My Opinion

On Thursday, 29-year-old Aaditya Thackeray became the first scion of Thackeray clan to enter electoral politics. Shiv Sena, the party founded by his grandfather Balasaheb Thackeray, has fielded the young leader from Mumbai’s prestigious Worli constituency.

Shiv Sena was founded in 1966 by Aditya’s grandfather Balasaheb Thackeray, and in the last 53 years, the party had never fielded any member of the Thackeray clan to contest elections. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray went to the Returning Officer with his son Aaditya for filing nomination papers.

Since this was a historic moment, the party threw its entire weight to stage a big road show as hundreds of drum-beating Shiv Sainiks took part in the march from Lower Parel to Worli. Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi and other senior ministers were also present.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis rang up Aaditya Thackeray to congratulate him for entering the electoral fray. On his part, Aaditya posted on social media a picture of him bowing before a portrait of Balasaheb Thackeray before leaving home to file the nomination.

Uddhav Thackeray never contested elections in his life nor did his father Balasaheb Thackeray. With the changing times, Uddhav has now decided to veer away from family tradition as he wants his son to take up his mantle after going through the rough and tumble of electoral politics.

Aaditya has been fielded from Worli, a Shiv Sena stronghold in Mumbai, and it will surely send a good message to his party supporters, both in India’s financial capital and in the hugely populated suburbs surrounding Mumbai.

Already, Shiv Sena leaders have started projecting Aaditya as their chief ministerial candidate, but nobody can predict how the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance will perform in this month’s assembly polls. In the end, it will all depend on the number of seats that the Shiv Sena and its bigger ally BJP are going to win.

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More than five years ago, on August 15, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first address to the nation from the ramparts of historic Red Fort, vowed to fulfill Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a clean India on his 150th birth anniversary in 2019. A nationwide Swachh Bharat project was launched in order to build toilets in all villages of India.

Over centuries, women in rural India had to suffer the humiliation of being forced to defecate in the open, in the absence of toilets in rural households. October 2 this year was, in a sense, a day of celebration for Indian womanhood, as our Prime Minister declared India open defecation free on Wednesday.

“The world is amazed at our success. In five years, we have built more than 11 crore toilets for 60 crore population”, said Modi.

According to official data, all 699 districts in India have been declared ODF. The data show 100,748,884 toilets have been built in 599,963 villages across India. From 38.7 per cent coverage of toilet cover in rural India in 2014, it has now reached 100 per cent.

Till five years ago, women in Indian villages had to wait till dusk to defecate in the open. They used to move in groups to the open fields to ease themselves in the dark. It was nothing short of a tragic situation. Today, with toilets built in households, women do not have to venture out in the dark. Now women themselves take care of cleanliness in their toilets, because they understand the importance of a toilet in daily life.

Modi said, this is only a brief half in the march towards progress. Work has already begun on the Jal Jeevan Mission, which is aimed at providing piped water to all rural households by 2022. On Wednesday, Modi also announced another ambitious project – putting an end to use of single-use plastic across India by 2022.

Single-use plastic has become the bane of world’s environments. It is my ardent belief that Modi will be successful again this time. I would appeal to all sections of society to stop using plastic bags and instead use jute bags for daily use. Let us do our small bit in the interest of our future generations.

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Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday, addressing a convention of party workers in Kolkata, made it quite clear that not a single Bengali Hindu will be deported. Shah said the government will soon enact the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) before enforcing the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Shah said: “CAB will precede NRC, so refugees need not worry”. The CAB guarantees citizenship to all non-Muslim refugees who have come to India from neighbouring countries. The Modi government tried to pass the bill in Parliament during its first term, but could not.

Shah said, “people of Bengal are being misled about NRC. The Modi government will not drive out a single refugee. I assure all Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain refugees they won’t have to leave the country, they will get Indian citizenship and enjoy all the rights of an Indian national.”

