My Opinion

RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav may tone down his electoral promises after having been served a show cause notice by the EC for having repeatedly made casteist remarks. However it would be incorrect to say that Lalu will not refer to the issue of reservation anymore after all his entire political campaign is pegged on caste.

At the UNGA, Pakistan leaves no stone unturned in trying to corner India every year with its Kashmir rhetoric. It has always wanted a third party intervention but till date it has been unsuccessful. Pakistan has always demanded a demilitarisation of Kashmir and Siachen. Governments change, different parties come to power and yet there is nothing new that Pakistan has to offer….every Pakistani PM has repeatedly raked up the Kashmir issue at the UN.

The real truth of the Dadri incident must be unearthed. India TV’s correspondent has learnt that the identity of those boys who got the priest to make that fateful announcement and attack Ikhlaq and his family is well known to the villagers. One can hope that the police is able to punish the miscreants and send them to jail at the earliest. Instead of stoking the flames, political leaders could well ensure that communal harmony is maintained in the area especially leaders like Yogi Adityanath and Azam Khan who should refrain from making inflammatory speeches.

Nothing is more shameful for any society or country when its farmers are left with no other option but to take their own lives with the hope that their families are well compensated by the government after they are gone. And Telangana is certainly not far behind. There have been increasing cases of farmer suicides in the State. The government has put the figure at 430 ever since it came to power last year June. The Opposition says the Government is downplaying it and the actual figure is as high as 1200 and the National Crime Bureau has pegged it at 898 farmer suicides in this last one and a half years. Whatever may be the figure what is important is that political parties should leave aside their differences and come together to address this issue in order to help out the farmers and give them the confidence.

With Russia having launched airstrikes in Syria against the ISIS, it has added a new dimension to the Syrian crisis. Russia wants President Bashar-al-Assad, a key ally to strengthen his control in order to stem the growing menace of ISIS. However the US wants Assad to go and has hit out at Russia for the airstrikes. Both claim they are fighting against the ISIS and yet both the US and Russia are trying enjoy the spoils of war by trying to negate each other’s military actions in Syria.