The results for the much anticipated Maharashtra and Haryana assembly election 2019 will be out today. The elections were held on October 21.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which came to power in the Maharashtra state in 2014 is hoping for a similar outcome with support from its alliance partner Shiv Sena. Similarly, Manohar Lal Khattar led BJP is also hoping to get a second term in Haryana.
Early trends are indicating a clean sweep for BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra. However, BJP is facing a tough fight in Haryana against the Congress and the regional party Jannayak Janata Party headed by Dushyant Chautala.
Maharashtra:
According to early trends from Election Commission, BJP is leading in 21 constituencies, Shiv Sena in 15, Congress in 5 and NCP in 13. However, news reports suggest that BJP-Sena alliance leading by 168 seats and Congress-NCP alliance by 80 seats.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is leading from Nagpur South West by a margin of 2,560 votes. Fadnavis earlier said he was confident that the BJP-Sena alliance will be re-elected in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray establishes a comfortable lead in Worli assembly constituency where he is making his electoral debut. He is the first Thackeray to face elections.
Former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has established a lead of 6595 votes over his BJP rival Gopichand Padalkar in Baramati.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde is leading over his rival and BJP minister Pankaja Munde by 1,654 votes.
BJP’s Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil leading with 6,313 votes from Shirdi after the first round of counting.
Interestingly, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thackeray has not yet opened its account, according to early trends.
As many as 1,169 candidates, including 105 women, are in the fray for the 90 assembly constituencies that went to elections on Monday including Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Congress leader and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, JJP leader Dushyant Chautala and INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala.
Early trends indicate that the incumbent BJP is leading in 41 seats, Congress leading in 29 seats out of the 90 assembly seats in the state. According to the Election Commission website, BJP and Congress are leading in one seat each while Jannayak Janta Party is leading in 2 seats.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is leading from Karnal seat while former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is seeking re-election from his stronghold Garhi Sampla-Kiloi in Rohtak district is also leading. Haryana minister Anil Vij, a five-time legislator from Ambala Cantt, is leading from his constituency in early trends.
BJP candidate from Adampur, Sonali Phogat who gained fame as a TikTok star is currently trailing in her seat. She is up against Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi.
Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt is leading in Baroda assembly seat in Haryana. Indian wrestling star & BJP candidate Babita Phogat is trailing against Surender Singh from Dadri.
However, two senior Haryana ministers, OP Dhankar and Captain Abhimanyu, are trailing from their respective constituencies.
(These are early trends. The report will be updated soon)
Moinuddin Pathan, one of the two men who is arrested in the Kamlesh Tiwari murder case, worked as a Zomato delivery boy till October 6. He reportedly joined the platform in August this year and was hired by Zomato after a thorough ‘background check’. His Aadhaar, PAN, driving licence and other past court records were also independently checked by an agency before the food aggregator hired him.
As reported by news agency PTI, Zomato has said that the company has zero tolerance for anyone breaking the law. A Zomato spokesperson has said that the company has pledged complete support to the authorities and will assist them in the investigation. The company also said that the safety of the customers is their paramount concern.
“We recently learnt that one Moinuddin Pathan has been detained by the Gujarat Police in connection with the murder of Mr Kamlesh Tiwari in Lucknow. It has also been brought to our notice that he was a delivery boy on the Zomato platform. Our internal investigations have revealed that the said person had been on-boarded onto the Zomato platform on August 17, 2019, in Surat. Prior to his onboarding, a background check (including a check of his Aadaar card, driving license, PAN Card and past court records) had been carried out on him by an independent agency in which his background check was clear. Between that date and October 6, 2019, he had worked on and off as a delivery person on our platform. All his deliveries were in Surat as he was based there,” the spokesperson told PTI.
Moinuddin, along with Ashfaq, were arrested by Gujarat ATS on October 22 from Gujarat-Rajasthan border after being on the run for four days. While Moinuddin worked as Zomato delivery boy, Ashfaq, second man arrested for murder of Kamlesh Tiwari, worked as medical representative in pharma company. He had forged his colleague’s Aadhaar to pose as Rohit Solanki, a Hindu rights activist, to gain trust of Tiwari.