The Home Minister said, “Bengali Hindus are being harassed in the name of NRC, and I have come here to clear the confusion. Mamata Banerjee’s contention that Hindu refugees will also be driven out is absolutely false. No Bengali Hindu refugee will have to leave India.”

The Home Minister however said that the government will not allow “even a single infiltrator to stay in India.” Amit Shah’s comments come in the wake of reports of thousands of refugees, both Hindu and Muslim, lining up outside government offices in Bengal to get birth certificates and ration cards to prove their domicile. Rumours are being spread that refugees who had come from Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan) will have to prove their domicile during the NRC drive.

Amit Shah also assured Bengali Hindus that they would be given full liberty to celebrate Durga Puja, Ram Navami, Janmashtami, Hanuman Jayanti and other festivals. The Mamata Banerjee government had issued restrictions on some of these festivals during recent years.

Amit Shah has made his intentions quite clear. He has not minced words in saying that the minorities appeasement policy being followed by Mamata Banerjee government will be discontinued if the BJP comes to power in Bengal. To Amit Shah goes the credit of changing the political lexicon in most of the states of India, and he has conveyed the message to Hindus of Bengal in clear words: there shall be no appeasement of minorities.

Over last several decades, most of the political parties in Bengal have been following appeasement policy in order to garner the Muslim vote bank. By winning 18 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal, Amit Shah has proved that elections can be won in the state without appeasing minorities’ vote banks. Mamata Banerjee is now worried because she is gradually losing the support of the Bengali ‘bhadralok’ (middle class) Hindus in her own state.

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After torrential downpour for nearly 72 hours, Bihar’s capital Patna witnessed massive waterlogging affecting 16 lakh out of its nearly 20 lakh population. Lakhs of residents were forced to live without electricity and phone connections, as rising water level from Ganga flooded vast areas of the city.

This was the second heaviest rainfall in Patna in the last 50 years, and among those marooned was Bihar’s deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi. He and his family members had to be rescued by boats by the State Disaster Response Force. Thousands of vehicles in the city were completely submerged in the deluge. Marooned people were forced to live for three days without drinking water.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar undertook an aerial survey of Patna’s waterlogged areas on Monday. Heavy rains have also caused damage in 15 other districts of Bihar, as the rising water levels of Ganga damaged embankments in Nalanda and Jehanabad.

The main cause of waterlogging in Patna appears to be inexcusable civic apathy on part of the local authorities towards the city’s drainage system . Drains in the city have been built over the years without any scientific planning. Over the last several decades, the focus was only on low lying areas on the flood plains of Ganga, and there was simply no plan for a situation if the water levels of Ganga rose.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ashwini Choubey made an insensitive remark by saying that heavy rains during ‘Hathia nakshatra’ (constellation of stars) are always severe.

A minister citing star constellation as the reason for downpour in the 21st century seems to be more of a joke. Almanacs are prepared by astrologers in advance and if the minister believed so much in the theory of star constellations causing rainfall, he could have alerted his colleagues to make preparations.

The main cause behind waterlogging in Patna was simple: most of the drains in the city were choked, and nobody bothered to clean them up before the monsoon set in. This should serve as an eye opener to the Bihar government about the need to revamp the civic drainage systems in Patna and other towns.

In Varanasi, heavy rains caused waterlogging in the city, and the Prime Minister who was in the US had to ring up the UP chief minister to take immediate steps to tackle waterlogging. Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey was sent to Varanasi to oversee relief work. CM Yogi Adityanath visited Varanasi on Sunday.

Hundreds of crores of rupees were spent during the past five years to revamp Varanasi’s drainage system. There must be a probe to find out how the funds meant for drainage system revamp were spent.

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It was a study in contrasts when Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, and an hour later Pakistan PM Imran Khan spoke from the same podium.

