Citizen vs State vs Liberty
Commenting on the Roe vs Wade controversy in the United States, P Chidambaram, in his column for The Indian Express, writes that the original judgment of 1973 had "stood by the people and upheld the right of women to privacy."
Maintaining that the resolution of the matter was an example of how a mature democracy must handle differences – between the legislature and the judiciary – over the meaning and scope of laws, Chidambaram states that a number of decisions with a lasting impact on liberty have been pending before the Supreme Court of India.
"Sedition: can the State slap charges of sedition under Section 124A of the IPC on any one who opposes or mocks the State’s actions? Encounters & Bulldozers: can the State employ methods like encounters and demolitions to quell dissent or protests by the people?"P Chidambaram in The Indian Express.
Noting that decisions like demonetisation, the repeal of Article 370 and others are a "deliberate and determined attempt to strike at the very foundations of the Indian State," Chidambaram says that the very concept of liberty is "waiting for a saviour."
Remember To Forget
Responding to NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul – who expressed "disappointment" at a WHO report claiming that India's official COVID-19 deaths between January 2020 to December 2021 was 10 times the official figures – Upala Sen, in her column for The Telegraph, wonders if the dead too, are disappointed.
"One would think even the dead are disappointed, Mr Paul. So what if there were not so many of them as the WHO claims? So what if some of them did not suit this parameter or that, or if they had a comorbidity too many? I bet they are disappointed that no one took this opportunity to say — “We don’t agree with these numbers but we agree that we lost many of our own. We grieve their deaths — parents, children, siblings, spouses. We will take cognisance of every opinion from every corner of the world that can help us do better in these fragile times."Upala Sen in The Telegraph
Sycophants Are Dangerous
Writing for The Indian Express, Tavleen Singh notes that by forcing officials and journalists to become 'sycophants', the government enters into a phase where it may begin to "believe its own propaganda."
This, she claims, is the reason why every critical press or report penned abroad is seen as an ‘international conspiracy’ against India.
"If there is an ‘international conspiracy’, it is to make India somehow overcome her failures of governance and economic policy to emerge as a real challenge to China. When India has done well, she has been applauded by the same western newspapers which our officials charge with being anti-India. It is because the Modi government’s media policy has been essentially to muzzle the domestic media that there has been bad press abroad. It is because we lied about the extent of the horror we experienced during last summer’s deadly Covid wave that there has been such a serious loss of credibility."Tavleen Singh in The Indian Express
Why China’s Zero-COVID Lockdowns Are India’s Big Opportunity
The prolonged imposition of a harsh COVID-19 lockdown in China may have disrupted the global supply chain, but it presents India with the golden opportunity of declaring itself as an ace manufacturer that can save the world, writes Chetan Bhagat in The Times of India.
"What are we doing to ensure that every company in the world feels it must have a manufacturing setup in India? Are we clearing all the hurdles? Just as we have inspectors and bureaucrats who are ready to stop operations if something is going wrong, do we have senior government officials incentivised to do the opposite? Can we perhaps have bureaucrats who are relationship managers, whose performance is evaluated based on how many new companies they help get up and running in India?"Chetan Bhagat in The Times of India.
Bloodied Hands: Vigilantism Is Being Redefined in New India
That vigilante groups are growing powerful through their many acts of violence doesn't seem to undermine the state's monopoly as it only contributes towards a sense of 'collective superiority' in which only the minorities are affected, writes Mukul Kesavan for The Telegraph.
This "systematic humiliation of the designated minority," writes Kesavan, is for everyone to see on social media and does not require "blood and sweat involved in its implementation."
"But someone must shoot the footage and stage the violence that needs to be filmed. These tasks are subcontracted out to organizations like gaurakshini sabhas, dharmsabhas and mahapanchayats. A crucial part of modern majoritarianism is cruel spectatorship, the Roman circus reinvented for the online age. The Instagram reel, which shows a Muslim being dragged into an SUV by armed men to the tune of ‘Desi Boyfriend’, performs the same function as an item number in a masala film: it’s meant to arouse and entertain its viewers."Mukul Kesavan in The Telegraph
Does India Really Need a Sovereign Wealth Fund?
As India's foreign-exchange reserves fall by 7 percent in a matter of six months, Ajit Ranade, in his piece for The Times of India asks if its time for the country to have its own sovereign wealth fund like Abu Dhabi, Singapore and China, among others.
"The main thing to realise is that India needs a largish pile of forex as insurance against sudden flight of foreign capital, which can leave us in the lurch. It happened in 1997 to East Asian countries like Thailand. Ever since then many developing countries started having their own dollar pile as self-insurance. Since Sri Lanka did not have adequate forex stock it has defaulted and is facing bankruptcy in foreign obligations. India does not have the luxury of being an oil exporter like Abu Dhabi nor does it have a current-account surplus like Singapore or China. If it wants to secure higher returns for its forex, it can diversify away from dollar assets to euro or other currencies."Ajit Ranade in The Times of India.
Why Can’t Politicians Have Fun?
Trolled for sharing "bits and pieces" of her personal life on social media, Priyanka Chaturvedi, in her column for The Indian Express, wonders if a video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a nightclub makes him a politician who's not 'serious' enough.
Chaturvedi writes that it would be best to do away with unreal expectations from politicians, especially in an age where conventional political wisdom professed by the older generations may not resonate with the young electorate.
"In many countries it is considered normal for the head of State to take time off. As the profile and demography of politicians gets younger in a young nation, we need to embrace the idea of a changed way of political life. Wouldn’t it be nicer to have politicians share some moments of their private lives, those spent amongst their friends and family? Why should they look and behave like uptight killjoys, 24×7? It is the reality of today that the youth don’t connect with politicians. It is so because they can’t relate to someone who is always politically right. The definition of a ‘serious’ politician needs to be challenged and changed."Priyanka Chaturvedi in The Indian Express.
Five Ways To Stay Sane in a Chaotic World
COVID-19, Ukraine-Russia war, inflation, autocratic leaders, communal clashes and so on and so forth – there's no end to bad news that greets us at every step. But how does one go about in a world where "uncertainty in the only certainty?"
Writing for The Times of India, Ravi Venkatesan offers a five-fold approach that he feels would help in dealing with an increasingly chaotic world.
"Choose who you hang out with. It is often said that you are the average of the five people who you spend the most time with. The people you surround yourself with have the greatest impact on your beliefs, your emotions and behaviours. So, you want to consciously be in the presence of people who are positive, generous, thoughtful and loving and avoid those who are filled with toxicity and negativity."Ravi Venkatesan in The Times of India.
Who Is Afraid of Faiz Ahmad Faiz?
Writing for The Indian Express, Naseeruddin Shah wonders if erasing Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poems from school textbooks leaves little scope for any kind of protest in the near future.
"Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s nazm “Hum dekhenge…” was written during the rule of Zia-ul Haq; he penned “Aaj bazaar mein…” during his imprisonment by the Ayub Khan government — neither despot bothering with even putting up a pretence of democracy. The removal of his verses from school textbooks indicates the chilling fact that protest of any kind is no longer permissible. Is someone afraid that these poems will resonate with the imprisoned intellectuals, activists and teachers in our country? Or is it just that Faiz is Pakistani?"Naseeruddin Shah in The Indian Express.
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