Tiwari, a former Hindu Mahasabha leader, was assassinated at his Lucknow office by Ashfaq and Moinuddin from Surat. The Uttar Pradesh police and Gujarat ATS sprung into action to blow the lid off a Surat-based Jihadi group that was indoctrinated by one of the accused who planned the murder, Maulana Mohsin Sheikh. Two other conspirators, Rashid Pathan and Faizan have been arrested. While Ashfaq and Moinuddin will be handed over to the UP Police for further investigation, the other three accused have already been sent to UP on transit remand.
India has seen a big improvement in the annual Ease of Doing Business report of the World Bank issued on Thursday as it moved up 14 places to the 63rd spot in the rankings.
India, which was ranked 77th among 190 countries in the previous ranking, has shown an improvement of 14 places compared to its position in 2018. 2018 rankings were also an improvement of 23 places. Even though the jump in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking is remarkable, India missed its target of getting within the top 50.
The country’s score improved from 67.3 last year to 71.0 this year, as per the survey released by the World Bank on Thursday morning.
The indicator measures the performance of countries across 10 different dimensions in the 12-month period ending May 1, 2019. The ten areas of study are defined as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.
Reportedly, the latest report has named the economies of India and nine other nations as the countries that have shown the most “notable improvement” in the ease of doing business. The improvement in the ranking was possible because of four reforms, especially in categories such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, trading across borders and resolving insolvency. The report also says there were improvements in the efficiency of acquiring building permits.
The country has been ranked ninth among the most improved, with a score of 3.5 in the change in ‘Doing Business’ score. Saudi has been ranked at the top of this list with a score of 7.7, while Pakistan has been ranked sixth with a score of 5.6.
The report stated that India has conducted a remarkable reform effort with World Bank noting that India has joined the list of top 10 improvers for the third year in a row, which it said was commendable given the size of the economy.
Praising the Narendra Modi government’s flagship ‘Make in India’ scheme, the report said that it has helped attract foreign investment, boost the private sector and enhance the country’s overall competitiveness.
“In 2015 the government’s goal was to join the 50 top economies on the ease of doing business ranking by 2020. The administration’s reform efforts targeted all of the areas measured by Doing Business, with a focus on paying taxes, trading across borders, and resolving insolvency. The country has made a substantial leap upward, raising its ease of doing business ranking from 130 in Doing Business 2016 to 63 in Doing Business 2020,” the report said.
India was declared the fifth best performing nation in reforming the business environment this year. The country had improved its ranks in six of the 10 sub-categories used by the Bank to judge the business climate.
The ten top-ranking countries with respect to the indicator were – New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR China, Denmark, Republic of Korea, United States, Georgia, United Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden.
Health of Nawaz Sharif, former Pakistani Prime Minister, has deteriorated further as his platelet count is critically low. The 69-year-old Pakistani leader is serving jail term since 24 December 2018 after he was convicted in a corruption case following the Panama Paper scandal. Sharif’s platelet count had plummeted to as low as 2,000 while normal platelet count ranges between 1,50,000 to 4,00,000.
They believe that the Pakistani establishment wants to kill Sharif for fighting against the them.
Nawaz Sharif is fighting the toughest battle of his life against this merciless mighty establishment.
These monsters have fear of losing this battle , so they are trying to kill Nawaz Sharif.@amnesty@hrw#NawazNeedsUNhelp
Pakistanis also allege that the Sharifs are framed falsely because the family didn’t ‘sell their loyalties’.
A 72 years old,well wisher of his people,three time prime minister has been denied basic human rights,justice dtained by false cases just bcoz he denied to bow down to dictatorship
his family has been persecuted just bcoz they denied to sell their loyalty#NawazNeedsUNhelp
Meanwhile, after meeting her father at the hospital, his daughter, Maryam Sharif, who is also an undertrial prisoner at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, was also admitted to hospital after she suffered from low blood pressure. Sharif continues to remain in critical condition even though his platelet count has increased to 16,000 after three blood transfusions.
The US House Foreign Affair’s Committee on South Asia Human Rights, ironically enough, turned out to be an exercise in genocide denial and denial of Radical Islamic Terrorism. Fortunately for us, all of it amounts to little more than public posturing and impotent rage. However, in the written submissions that were made by three people from a ‘Hindu’ background, numerous audacious remarks were made that beggars belief.
In this article, we shall go through ten of the worst arguments that were made.