Modi’s speech in Hindi was measured, and it outlined the vision of his government. The Prime Minister spoke like a true statesman, a world leader with clear views on world peace and global climate change. His speech outlined India’s intention of leading the world on several global issues including climate change and terrorism.
Modi spoke about India’s thousand-years-old civilization and said, India never initiated war (Yudh) in its long history, it gave the world Buddha, the apostle of peace and non-violence. The Prime Minister appealed to the world comity of nations to unite in the fight against the evil of terrorism. He also appealed to the world powers to join hands in tackling climate change and eradicating poverty.

While doing so, Modi outlined the achievements of his government in the fields of social welfare, like Swachh Bharat, LPG connections to poor families, digital identification for all, inclusive banking for all, ban on single use plastic, solar alliance and free medical care.

Narendra Modi did the right thing in avoiding any mention of Kashmir and Pakistan. Kashmir is naturally our internal matter, and at most, it may be a bilateral issue. By not naming Pakistan, Modi gave a clear message: India has the potential to deal with Pakistan on its own. There is no need for third party mediation nor is there any necessity of raising this at an international forum.

Even as Indians outside the UN headquarters were expressing joy over Modi’s speech, Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, appearing dejected, began his rambling speech that went on for 48 minutes. Imran Khan was supposed to speak for 15 minutes, but he went on an on, speaking about Islamic terrorism. Modi, Kashmir and nuclear warfare, and the red light blinked continuously for 33 minutes.

There was nothing new in Imran’s speech. People, particularly world leaders, have already heard him saying this over and over again, and there was nothing new. Imran Khan had already said a day ago that he was disappointed with the international community on Kashmir issue.

During his long speech, Imran’s gestures, body language and choice of words clearly showed that he was disappointed. The overall image of Pakistan as a nation surely has taken a beating, because its Prime Minister was speaking as if he was addressing a public rally in Pakistan. This was an international forum where world leaders are expected to present their vision about their country and the world, but the Pakistani Prime Minister launched into a tirade against Modi, RSS and India.

Imagine what the people of Pakistan must be thinking, when they saw their Prime Minister failing to present his vision of progress for his own country. I want to say this again, Imran will have a lot to answer for, when he returns to Pakistan.

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Pakistan has requested the United Nations Security Council committee to allow terror outfits Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed to withdraw a limited amount of money (Rs 1.5 lakh) from his bank account for “necessary basic living expenses”.
The request has been formally accepted by the UNSC committee as part of an automatic process, since the Pakistani government has supported release of funds to a sanctioned individual for “basic expenses”.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa was designated by the United Nations as a terrorist organisation in December, 2008 after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed by terrorists trained and sent by Pakistan. Hafiz Saeed’s bank account was blocked by the Pakistan government in compliance with the UNSC resolution 1267 and the funds of JuD and other related organisations were frozen.

The Pakistan government has now sought release of Rs 1.5 lakh from these frozen funds to cover “necessary basic living expenses for Saeed and his family”. Saeed was a professor before he started his nefarious terror activities, and his monthly pension is being deposited into his bank account by the Pakistan government.

The soft attitude shown towards the Lashkar terror mastermind by the Pakistani government clearly exposes the hollowness of its claims of combating terrorism. It is because of Pakistan’s open support to terror outfits like Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammad that Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has ruled out any talks with what he called ‘Terroristan’.

Jaishankar is right. How can India start dialogue with a neighbouring country which sends terrorists from across the border, stages attacks on its army bases, spills the blood of innocent people and then extends its hand of friendship?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly exposed on the world arena, the sheer hypocrisy of Pakistan’s stand on terrorism. Almost the entire world is now unwilling to trust Pakistan on the issue of combating terrorism, because it was in Abottabad, Pakistan, that the Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was found hiding and scores of terror outfits are being nurtured in what is known as the “cradle of jihadi terrorism”.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan may plead innocence on the world stage, but none of the Big Powers are willing to listen to him. Time has come for the Pakistani army and establishment to seriously introspect and root out terrorism from its soil.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan hurriedly called a press conference in New York on Tuesday night after the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A dejected looking Imran Khan said: “To be absolutely frank, I am a bit disappointed by the international community (over Kashmir).”

