Pardon Me, Judges Open Pandora’s Box
In his column for The Indian Express, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram critiques the Supreme Court for entertaining petitions challenging mosques against The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, arguing that it has opened a "Pandora’s box" by undermining judicial accountability.
He highlights how successive governments have shown "benign neglect of the Act" and reflects on how the suits were filed in the Gyanvapi case where the apex Court did not enquire into the motive of the Plaintiffs.
Was it difficult to see through the motive of the Plaintiffs and the consequences of allowing the prayers in the Suit? In my view, the Supreme Court should have invoked its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to do “complete justice”, called the suit to its file, and dismissed the suit holding that the Act that was honoured for 30 years should be upheld at all costs. Following the Gyanvapi order, there are disputes raised about the Idgah mosque at Mathura, Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh, the Qutub complex in Delhi, and the Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan. Where will it end?P Chidambaram, The Indian Express
Religiosity is Sick, Not Secularism
Columnist Tavleen Singh in The Indian Express comes down on the idea of drawing a false equivalence between what is happening in India and Afghanistan in view of the rise of militant and fanatical Hindutva.
Singh argues that religiosity, rather than secularism, has become a divisive force in India. Talking about the violence that ensued after Babri Masjid demolition and religiosity solidifying in erstwhile secular politics, she said, "I am routinely accused of being ‘sickular’ and to those who so accuse me, let me say I have no hesitation in admitting that I am proudly secular. And that I despise religiosity."
On social media, while writing this piece, I spotted a video of a Hindu teenager beating three small Muslim children with a slipper and ordering them to say Jai Shree Ram. It sickened me to watch but watch it I did because it reminded me of a little girl who was locked up in a box and left for hours in the sun by an ISIS monster because she could not recite the Quran correctly. Her Yazidi mother, made a sex slave by this demon, was forced to watch as her five-year-old daughter died slowly of hunger and dehydration. India must never become a country in which children can be tortured for religion.Tavleen Singh, The Indian Express
The Strange Feeling of Hatred Towards the Other
In his weekly column for the Hindustan Times, journalist Karan Thapar explores the pervasive nature of hatred towards those perceived as 'the Other.' He delves into two aspects: The petition filed by the Hindu Sena seeking a survey of the 800-year-old Ajmer Sharif Dargah and how hospitals in Kolkata and Tripura have announced they have decided to stop treating Bangladeshis.
Thapar, through this piece, calls for introspection and empathy to counter such divisive tendencies. "...Isn’t it strange a court should bother to take it seriously? Isn’t it strange this should sunder our country into two sharply divided parts?" he asks.
Perhaps there was a full-fledged Prithviraj Chauhan era royal court under the ridge at Vasant Vihar where I live but I’d scream if the Hindu Sena wants to dig up my house to explore for it. What allegedly happened eight centuries ago — and it’s a belief, not a fact — is of relevance to history but hardly reason to demolish a dargah revered by tens, if not hundreds of millions, both Muslim and Hindu, in India and abroad. But is the Hindu Sena really keen to discover a long-lost, long-forgotten Shiva temple? I doubt it. I’m of the opinion they wish to torment Muslims, to damage and destroy the dargah and, thus, “put Muslims in their place”.Karan Thapar, Hindustan Times
A Moral Compass For Redeeming Sikh Legacy
Poonam Khaira Sidhu, a former IRS officer in the Hindustan Times assesses the Akal Takht’s directive to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) requiring the resignation of its senior leadership, including former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the penal actions and the assault on him within the grounds of Harmandir Sahib.
"Such violence serves as a sobering reminder of the challenges confronting Punjab and its diaspora," she writes. She emphasises the importance of aligning with the moral and ethical principles of Sikhism to address contemporary challenges nationally and internationally.
As Sikh youth face increasing scrutiny in their adopted countries, the need for strong institutional guidance has never been more critical. The misuse of democratic freedoms abroad to promote divisive narratives imperils Sikhs globally. Parents, gurdwara committees, and community leaders must guide younger generations, emphasising the consequences of ethical transgressions. Critics will warn that radicals gain strength when the political middle ground cedes authority to clerics, but its application to Sikhism must be nuanced.Poonam Khaira Sidhu, Hindustan Times
Virtual Vitriol! Mocking Indians Has Become a Global Sport Online
In The Times of India, Amit Majumdar, an author based in Ohio draws attention to the mockery and insults Indians and Indian diaspora faces, especially with the viral video of a racist rant against an Indian American family at Los Angeles airport.
He adds that, "the encounter with global anti-Indian racism offers a corrective for all these fantasies of distinction." He highlights how increased visibility of Indians worldwide has led to both admiration and targeted hostility. Majumdar proposes fostering collective reform, urging Indians to rise above divisive rhetoric and respond constructively to global challenges.
