Sunday View: The Best Weekend Opinion Reads, Curated Just for You

In his weekly column for The Indian Express, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram argues that the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar is an unprecedented and opaque exercise that effectively discards existing voter lists and imposes unreasonable documentation requirements. "The inevitable conclusion is that SIR is not an exercise to enable eligible citizens to enroll and vote. It is a dark, sinister plot to disenfranchise millions of poor, marginalised or migrant citizens," he writes.Despite the claim that SIR is based on the 2003 electoral rolls, it effectively starts from a zero base and constructs new electoral rolls for each constituency. Besides, the onus is shifted to the voter: despite his/her name being in the current electoral rolls and despite having had a right to vote (and in most cases having voted) in the Bihar Assembly elections of 2020 or the Lok Sabha elections of 2024, he/she must apply for inclusion with documents to prove his/her citizenship. And all this is expected to be done between June 25 and July 26...The fine print of the exercise is not to enable enrollment but to place insurmountable hurdles in the path to enroll and vote.P Chidambaram, The Indian ExpressWriting for Hindustan Times, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recounts her recent visit to Meghalaya and reflects on the state’s transformation through infrastructure development, tourism, and grassroots entrepreneurship.She notes, "Meghalaya today offers a blueprint for a vibrant, confident, and self-reliant India."Recently, on my tour to Meghalaya, I travelled by road from Guwahati to Shillong. The road was wide and traffic flowed smoothly. This was once an old, winding road, perilously narrow and choked with traffic, where smoke-emitting lorries made travel miserable. My first stop was at the backwaters of the scenic Umiam lake in Ri Bhoi district. The waters of the rivers, Wah Umkhrah and Wah Umshyrpi, were dammed in the 1960s to harness their hydel power. Today, the man-made lake has also become a hub of water sports and adventure activities. Tourism has given a year-long livelihood opportunity to those in the lake’s vicinity, emblematic of the government and citizens’ approach to places with potential for tourism.Nirmala Sitharaman, Hindustan TimesIn response to the new NCERT social science textbooks released last week, Tavleen Singh, in her weekly column for The Indian Express, criticises India’s focus on rewriting history with an excessive emphasis on vilifying Muslim rulers, and urges political leaders to prioritise improving the quality of education instead.My problem is that I wish some of those leading this new history movement would spare time to examine the current state of our schools and the abysmal quality of teaching. I have said before in this column that when I travel to a village, almost the first thing I try to see is the local school. And the truth is that not the best of these schools would be considered a real school by modern international standards. In the best government schools, there are at least classrooms with desks and teachers, but you need only spend 10 minutes in one of these classes to discover that teaching methods are primitive. Children are taught not to think or develop a love of learning, but to learn by rote. Just enough to pass their examinations.Tavleen Singh, The Indian ExpressIn the Deccan Herald, Rahul Bajaj writes that the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in L Muruganantham vs. State of Tamil Nadu exposes the systemic neglect of prisoners with disabilities and calls for urgent prison reform. "India’s prisons remain structurally and operationally ill-equipped to meet the needs of disabled inmates. Lack of accessibility, specialised healthcare, assistive devices, and sensitised staff constitutes a denial of constitutional rights under Article 21," he writes.Muruganantham was arrested in 2020 after a malicious complaint and remanded to judicial custody despite his severe disabilities. During his 10-day incarceration, he alleged a denial of adequate medical care, nutrition, accessibility, and basic psychological support. Despite repeated pleas to prison staff, he contended that he was not provided the support, contributing to the deterioration in his disability percentage. Following his release, he sought compensation and systemic reform from the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), which awarded a compensation amount of Rs 1 lakh. The High Court increased it to Rs 5 lakh; now, the Supreme Court has upheld the enhanced compensation while issuing broader directions for systemic reform. The Court noted that the petitioner was, indeed, not provided certain medical interventions. That said, he was placed in the prison hospital, and the absence of facilities is attributable to institutional limitations rather than malice on the part of the officials.Rahul Bajaj, Deccan HeraldWriting for The New Indian Express, Shankkar Aiyar urges Members of Parliament to avoid turning the upcoming monsoon session into an “amphitheatre for partisan political rhetoric” and instead focus on demanding accountability on pressing national issues such as Operation Sindoor, the Air India 171 crash, Budget 2025 promises, and the deteriorating state of bridges and highways.It’s that time of the year. On Monday, India’s parliament will meet for the monsoon session. Theory says parliament is where the elected discuss, debate and legislate on issues. In reality, the elected simply represent the party instead of electors—in the 17th Lok Sabha, 11 of 15 sessions were adjourned early. We will know in the coming weeks whether the issues that matter are raised, or the