Welcome, Education Minister
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi abolishing the Ministry of Education to replace it with a Ministry for Human Resource Development was a big mystery. Perhaps someone in his team thought the new name had a corporate ring to it, writes Tavleen Singh in her column for The Indian Express. Discussing the Modi government’s new education policy, she writes that the move is the first serious attempt to decolonise our school education.
Some critics have objected to the emphasis on civilistional studies and Sanskrit. I believe they are not seeing this in any real context. It should shame us that the best departments for the study of Sanskrit are in American and European universities. It should shame us that it is mostly western scholars who have translated from Sanskrit some of the greatest literature ever written. The New Education Policy is the first attempt to rectify this.Tavleen Singh in the The Indian Express
Don’t fear Democratic and Lawful Politics in Jammu and Kashmir
Shah Faesal was the perfect antidote to the trope of the educated local militant, writes Barkha Dutt in her column for The Hindustan Times. But after a promising entry into the Valley’s politics, recently, he made a hurried exit. He explained his decision by merely saying: “things in Kashmir had changed forever”. Dutt writes that a subdued reaction to this episode shows that the only thing constant in Kashmir has been New Delhi’s attempts at political engineering in the Valley.
Why are we not more worried? Why are we not more puzzled? A year after the effective nullification of Article 370, nobody believes that the special status of the state will be restored and almost everybody believes that its statehood will be returned. But what no one knows is what we have achieved by the abject humiliation of those who stood by our Union and Constitution.Barkha Dutt in The Hindustan Times
A Great Opportunity Missed
The country is in the middle of three tunnels -- the sliding economy, the raging pandemic and the occupation of Indian territory -- and there is no light visible at the end of these tunnels, writes P Chidambaram for The Indian Express. On Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi should have acknowledged these mistakes; instead, he lost a great opportunity to give an account of the state of the nation, he writes.
Never before has India faced a recession of the magnitude that is predicted (4 to 10 per cent); never before has a pandemic enveloped the whole country and forced people to remain in their homes; and never before have all our neighbours flexed their muscles to snub India in one manner or other.P Chidambaram for The Indian Express
What Indian TV news Anchors get Wrong
“Don’t television anchors care about what they’re doing to their guests?” In his latest column for The Hindustan Times, Karan Thapar writes about a conversation he had with a friend about Indian TV anchors, following the demise of Congress spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi. Even though the phone call ends with Thapar proclaiming he doesn’t watch Indian anchors, the conversation holds a mirror to the Indian media.
The aim should be to explore their strengths and weaknesses in a decorous and civilised manner. Not in a verbal Mahabharat. Yet, this is what many anchors not only prefer but actively encourage.Karan Thapar for The Hindustan Times
With due Respect, Your Lordship
Among the great institutions of India, the independent judiciary occupies a place of pride for being progressive and upholding the constitutional values. But in recent years, instead of having a healthy system based on checks and balances, the judiciary has been aligning itself with the executive arm, writes Chanakya for The Hindustan Times. He argues that a relationship of respect but distance, based on law, between the judiciary and the executive should be the way forward.
India’s judiciary is a key pillar which has to be fiercely independent and be seen as such. This does not mean that it needs to be consistently adversarial to the executive. Nor does it mean that it should be far too friendly with the executive. A relationship of respect but distance, and based on law, between the judiciary and the executive and a relationship of openness, where the judiciary is open to feedback from citizens while citizens recognise the supremacy of the courts, is the most effective way for democracy to thrive and for the institution to regain its credibility.Chanakya for The Hindustan Times
Let’s Dial Down the Kamala Euphoria
The past 50 years have witnessed the emergence of a desi community in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Despite the shared culture and nostalgia, the overemphasis on attaching the achievements of those with an Indian origin to the idea of India has been stretched in an unhealthy way, especially the recent selection of Senator Kamala Harris as the running mate of Joe Biden, writes Swapan Dasgupta for The Times of India.
For Kamala, India is just another country, not the mother country. She is more likely to personify the dilemmas and the choices of those for whom the US marks a new life and a new beginning. India won’t even be on the radar.Swapan Dasgupta for The Times of India
Open Criticism of any Institution is Necessary
Prashant Bhushan, who was held guilty of contempt for tweets on Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and the Supreme Court, writes in The Indian Express that he is dismayed that the Court has arrived at this conclusion without providing any evidence of his motive to launch an attack on the Apex Court.
I find it hard to believe that the Court finds my tweet “has the effect of destabilising the very foundation of this important pillar of Indian democracy”. I can only reiterate that these two tweets represented my bonafide beliefs, the expression of which must be permissible in any democracy.Prashant Bhushan for The Indian Express
Anna Bhau Sathe, Father of India’s Creative Writing
In his column for The Indian Express, Suraj Yengde writes that 2020 is a memorable year in the archives of Dalit history, as it marks the centenary of Tukaram Bhaurao alias Anna Bhau Sathe. He writes that it is essential to remember Sathe as he matured the purpose of literature to serve the Dalit cause.
Anna Bhau’s poetry, aided with the thunderous notes of Amar Shaikh and D N Gavhankar, awakened the consciousness of Maharashtra politics, like in their “Lal Bawta Kalapathak”. However, in Maharashtra, like everywhere else, it’s the urban, upper-class Brahmins who are self-congratulated as the founders of Maharashtra.Suraj Yengde for The Indian Express
Daily Deaths Best way to Assess Covid-19 Pandemic
False positivity rates get amplified during mass surveys, due to variable rates of pre-test probability between the hospital cases and the general population, writes Srinath Reddy for The Hindustan Times. He argues that the changes in daily death counts over time is the best indicator to understand and fight the pandemic.
Even as we try to improve our measurement of Covid19 related deaths, the changes in daily death counts over time will be the best indicator for us to gauge whether the epidemic is waning in a city, district or a state. With deaths, we will not be questioning “what R we measuring?”Srinath Reddy for The Hindustan Times.
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