The Pakistani PM added: “The reaction would have been different and more urgent had it been eight million Europeans or the Jewish people or Americans…There is no pressure on Narendra Modi to lift the siege.”

Clearly, Imran Khan and the Pakistani army have lost the diplomatic battle over Kashmir. They tried their utmost to internationalize the issue of revocation of Article 370, which was clearly a domestic matter for India.

I think Imran Khan is neither worried over Prime Minister Modi’s diplomatic victory nor he is concerned about Kashmir. Before emplaning for New York, Imran Khan had promised the Pakistani people that he would create a storm in the international arena over Kashmir, but now that he will return with empty hands, he has much to answer for before his countrymen.

Judging by the ferocious attacks that are being launched by the opposition parties against Imran Khan over his “failure” over Kashmir diplomacy, and watching the tone and tenor of TV news channel debates in Pakistan, many uncomfortable questions are being asked. Clearly, Imran Khan looks worried and it appears that he is fighting a losing battle.

Time has come for Imran Khan and the army establishment to realize that no big power in the world, except China, wants to help Pakistan because of its dubious reputation as the cradle of Islamic jihadi terrorism. Our External Affairs Minister summed it up succinctly in a single sentence: “there can be no talks with Terroristan”. The sooner the Pakistani army understands the import of this statement, the better.

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US President Donald Trump, speaking to the media with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York on Tuesday, clearly endorsed the Indian PM’s handling of Kashmir issue.

When a reporter asked what message he wanted to give Pakistan considering its Prime Minister Imran Khan had admitted in a gathering in US that Pakistan’s army and ISI had trained Al-Qaeda and other terror outfits, President Trump replied: “The message is not for me to give..it is for Prime Minister Modi to give, and I think he gave that loud and clear the other day….He gave a pretty loud message and I am sure he will be able to handle that situation.”

On Imran Khan’s remark, Trump said he had not heard his remarks but added that “I know this, that your Prime Minister will take care of it. You have a great Prime Minister, he will solve the problem. I have no doubt about it.”

On state sponsorship of terrorism by Pakistan, Trump said: “You mentioned Pakistan but Iran would have to be at the top of the list..It will be great if they (India and Pakistan) could work out something on Kashmir, we all want to see that… I believe Prime Minister Modi and Khan will get along when they get to know each other and I think a lot of good things will come from that meeting.”

Indian officials in New York say, Prime Minister Modi had conveyed to Trump that he was not averse to talks with Imran Khan, but Pakistan would first have to take concrete steps against terror.

The remarks by the US president are being seen as a devastating blow to the Pakistani establishment, which had been on diplomatic overdrive for the past several weeks trying to seek US mediation and international support on the Kashmir issue.

On the other hand, Trump effusively praised Prime Minister Modi by describing him as the “father of India”. He said: “I remember India before, not intimately, but I remember India before. It was very torn, there was a lot of dissension and a lot of fighting and he brought it all together. Like a father would bring it together, and maybe he is the father of India. We will call him the father of India..”

On the Houston event, Trump compared Modi with singer Elvis Presley. “There was tremendous spirit in that room too and they love this gentleman to my right..Those people went crazy, that was like Elvis..it was like, Elvis Presley came back.”

Clearly Trump has given out the message that so long as India does not want, he would not mediate on the Kashmir issue. India, on its part, is firm in its stand that Jammu & Kashmir has always been an integral part of India. Until and unless Pakistan stops aiding and abetting terrorists, there is no point in holding bilateral talks with a country that has always reneged on its commitments in the last 72 years.

Moreover, there is no point comparing Imran Khan with Narendra Modi. The Indian prime minister has rightly emerged as one of the world’s top and powerful leaders, whereas Imran Khan has now to think what to tell his countrymen when he returns to Pakistan empty handed.

