- This is no way to talk
#TalkToAMuslim campaign is patronising, reinforces community stereotypes, writes Anasua Chatterjee in her column for The Indian Express. She says that tt the very least, it becomes difficult to miss the inherent naivety of the apparently well-meaning campaign. The act of defining persons solely in terms of their religious identity, actual or perceived, misses the whole point of plurality of identities and their contextual nature. It reinforces just what it had set out to resist: An abstract monolithic identity conferred from the outside, usually by the majority, to all members of a faith.
For most ordinary Muslims, whose everyday lives primarily revolve around pursuing a decent livelihood, speaking about “Muslim marginalisation” might not be either a priority or a luxury they can afford. Muslim experiences of being othered and discriminated against are located in their lived contexts and draw significantly from their class and status positions. For the many Muslims working in the informal sector, who often go about looking for odd jobs using fake Hindu monikers, being identified by others as a Muslim is not a coveted option.
The politics of “othering”, which began with Partition, has only gained in momentum with the rise of Hindutva forces. It has worked its way towards a perceived Hindu unity by relentlessly casting Muslims as the diametrical other of the authentic Hindu self. The compelling power of this construct lies in the fact that despite the countless instances of personal friendships, the Muslim continues to remain the ultimate enemy in the average Hindu psyche.
- Unique institution
Outing Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian writes in his article for The Telegraph that tomorrow is his last day in office as the chief economic adviser to the government of India, a job of enormous responsibility, opportunity, excitement and, of course, prestige.
The research of many brilliant scholars is increasingly highlighting the critical role of State capacity and public institutions in fostering long-run political and economic development. I firmly believe and would insist that the office of the CEA is one such public institution – along with the many others (the Reserve Bank of India, the Election Commission, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and so on) that are traditionally accepted as such.
And it is a unique institution. There are few vantage points in government that have such a broad perspective on the economy, and even fewer that combine proximity to decision-making (including but not restricted to the budget process) with high frequency analysis and inputs, and yet with enough distance to require a more academic or policy perspective.
- Lords of misrule: We deserve the politics, and the politicians, that we have
In his column for The Times of India, Jug Suriya writes that this is not some foreign country, but India where an attitude of ‘sab chalta hai’ has been elevated to the level of a national mantra.
And then something struck me. We routinely and on a daily basis bemoan the low standards of our politics and of most, if not all, our politicians, many of whom are what is known as ‘history sheeters’ and have a criminal record. We tell ourselves and each other that if it weren’t for our corrupt, law-breaking lawmakers, India would be a prosperous and progressive country. The fact that it isn’t is all the fault of our political system and those who operate within it.
But in a democracy, who is – or ought to be – responsible for the standards of its politics and politicians, if not the electorate? Which means us. You and me.
Water finds its own level. And, in a democracy – even a supposed democracy – political morality finds its own prevailing standards. In other words, we get the politics and the politicians that we deserve.
- As JNU becomes a battleground and academic world distances itself, courts hold sole hope of relief
Apoorvanand writes in his column for Scroll.in that can things get more bizarre than this – that students have to run to the courts to get their fees deposited or theses submitted? Of all the universities, could one expect this to happen in JNU?
In the new India that has been crafted in the last four years, we are getting used to such absurdities. That JNU blocked Umar Khalid even after being reprimanded by the High Court shows its impudence towards its students. In any other circumstances, the judgement and the observation of the court would have instilled sobriety in the administration. But we are living in new normal times. The university authorities do not feel the need to review their decisions and moderate their attitude towards students.
That jealousy and yearning has now been replaced by sympathy and pity. Jawaharlal Nehru University is being de-shaped and if it continues for some more time, we will not be able to recognise it.
When a government declares war against a university and a large section of the media manufactures popular anger against it, it has little chance of survival. The JNU community is facing an unequal war.
- Is the Rafale Deal Turning out to Be BJP’s Bofors Moment?
Swati Chaturvedi writes in her column for The Wire that the Rafale deal and the persistent allegations of cronyism levelled by Rahul Gandhi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi have potentially made the controversy the BJP’s Bofors moment. With the Congress deciding to make the Rafale deal a key issue in the run up to the 2019 elections, it hopes to make the allegations of cronyism the personal albatross around Modi’s neck.
‘Bofors redux’ is how senior Congress leaders see the deal and despite the BJP’s attempts to shrug off the allegations in general election season, the Congress feels it has found a weak spot and will not let go till the 2019 polls which are a mere eight months away.
Gandhi has been continually targeting Modi for his closeness to several billionaires which include Gautam Adani, Anil Ambani and Ajay Piramal. Authoritative sources say that the Congress has planned a biting campaign that targets Modi and his alleged cronies for whom the Congress will say Modi works for in bringing “achhe din”.
While the BJP has tried to ensure that a pliant media does not give extensive play to the Rafale deal, the issue still does not seem to be dying down. More so, the rise of opposition politics, in general, is haunting the BJP.
With elections looming and the Congress set to make the Rafale deal the shorthand for cronyism, history is virtually repeating itself even as the Modi government has filed a fresh FIR in the Bofors case.