1. “In confronting the Pakistan sponsored militancy, the Indian army and state police have also committed grave human rights abuses. However, what the foot-soldiers of the Pakistani military and ISI have done to ordinary Kashmiri Muslims in the last 30 years, pales in comparison to the human rights violations committed by the Indian state.” -Aarti Tikoo Singh
To even suggest a thing is an absolute insanity. Pakistan is a state that uses terrorism as state policy against India and its foreign policy concerning India is ‘bleed India with a thousand cuts’. In this process, hundreds and thousands of Indian soldiers and civilians have lost their lives and continue to do so. Therefore, such a claim is completely contrary to observable facts and basic common sense.
Note: Aarti Tikoo has issued a clarification on this statement in her written statements. She said the last line of the paragraph was a ‘typo’. Following is the updated statement which she has submitted a correction. However, one wonders how the statement is better since she is still talking about ‘Indian state atrocities’.
Edited copy by Aarti Tikoo
2. “Pakistan’s cross border jihad in the last three decades has led to the rise of a radical fringe within Hindu society which has manifested itself in cow vigilantism and lynchings of innocent Muslims over beef.” –Aarti Tikoo Singh
The ‘beef lynchings’ have nothing to do with Pakistan. The Indian ‘intellectual elite’ cannot get away with making such preposterous claims about Indian society. The ‘lynchings’ that we do see is a consequence of the cattle smuggling that is rampant in the country. Unfortunately, some innocent Muslims may die as a consequence but the blame for it cannot be put on Hindu society or Pakistan. Vigilantism is a law and order issue and the secular state of India must take its share of the blame for failing to enforce its own laws as must smugglers who steal cattle.
3. “If Pakistan continues to use jihad as a tool of foreign policy towards India, it will only strengthen the extremist elements among Hindus.” -Aarti Tikoo Singh
Pakistan has done a lot to be blamed for but the strengthening of ‘extremist elements among Hindus’ is not one of them. The blame for that must go to the Indian followers of Radical Islamic Terrorism. When lakhs and lakhs of Indian Muslims march on the streets, rioting and pillaging across the streets of India, demanding the death of a Hindu for blasphemy, it is natural for the Hindu community to become conscious of their identity.
When Indian Muslims celebrate the murder of Hindus for blasphemy, it is natural for Hindus to react accordingly. When Hindu processions during festivals are attacked every single year, it is natural for Hindus to entertain notions that might be considered ‘radical’ in an elite company but are completely justifiable given the circumstances. The blame for it cannot be placed on Pakistan.
4. “US policymakers should understand that any tolerance for Islamist terrorism against India in Kashmir or other regions, will only further empower the fringe amongst Hindus.” -Aarti Tikoo Singh
It is quite bizarre to think that US policymakers could in any manner affect the sentiments of the Indian population to Jihad. Perhaps the ‘intellectual elite’ sees something we don’t, however, on the face of it, it appears a rather cynical comment to make.
5. “The 2014 and 2019 elections have led to the repositioning of India as a majoritarian state. This new era combines nationalism, authoritarianism, majoritarianism, minoritization and populism.” -Angana Chatterji
The sentence captures brilliantly the mind of the typical Leftist ‘intellectual’. Chatterji throws all the buzzwords that are likely to please the Democrat politicians. It doesn’t matter that her words have nothing to do with actual Indian realities. But it will sound good to important people, and that is all that matters.
6. Ultra-nationalist groups seek to weaponize and militarize society through “organization, vigilance and a capacity for violence”. “This form of vigilante violence, or the threat of it, is executed through the capillaries of the RSS-led Sangh Parivar’s vast [Hindu nationalist organizational] network, and generally reinforces already existing caste, gender, class, and communal-racial attitudes prevalent among upper-caste Hindus and aspirational lower caste groups.” -Angana Chatterji
Chatterji’s words aren’t too different from the sort of garbage that is peddled by far-left propagandists in India. She appears to have been heavily influenced by the likes of Kavita Krishna and other Leftist propagandists. She doesn’t have any evidence to back her claims and it isn’t surprising considering the fact that none exists. She is just belting out the greatest chartbusters from the Leftist clown world because she knows her audience would love it.