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In a historic, landmark event at NRG stadium in Houston on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump took a sort of victory lap, hand in hand, accepting accolades from the rapturous Indian-American crowd. Earlier, both the statesmen had lavished fulsome praise on each other, and Modi did some plain speaking about Pakistan’s terrorism export, with Trump sitting in the front row.

For me, this was a new history in the making which only a man like Modi could have carried through. Indians and Americans had never seen their leaders holding hands, making an entry on stage, praising each other and then doing a victory lap in front of a 50,000-strong audience.

Never before had a US president been a guest of the Indian prime minister on American soil. Never had an Indian prime minister said on American soil that he was introducing the US president to “my family”. Most of these Indian Americans are potential voters for Trump in next year’s crucial presidential elections.

For the first time, a US president, holding hands with the Indian prime minister inside a stadium, could have felt that his stature would rise and this would work to his advantage.

Till now, we, in India, had always been seeing India standing as a younger brother with the US, but Sunday night images were different. Both the statesmen stood as equal partners on stage, beaming with pride. Narendra Modi has truly raised India’s stature in the comity of nations.

The images of Houston event are endearing. Right from the grand welcome given to Modi, with spectators chanting ‘Modi, Modi’ and US Senators, House representatives, and other American leaders standing as the Indian PM took the stage till the final victory lap.

It was Modi’s idea to hold Trump’s hand and do a sort of victory lap around the stadium greeting the rapturous crowd. Clearly, Modi was the star of the show, and yet, as a graceful host, he also made Trump the star of his show – both through his speeches and action.

There was another image which was eye-catching. As Modi and Trump strode towards the stage from the ramp, with dance performers standing in a line, a nine-year-old boy from Karnataka, Satwik Hegde, who had taken part in the yoga exercise, suddenly took out his cellphone and requested the leaders for a selfie. Modi noticed the boy, and willingly posed with him and Trump for a selfie.

Atmospherics apart, Modi in his speech clearly outlined the success that his government has achieved in Swachh Bharat, Ujjwala mission providing LPG to poor families, Ayushman Bharat and several other big schemes. Modi spoke about the target of a 5-trillion-dollar economy for India, and said he was confident that the US economy would be a major part in our endeavor.

Let me delve into the past. In 1990, Narendra Modi stood as a tourist outside the White House, and 29 years later, the US president was assuring him that he was India’s closest friend in the White House.

In 2006, Geroge W. Bush was the US president and the US refused to grant a visa to Narendra Modi, but 13 years later it was Modi who is campaigning for the US president saying ‘Ab Ki Baar, Trump Sarkar’.

In 2012, 65 lawmakers from India had written a joint memorandum to the US president asking him not to grant visa to Modi, and seven years later, more than 60 US House representatives and senators stood in line to shake hands with Modi, and some of them took selfies with him.

We have had many prime ministers in the past. They used to visit the US. Several of them struck good personal rapport with past US presidents, but these were relationships in which a superpower was dealing with a developing nation. In those days, it was a big thing when the US president gave time to our prime minister in the White House.

Narendra Modi has completely upturned the entire format. He has brought the India-US relationship on an even keel. The Indian prime minister was not seen as seeking something, but was being seen as giving something to the US president.

I see this as the beginning of an equal relationship – a relationship about which India can be proud of. In the coming days and weeks, we shall be hearing more about the outcomes of this equal relationship.

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In a bold economic measure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced a reduction in corporate tax rate for domestic manufacturing companies from 30 per cent to 22 pc. This was aimed at giving a boost to Make In India initiatives. For new manufacturing companies, the corporate tax has been reduced from 25 per cent to 15 pc.

The fiscal changes will be brought through ordinance. The measure was timely because the GDP growth rate had slipped to 5 per cent this time, a six-year low.

This was the third time in last three weeks that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made announcements to give a boost to business and economy. The announcement was in a sense historic.

The Bombay Stock Exchange sensex recorded its highest jump of nearly 2,000 points recorded in the last ten years, and India Inc leaders have welcomed the step as “a big bang reform”.

