issues while avoiding direct confrontation over China's repeated claims on Arunachal Pradesh – signals a preference for diplomacy, but the road to a comprehensive resolution remains fraught with challenges.

The number of patrolling points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh has increased to 72 from 65, following recent disengagement between Indian and Chinese troops, reports The Economic Times. However, this purported enhancement in security comes with significant challenges. Access to these new patrolling points is hampered by a buffer zone, making it exceedingly difficult for Indian forces to assert control in the region's treacherous terrain. While the government touts this increase as a strategic victory, the reality is more complex and even disturbing. The disengagement has not only failed to resolve underlying tensions but has also resulted in the loss of vital pasture lands in Gogra Hills and Kakjung. These areas are critical for local livelihoods and security, and their compromise raises alarms about India's commitment to defending its territorial integrity.

In a troubling sign for the BRICS alliance, a meeting of foreign ministers in New York on Thursday ended without a joint statement for the first time since the group’s inception, underscoring the deepening divisions following the recent expansion. Expected to yield a comprehensive 52-paragraph communiqué addressing issues like the Middle East conflict and a common currency, the talks instead spiralled into chaos. Indian and Brazilian diplomats had previously linked the bloc's expansion to new members backing their bids for permanent seats on the UN Security Council. However, Egypt and Ethiopia rejected the proposed communique, citing a lack of consensus on Africa’s representatives.

India read the Bangladesh tea-leaves all wrong but has been wiser in Sri Lanka, opening channels with Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) of the JVP in the months before the presidential election that he just won. Jeremy Page writes in The Economist’s Essential India Newsletter about how AKD visited India in February 2024 for meetings with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval:

“That outreach seems to have paid off, given Mr Dissanayake’s decision to meet India’s envoy first, as well as the lack of India-bashing in his election campaign. But will the good vibes last? Mr Dissanayake also met recently with a senior Chinese Communist Party official and has pledged to cancel a wind-power project being built by India’s Adani Group, which is closely associated with Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister. Another potential cause of friction is whether Mr Dissanyake will opt to extend a one-year moratorium on visits by foreign research vessels—the ban was imposed in January after protests from Indian and American officials about several such Chinese visits. Indian diplomats have good reason to celebrate their recent work on Sri Lanka. But the next few months could still be a challenge,”

While campaigning for the BJP in Jammu, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath has said that if Jammu and Kashmir elects a BJP government then Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will soon become part of India.

Meanwhile, in the part of India he actually governs, an 11-year-old boy was sacrificed – yes, you read that right – by the head of his school in a ‘black magic’ ritual. “The student was abducted from the hostel by two teachers and the school’s owner and killed to fulfil a ‘tantrik ritual’ for the prosperity of the school,” reports PTI. So far, there are no signs of Adityanath’s bulldozers performing their miracle.

A Supreme Court bench yesterday said it found no reason to review its order from earlier this year undoing the remission granted to the convicts accused of gang raping Bilkis Bano in 2002. The court had then taken a dim view of the Gujarat government, saying among other things that it “acted in tandem” and “was complicit” with one of the accused in the case in his seeking remission by misleading the court. Gujarat filed a review petition challenging this remark and others, but the court dismissed this yesterday.

Thirty-seven children were among 46 people who drowned in Bihar earlier this week as they bathed during the jitiya festival. These include children who accompanied their mothers to bathe in ponds and rivers that have been in spate following heavy rain.

Srinagar district, which is known for its low voter turnout figures, saw just under 30% of its electorate vote in the assembly elections on Wednesday. Jehangir Ali speaks to locals and academics, finding that a lack of participation by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s Awami Action Committee, a lack of popular candidates and resentment caused by abrogation are all possible reasons behind the city’s low voter enthusiasm.

The Delhi High Court is once again set to hear afresh the bail pleas of the four accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case. This will be the third time in two years that the case will be heard, despite the fact that previously the lawyers of the four accused – Abdul Khalid Saifi, Gulfisha Fatima, Md Saleem Khan and Shifa Ur Rehman – have fully argued their cases before two different benches, reports The Indian Express. But since the presiding judges in both these benches were appointed the Chief Justice of other high courts, the verdict couldn’t be pronounced.

Religious conversion is taking place in a “structured manner” in the way of a “planned conspiracy”, those carrying out this conversion “encroach more into our tribal communities” and the whole thing is “antithetical to our values and constitutional principles”, the vice president said at a ‘Hindu spiritual and service fair’ yesterday as per ANI. One wonders if he feels the same way about conversion to Hinduism. In any case, he believes sanatan dharma is “embedded in the preamble” and that “our constitutional values emanate from” it.

