View Articles

Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra is in the Bombay High Court with a petition to quash the Mumbai Police FIR against him for making the ‘traitor’ jibe against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, whose keen ears prick up in a micro-millisecond if the word happens to be ‘gaddar'. Kamra's petition concerns the right to freedom of expression and speech as also on limitations placed on this right.

Donald Trump and Narendra Modi never seem to tire of expressing admiration for each other, their mutual regard forming an odd but undeniable transnational political camaraderie. What binds them is not simply shared ideology but a similar worldview shaped by populism, nativism, and a flair for dramatic, often reckless, decision-making.

Two important pieces of news this week may shock the conscience of many, but not the ruling establishment of India. The first is that Minimum pension for workers under one of the social security coverage given under Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) remains at Rs 1000 per month since 2014, while the Centre boasted that India’s social protection coverage has doubled just within three years from 24.4 per cent in 2021 to 48.8 per cent in 2024. The second is that female employment showed to be doubled since 2014, but counting unpaid women helping in the family work without payment as workers.

Don’t doubt the intentions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the gentle warning to a fellow panelist from a BJP spokesperson, which caught the fancy of the anchor of the prime-time show who repeated the warning in a tone that brooked no defiance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the passage of the Wakf Act 2025, has gone on to a different level of acceptability. For proof, supporters pointed to the raucous reception Modi received in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Saffron ecosystem must be feeling ecstatic at its achievement of having Waqf board under its belt, acquiring vast tract of land owned by it across the country and pushing the Muslims to the position of second grade citizens. A closer introspection nevertheless would make it explicit that the strategy of saffron retribution will prove to be boon in disguise for Muslims as it would witness emergence of a new type of Muslim politics, having different culture and tenet.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 24th CPI(M) Party Congress has approved its political-tactical line laying stress on increasing the independent strength of the party even as it remained part of the state-specific secular and democratic front, including the Congress, to “defeat the neo-fascist regime” at the Centre.

Passage of Waqf Bill in the both houses of the Parliament of India has immediately created political ripples that was felt across India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and from Gujarat to Assam. Political parties on both sides – INDIA bloc and BJP led NDA – are trying to derive maximum political mileage out of it, but both sides will have also to readjust themselves to the new challenges that is likely to emerge.

The true story is buried in the creases and folds of the Janata Dal (U) and the Telugu Desam Party. What coerced them to dump their loyal Muslim vote-banks and align with the "Muslim-hating" Bharatiya Janata Party in amending the Waqf bill? There is no guarantee Muslims (even the Pasmanda!) will hereafter, after the passage of the amended Act, vote for the BJP (and its allies!) in a sense of gratitude. Also, why weren't these Muslims voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the first place?

“Hindi and all Indian languages strengthen each other. There should be no attempts to divide the nation in the name of language,” said BJP’s senior leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on March 29. The quote came only after refusing to release the educational assistance to the Tamil Nadu government because of the state’s failure to implement the three-language formula. The sermon was a caution against the coming suppressive steps. The Centre’s educational assistance to Tamil Nadu is part of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. The five southern states have been repeatedly complaining that they have been contributing nearly 29 percent of the central government’s tax revenue but only get 15 percent of its resources.

Hope and frustration run high. Despite a court order to Delhi police to register an FIR and direction for further investigation to be conducted against BJP leader and Delhi law minister Kapil Mishra and others over his alleged involvement in the 2020 Delhi riots, Mohammad Ilyas of Yamuna Vihar, who struggled for five long years to get this order passed by the court after refusal of action against him by Delhi police, does not think that Delhi Police will actually act on the order. This explains the situation on the ground level persisting not only in Delhi, but also across the country, in communally surcharged socio-political context, which is not good for healthy secular democracy.