Naturally, the financial outgo for the Central exchequer would be to the tune of Rs 1.45 lakh crore as it may widen fiscal deficit, but it will definitely improve overall sentiment in business and economy. During the last several months, no fresh investments in business projects were being made and there was a steep fall in investment by foreign institutional investors. Sitharaman’s bold step will address these concerns squarely.

One more area that is left is the imposition of steep surcharge on super rich income tax payers in the last Budget. There should be a rethink about it and it should be revised.

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Maharashtra will have assembly polls next month, along with Haryana and Jharkhand, and all the major and regional parties are gearing up for the fight. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a huge election rally in Nashik on Tuesday.

In his speech, Modi praised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ performance and sought another term for him. Apart from other issues, he focussed on Kashmir and freedom fighter Veer Savarkar.

Modi said, “Earlier we used to raise the slogan ‘Kashmir Hamara Hai (Kashmir is ours), but now our slogan should be “Kashmir ko banana hai (we must build a new Kashmir). The time has come to turn Jammu & Kashmir into a paradise. Already we have lost 42,000 people in Kashmir due to terrorism.”

The PM’s speech makes it quite clear that Kashmir will be at the top in the list of poll issues that will figure in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, where the BJP is seeking another term. On Thursday, Modi clearly said that the decision to nullify Article 370 was taken “keeping in view the sentiments of 130 crore Indians”.

Modi said: “A lot of efforts are being made from across the border (read Pakistan) to spread unrest in the valley. The youths, mothers and sisters in Jammu and Kashmir have now made up their mind to come out of the long phase of violence. They want development and jobs.”

Modi mentioned Kashmir because Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar had recently criticized the house arrest of opposition leaders in the valley. Modi said: “I can understand the confusion of the Congress. But Sharad Pawar? I feel bad when an experienced leader like him makes wrong statements for votes. He said he likes the neighbouring country. It seems he finds them better than us, but the world knows where the terror factories lie.”

Modi then touched upon the issue of the great freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, a figure respected by the people of Maharashtra. The PM said: “Maharashtra has given birth to many brave sons, like freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. It was Savarkar who smiled in the face of adversity even when he was being tortured by the British during the freedom struggle. Savarkar was a leader who instilled the pride of nationalism in our youths.”

Modi raised the issue of Savarkar because the Congress party in 2016 had posted a series of tweets calling Savarkar a “traitor” and alleging that he had “begged for mercy from the British”. Savarkar’s grandson Ranjit Savarkar had filed a complaint before a Mumbai court which has now directed the police to question Rahul Gandhi in this matter. Surely, this issue will gain traction as the poll campaign rises to a feverish pitch.

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The five-judge Constitution Bench of Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, on Wednesday said that it hopes to conclude hearing in the Ayodhya case by October 18, and the bench would take four weeks to write the judgement.

The verdict is going to be pronounced on or before November 17, the day Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi retires. This litigation over the ownership of 2.77 acres of Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land in Ayodhya is 70 years old, but the dispute over the land has been lingering on for more than 150 years, both during the British rule and in the post-Indepence period.

As many as 14 appeals were filed in the Supreme Court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict, that was delivered in four civil suits. The High Court in its verdict had said that the disputed 2.77 acres of land be divided equally between three parties – Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the representatives of Ram Lalla – the child deity.

The Supreme Court verdict, if given in November, will be a landmark one, because this is one case in which several mediation efforts have failed. The Chief Justice wants to deliver the verdict before he retires, but there are also sceptics who say that fresh petitions may be filed to delay the hearing and verdict, so that the dispute may linger on.

If the apex court is unable to finish hearings by October 18, and if the judges do not get enough time to write their judgements before the retirement of the Chief Justice, then the bench will have to be reconstituted for fresh hearings. This would mean that the case would drag on.

Now that the hearings are in the final stage, the people of India want an end to this vexed dispute, once and for all. The sooner, the better.

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