Thomas Easton writes about the economic downturn affecting the Indian film industry:

“After many reports about a post-lockdown recovery in cinema attendance, bleak reports are coming out about the state of Bollywood. Thirty to forty major productions have been shelved in the past year and a half, according to The Economic Times. Straight-to-digital releases have dropped from 105 in 2022 to 57 in 2023. The Financial Express says box office revenues have dropped 39% since 2022 for the stretch of the calendar years. A story in Mint says film producers are scrambling to find outlets for as many as 200 films made in recent years that remain unsold.
In many reports, high prices for actors are blamed for Bollywood’s woes but the bigger issue seems to be that the Indian film industry, like much of America’s (looking at you, Disney), has lost the plot. The films aren’t touching the audience. In many Indian theatres, classic films are once again being screened.”

Keki Daruwala (1937-2024). Photo: Speaking Tiger

Renowned poet, writer, and former IPS officer Keki N. Daruwalla has passed away at the age of 87 in a Delhi hospital on Thursday night after a prolonged illness and pneumonia. His demise marks the end of a distinguished career that spanned literature and public service. His daughter, Anaheita Kapadia, confirmed that although he suffered a stroke last year, it was pneumonia that claimed his life this time. In recent years, Daruwalla used his poetry to attack the Modi government’s violation of human rights and its Islamophobia. Sample these lines from ‘Interrogation of a Muslim’:

I am not interested
in your crimes against the state—all that is recorded in discs, phone taps
and our extractions from mobile phones.
I want your confession on the crimes you thought
of committing.

Or this from his poem on Stan Swamy, the Jesuit and tribal activist who died in prison as an undertrial:

Nothing will happen, those who wrote lies
in charge sheets, those who denied him bail,
those who were heartless in jail
and didn’t let him have a straw to drink
they just let him sink.
On his death bed, let it be noted
they’ll all be promoted.

Earlier this week, a dramatic incident unfolded in Bhagalpur district, Bihar, as a two-storey building succumbed to the forces of nature, collapsing into the overflowing Ganges River. Watch here. Thankfully, no one was injured in this harrowing event captured on video. However, the region has been grappling with the aftermath of heavy rainfall, which has caused widespread flooding across the state. Tragically, at least 10 lives have been lost due to the relentless downpour. In light of the devastation, relief and rescue teams have swiftly mobilised, working tirelessly to assist those affected by the severe weather and restore some semblance of order amidst the chaos.

Zara Chowdhary writes in her memoir, The Lucky Ones: A Memoir, about her harrowing experiences in the hours leading up to the devastating 2002 Gujarat riots. In a poignant account, Chowdhary, a Muslim girl, vividly recounts the fear and uncertainty that engulfed her community as tensions escalated. Read an excerpt from the book here.

Shankaracharya turned away from Arunachal airport for campaigning against cow slaughter

In a dramatic turn of events, Jagadguru Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand along with his entourage were compelled to return from Donyi Polo Hollongi Airport after members of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU) staged a protest against the proposed ‘Gau Dhwaj Yatra,’ a campaign advocating for declaring the cow as the “Nation’s Mother”.

AAPSU members gathered outside the airport amidst tight security, voicing strong opposition to the campaign. They cautioned the religious leader and his entourage against entering Arunachal Pradesh with the agenda to ban cow slaughter and promote the cow as a national symbol. AAPSU General Secretary Ritum Tali clarified that the protest was not against any religion or religious leader, but rather a stand to protect the indigenous culture and traditions of Arunachal Pradesh:

“We welcome all religious leaders to the state, but we oppose any attempt to impose rules that conflict with our customs. For us, the cow is not considered a mother; it is treated like other animals, and we even sacrifice it during rituals and ceremonies as part of our indigenous tradition.”

Income tax exemption for activist Harsh Mander’s NGO revoked

The tax authorities on Wednesday cancelled the registration of Aman Biradari, an NGO founded by human rights activist Harsh Mander, under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act, stripping it of income tax exemption. Despite Mander stating that the NGO had responded to a notice from the Income Tax Department over a month ago, the department proceeded with the cancellation without addressing their reply.

One of the reasons cited for cancelling Aman Biradari’s registration was the NGO’s failure to provide the Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) of some donors who contributed to its crowdfunding campaign, which supported food distribution for the underprivileged during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Mander argued that there was no legal requirement at the time to furnish PAN details for such donations. Another reason raised by the Income Tax Department was that the organisation's communication material on interfaith harmony was not part of its 'stated objectives.' Mander countered this, claiming that promoting interfaith harmony was indeed listed in the objectives when applying for income tax exemption under Section 12A.

