PTI, New Delhi, Jun 20, 2024 : The Supreme Court on Thursday sought responses from the Centre, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and others on petitions, including those seeking the scrapping of NEET-UG 2024 exam and a court-monitored probe into the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance test.
The apex court also stayed further proceedings on some pleas on the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 examination pending before different high courts in the country.
A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti issued notices to the parties seeking their responses on four separate pleas filed by the NTA seeking transfer of some pending petitions, including those concerning alleged paper leak, from the high courts to the apex court.
As the bench issued notices on NTA’s petitions, the counsel appearing for the agency urged that proceedings in these matters before the high court be stayed.
“Issue notice, returnable on July 8,” the bench said, adding, “In the meantime, further proceedings before the high courts shall remain stayed”.
It also dealt with several other petitions, including the one filed by 20 students who had appeared in the medical entrance test and are seeking scrapping of the exam which was held on May 5.
They have also sought a direction to the NTA and others to conduct the test afresh.
The bench, which issued notices to the Centre, NTA and others seeking their responses on these petitions, said the pleas would be heard on July 8 along with other pending matters concerning the NEET-UG 2024.
During the hearing, the bench made clear that it was not staying the counselling process.
“All this has been argued from day one and they (some petitioners) have been wanting stay of counselling. We have denied that,” the bench observed. “Ultimately, if all of you succeed, everything will go. The examination goes and the counselling will also go.” An advocate, appearing for one of the petitioners, said the counselling can be deferred until after July 8.
The bench asked the NTA’s counsel about the counselling. “The counselling will start on July 6, but it will not finish on July 6. It will take time,” the NTA’s counsel said.
Another counsel informed the bench that a person has been arrested in Bihar in connection with the probe into alleged irregularities in the exam.
The lawyer said FIRs have been lodged in Bihar and Gujarat regarding the alleged irregularities and the police should be asked to give status report of their investigation in these matter.
During the hearing, the bench observed that petitioners in the matter were making similar arguments.
The counsel appearing for the Centre said many a times, coaching institutes have also come as petitioners.
“They have a right to come. Because their business is … these students only and if you play with them and you meddle with their rights, then these coaching centres will come,” the bench observed.
While hearing separate pleas concerning the NEET (Undergraduate)-2024 examination, the apex court had on June 18 said even if there was “0.001 per cent negligence” on the part of anyone in the conduct of the examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.
The NTA conducts the all India pre-medical entrance test.
While hearing separate petitions raising grievances over the NEET-UG 2024, the apex court had last week sought responses from the Centre and the NTA on a plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of question paper leak and other irregularities in the exam.
The Centre and the NTA had on June 13 told the top court that they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.
They will have the option to either take a retest or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for the loss of time, the Centre had said.
The examination was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres and around 24 lakh candidates took it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4, apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets got completed earlier.
There have been allegations of question paper leaks in states like Bihar and other irregularities in the prestigious exam.
The allegations have led to protests in several cities and filing of petitions in several high courts as also the Supreme Court. Scores of students protested in Delhi on June 10 seeking a probe into alleged irregularities.
As many as 67 students scored a perfect 720, unprecedented in the NTA’s history, with six from a centre in Haryana’s Faridabad figuring in the list, raising suspicions about irregularities. It has been alleged that grace marks contributed to 67 students sharing the top rank.
The NEET-UG examination is conducted by the NTA for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
PTI, New Delhi, July 20, 2024 : Opposition leaders on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the government and the National Testing Agency over alleged irregularities in the NEET exam as well as the cancellation of UGC-NET and accused them of destroying the future of students.
Some opposition leaders have also demanded the sacking of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the disbanding of the National Testing Agency (NTA), claiming paper leak is an “anti-national activity” as it plays with the future of students.
Leading the opposition attack, Rahul Gandhi alleged the main reason for paper leaks is that educational institutions have been “captured” by the BJP and its parent organisation RSS, and paper leaks will not stop unless it is reversed.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has facilitated this capture. This (paper leak) is an anti-national activity as it severely harms the country’s youth, who are the nation’s future and it hurts students,” he said.
The former Congress chief also alleged the BJP government at the Centre wants to “expand the “Vyapam model” of Madhya Pradesh.
The scam in Vyapam or Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board broke out in 2013, wherein candidates had bribed officials and rigged exams by deploying imposters to write their answers.
On Wednesday, the University Grants Commission cancelled the UGC-NET examination, a day after it was held, upon receiving certain inputs from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) over the exam.
Amid demands by the opposition to re-conduct NEET, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said isolated incidents of malpractice should not affect lakhs of students who cleared the examination rightfully. He also announced a high-level panel to look into the functioning of the NTA.
Taking a dig at PM Modi, Gandhi said, “It was being said that PM Modi stopped the Ukraine-Russia war and the Israel-Gaza war, but he is either not able to stop exam paper leaks or doesn’t want to.”
“The silence is because the prime minister is crippled. Right now the prime minister’s agenda is the Speaker (post). He is not bothered about NEET. He wants his government to scrape through and he gets his Speaker’s post. That’s where his mind is right now,” he said when asked why the government is silent on NEET.
At a press conference, Gandhi said, “The Opposition is simply not going to allow any of this eye wash that is taking place. We will make sure that we put so much pressure on them, that the issue is resolved.”
The Congress hit out at PM Modi after the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam, saying every year he conducts a “grand tamasha” of what he calls ‘Pareeksha pe Charcha’ and yet his government cannot even conduct an examination without leaks and frauds.
Claiming that the integrity of NTA is under severe doubt, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh asked whether the prime minister would speak on this “leak” (“leak pe speak”).
Party president Mallikarjun Kharge asked when would the prime minister hold “NEET pareeksha pe charcha”.
Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale, in a post on ‘X’, said, “The examination process structure of our country has crashed. Paper leaks and irregularities are rampant and the useless NTA is complicit in it.”
He also referred to the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam and said, “The lives and futures of our students are being destroyed every day and the NDA 1.0 govt is shameless to even take responsibility.”
Gokhale also said, “Incompetent education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been repeated again despite being an utter failure. The same is with Ashwini Vaishnaw as railway minister and now we saw a train crash just days ago. They need to be sacked.”
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav alleged the “paper mafia” was “rigging exams” under the BJP rule. “This could also be someone’s big conspiracy against the country,” he charged on ‘X’.
While the CPI(M), in a post on X, accused the government of making a mockery of the education system, (RJD) MP Manoj Jha said the NEET exam should also be cancelled.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas raised concern over questions asked in the UGC-NET exam.
“When NEET to NET collapses… see how saffronisation (is) done; NET qstns (questions) for a Theatre student — Ayodhya pran pratishtha date, how Hanuman is described, the shloka in Ramayana, beheaded but kept alive in Mahabharata, Hindi exponent. How do we intend to mould our next generation?” he said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged the Centre to take immediate steps to resolve the crisis in the National Testing Agency (NTA), saying its “repeated incompetence” in conducting exams such as NEET and the UGC-NET cannot be accepted.
“The controversy over NEET has barely subsided and now the Ministry of Education has announced the cancellation of UGC-NET, citing compromised exam integrity. This repeated incompetence is unacceptable, leaving students in limbo and wasting public money,” he said on ‘X’.
Demanding Pradhan’s resignation and scrapping of the NTA, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury expressed solidarity with the students “in their struggle to safeguard their academic standards from being destroyed by this ND alliance government led by Modi”.
He said the students who appeared for UGC-NET and NEET, must be compensated by the Centre. “Roll back the recently adopted system of mandatory NET score for PhD admissions. Withdraw proposals to replace existing admission procedures with centralised entrance tests,” he said.
CPI leader D Raja said, “What’s happening under the Ministry of Education is nothing short of criminal.”
“They imposed the anti-federal, anti-poor NEET and jeopardised the medical education system of our country, depriving the marginalised of quality medical education. NTA’s incompetency in conducting exams got exposed again after the cancellation of UGC-NET after paper leaks,” he alleged.
NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule accused the government of being insensitive towards the issues of farmers, women and students, and sought the formation of a special investigation team to probe the alleged irregularities in the NEET (UG) and other exams. She said the NDA government cancelled the UGC-NET exam over integrity and fairness concerns.
“This raises a burning question: Can the NDA government truly ensure fair examinations or will exams be cancelled one after another due to widespread frauds at play? The NDA govt previously claimed no NEET papers were leaked, but the further arrests made by Bihar Police suggest otherwise, yet no action has been taken by the NDA government.”
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the Modi government, saying it was unable to conduct even one exam properly and sought to know what steps it was taking to prevent question paper leaks in future.
Asem Bhakta, KalimNews, 19 June 2024, Imphal : Dr. Beoncy Laishram, a 32-year-old transwoman from Imphal, has gained prominence for becoming the first medical doctor among the transgender community in the entire northeast region in 2018. Despite this significant achievement, Dr. Beoncy faces challenges as her request for reissued educational certificates reflecting her current name and gender identity as “female” has been denied by the relevant authorities.
Dr. Beoncy, residing in the Kakwa area of Imphal West district, has filed a writ petition with the Manipur High Court. On June 13, the case was taken up by Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh, who issued notices to the respondents to provide their replies. The next hearing is scheduled for July 17.
Dr. Beoncy contends that the inconsistency in her educational certificates causes significant hardship in pursuing further education and employment. She has petitioned the court to direct the relevant authorities to issue new certificates reflecting her current name and gender.
According to the petition, Dr. Beoncy was born biologically male and named “Boboi Laishram,” a name reflected in her X and XII standard, MBBS, and other educational certificates. She underwent gender reassignment surgery on October 8, 2019, and legally changed her name to “Beoncy Laishram” and her gender to “female” on her Aadhaar card. She also obtained a “trans ID card” from the district magistrate (Imphal West) on February 16, 2022, and a voter ID card on March 4, 2023, reflecting her new status.
While Dr. Beoncy’s identity is recognized as female in all government and legal records, her educational certificates still display her former name “Boboi Laishram” and her gender as male. In February, she requested new certificates from the Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BSEM), Council of Higher Secondary Education Manipur (COHSEM), and Manipur University (MU), but her requests were denied.
Additionally, Dr. Beoncy has requested that the directors of the Department of University and Higher Education and the School Education Department issue a circular affirming the rights of transgender individuals to change their name and gender on educational certificates, in line with Supreme Court directives, without requiring them to resort to legal action.
Laishram helps the Nupi Maanbis in need to get healthcare access. The post-operative transwoman has stepped forth to help and give hope to the community who have suffered the most because of the COVID-19 pandemic as it has quashed livelihoods. The community has been most involved in the beauty parlour business in Imphal for financial freedom, but these have been shut amidst the lockdown. Shanta Khurai of the All Manipur Nupi Maanbi Association, a prominent transgender activist, feels that Lashiram “represents aspiration among the Nupi Maanbis. We don’t just work as beauticians.”
Santa Khurai, an iconic trans activist and secretary of the All Manipur Nupi Manbi Association (AMANA), stated that Dr. Beoncy approached the Court after consulting with the association.
Agencies: Laishram changed her name to Beoncy when she took part in Miss Trans Queen Northeast, a beauty pageant in 2013. On completing her MBBS in 2011, she decided to come out from her family in 2013. “My father was so upset he tried to kill himself,” she said in an interview with TOI, “I went right back into the closet. Around 2016, I realised I could no longer live that life. It was when I began openly identifying as a Nupi Maanbi.”
While Manipuri has known about the existence of Nupi Maanbi as an identity for very long, the community continues to be marginalised. Laishram has a good relationship with her parents now and is also has a partner from a long-term relationship. Having supportive colleagues is most important for her as she feels safe at work.
Laishram helps the Nupi Maanbis in need to get healthcare access. The post-operative transwoman has stepped forth to help and give hope to the community who have suffered the most because of the COVID-19 pandemic as it has quashed livelihoods. The community has been most involved in the beauty parlour business in Imphal for financial freedom, but these have been shut amidst the lockdown. Shanta Khurai of the All Manipur Nupi Maanbi Association, a prominent transgender activist, feels that Lashiram “represents aspiration among the Nupi Maanbis. We don’t just work as beauticians.”
‘The average June rainfall for the country as a whole is most likely to be below normal, less than 92 per cent of the long period average’
G.S. Mudur, TT, New Delhi, 20.06.24 : India will get “below normal” rainfall during June, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said in an updated forecast released after it documented 20 per cent deficit rainfall between June 1 and June 18.
“The average June rainfall for the country as a whole is most likely to be below normal, less than 92 per cent of the long period average,” the IMD said in a downward revised forecast released on June 18. The IMD had on May 27 predicted “normal rainfall” — 92 per cent to 108 per cent of the long period average — during June.
Weather scientists say the June deficit has no bearing on the overall monsoon performance during the four-month season. Bountiful rainfall over the next three months could compensate for the June deficit, resulting in normal or above normal rainfall for the full season, scientists said.
The IMD had last month predicted that India as a whole this year, as well as the country’s so-called “monsoon core zone” that makes up most of the country’s rainfed agriculture areas, will receive “above normal” rainfall, or 106 per cent of the long period average.
The summer monsoon, which accounts for 75 per cent of India’s annual rainfall, is crucial for crops, the economy and water resources. Rice, maize, millets, oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane and cotton are among the major crops sown through the season.
Crop weather specialists say the amount and geographic distribution of the rainfall during July and August are critical to agriculture and far more relevant to farm operations than the June rainfall.
The IMD plans to release its rainfall forecast for July at the end of this month.
The monsoon, after advancing over the Nicobar Islands on May 19 and Kerala and the northeastern states on May 30, moved northward and had by June 12 covered Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana, most parts of southern Maharashtra, and parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bengal.
Its progress has stalled since June 12 but the IMD said on Tuesday that “conditions are favourable” for further advance of the monsoon into more parts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of Gangetic Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand over the next two or three days.
Since June 1, 11 of the country’s 36 meteorological subdivisions have received normal to large excess rainfall while 25 subdivisions have had deficient to large deficient rainfall, the IMD said on Tuesday.
Gangetic Bengal, Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, western Uttar Pradesh, eastern Rajasthan and western Rajasthan, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab are among subdivisions with exceptionally large rainfall deficits —ranging from 70 per cent up to 90 per cent.
Annwesha Chhetri, EOI, 17 June 2024 : The Group of 7 (G7) Summit, held in the picturesque town of Fasano, Italy, concluded on June 15, leaving a significant impact on global policy and international relations. Hosted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, this summit focused on the two major geopolitical conflicts weighing on the international community: the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Apart from the member countries, many other countries, including India, were invited to the Outreach Session. This was India’s 11th and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 5th consecutive participation at the G7 Summit. Traditionally, this group of seven countries has been a forum for some of the world’s most advanced economies to discuss and coordinate on economic policies, trade, security, and other global issues. India’s repeated invitations signal a recognition of its rise in economy, strategic importance, and leadership potential in tackling global challenges. PM Modi’s presence at the summit reflects India’s pivotal role in shaping global discourse. Therefore, India is getting a platform once again to address critical global issues, strengthen bilateral ties, and assert its role as a major player in international affairs. This year’s summit focused on themes such as economic resilience, climate change, health, security, and technological innovation—all the areas where India has a valuable contribution to make.