7. “The legacy of Brahmanism organizes the supremacy of Hindus and Hinduness in India. Ethnic, minority and marginalized groups have been subject to the social and economic violence of Brahminism through which they are forced to frame their political and cultural aspirations within the dominant imagination of the nation-state… Persistently gender/hetero-normative and deeply xenophobic, these inequitable relations between majority and minority/Othered can no longer be viewed as an aberration or a fringe phenomenon.” -Angana Chatterji
Here we find Chatterji using the term ‘gender/hetero-normative’, another Leftist favourite, and, of course, ‘Brahmanism’ without which any Leftist academic rant against India seems incomplete. Everything is blamed on the mythical phenomenon of ‘Brahmanism’ that does not even exist. It would be terribly impolite to demonize Hinduism outright. Therefore, these hacks do it by using the euphemism for Hinduism that is ‘Brahmanism’. When someone claims that they hate ‘Brahmanism’, what they really mean is that they hate ‘Hinduism’.
8. “Dear Chair and other members, as you would appreciate, the internet is not a luxury in today’s world. It is essential to survive in modern society. Without access to the internet, millions of Kashmiris have been deprived of means to access information and be active citizens of the world.” -Nitasha Kaul
Only a ‘privileged’ person could ever make that argument. Correction, only a dumb ‘privileged’ person could make that argument. Firstly, Kashmir isn’t a modern society by any means. And that is entirely due to Radical Islamic Terrorism. Secondly, national security and public safety transcend any such argument. Internet access would have allowed terrorists to coordinate with each which would have no doubt resulted in a high number of casualties in the valley.
9. “Justification of denial of freedom through the promise of development is not only anti-democratic but outrightly colonial.” -Nitasha Kaul
Given her Kashmiri Pandit background, one would have expected Kaul to have better knowledge about the issue at hand. But quite clearly, leftist indoctrination trumps common sense. To claim that India’s administrative reforms within its own territory are colonial is utterly ridiculous and it’s stupid. It also betrays a grave lack of awareness about the manner in which Radical Islam operates.
The Kashmiri Muslim community was a party to a genocide of Kashmiri Hindus. Through rape and murder, they forced the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley. Now, they have monopolized the term ‘Kashmiri’ through propaganda with the help of Leftist academics and are claiming the right to self-determination. It’s utterly ridiculous, the moral is lost the moment a community engages in ethnic cleansing.
If we buy what Kaul selling, it would mean accepting the following argument: A community ‘X’ can engage in the ethnic cleansing of another community ‘Y’ and then claim they have a god-given right over the land. When ‘Y’ tries to reclaim the land, ‘X’ claims ‘Y’ is a colonial power. And ‘X’ has the moral high ground in this case and the international world order should support ‘X’ on this issue.
Needless to say, it’s insanity to even argue such a case but insanity is precisely what the Left peddles for a living.
10. “During the beginning of armed uprising against the Indian state, following on from the widely reported electoral riggings in 1987, the mass migration of Kashmiri Pandits occurred.” -Natasha Kaul
The twisted nature of the Leftist worldview is revealed in all its glory in this one single sentence. Violent Radical Islamic Terrorism becomes ‘armed uprising’, a genocide of Kashmiri Pandits is turned into ‘mass migration’. In a sane world, any individual who makes such disgraceful comments would be shunned by society at large. But in the clown world that we live in, such individuals are invited to engage in genocide denial and eulogize Islamic Terrorism at a US House Committee hearing.
A Delhi Court on Wednesday accepted the NIA terror funding chargesheet against JKLF chief Yasin Malik and others involved in the case. Extending the judicial custody of the accused till the next hearing on November 17, the court has asked the National Investigative Agency to provide the charge sheet to the accused.
NIA had filed a supplementary charge sheet against JKLF chief Yasin Malik, founder and president of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party Shabir Shah, Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi, All Party Hurriyat Conference General Secretary Masarat Alam and former MLA Rashid Engineer in a terror funding case under Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act. The agency had charged them of funding terror activities and organising stone-pelting in the Valley in 2010 and 2016.
Earlier this month, in the light of fresh evidence in the form of social media interactions, call records, oral and documentary proofs, the NIA had filed a supplementary chargesheet against the accused persons stating that they shared close ties with the cross border terror masterminds Hafiz Saeed & Syed Salahuddin.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had registered a case against Pakistan-based terrorists and sympathisers including 7 top separatists, 2 hawala conduits and some stone pelters in the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case of 2017.