session turns into an amphitheatre for partisan political rhetoric. Hopefully, the MPs will not only raise the questions, but also question the answers!Shankkar Aiyar, The New Indian ExpressIn the Deccan Herald, Capt G R Gopinath (retd) reflects on caste’s enduring grip on Indian society, in light of the recent incident in which a Bengaluru trainee pilot accused senior colleagues of caste-based abuse.These are times that remind us, increasingly, how caste is entrenched in society, more tellingly in our political discourse. In Karnataka, the unreleased findings of a completed caste census and the components of a newly announced survey continue to influence political stakes. The BJP at the Centre has announced an enumeration of caste denominations, after stonewalling it for years, with an eye on the forthcoming state elections starting with Bihar. India’s claimed socioeconomic progress has failed to erase its long, troubling history of caste prejudice and injustice. We are, still, a country of ‘honour killings’; we still deny Dalits access to community wells; bigoted mobs still deliver swift vigilante ‘justice’.Capt G R Gopinath (retd), Deccan HeraldIn the Hindustan Times, journalist and author Karan Thapar criticises the politicisation and selective recognition in the conferral of the Bharat Ratna, noting that most recipients have been politicians and many awards have been given posthumously, sometimes absurdly late. He questions the merit of several past awardees while highlighting glaring omissions of figures whose contributions to India’s military, moral, and cultural fabric he argues are far more deserving. Of the 53 people awarded the Bharat Ratna starting with the first in 1954, by my count, 31 are politicians. That's almost 60 percent. Doesn't this seem to suggest that it's been strategically given for political reasons rather than as recognition of merit?...The world has recognised the Dalai Lama’s enormous contribution, but we in India — where he lives and the country he considers himself a Son of — have remained blind to his merit. The Dalai Lama has just celebrated his 90th birthday. By all count, it is a landmark. Surely this is a moment to make up for our lapse? Don’t you agree? Also conferring the Bharat Ratna on the Dalai Lama would add distinction to the award.Karan Thapar, Hindustan TimesIn the Deccan Chronicle, Pavan K Varma examines how religious festivals in India are increasingly marred by communal tensions, especially during election season, as political parties attempt to capitalise on divisions — a trend already taking shape in the run-up to the Bihar elections.In Bihar, within a 100 km radius of Patna, are located the most important sites of India’s major religions: Pawapuri, where Mahavira took his mahanirvana, for Jains; Bodhgaya, the prime destination for Buddhists; Gaya, where devout Hindus pray for their ancestors; Bihar Sharif, second only to Ajmer Sharif for Muslims; and Patna Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Govind, for Sikhs. In Rajasthan’s Tonk district — a former princely state founded by a Pathan ruler — Hindus and Muslims have for generations performed qawwalis and bhajans together at local Sufi shrines. It is a fact that cynical politicians use ordinary Indians as puppets to reinforce religion-based vote banks. People suffer, politicians prosper. Self-styled evangelists — Hindus and Muslims — are used to whip up communal hatred. For such Hindus, Adi Shankaracharya (8th century) bluntly said: “Jatilo mundi lunchitakeshaha kashayambarabahukrtavesh, pashyannapi ca na pashyati mudho udaranimitto bahukrtaveshah: Many are those who mat their locks, shave their heads, wear robes of ochre, but do this only for their stomachs (that is, self-interest).”Pavan K Varma, Deccan ChronicleIn the Hindustan Times, Abhishek Asthana writes that the recent earthquake in Gurugram briefly brought otherwise indifferent neighbours together, revealing how shallow connections have become in the age of 'high-rise living'.He notes that while modern conveniences have made life easier, they’ve also weakened everyday social bonds. Earlier, neighbourly love was fuelled by scarcity. A shared misery always leads to the best friendships. A few decades ago, the hometown would see a power-cut nearly every evening. As soon as the whirring ceiling fan suddenly lost speed, the immediate neighbours would be alerted of their area had lost power too. After a collective misfortunes was established, our Neelkamal-brand chairs would be laid out on the porch. There was no mobile, no internet to turn to — only Mr Tiwari who worked in a nationalised bank, in his vest, telling us how tough government jobs had become. “It’s not like old times, bhaisaab. Now, you have to work”, he would say, sipping tea made by my mother in candle-light. Another scarcity fuelling neighbourly connections was lack of milk for tea, or the chapatti itself...There is no scarcity now. Each high-rise is self sufficient. There is power back-up. There are quick delivery services. And, there are no uninvited guests. There is instead “privacy”, a concept that was alien to many Indians like me just two decades ago.Abhishek Asthana, Hindustan TimesTrump’s Tariff Revival: The Same Trade Mistake Twice Or a Reckoning?Electoral Roll Revisions Show BJP’s Hindutva No Longer Trusts Its Own VotersIndia’s Underfunded Borders Risk Turning Security Into a MirageDear Fathers, You Can Be Our Secret Weapon to Smash the PatriarchyUS-India-Pak: Nuclearisation & Afghan Flashpoints Under Carter, Reagan, Bush SrRivers Can't be Weapons: How India’s Dam Politics Undermines its China Strategy

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Sunday View: The Best Weekend Opinion Reads, Curated Just for You

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