During the summit, PM Modi shed light on India’s economic reforms and investments like “Make in India” and “Digital India.” These initiatives aim to transform our country into a global manufacturing hub and a leader in digital innovation. With the global economy recovering from the impacts of the COVID- 19 pandemic, India’s robust growth trajectory presents an attractive proposition for foreign investment and trade partnerships. A major highlight of this summit was the launch of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). Coal accounts for nearly 70% of India’s electricity. This initiative aims to help India transition from a coal-based energy system to more sustainable and low-emission technologies. Hence, JETP is designed to provide financial support, technology, and expertise to facilitate this transition, which is expected to address both environmental concerns and economic dependencies related to coal. PM Modi also reiterated India’s ambitious climate targets, including achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and increasing the share of renewable energy in its energy mix. He also elaborated on the “Ek Ped Maa ke Naam” campaign and urged the leaders to take part in India’s Mission LiFE initiative. Therefore, by collaborating with G7 countries, India will not only contribute to global climate goals but also support its own sustainable development agenda.
“Pharmacy of the World,” India has been a key supplier of affordable vaccines and medicines to developing countries during the pandemic. PM Modi called for strengthening global health infrastructure by ensuring equitable access to vaccines and enhancing research and development capabilities.
India becomes a key player in the Indo-Pacific strategy, ensuring stability and security and countering China’s expanding influence. The European Union says that Beijing’s large subsidies, especially in green energy and technology, lead to very cheap products that flood the global market, making it difficult for the West to compete. “G7 countries agree on how to handle China,” a Japanese government source told AFP.
PM Modi said that India will collaborate with all countries to make artificial intelligence (AI) transparent, fair, secure, accessible, and responsible. As a founding member and lead chair of the Global Partnership for AI, India is leading the launch of the “AI Mission” with the mantra “AI for All.”
Therefore, this G7 Summit provided India with a platform to advance its economic, environmental, health, technological, and geopolitical agendas. By engaging with the world’s leading economies, India is not only strengthening its international standing but also paving the way for sustainable development and inclusive growth.
As the world navigates through complex challenges, India’s role in shaping a resilient and cooperative global order is becoming more crucial than ever. On the sidelines of the G7 Summit, PM Modi held bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, UK PM Rishi Sunak, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also interacted with US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canada PM Justin Trudeau, and Pope Francis. After concluding the visit, PM Modi thanked the people and government of Italy for their “war m hospitality” and said, “Had a very productive day at the G7 Summit in Apulia. I interacted with the world’s leaders and discussed various subjects. Together, we aim to create impactful solutions that benefit the global community and create a better world for future generations,” in a post on X.
We want to create positive citizens and that’s what is the purpose of our textbooks. We cannot have everything in them. The purpose of our education is not to create violent citizen depressed citizens. Hatred and violence are not subjects of teaching, says Dinesh Prasad Saklani
PTI, New Delhi, Jun 17, 2024 : Rejecting accusations of saffronisation of school curriculum, NCERT’s director has said that references to Gujarat riots and Babri masjid demolition were modified in school textbooks because teaching about riots “can create violent and depressed citizens.”
In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency’s headquarters here on Saturday, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) director Dinesh Prasad Saklani said the tweaks in textbooks are part of annual revision and should not be a subject of hue and cry.
Asked about references to Gujarat riots or Babri masjid demolition being tweaked in NCERT textbooks, Saklani said, “Why should we teach about riots in school textbooks? We want to create positive citizens not violent and depressed individuals”.
“Should we teach our students in a manner that they become offensive, create hatred in society or become victim of hatred? Is that education’s purpose? Should we teach about riots to such young children … when they grow up, they can learn about it but why school textbooks. Let them understand what happened and why it happened when they grow up. The hue and cry about the changes is irrelevant,” he said.
The comments by Saklani come at a time when new textbooks have hit the market with several deletions and changes. The revised Class 12 political science textbook does not mention the Babri masjid but refers to it as a “three-domed structure”. It has pruned the Ayodhya section from four to two pages and deleted details from the earlier version.
It instead focuses on the Supreme Court judgement that paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the site where the disputed structure once stood before it was torn down by Hindu activists in December 1992. The Supreme Court verdict was widely accepted in the country. The consecration of the Ram idol in the temple was performed on January 22 this year by the prime minister.
“We want to create positive citizens and that’s what is the purpose of our textbooks. We cannot have everything in them. The purpose of our education is not to create violent citizens … depressed citizens. Hatred and violence are not subjects of teaching, they should not be focus of our textbooks,” added Saklani.
He hinted that the same hue and cry is not made about 1984 anti-Sikh riots not being in textbooks.
The latest deletions in the textbooks include: BJP’s ‘rath yatra’ from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya; the role of kar sevaks; communal violence in the wake of the demolition of the Babri masjid; President’s rule in BJP-ruled states; and the BJP’s expression of “regret over the happenings at Ayodhya”.
“If Supreme Court has given a verdict in favour of Ram temple, Babri masjid or Ram janmabhoomi, should it not be included in our textbooks, what is the problem in that? We have included the new updates. If we have constructed new Parliament, should our students not know about it. It is our duty to include the ancient developments and recent developments,” he said.
Asked about allegations of saffronisation of curriculum and ultimately textbooks, Saklani said, “If something has become irrelevant … it will have to be changed. Why shouldn’t it be changed. I don’t see any saffronisation here. We teach history so students know about facts, not for making it a battleground”.
“If we are telling about Indian Knowledge System, how can it be saffronisation? If we are telling about iron pillar in Mehrauli and saying Indians were way ahead of any metallurigical scientist, are we saying wrong? How can it be saffronisation?”
Saklani, 61, who was head of the ancient history department at the HNB Garhwal University before taking charge as NCERT director in 2022, has faced criticism over the changes in textbooks, especially pertaining to historical facts.
“What is wrong about changes in textbooks? Updating textbooks is a global practice, it is in interest of education. Revising textbooks is an annual exercise. Whatever is changed is decided by subject and pedagogy experts. I do not dictate or interfere in the process … there is no imposition from top.
“There are no attempts to saffronise curriculum, everything is based on facts and evidence,” he said.
The NCERT is revising the curriculum of the school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
From the assertion that recent studies of ancient DNA obtained from archaeological sources at Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley site in Haryana, rule out Aryan immigration to a call for more research into whether the Harappans and the Vedic people were the same, several crucial topics have either been dropped or tweaked in textbooks.
A two-page table detailing achievements of Mughal emperors such as Humayun, Shah Jahan, Akbar, Jahangir and Aurangzeb have also been removed.
This is the fourth round of revision and updating of NCERT textbooks since 2014.
Referring to the changes to the section on Ayodhya, the NCERT had said in April — “Content is updated as per latest development in politics. Text on Ayodhya issue has been thoroughly revised because of the latest changes brought by the Supreme Court’s Constitutional bench verdict and its widespread welcoming reception”.
Saklani said that some changes have happened because the subjects were irrelevant, some to update new information while several topics were removed earlier to minimise burden on students cause by the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce duplication of content.
The new political science textbook of Class 11, now says that political parties “give priority to the interests of a minority group” with an eye on “vote bank politics”, which leads to “minority appeasement”.
This marks a complete shift from what was taught until the 2023-24 academic session — that if students “think hard”, they will find there is “little evidence” to suggest that vote bank politics favours the minorities in the country.
Dropping references to the demolition of Babri Masjid, the killing of Muslims in Gujarat riots and Hindutva, and tweaking the reference to Manipur’s merger with India are among the changes made in textbooks this year.
Decision taken after consulting all, says MoS Meghwalter consulting all, says MoS Meghwalter consulting all, says MoS Meghwalter consulting all, says MoS Meghwalter consulting all, says MoS Meghwa
PTI, KOLKATA, 16 June 2024 : Union Minister of State for Law & Justice (Independent Charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday said that the new criminal laws will be introduced from 1 July, dismissing opposition allegations of not being consulted before the decision was made.
Meghwal said that the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Evidence Act will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Act.
He added that necessary training programmes and infrastructure development for implementing the new laws are already underway.
“The three new laws will be implemented from 1 July for providing timely, speedy, and error-free justice,” Meghwal said during a programme themed ‘India’s progressive path in the administration of criminal justice system’ here in West Bengal.