The NIA had on April 2019 got the infamous JKLF chief Yasin Malik in custody for 12 days in the terror funding case. He was sent to Tihar Jail after his custody ended. As per NIA sources, Yasin Malik had then admitted that he was instrumental in bringing together the disparate factions of Hurriyat Conference and formed the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), which spearheaded the violent agitations in 2016 in Kashmir Valley, by issuing “Protest Calendars” leading to economic shut down for over four months.
A day after Jammu court ordered the Jammu and Kashmir police to file an FIR against the 6 members of SIT which probed the Kathua rape and murder case for allegations of custodial torture to falsely implicate one of the accused, the Jammu & Kashmir Police denied the charges. The Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh said that no witness was tortured, and the court’s directive to file FIR against the police officers will be followed.
Yesterday, the Jammu court had ordered FIR against members of the SIT accepting a complaint lodged by three witnesses in the case. The witnesses have alleged that they were tortured and forced to give false statements against Vishal Jangotra, son Sanjhi Ram, the main accused in the case. While Sanjhi Ram and five others were convicted by the trial court, Vishal was acquitted in the case of rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir.
Talking to reporters about the court order, Dilbag Singh said that all necessary actions will be taken to follow the order. He said that not every FIR is necessarily based on facts. “Sometimes there is an aim, motivation and the Court’s direction came and we will see. We investigate thousands of cases. We have more than 17,000 cases registered every year.”
“It does not mean that we pick up people and torture them. So there are cases, high-profile cases, where people resort to this kind of actions and reactions. We will certainly take action as per law and there is nothing to worry about,” the police chief said defending the SIT members and denying the charges made by the witnesses.
The Jammu court had ordered the FIR against SIT on a petition filed by Sachin Sharma, Neeraj Sharma and Sahil Sharma, after their complaint to police was ignored by the J&K police. The order issued by Jammu court mentioned that since Vishal Jangotra was acquitted under the court of law and has been exonerated from all the charges levelled against him, it is further proved that the SIT members had deliberately tortured witnesses in custody and compelled them to dispose of false statements against Vishal.
The court had ordered FIR to be filed against SSP R K Jalla (now retired), Additional Superintendent of Police Peerzada Naveed, Deputy Superintendents of Police Shetmbari Sharma and Nissar Hussain, Sub-Inspector Urfan Wani and Kewal Kishore, all from Crime Branch of Jammu police. The court also asked the police to submit a compliance report by the next hearing on 7th November.
The US House Foreign Affair’s Committee Hearing on South Asia Human Rights turned into an elaborate exercise on genocide denial. While the committee members and those invited to speak on the matter were more concerned with slandering India and the BJP-RSS than the threat of Radical Islamic Terrorism that India faces and its pervasiveness in Kashmiri Muslim society, it also turned into a spectacle where the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus was eloquently turned into a matter of mere “mass migration”.
The turn of events wasn’t surprising considering the fact that the House is controlled by Democrats who have been issuing remarkably dense and malicious comments on the abrogation of Article 370. From Presidential aspirant, Bernie Sanders to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, all of them have made comments that quite clearly toe the Radical Islamic line on the issue. Such comments have deeply affected the manner in which the Indian government has assessed the current political climate in the United States.
The stance of the Democratic party, undoubtedly, affected Prime Minister Modi’s address to the Indian American community during the Howdy Modi event at Houston, Texas. Though Narendra Modi had personal scores to settle with US President Donald Trump’s rival in the 2016 US Presidential Elections, Hillary Clinton, he has never allowed personal and an Indian Prime Minister cannot be expected to allow personal grudges to dictate foreign policy speeches during official tours.
Thus, it happened that Narendra Modi profusely praised Donald Trump and incorporated the slogans ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Abki Baar Trump Sarkar’ into his speech. In the context of current US politics, Narendra Modi shunned the Democrats’ pessimism with their President and showered Donald Trump with compliments. Numerous political observers noted that Narendra Modi went the extra mile in his speech and even Donald Trump’s campaign team asserted that “President Donald Trump received the endorsement of Indian Prime Minister Modi.”