Despite the decision, Mander made it clear that it will not “come in our way” adding “we have worked with a large number of violence-hit people across the country, including survivors of the 2020 Delhi violence and the ethnic conflict in Manipur.”

Refitting hitches, chronic delays stand in Air India’s way to ‘world-class’ status

You remember that horror story from an Air India business class passenger on a Chicago-Delhi nonstop flight? The airline has refunded his money but it will take more than that to fix what’s wrong. It turns out getting Air India’s reputation back on track will involve flying planes with top-quality premium seats and services, but its plans to refit its widebody aircrafts have been delayed by a year as seat makers struggle with capacity and skilled labour shortages, Aditi Shah and Jamie Freed report. Its inability to fly older planes is resulting in lower flying hours, while constant delays also add to the problem. The latter issue could see a resolution when Air India can use its own maintenance facility, which it is building with investor Singapore Airlines, instead of the government’s. On the bright side it has seen an increase in its international market share and a growth in revenues.

The Long Cable

Hindu Signalling Minus the Violence: Why the Aam Aadmi Party Has Embraced ‘Hindutva-Lite’

Sidharth Bhatia

Soon after taking over as the new chief minister of Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party’s Atishi announced that she was merely a caretaker till her party’s convenor Arvind Kejriwal wins the upcoming assembly election and reclaims his rightful post. She showed an empty chair next to hers which she said was waiting for Kejriwal, who she was confident would return victorious after four months.

Then she added that this was like Bharat in the Ramayana, who kept his elder brother Ram’s khadau, or sandals, in front of the throne. This is a story Indians hear in childhood—the sandals were supposed to represent Ram who was the ‘rightful’ king but was on a 14 year exile.

When the formation of AAP was announced in 2012, it caught the imagination of the masses, the intelligentsia and liberals. Here was one party not encumbered by past baggage and was neither a dynastic organisation nor a communal one.

Atishi was not among its prominent faces then, and emerged in front after many of AAP’s high-profile founders, including Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were eased out by Kejriwal. At that time, she went by the name Atishi Marlena — liberals were enchanted to know that her unusual second name was a combination of Marx and Lenin and had been given by her leftist parents.

Somewhere along the way, Atishi stopped using Marlena and adopted her family’s surname Singh, which clearly identified her caste. The Aam Aadmi Party, now fully in the control of Kejriwal, also began to lean actively towards a more ‘Hindu’ profile.

He introduced classes on ‘patriotism’ in Delhi schools and declared himself a ‘Hanuman Bhakt’. In 2020, the Delhi government installed a temporary model of the Ayodhya Ram Temple where he and his ministers held a puja.

The Hindu-signalling theme of AAP, a party that emerged on an anti-corruption platform, has continued. A couple of days after her swearing in, Atishi went to the Hanuman temple in Delhi’s Connaught Place for a puja and photos of her piety were widely circulated. An interesting little video clip, in which journalist Ravish Kumar questions why she is doing this just before elections, is worth a watch.

But is this drama only about the forthcoming elections? The AAP has a lot of goodwill and can easily go to the voters harping on how Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and others have been victimised by the BJP. It can talk about the work the party has done in schools. In the last general elections, despite being part of the INDIA bloc and all the support given by the Congress, AAP did not win a single seat in Delhi, but Assembly elections are another matter. There is no particular need to try and aim at the Hindu vote.

Kejriwal’s motivations may be different. There is always a possibility that he is genuinely a very religious man, though that doesn’t explain why his entire party leadership is following in his footsteps or that his religiosity is now virtually his party’s ideology. What is more likely is that Kejriwal has figured out what he thinks is a winning formula—Hindu-signalling minus the violence and aggression.

AAP could be the party that believes in modern education, welfare policies, technology and good governance but without forgetting India’s Hindu roots. This will, the party hopes, draw those voters who are unhappy with the BJP away from the saffron party and also those who think the Congress is a party of ‘Muslim appeasement’. Kejriwal may have calculated that the BJP, once Narendra Modi is no longer on the scene, will not have the same draw and he can step into the breach and grow. Meanwhile, he doesn’t forget to constantly attack Modi.

Its an ambitious plan but it is quite clear that Kejriwal and his close associates are sold on it. The immediate first step is to win the next Assembly elections in Delhi due by the end of February 2025. AAP is a part of the INDIA bloc but is there a guarantee that the Congress will not contest separately? A three-way fight cannot but hamper AAP. Kejriwal has to pull out all stops and clearly, the party intends to up the Hindutva-lite game over the next few months.