Meghwal addressed allegations of inadequate consultation, saying, “Some people claim they were not consulted. This is untrue. The demand for change of colonial laws has been longstanding, and the process began long ago.”
The minister explained that although suggestions were sought from all states, only 18 states and six union territories responded. “Even the chief justice of India, chief justices of 16 high courts, five law academies, and 22 law universities provided their suggestions,” he said.
“We contacted all MPs, but only 142, including members from both Houses, responded. Suggestions were also requested from all MLAs nationwide, with only 270 responding. We consulted widely, but not everyone provided feedback,” Meghwal added.
“These laws were formulated after four years of thorough consideration. Claims of no consultation are false. Full consultations were held, including 58 meetings chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah,” he emphasised.
Meghwal further explained the necessity of moving away from colonial-era laws due to societal advancements and technological involvement.
“With changing times and new technologies, there must be improvements. Citizens were not receiving timely justice, so we have included zero FIR, mercy petition, and gender neutrality. The system had issues, which is why changes are being made,” he reasoned.
He concluded by stating that the new laws are people-centric and timely, aligning with India’s rapid development.
Also present at the event were Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court TS Sivagnanam, Law & Justice Ministry Secretary Rajiv Mani, and Law Commission of India Member Secretary Reeta Vasishta.
Hopeful about UCC implementation
Meanwhile, Meghwal expressed hope about implementation of the uniform civil code (UCC), contending that some states have started to bring it into force.
“In BJP manifesto, we have mentioned about the UCC. There are states like Goa and Uttarakhand that have started implementing them. The coalition which has been formed in the Centre is a very strong government and there is nothing to worry about,” Meghwal said.
Last week, soon after Meghwal, an MP from the Bikaner constituency, said that the UCC is still on the BJP’s agenda, while the JD (U) said that any such move must come through consensus.
JD (U) leader KC Tyagi said that, while the party is not against the UCC, it wants that such a move should come through a consensus.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal made it clear that Central Government was not reconsidering the decision to implement the new criminal laws from July 1,2024. He reiterated that the laws replacing the Indian Penal Code 1860, the Indian Evidence Act 1872 and the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 will come into force from July 1.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Meghwal said :
“From July 1, all three laws, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Act will replace Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act. Looking at the current situation, there are many innovative ideas in these three laws.”
The laws were passed by the Parliament in December 2023. Though they received the assent of the President the same month, they did not come into force since the Centre deferred their notification.
On February 25, the Centre notified July 1 as the date on which these laws will take force.
Recently, Senior Advocate Indira Jaising had written to the Law Minister requesting that the laws be kept on hold. Several lawyers and academics have raised concerns about the new laws.
PTI, Rudraprayag, Jun 15, 2024 : Twelve tourists lost their lives and 14 injured when a tempo traveller skidded off the road and fell into Alaknanda river on Badrinath national highway in Uttarakhand here on Saturday, officials said.
Garhwal Inspector General of Police KS Nagnyal said that the victims of the accident were tourists on the way to visit Chopta.
Nagnyal said 26 people were in the vehicle and most of them were residents of Delhi, ten died on the spot. Twelve people died in the accident, the IG said.
On Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s instructions, seven persons seriously injured in the accident have been admitted to AIIMS, Rishikesh through heli-ambulance, while six others are being treated at Rudraprayag district hospital, he said.
District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said the accident happened around 11 am, and police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams rushed to the spot and started relief and rescue operations.
He said that the vehicle fell on the banks of Alaknanda river about 250 meters below the road.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the accident and termed it “heartbreaking”.
In a post on X, the Prime Minister’s Office said, “The road accident in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand is heartbreaking. My deepest condolences to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones. Along with this, I wish speedy recovery of all the injured. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in providing all possible help to the victims.”
President Droupadi Murmu condoled the loss of lives in the accident and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
In a post on X in Hindi, Murmu said, “The news of the death of several people in a road accident in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand is sad. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident.
In a post on X, he said: “Received the tragic news of the road accident in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand. My condolences are with the families of those who lost their lives in this accident. The local administration and SDRF teams are engaged in relief and rescue work and all possible help is being provided to the injured. I pray to God for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
CM Dhami expressed grief over the accident and ordered the district magistrate to investigate the incident. He also directed officials to provide necessary treatment to the injured.
In a post on X, the chief minister said that the local administration and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team are engaged in relief and rescue operations and that the injured have been admitted to the nearest medical centre.
He added, “We are fully committed to provide all possible help to the injured.”
Sanchita Aich Bag, MP, 14 June 2024, Siliguri: Owing to incessant rainfall in Sikkim, triggering landslides, different areas of North Sikkim have been cut off. Around 1,200 tourists are reportedly stranded in Lachung and Mangan district.
The Sikkim government, with the help of the government of India, is planning to evacuate the tourists from there.
“As per the ground report, around 1200 domestic and 15 foreign tourists (two from Thailand, three from Nepal and 10 from Bangladesh) are stranded in Lachung, Mangan district. They are all safe and sound. The local authorities have requested all the stranded tourists to stay put in their respective place of stay and avoid taking any risks,” stated CS Rai, principal secretary, tourism and civil aviation, Government of Sikkim, in a release issued on Friday.
“There is adequate stock of food supplies and rations to cater to all the stranded tourists. The office of the Chief Secretary, Government of Sikkim has already initiated talks with the concerned Ministry, Government of India for airlifting of all the tourists subject to clear weather conditions,” the release further stated.
“If required the tourists shall also be evacuated by road. Tourism and Civil Aviation department, Government of Sikkim is working in close co-ordination with the concerned district administration, Police department and the tourism official at Mangan,” the release said, adding: “Only Lachung is cut off from the state, all other parts of Sikkim are open and safe for travel.”
Meanwhile, the condition of Sikkim has affected the tourism industry. Vehicular movement has been restricted in many places on the National Highway (NH 10). Heavy vehicles are travelling through Lava-Gorubathan, which is a longer route.
The diversions to Sikkim are time taking and also costlier. Small vehicles are also charging double the amount, as the condition of the roads is very bad in some areas and detours have to be taken.
“Sikkim plays a very important role in the tourism business of this region. NH 10 closes down often owing to landslides and floods. This road needs to be repaired permanently or an alternate route so that such problems do not occur in future,” said Samrat Sanyal, secretary of Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network.
Siddhartha Soodh, president of Kalimpong Hotel Owners’ Association, said: “The closure of NH 10 is affecting tourism business in Kalimpong. The government should find a permanent solution to the problem.”
“I have booked a small vehicle from Siliguri Junction to go to Gangtok, which charges Rs 5500,” said Md. Ansul Mia, a tourist from Bangladesh who was in Siliguri on the way to Bangladesh.
Sinjini De, EOI, 14 June 2024 : n democratic politics, success is often measured by the fairness and integrity of the electoral process. When individuals vote, they express their basic political rights as citizens of the country. Just as individuals have the right to choose who forms the government, they also have the right to reject all contesting parties to express their disapproval.
This is encapsulated by the idea of NOTA or ‘None of the Above’.Although NOTA was introduced in India in September 2013, its history traces back to 2004, when the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a non-governmental organization, approached the Supreme Court seeking measures to protect the ‘right to secrecy’ of voters. They argued that the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961 unjustly violated this right as the presiding officer from the ECI maintained a record of those who chose not to vote, along with their signatures and thumb impressions.
Fast forward nine years later, and the Supreme Court of India, in the PUCL vs. Union of India judgment of 2013, directed the Election Commission of India to include NOTA in elections to the Lok Sabha and respective state legislative assemblies as a measure to safe guard voters’ choices. Following this judgment, NOTA was used for the first time in the 2013 Assembly Elections of the five states of Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh, and later in the 2014 General Elections as well.
Present at the very bottom of the ballot as the last option, NOTA gives citizens the right to publicly and formally express their dissent against the contesting parties in an election. If a citizen goes through the list of political parties available and finds themselves unsatisfied, they can then opt for NOTA. This enables them to express their negative opinions and lack of support for the candidates while still exercising their right to vote as citizens. With the introduction of NOTA, voters now have the right to reject as well as the right to elect.