Some might argue that the conduct of the Democrat Party in the hearing was motivated by Narendra Modi’s speech in Houston but that really isn’t the case. Regardless of the speech that was made, the Democrats would have engaged in the same despicable rhetoric anyway. Thus, battle lines appear to have been drawn. While the Democratic party is busy in its campaign against India, the Indian government appears to have concluded that ‘Trump Sarkaar’ is more conducive to its interests.
Apart from the Democratic Party’s approach towards Kashmir, Trump’s resolve to hurt China and the SinoAmerica Trade War he has initiated in only good news for India. At the same time, the Trump administration has endorsed India’s position on Kashmir and has not offered any sermons to India while the Modi government continues to deal with Pakistan as it deems fit. Four more years of Trump will indeed be very good for India.
Meanwhile, the Democrats currently are the party of warmongers and the CIA. Everything for them currently is a matter of partisan politics. They have no inhibition in escalating tensions with the Russians to frame Donald Trump in the Russia Collusion Delusion. The Democrats with the help of the CIA are actually trying to frame Trump in the Ukraine-corruption scandal in an effort to impeach the US President.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is busy smearing Tulsi Gabbard as a Russian asset, an allegation that has been made by people associated with Kamala Harris as well. The Democrat party is a mess right now. Therefore, the US Foreign Affair’s Committee Hearing and the whole series of remarks that have been made on the abrogation of Article 370 are consistent with the madness that has gripped the party.
People also need to remember the history of the Indo-US relationship. There was a time when the US openly backed Pakistan against India and helped them in every way while continuing to undermine Indian national interests. Then came a period of a certain level of cooperation between the two countries, first under George W. Bush which continued to improve under Barack Obama’s tenure as President. And it’s under POTUS Donald Trump that the relationship between the two countries has truly reached its best phase yet.
Donald Trump’s policies have been conducive to Indian interests. And there’s a reason for that. Amidst the SinoAmerica Trade War, the Trump Administration has to make certain concessions to India for us to cooperate with them. Narendra Modi’s overtures towards Xi Jinping during his visit to India made it clear that India won’t hesitate to cooperate with China as well if it serves our interests. MEA Jaishankar during his interviews and speeches at the US Think Tanks has made it clear that India will pursue a very hard bargain with the West in the near future and the global power balance that has existed till now will change in the coming years.
Under such circumstances, it begs the question, “How will the Democrat party’s disgraceful conduct during the House hearing on South Asia Human Rights affect the Indo-US relationship?” The answer is, it won’t; in any way whatsoever. In the US of A, foreign policy is not decided by public opinion on the subject, nor is it decided by the likes of Bernie Sanders or Ilhan Omar who are most definitely not part of the establishment. For instance, one only needs to take a look at the considerable resistance Donald Trump is facing while trying to withdraw US troops from Kurdish regions, which was one of his campaign promises.
The series of attempts at character assassination and smearing US Congresswoman and war veteran Tulsi Gabbard is also borne of her campaign promise of radically altering US foreign policy. Only under Joe Biden, former Vice-President, could US foreign policy change with regards to China and India should he manage to defeat Donald Trump in 2020. However, looking at how his presidential campaign is going, it seems unlikely that he will be the eventual Democratic nominee.
With regard to the question around China, the US establishment appears to be coming around to the same position as Donald Trump. And it is good news for India. Because the US cannot afford to antagonize China and India at the same time. If it chooses to confront China, then it must make peace with some core demands of the Indian government.
Thus, the hearing on South Asia Human Rights was of little more significance than political grandstanding and these hearings have been reduced to such in recent times in the US. They provide nothing apart from an opportunity for politicians to consolidate their voter base. It has very little scope to affect the Indo-US relationship.
The Indian government will likely issue a simple statement against it and then ignore the matter altogether. Meanwhile, the Republican party will no doubt see it as an opportunity to reach out to the Indian American community who have traditionally voted for Democrats. All in all, the hearing only has the potential to affect the internal politics of the USA.
While the Indian government recognizes the unique position it finds itself in and derives its confidence from it, the Indian ‘intellectual elite’ and those of Indian origin have failed to accurately assess the dynamics of current international politics. While MEA Jaishankar does not hesitate to call out western media for its conduct, the ‘intellectual elite’ continues to labour under the delusion that they have the capacity to influence the decisions of the Indian government.