In the best-case scenario, external criticism about filth and disorder can foster more than just a collective identity. It can foster collective self-examination and reform. That is how to distil real nectar from virtual vitriol. A neo-Gandhian vision of pan-Indian unity and uplift would result. The trigger for this updated, organic nationalism would not be one Indian giving inspiring speeches, as it was a hundred years ago, but thousands of foreigners hurling abuse. After all, nothing unites people like a common enemy. In the early 20th century, that was the British Empire. In the early 21st, it is the world.Amit Majumdar, The Times of India
What Lies Below Star City Mall Doesn't Matter in the Here and Now
In this piece for The Economic Times, journalist and author Indrajit Hazra talks about his nostalgia for the Star City Mall in Mayur Vihar. His nostalgia is being challenged by claims of an ancient structure beneath it, raising concerns about its potential demolition.
"Now exiled from MV, it's the entity, both in space and idea, that I am nostalgic about. Not for the city where I was born or grew up in, or, for that matter, any city at all, but this stretch of Yamnapaar -- And its quarter-century-old eternal symbol, Star City Mall," he writes.
Something always lies above something else. So, it stands to reason that something else always lies buried below something. Cities like Delhi and Rome are built upon layers and layers of historical remnants. As are neighbourhoods, which are far easier, less unnatural to give one's heart to than wholesale nation-states. So, whether there are remnants of a tandoori restaurant destroyed during the Emergency on top of which Star City Mall today stands, or idols of deities buried within Jama Masjid in Old Delhi, what holds your gaze and heart is what you see now. No matter how much the mall footfall has fallen and the mighty despair.Indrajit Hazra, The Economic Times
Did Kharge Send a Signal to Rahul With Talk About Pro-People Issues?
In her column for the Deccan Chronicle, journalist Anita Katyal elaborates how in a candid Congress Working Committee address, Mallikarjun Kharge urged Congress leaders to prioritise unity, narrative-building and local issues amid electoral setbacks.
Kharge criticized internal factionalism and said that the Party should identify and highlight local issues in their Assembly poll campaigns as national issues, though important, do not always resonate with people. "This was seen as a message to Rahul Gandhi who persisted with his focus on 'Samvidhan khatre mein hai' in the Assembly polls," she remarks.
BJP's latest strategy is to use this parliamentary device (zero hour) to mount a personal attack against Rahul Gandhi as the ruling party is constrained from responding directly to the Congress leader's charge of PM Modi's proximity to industrialist Gautam Adani recently indicted by a US court. It was no coincidence that last week senior MPs Sudhanshu Trivedi and Nishikant Dubey made identical zero hour mentions in the two Houses to charge that foreign forces which included US billionaire investor George Soros were conspiring to destabilise India and that Rahul Gandhi was part of it.Anita Katyal, Deccan Chronicle
Pardon the Pardon, Blood is Thicker Than Water
Capt GR Gopinath (Retd) in this piece for the Deccan Herald points out the irony of US President Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter Biden — convicted of gun ownership and tax evasion charges — despite saying that he will respect the judicial process.
In this regard, Gopinath draws a comparison as to how the founding fathers of India and Constitution did not provide for such unchecked sweeping powers to either the President or the PM, albeit ways have been found by leaders to undermine it in the past.
President-elect Trump has vowed to use the Attorney General and the FBI towards his political ends. Closer home, there have been calls to law officers such as Attorney Generals and Solicitor Generals to remain distanced from the politics of the day. Investigating agencies have often been found to be serving political masters. We have also had an unsavoury precedent of a sitting Supreme Court Chief Justice trying his own case, desecrating the cardinal rule of jurisprudence. Groups with political interests attempting to influence and undermine the judiciary have set off serious concerns in India's judicial landscape.Capt GR Gopinath (Retd), Deccan Herald
25 Years After the Matrix: Simulation Theory More Relevant Than Ever
Are we living in a 'base reality' or a 'stimulated reality'? is one of the questions author Atanu Biswas ponders upon in this piece for the Business Standard. The article explores the idea of "simulation theory," popularized by films like The Matrix.
He traces the origins of this concept and how it has found its roots and versions from Plato to modern thinkers like Nick Bostrom and even Elon Musk who subscribe to the theory. Biswas discusses how this theory intersects with advancements in AI and virtual reality, posing existential questions about the nature of reality itself.
With the state of knowledge and technology today, the simulation hypothesis can’t be conclusively demonstrated or disproven, for sure. However, wouldn’t everything be pointless if we were really living in a computer simulation? But who cares! Isn’t Musk, a fervent supporter of the theory, the world’s most capitalistic person? Regardless of The Matrix, Nick Bostrom, Elon Musk, or the peculiarities of quantum physics, we might still be living in “base reality.” Or perhaps the world we inhabit is the truest definition of “base reality.”Atanu Biswas, Business Standard