However, critics have questioned the effectiveness of this option now available to voters. The Supreme Court of India has even termed NOTA an ‘invalid vote’ since it does not change the electoral outcome in anyway. For example, in a constituency with 100 seats, if NOTA gets 99 votes, the seat will still be awarded to the party that won that one vote.
Therefore, it does not matter how many people opt for NOTA; the result will be in favor of the next best option. In some reserved constituencies, a high count of NOTA votes has been recorded. This shows bias and discrimination against candidates belonging to a certain caste and is a direct misuse of the purpose of NOTA.
Some consider NOTA a waste of votes since it does not change any outcome and only subtracts from the winning margin of the candidate who was going to win anyway. The results feel inconclusive and confusing since there is no clear mandate for the winning candidate. However, what NOTA does is successfully send a message to the contesting parties. It serves as feedback to the political parties and their candidates and lets them know that the public is dissatisfied with them. This then forces the concerned parties to change their ways and field better, more capable, and more ethical representatives, as they risk losing the seat if voters are dissatisfied.
While the number of NOTA voters has marginally dipped this year since its introduction in 2014, the continual presence of NOTA votes in the electoral race paints a rather distressing and alarming picture of Indian democracy. In about a third of the Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, NOTA emerged as the third-most preferred option after the BJP and Congress. Indorere wrote electoral history by recording an all-time high of 2,18,674 NOTA votes. Similarly, North Eastern states recorded a higher number of NOTA votes than before, with Assam scoring the highest average of1.19% across 14 seats .
A high record of NOTA votes indicates that something is wrong and needs to be changed. NOTA need not restrict itself to a totally symbolic stance. In fact, the Supreme Court is considering a petition for nullifying elections and holding fresh polls in cases where NOTA secures a majority. Barring candidates who secure fewer votes than NOTA and having them bear the cost of re-election helps to mitigate the financial loss on the Centre and allows the voters to select from a fresher and better batch of candidates. However, while NOTA does provide an opportunity for the voter to voice their dissent, it also emphasizes the importance of political awareness so that NOTA is used for its intended purpose and not to undermine the representative structure of our democracy.
PTI, New Delhi, Jun 13, 2024 : Ajit Doval, one of India’s most celebrated spymasters, has been part of many key decisions taken by the Modi government in its first and second terms as the country’s National Security Adviser (NSA).
He was on Thursday re-appointed as the NSA for a record third term, the government said in an order. With more than 10 years in the job, he is the longest serving NSA.
Doval (79) holds over 33 years of extensive experience in the field including Northeast, Sikkim, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir region.
A master of spycraft, he spent over six years in Pakistan also, official sources said.
Doval spearheaded the operations wing of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) — the country’s internal security intelligence agency — for a long time.
He also founded the Multi Agency Centre (MAC), which came into force after the 2001 standoff with Pakistan. The MAC is a counterterrorism grid under the aegis of IB, they said.
A 1968-batch IPS officer of Kerala cadre, Doval retired as chief of Intelligence Bureau (IB) in 2005.
He was appointed as the NSA for the first time on May 30, 2014 and re-appointed for another term from May 31, 2019.
With this fresh term, Doval becomes the first NSA to be appointed for three consecutive terms.
During his first tenure, Doval is believed to have played a pivotal role in the 2016 surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after the Uri terror attack.
He has also been widely hailed for his contribution in the national security domain, including his role during the Balakot air strike after the Pulwama terror attack in 2019.
Doval, known as one of the best operational brains in intelligence circles, was one of the main negotiators from India with the hijackers of Indian Airlines plane IC-814 taken to Kandahar in 1999.
Born in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand on January 20, 1945, Doval received his education in Delhi, Ajmer and in Agra, they said.
Having the distinction of being the first police officer who received the Kirti Chakra, a military gallantry honour, Doval will be providing his deep insight about the threats faced by the country from within and outside.
He was awarded the honour in 1988 for conducting anti-insurgency operations in Mizoram and bringing Mizo insurgent leader Laldenga to the negotiating table by winning over six of his seven commanders.
Doval had also clandestinely entered Myanmar and China to break the dominance of Mizo insurgent outfit, the sources said.
Widely recognised for his clear insight into and vision on Indian and global security issues, he has been actively participating at different fora at home and abroad on strengthening the Indian security apparatus and forging closer cooperation among security forces globally.
PTI, New Delhi, Jun 12, 2024 : The Congress on Wednesday claimed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has become “irrelevant” and said the Constitution, democracy and society do not need the Sangh or its chief Mohan Bhagwat as they can protect themselves.
The opposition party’s assertion came after Bhagwat’s remarks on a host of issues, including on the Manipur violence and the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Congress’ media and publicity head Pawan Khera said, “Mohan Bhagwat ji, you reap what you sow. The fault is not of the soil, the fault is of the gardener.”
“When farmers were facing the wrath of the weather and police just outside the capital, you were silent. When a Dalit girl was raped and murdered in Hathras, you were silent. When the rapists of Bilkis Bano were released and your ideological brothers welcomed them, you were silent. When Dalits were being urinated upon, you were silent. When Pehlu Khan and Akhlaq were killed, you were silent. When Kanhaiya Lal’s killers’ links with the BJP were exposed, you were silent,” Khera said of Bhagwat.
“Your silence and Narendra Modi have made you and the Sangh irrelevant. You’ve been made irrelevant by Amit Shah and the BJP. Your last chance was when the BJP leaders were talking about changing the Constitution, you should have spoken out but you remained silent,” the Congress leader said.
“What is the use of speaking now?” Khera added.
The Constitution, democracy and this society does not need the RSS or Bhagwat as they can “protect and reboot” themselves, he asserted.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also hit out at Bhagwat and posted on X a Hindi couplet by Kabir — “‘Karta raha so kyon kiya, ab kari kyon pachtaye, boye pedh babool ka, amua kahan se paye’ (loosely translating to ‘you shall reap what you shall sow’).”
Bhagwat had on Monday expressed concern over peace eluding Manipur even after one year and said the situation in the strife-torn north eastern state must be considered with priority.
Addressing a gathering of the RSS trainees at the concluding programme of organisation’s ‘Karyakarta Vikas Varg- Dwitiya’ at the Dr Hedgewar Smriti Bhavan premises in Reshimbagh in Nagpur, he said the conflict in various places and in the society is not good.
Bhagwat stressed on unity among all communities in the country, which he said was very diverse though people understand it is one and not separate.
He emphasised the need to get over with election rhetoric and focus on problems facing the nation.
Speaking about the recently held Lok Sabha polls, Bhagwat said the results were out and a government had been formed so unnecessary talk on what and how it happened etc. can be avoided.
The RSS does not get involved in such discussions of “kaise hua, kya hua”, he said, adding that the organisation only does its duty of creating awareness on the need to vote.
Bhagwat stressed on the need for consensus between the ruling side and the opposition so that work for common good (of the masses) can be carried out.
There are always two sides in an election but there should be dignity about not resorting to lies to win, the RSS chief asserted.
Lies were spread using technology (an apparent reference to deepfakes etc.), he added.
PTI, New Delhi, Jun 12, 2024 : Around 40 Indians were killed and over 50 injured in a devastating fire that broke out at dawn in a building housing around 195 migrant workers in southern Kuwait’s Mangaf area, officials said on Wednesday.
The total number of people killed in the Al-Mangaf building is 49 and 42 of them are learnt to be Indians; the remaining ones are Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian and Nepali nationals, they said.
“In an unfortunate and tragic fire incident earlier today in a Labour housing facility in Mangaf area of Kuwait, around 40 Indians are understood to have died and over 50 injured,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement late on Wednesday night.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described the incident as “saddening”, reviewed the situation at a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra and Principal Secretary to PM PK Mishra among others.