The current ruling Indian disposition already knew the kind of reactions they would receive from the Western press and the Leftist political establishment when they decided to abrogate Article 370. And they did it anyway. Why? Because they were perfectly aware that under the prevailing scene of international politics they could afford to do so. In the same manner, they were also perfectly aware that should they conduct Surgical Strikes and Balakot Air Strikes, there will be little to no backlash against India because of our country’s current position in international politics.
Many ‘intellectuals’ have failed to grasp one essential thing. India’s position has changed massively in international politics in the past few years and in the years to come, it will continue to change radically until we occupy a position in the world as befits a country with a market as large as ours and a population as great ours. We are no longer at a stage where such hearings could affect Indian domestic policy on critical matters such as Article 370 should the government make up their minds on it.
All the Democrats can do is indulge in impotent rage to pacify their disgruntled constituents. In reality, even they are aware that they can’t do anything apart from offering harsh words. The world has changed forever but some people, quite obviously, haven’t come to terms with it.
In anticipation that a Naga peace agreement may be signed soon, the Nagaland government has cancelled the leaves of bureaucrats and police personnel, and asked them to join their duties. The development comes after the Naga talks interlocutor R.N. Ravi said that the central government will not extend the talks which is scheduled to be concluded by October 31. The talks with Naga separatist organisation NSCN is going on for 22 years, but now the government has decided that it can’t go on forever.
On Monday, the Nagaland DGP officer issued a wireless message banking all kinds of leaves for police personnel. The chief secretary’s office issued a similar order to all deputy commissioners and administrative officers to remain in their stations and recall all officers under them on leave, except those on medical or maternity leave. The Nagaland CM’s office also issued strict instructions to the district magistrates to not leave their headquarters.
Although the government has decided not to continue talks further the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland remains adamant in their demands of a separate flag and separate constitution. This means a peace agreement could be signed without the NSCN (IM), which could lead to a law and order situation in the state. This is another reason for cancelling the leaves of police and administration personnel.
Seven Naga organisations are engaged in talks with the central government and except NSCN (IM), the rest are ready to end the talks and sign a peace agreement. NSCN (IM) has ruled out dropping the demands of flag and constitution, while the union government’s interlocutor and Nagaland governor RN Ravi has dismissed the demands. He said that the separatist organisation is delaying the peace negotiations. “Endless negotiation under the shadow of guns is not acceptable,” he had said informing that the government is in no mood to extend the talk process any further.
The NSCN(IM) had signed a framework agreement with the central government in August 2015. While NSCN(IM) claims that separate flag and constitution were promised by the government in the framework, the government has denied it. On October 18, RN Ravi convened a meeting with various Naga organisations and said that NSCN(IM) has been misleading and lying to the people. He explained the content of the framework in the meeting and said that it only talks of power-sharing and does not mention flag and constitution.
In the meeting, governor Ravi also mentioned various demands for solution that included an inclusive a Pan-Naga Hoho for all Nagas in the northeast dealing with cultural, social and traditional matters; regional autonomous state councils for Nagas of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh with independent funding and decision making, and a minor council for Nagas of Assam.
NSCN (IM) has been fighting for a ‘Greater Nagaland’ or Nagalim, comprising areas from neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam, apart from Nagaland. Union government has made it clear that Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam will not be split to merge Naga inhabited areas of these states with Nagaland.
The CBI has filed an FIR against former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat for indulging in a horse-trading case.
On September 30, the Uttarakhand High Court had allowed the CBI to file an FIR against the Congress leader after the preliminary enquiry report was submitted by the CBI to the court.
Rawat was seen in a 2016 video allegedly negotiating a deal to but the support of rebel MLAs who had switched to the BJP so that he could get back to power.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat and others in connection with alleged MLA horse trading case. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/srcCMNuXBp
The CBI FIR mentions former CM Harish Rawat, former cabinet minister Harak Rawat, and Umesh Sharma, the editor and CEO of Samachar Plus newspaper and other unknown persons.
CBI FIR against Harish Rawat
The video had surfaced after the Rawat government failed the floor test in 2016 and the state was under president’s rule.
Harish Rawat’s government, after it came back to power again later, had proposed that the CBI case should be withdrawn and a state SIT probe be initiated. But the central government had turned down the proposal.