Reportedly

Union government officials have invited representatives from the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) to New Delhi in the first week of next month to resume talks on the ‘Naga political issue’, which have remained stuck for some time, Debanish Achom and Ratnadip Choudhury cite sources as saying. They also hear that there are demands for a new “ministerial-level interlocutor” for talks with Naga groups. Currently, former IPS officer AK Mishra is interlocutor. A lot of water has flowed down the Doyang since the landmark, unimplemented 2015 agreement. The situation in Manipur has also complicated the picture for the Naga leadership and New Delhi.

Deep dive

The result of Sri Lanka’s presidential polls “isn’t about the IMF – it’s about people’s rejection of the establishment”, pollster Ravi Rannan-Eliya tells Devirupa Mitra, adding the right word to describe how people felt about the establishment is “disgust”. In this interview he speaks about what kind of voter put their faith in Anura Dissanayake, among whom supporters of Sri Lanka’s last winning party were split, why he thinks the other opposition candidate Sajith Premadasa didn’t make it, whether there are similarities with the Indian general election, and more.

Prime number: 2,600 ➡️ 790 fast-track courts

Although the Union government estimated that there would be 2,600 fast-track special courts to try sex crimes in India by 2026, it has revised its target to 790 due to low participation from state governments and a dearth of judges, Reuters learns from officials and a government document. In fact, 752 courts have been set up so far against a 2021 target of 1,023. Reuters also finds that opposition governments have generally been slower in setting up these courts, for which the Union government bears 60% of the set-up costs.

Opeds you don’t want to miss

Have you ever read the term gau rakshak in media reports? Jagdeep Chhokar’s proverbial ears perked up when he came across this term in a report on the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old in Haryana. He sounds a note of caution for readers of the mainstream media in interpreting the use of this euphemistic and even flattering term for killers.
India has a China problem, but China does not have an India problem, writes the Deccan Herald in an editorial, zeroing in on the key difference driving the bilateral relationship. But if the current logjam is to end, Beijing “must respond by way of a return to the normal in terms of patrolling also to show it is sincere in extending an olive branch as its envoy in India has been saying that ties are poised to improve and may extend to areas far beyond the border situation.”
Atishi must take care to remove her public persona from Kejriwal’s shadow ahead of the Delhi assembly elections, especially in the event that the BJP projects Smriti Irani as its chief ministerial face in the polls, Bharat Bhushan writes.
Kolkata’s protesting doctors have lost their chance to usher in real change for good, and the empire is guaranteed to strike back – so to speak – writes Govind Bhattacharjee. But if there was one good thing to come out of the agitiation, it is that urban Bengalis have “found the courage not to fear their tormentors any longer”, he says.
Modi’s ‘one nation, one election’ plan undermines federalism, says PDT Achary, like many other commentators have noted but he also points out that frequent elections – which ‘ONOE’ is meant to avoid – has many positive benefits:
“They will enhance the accountability of elected representatives. Frequent elections compel them to go back to the people and reconnect with them frequently. Elections once in five years would mean that representatives would not feel compelled to go to the people. They would slowly move away from them and try to reconnect with them only in the election year. Similarly, if elections are held only once in five years, political parties will slowly become lethargic and, in course of time, will cease to be the effective vehicles of peoples’ aspirations. From the angle of governments, frequent elections will show them which way the wind blows and a government in office can do course correction.”
Read an excerpt from Tahir Kamran’s book, ‘Chequered Past, Uncertain Future: The Story of Pakistan’ looking back at the freedom uprising in East Pakistan.

Listen up

India just won the team golds for men and women at the Budapest Chess Olympiad. Rakesh Rao speaks to G Sampath about “what the double triumph means for Indian chess, and what the country can do to build on this success.” Listen here.

Watch out

Here’s Shashi Tharoor speaking about where he believes the distinction ought to be drawn between Indianisms in English and wrong English, the differences between British and American English, how his father came up with a game that was not too different from Wordle. All this and more in a discussion with Karan Thapar on his new book, A Wonderland of Words: Around the World in 101 Essays.

Over and out

Influencers are the real virus that emerged in March 2020, says stand-up comic Azeem Banatwalla. “More than Covid, they have caused in society loss of taste”. Its a hoot. “When talented people get motivated, you get the Arts. But when untalented people get motivated, you get… Reels!”

There is more to Indian cheese than paneer, writes Chandrahas Choudhary in a ‘Caerphilly’ researched piece on the booming cheese industry in India, which he describes as the “next great cheese frontier”:

“At the World Cheese Awards last year Brunost, a “Norwegian-style whey cheese” made by Eleftheria, a fromagerie run by the Mumbai cheesemaker Mausam Narang, was voted one of the top five cheeses of the world, alongside creations from Norway, Belgium and Switzerland. An alpine-style washed rind made by Namrata Sundaresan, who retails from her Chennai fromagerie Käse Cheese, won silver at the same event.”

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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