Following the meeting, the prime minister announced ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased Indian nationals from the PM Relief Fund and directed that the government should extend all possible assistance.
External Affairs Minister spoke to his Kuwaiti counterpart Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya on phone and urged him for the early repatriation of the mortal remains of those killed.
“Spoke to Kuwaiti FM Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya on the fire tragedy in Kuwait. Apprised of the efforts made by Kuwaiti authorities in that regard. Was assured that the incident would be fully investigated and that responsibility will be fixed,” Jaishankar said on ‘X’.
“Urged the early repatriation of the mortal remains of those who lost their lives. He emphasized that those injured were getting the requisite medical attention,” he said.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh is urgently travelling to Kuwait following a direction from PM Modi to oversee assistance to Indians injured in the fire and to ensure early repatriation of mortal remains of those killed.
The officials cited above said most of the Indian victims are from Kerala.
“The fire mishap in Kuwait City is saddening. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their near and dear ones. I pray that the injured recover at the earliest. The Indian Embassy in Kuwait is closely monitoring the situation and working with the authorities there to assist the affected,” Modi said on ‘X’.
In its statement, the MEA said the Indian embassy in the Gulf nation is ascertaining the full details from the Kuwaiti authorities.
“Those injured are presently admitted in five government hospitals (Adan, Jaber, Farwaniya, Mubarak Al Kabeer and Jahra) in Kuwait and receiving proper medical care and attention,” it said.
“According to hospital authorities, most of the admitted patients are stable,” it said.
Following the incident, Ambassador of India in Kuwait Adarsh Swaika immediately visited the incident site and also the hospitals to ascertain the welfare of the Indian nationals.
“The embassy continues to coordinate with local authorities to assist Indian nationals who have been injured in this unfortunate incident and extend all possible support. The embassy is receiving full cooperation from the Kuwaiti authorities,” the MEA said.
“Our Embassy in Kuwait continues to remain in touch with local authorities to provide relief to those affected. The Embassy has established a helpline +965-65505246 (WhatsApp and regular call) for family members to get in touch,” it said.
The fire in Al-Mangaf building was reported to authorities in Al-Ahmadi governorate at 4.30 am and most of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation, Kuwaiti media reported, adding the fire started in a kitchen.
Kuwait’s Interior Ministry in a statement confirmed that the death toll reached 49.
Construction firm NBTC group rented the building for the stay of more than 195 workers, most of them Indians from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and northern states, the Kuwaiti media said.
The NBTC group is partly owned by an Indian, officials said.
Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said criminal evidence department personnel are currently working on identifying the victims and revealing the cause of the fire.
It said strict measures will be taken against building owners who violate laid down norms.
“Unfortunately, we received a report of a fire at… exactly 6:00 am (0300 GMT) in the Mangaf area,” Major General Eid Al-Owaihan, head of the Interior Ministry’s General Department of Criminal Evidence said.
Kuwait’s health ministry said the injured were admitted to several hospitals, with 21 of them sent to Al-Adan Hospital, six to Farwaniya Hospital, one to Al-Amiri and 11 to Mubarak Hospital.
“Amb @AdarshSwaika visited the Al-Adan hospital where over 30 Indian workers injured in today’s fire incident have been admitted. He met a number of patients and assured them of full assistance from the Embassy,” the Indian embassy said on ‘X’.
“Almost all are reported to be stable by hospital authorities,” it said.
The Indian embassy said it is in touch with Kuwaiti law enforcement authorities, fire service and health department for necessary action.
Interior Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousuf Al-Sabah ordered an investigation into the fire incident and issued directions to apprehend the owner and janitor of Al-Mangaf building.
“What happened today is a result of the greed of the company and building owners,” Al-Sabah was quoted as saying by Kuwait Times.
June 12, 2024 : The 2024 national elections braked India’s slide into authoritarianism but did not halt it. The Narendra Modi-led Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 240 of 543 parliamentary seats even as, diminished by voter pushback, the BJP lost 63 seats. Failing to secure the requisite 272-seat majority, Modi forfeited the ability to command a solely BJP national government. Reliant on partners in the seemingly unsteady National Democratic Alliance (NDA), on June 9, Modi assumed office as prime minister of India for a third term.
On June 4, in his victory speech, Modi underscored the religionisation of state and government, rallying: “Bharat Mata ki [Jai]” (Hail to Mother India), a slogan promoted by Hindu nationalists. Bharat Mata, the nation as goddess, objectifies and feminises the state wherein control over women is critical to nationalist assertion. Bharat Mata is associated with Akhand Bharat (undivided India), the delusive once-future homeland of Hindus.
Modi spoke of Odisha and the BJP’s sweep of the 2024 elections, taking 20 of 21 seats. Commending the state’s excellent performance, Modi extolled that, for the first time, the land of the “great god Jagannath” would install a BJP chief minister. A male Odishan tribal figure, Jagannath has been deified, Hinduised, as a manifestation of the deity Krishna.
Modi omitted to note the BJP’s downturn, focusing instead on the exceptionalism of a third consecutive win, stating, “In the third term, the country will write a new chapter of big decisions, and this is Modi’s guarantee,” continuing, “the NDA government will put a lot of emphasis on uprooting all kinds of corruption.” The reference to eradicating corruption was incongruous, given the BJP’s reported recent collusion in the electoral bonds scandal.
The NDA secured a majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha, with support from BJP partners, Telugu Desam (TD), Janata Dal (United), and the ultranationalist Shiv Sena. Modi’s allies include incoming Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, of TD. Following initial criticism of Modi in 2002 relating to the Gujarat pogrom, Naidu had acquiesced to the BJP leadership. In Delhi, in 2024, the BJP won all seven seats, lost 14 seats in Maharashtra, lost six seats in West Bengal, gained one seat each in Chhattisgarh and Kerala, and secured nine of 14 seats in Assam. Considering the 2019 revocation of Article 370 and India’s continued siege on Kashmir, what does it mean for Kashmiris to have the BJP secure 2 of 5 seats in the 2024 elections?
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP lost 29 seats. Modi had consecrated the temple in Ayodhya in January on the wreckage of Babri Masjid, a momentous marker for the Hindu Nation. To do so, land was appropriated from local communities, while BJP policies disaffected Muslim, Dalit, and other caste-oppressed groups, impacting electoral decisions against the party.
People attending Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22, 2023. Photo: X (Twitter)/BJP4India.
Speech-Acts
Between 2014 and 2024, Narendra Modi’s words sought to remake India. The speeches attest to Prime Minister Modi’s unrestrained power within his government to reconfigure a gigantic electorate. Modi’s words conjured a world wherein aggrieved Hindus across India may believe in his salvific power to lead India to glory. Modi’s speeches – fervent, narcissistic, significant – became the locus of engagement between him and his “subjects”. Modi’s domineering oratory marshalled crowds, turning his government’s repeated incapacity and misconduct into grievances against those who critique and oppose his positions, his party, and its ideological and political agenda.
Innumerable speech-encounters between Modi and his subjects were formative in delivering India for the Hindu Nation in 2014 and 2019. His rallies were thronged with people, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands. His speeches extended the illusion of intimacy between him and the people while simultaneously reflecting the rising grandeur and drama of his role. Modi spoke to Hindus as a people, a unitary collective. He narrativised political messaging to create fear. The Prime Minister used speech-acts to ostensibly command, convey, scold, accuse, threaten, pledge, endorse, educate, amass, convince, mobilise, and govern. A vortex of emotions and meanings, catalysed to emit strength, induce behaviours, and exhort masses of people.
How have Modi’s obfuscations of state power misled the public? In 2023, the Indian Penal Code (IPC, 1860) was replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS, Indian Justice Code), effective July 1, 2024. Modi termed it: “A watershed moment in our history…the end of colonial-era laws. A new era begins with laws centred on public service and welfare.” In actuality, the BNS broadens the definition of terrorist actions beyond what the extreme Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) encompasses, curtails freedoms, targets political opponents and dissent, and criminalises “intentions” and “feelings”.
