At its heart, the challenge to Section 62(5) is a test of constitutional sincerity, of whether the Indian Republic truly believes that citizenship endures even behind bars. Enacted in the infancy of the republic, the provision has long outlived its moral logic. It collapses the distinction between confinement and culpability
To its credit, the new state government’s policy declaration recognised this reality. It emphasised skill development, industry-linked learning and stronger connections between educational institutions and emerging sectors of the economy. Whether those aspirations translate into measurable reform remains to be seen.
Apart from risks related to the integrity of the process, the SIR process also turns what is celebrated as the festival of Indian democracy into a nightmare for the excluded. It can create divisions and split neighbourhoods, particularly when the numbers are large and hotly contested, as they have been in the most recent example in the state of West Bengal.
The rise of the Cockroach Janata Party may ultimately fade as quickly as it appeared. Most internet movements do. But the frustrations driving it are real and unlikely to disappear soon. Millions of young Indians feel politically unheard and economically cornered. Increasingly, they are expressing that frustration not through traditional political participation, but through irony, parody and nihilistic humour.
The path toward progress does not reside in appending supplementary provisions to existing personal laws. Instead, it hinges on the establishment of progressive, gender-neutral, monogamous practices that are devoid of religious distinctions, achieved through the implementation of a uniform civil code.
Modi should just know that today there are a large number of universities in the world where Gandhian studies are a part of their curricula. Many schools are trying to teach his values. Nearly 80 global cities have Gandhi streets and Gandhi statues installed in prominent places.
The internal migration of workers from the rest of the country to Kerala has created a mini remittance economy, as money flows from savings generated in Kerala to the home states like Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam and Bihar.
The targeted punitive measures against the Muslim community following religious clashes and the consequent demolitions constitute an instance of "ethnic cleansing", according to the UN's characterization.
The context in which Nadda was making this statement needs to be understood in light of the party's electoral strategy. It no way signals differences in thinking or the parting of ways between the parent organization and its political progeny. Modi’s towering image is needed for the furtherance of the agenda of a 'Hindu nation'.
India can be forced to shine but whether the people of India will shine remains the question, and that remains the ground on which the Congress is making huge strides in its fight against the BJP in this election.
According to a new report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), conflict and violence triggered 69,000 displacements in South Asia during 2023, with Manipur alone accounting for 67,000.
It is estimated that the Muslim population which is 14.2 per cent as per the 2011 census will stabilize at 18 per cent by 2050 as the trends amongst the Muslim community show.
India’s inward remittances keep growing, having more than doubled since 2010, and showing a growth of over 6 per cent per year, ahead of GDP growth. By comparison, China’s inbound remittances have been falling. Pakistan and Bangladesh get about one-fourth of what India gets.
If democracy does survive in this sub-continent, posterity will certainly hail these recently pronounced three judgments as the primary reason for its preservation.
While Iran’s ties with the West, especially US, may have hit rock bottom, Pakistan despite the public posturing will not be able to go ahead with the project at the cost of annoying the US.
At the heart of the violence lies majority triumphalism combined with a systematic denial of knowledge acquisition, specifically histories, for the minority community in Manipur.
Do note that the BJP because of its sloganeering and expectation-setting has to cross its previous mark of 303 to be seen as victorious; the INDIA alliance has to pull the BJP below 272 to claim victory. Barring the possibility, extremely remote at this time, of the Congress and/or the INDIA alliance faring very poorly at these polls, what we have is a party that will shape the direction of policy in India in the days ahead.
Despite learning a bitter lesson from Covid-19, our governments, whether at the state or national level, have failed to recognise the importance of ensuring trouble-free access to public health.
The rich build gated communities for themselves, in which they pay for their own private services of security, and 24X7 power and water supply. They lose sight of the needs of people living outside their walls.