Modi’s speeches and appearances, carefully crafted, fashion an iconography of allure and invincibility. The deification of Modi, an elected leader, has been self-purposed to induce attachment and ecstatic merger between Modi’s aura and people’s aspirations. Modi presents himself as the spiritual force able to realise people’s yearnings. Modi professes to stand for India’s fulfilment. To those who feel powerless, he bestows the promise of power. To those who feel belittled, he bestows the promise of pride. To those who feel wronged, he bestows the promise of retribution. To oppose Modi, the leader, therefore, is to betray the nation. To unite with the leader promises the achievement of greatness.
The intensity of the speech-encounters between Modi and his Hindu subjects has become the performative mechanism for creating a shared social world for his acolytes that simultaneously serves to exclude “Others”. Stronger than the sum of its making, this habitus has repeatedly inflamed Hindutva adherents to vengeance and redemption. Violence is promoted as a form of personal and national purification.
On May 26, in a televised interview, Modi stated that “Parmatma [god] sent me for a purpose…I have completely dedicated myself to god.” In asserting that his presence on earth as divinely ordained, does Modi see himself as a messiah incarnate? Was Modi seeking to imply that his grip on India’s prime ministership is without end?
Like others before him, Modi relies on repetition to orate the import of an idea and stir an audience. His words codify national enemies, seek to mobilise, and expand Hindutva’s base, and guide “ordinary people” away from the disarray in the political and economic life of the country. In the time of social media, these exhortations reverberate, amplified through platforms such as WhatsApp and X, rendering Modi omnipresent across India.
Fascistic collusions
Modi has been vigorously supported by henchmen, old cronies who helped deliver the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 and newer disciples of the current regime. His calls to action were repeatedly prolonged by Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati/Giri, and others. A wave of emergent front runners responded, using virulent speech, even calls to genocidal violence, to gain prominence and contend for power within the party’s hierarchy. Repeatedly, the prime minister failed to call them to order.
Taken together, the Hindutva leadership’s sinister and public vilification of minorities, the political opposition, dissenters, and “seditious” Hindus; comprehensive engineering of social facts; and demagoguery have reified fascistic Hinduism and architectured its manifesto. Most distressing is how this massive and malicious enterprise has found deep resonance among millions and millions of people of dominant descent in India. Irrespective of social conditions, such predilection is not a given and cannot be normalised. It is the dangerous outcome of the collision between authoritarian rulers and majoritarian desires, built upon the fault lines of an inveterate casteist, classist, gender oppressed, and segregated society.
The Hindu Sena, one of Hindutva organisations which filed the intervention application in the case seeking a probe into hate speeches by Muslim leaders. Photo: Facebook/HinduSenuOfficial
Hindu nationalists have used hate speech to provoke grassroots proponents and fence-sitters, using hostile messaging to proliferate political institutions and social media and target opponents, media, and vulnerable communities. The BJP-led government routinely exploited dishonest speech, illiberal governance, and toxic masculinity to militarise the state and massify the Hindu Right’s cadre. Hindu nationalist leaders manipulated the escalating participation of Hindutva-inclined civil society into colossal, riotous actions to exact retribution and discipline voters. Many who did not actively participate, acquiesced through silence.
In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state of over 250 million, 19% of whom are Muslims, the BJP’s 2024 losses also attest to voter concern regarding incumbent head of state, Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu nationalist hardliner. Adityanath has directed various campaigns to override the rights of Muslims and other vulnerable communities. In a video that surfaced in 2014, he reportedly stated that: “If [Muslims] take one Hindu girl, we’ll take 100 Muslim girls. If they kill one Hindu, we’ll kill 100 Muslims.” Adityanath enabled Hindu right-wing activists to make significant inroads within the state machinery. The National Crime Records Bureau data shows that 23,612 riots were reported in UP from 2017-2019.
The Hindu nationalist sweep of Odisha in the 2024 elections is a contrary case in point. Addressing a series of public events in Odisha, in May 2024, Modi, the prime minister of a constitutionally secular republic, started a meeting by invoking Hindu gods: “Jai Jagannath! Jai Sri Ram!” At another, he claimed that the people had developed a “deep emotional connection” with the BJP. At yet another event, Modi spoke of “unprecedented achievements” to be heralded by his government in the next five years.
In Odisha, Hindutva workers were inspired by the BJP’s coalition with the Biju Janata Dal as early as March 2000. Just before, in August 1999, Sheikh Rahman, a male Muslim garment merchant, was tortured in Padiabeda, Mayurbhanj district, his hands severed, burned to death. Approximately 10 percent of the state’s population was conscripted by Hindutva organisations between 2000 and 2008. Dalits and Adivasis were criminalised for their beliefs, practices, and counter-memory, and refusal to be forcibly assimilated into dominant Hinduism. Adivasis across Odisha were forced to chant, “Garbh se kaho hum Hindu hai” [Say with pride that I am a Hindu] at majoritarian rallies. Dalits who elected to convert to Christianity were brutalised to “return” to Hinduism. Massified violence against Christians of Dalit and Adivasi descent erupted in 2007 and 2008, in continuum with the ferocious targeting of Muslims in the state. The absence of accountability to these events bolstered the BJP’s electoral incursion in Odisha.
Weaponising acrimony
In weaponising majoritarian subjects as agents of hate, the imaginary of India as a Hindu State is fait accompli. In propagating its mandate, between 2014 and 2024, the BJP government sought to amalgamate prejudice with discrimination. State policy and practice focused on the intersections of racism and cultural nationalism. In doing so, Hindu nationalists erected a “deeper state” establishing crime zones and regulated anarchy to fortify structural racism and criminality, and forge robust proximities between Hindu Right cadres and militias, government, and law enforcement.
India’s Muslim communities and cultures are foremost among those fallaciously presented as causal to India’s historical, present, and future malfunctions. Islamomisia and racialisation of Muslims serves to homogenise Hindus as a “race”. Hatred (of Muslims) has been justified based on concocted behaviours (i.e., hypermasculinity) and falsified evidence (i.e., “love jihad”). Fascistic Hinduism, portrayed as patriotic nationalism, became the war to save and fabricate the Hindu Nation, carried out via malevolent operations that polarised and religionised the body politic, like “bulldozer justice,” anti-conversion campaigns, and the prejudicial citizenship experiment privileging Hindus.
Representative image of a bulldozer demolishing a settlement. Photo: By arrangement/File
In Dumka on December 15, 2019, Modi asserted that the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), protests: “were a “conspiracy against the country,” calling protesters “conspiracy makers.” On December 18, 2019, BJP leader Kapil Mishra stated, “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko [Shoot the traitors of the nation, shoot the */derogatory].” On December 22, another BJP leader, Anupam Pandey, reiterated on Facebook Live: “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro saalon ko.”
Between December 12 and 23, 2019, police fired on civil society dissenters across India who were protesting the ratification of the CAA on December 12, 2019, resulting in the deaths of 25 persons, a majority of whom were Muslim males. On December 24, Mishra recorded a public message, stating, “Will your eyes open up when the fire has reached your homes?” On December 25, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati used slurs against Muslims, labelling them “jihadis” and “pigs.” He described anti-CAA protesters as “enemies,” calling for them to be incarcerated, and should they still not conform, for them to “be sentenced to death.”
In Rajasthan, where the BJP lost 10 seats in the 2024 national elections, Modi had stated in April 2024, that a Congress win would lead to the redistribution of people’s wealth [possessions] among “those who have more children” and to “infiltrators,” reportedly referring to Muslims. In May 2024, in Uttar Pradesh, Modi alleged that the “Congress and the [winning] Samajwadi Party tried to spread lies in the name of CAA. They tried to push Uttar Pradesh and the entire country towards riots.”
The right-wing is still in power
The 2024 elections were not a decisive victory for India’s right-wing and the right-wing is still in power. Upper caste urbanite Hindus reportedly voted for the BJP in large numbers. Dissenting votes were driven by minority and marginalised communities, Muslims, Dalits, Sikhs, Adivasis, and their allies. Among and beyond them, millions of wage labourers, farmers, and economically shattered communities–devastated by the government’s policies, discourses, and practices—voted to oust the BJP.
Following his investiture on June 9, Modi proposed to “move forward with new energy and new courage.” Can Modi, who has been politically narcissistic, stabilise a coalition government and keep in power those that have abetted him since Gujarat, such as Home Minister Amit Shah? Among the nerve centre of the Hindu Right, the RSS, and its affiliate organisations, many are disgruntled with Modi, and may seek to assert control. This may engineer a crisis within the ranks of the BJP, and lead to the incurable disempowerment of Narendra Modi and a party governed by his ideals. However, this will not halt the march of Hindu nationalism in India. Rather, it may prompt the Hindu Right to rely upon its grassroots infrastructure to optimise previously deployed and new strategies of mass violence and aggressive social disruption.
The electoral gains by the I.N.D.I.A. alliance reflect immense voter discontent with the BJP’s blatantly despotic policies, securitization, dog whistling that provoked social violence, information insecurity, economic implosions, and democratic backsliding. The political terrain is ideologically discordant. Can the I.N.D.I.A. alliance amend its own frailties, to halt the rightward trend and recuperate India’s democracy?
The majoritarian deluge into the country’s bloodstream has induced disorder and caused extensive damage across the education sector, law and order, judiciary, and development, and will require forceful political and social reform. The decade-long divisive and violent transformation of society heralded by the Modi-led BJP and the Hindu Right has led the onslaught on India’s already conflicted democracy and engineered severe estrangements and alienation between neighbours, communities, and peoples who rely on each other in everyday life. Targeted communities and nonbelievers are ruptured from the impact, which like slow-release poison, has galvanised a savagery that has spread to terrify and destroy life-worlds.
In modern history, authoritarian regimes have been unable to retain their stranglehold on power. But they have often not gone quietly. The longer the Modi regime endures, the more likely will be its desperation to grasp at domination and the more hazardous its actions. For the Modi-led BJP government surely fears that, once dislodged, accountability is to come.
PTI, Kolkata, Jun 11, 2024 : Senior TMC leader Saket Gokhale on Tuesday claimed that three BJP MPs from West Bengal are in touch with the party and the saffron party’s tally in Parliament would soon come down to 237.
The comments drew sharp reactions from the West Bengal BJP unit, which dubbed the claim as “baseless” and asserted that the state unit stands united.
The Trinamool Congress secured 29 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.
The BJP, in contrast, faced a significant setback, dropping to 12 seats from the 18 it won in 2019.
“As of today, the numbers in the Lok Sabha are BJP: 240 INDIA: 237. Three BJP MPs in West Bengal are in touch with us and there will be a nice surprise soon. After that, BJP: 237 INDIA: 240.
“Modi’s creaky coalition is a temporary structure which isn’t going to last very long,” Gokhale, a Rajya Sabha MP, posted on X.
In the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the BJP with 240 seats fell short of a majority but the NDA secured the mandate with 293 seats. The Congress bagged 99 seats while the INDIA bloc got 234 seats. Following the polls, two Independents who won have also pledged support to the Congress, taking the INDIA bloc tally to 236.
Reacting to Gokhale’s claim, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said the TMC is “daydreaming”.
“Since 2014, the TMC has been daydreaming of becoming the pivotal force in the union government but its hopes were dashed not once but thrice. The BJP and NDA stand united. No BJP MP from Bengal is in touch with the TMC,” he said.
IANS, Kolkata, June 11, 2024 : West Bengal was the fourth highest recipient state in the latest instalment of tax devolution released in the last phase as per the figures released by the Union Finance Ministry on Tuesday.Of the total Rs 1,39,750 crore of the latest instalment released, West Bengal has got a share of Rs 10,513.46 crore, which is fourth highest after Uttar Pradesh Rs 25,069.88 crore, Bihar at 14.056.12 crore and Madhya Pradesh at Rs 10,970.44 crore.
As per the statement by the Union Finance Ministry, with the latest release, a total of Rs 2,79,500 crore had been devolved to the different states till June 10 for the current financial year of 2024-25.
Economic analysts believe that the fresh figures released for West Bengal immediately after the BJP-led NDA came to power at the Centre for the third consecutive term are expected to silence the ruling Trinamool Congress for some time about their constant allegations against the Union government of not releasing Central funds for the state under various heads, including tax devolution instalments.
In fact, in almost all the pre-election campaign rallies Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that despite collecting crores of rupees as tax from West Bengal, the Union government had been reluctant in releasing its due shares to the state government.
However, economic analysts point out that the state-wise release of tax devolution instalments in the last phase shows that the amount going to the kitty of West Bengal is much higher than the BJP-ruled states like Assam, Gujarat and Rajasthan among others.
In fact, at a meeting with the newly elected party MPs on June 8, CM Mamata Banerjee outlined the roadmap for Trinamool Congress on the floor of the 18th Lok Sabha, where she made it clear that one of the three key issues to be highlighted by the party in the coming days within the two Houses of Parliament will be non-release of Central funds to the state government under various heads.
PIB release state- It has been decided that apart from the regular release of the devolution amount for the month of June 2024, one additional instalment will be released. This release cumulatively amounts to Rs. 1,39,750 crore in the current month. This will enable State Governments to accelerate development and capital spending.
The Interim Budget 2024-25 has a provision of Rs. 12,19,783 crore towards devolution of taxes to States.
With this release, the total amount devolved (for FY 2024-25) to States till 10 June 2024 is Rs. 2,79,500 crore.
Among the ministers, six stand out for their particularly high asset declarations, each exceeding Rs 100 crore, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) said
PTI, New Delhi, 11.06.24: Seventy out of 71 or 99 per cent of the ministers in the new council of ministers are crorepatis with average assets among them amounting to Rs 107.94 crore, according to poll rights body ADR.
Among the ministers, six stand out for their particularly high asset declarations, each exceeding Rs 100 crore, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.
Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development and Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications, tops the list with a staggering total asset declaration of Rs 5705.47 crore. His assets include Rs 5598.65 crore in movable assets and Rs 106.82 crore in immovable assets.
Minister of Communications and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has declared total assets worth Rs 424.75 crore. His portfolio comprises Rs 62.57 crore in movable assets and Rs 362.17 crore in immovable assets.
Minister of Heavy Industries and Minister of Steel H D Kumaraswamy from the Janata Dal (Secular) has total assets valued at R. 217.23 crore. His assets include Rs 102.24 crore in movable assets and Rs 115.00 crore in immovable assets.
Minister of Railways, Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw has declared assets totaling Rs 144.12 crore, which include Rs. 142.40 crore in movable assets and Rs 1.72 crore in immovable assets.
Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture, has total assets amounting to Rs 121.54 crore. His assets comprise Rs 39.31 crore in movable assets and Rs 82.23 crore in immovable assets.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, another BJP minister from Mumbai North in Maharashtra, has declared assets worth Rs 110.95 crore. This includes Rs 89.87 crore in movable assets and Rs 21.09 crore in immovable assets.
About 99 per cent of the new ministers are crorepatis. Out of the 71 ministers analyzed, an overwhelming 70 have declared assets in the crorepati range, highlighting a significant concentration of wealth among the country’s political leadership.
The report, which provides a detailed financial overview of these ministers, indicates that the average assets among them amount to Rs 107.94 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his 71 ministers, took oath on Sunday as the new coalition government was formed after two full tenures in which the BJP enjoyed a majority on its own.
/newsdrum-in/media/media_files/hxHScDcw5dLvwuQkp76N.jpg?w=1038&resize=1038,576&ssl=1 "SC notice to Centre, NTA on pleas for cancelling NEET- UG 2024; proceedings before HCs stayed")
