My Opinion

Last year Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had raised the issue of Kashmir at the UN General Assembly but none of the big nations supported him. This year again he will raise the issue. There is no doubt that Pakistan’s foreign policy is primarily governed by Army and the ISI and Nawaz Sharif has no option but tow their line. He cannot afford to commit the same mistake in New York – a mistake that forced him to incur their wrath when he failed to raise the Kashmir issue at the Ufa Summit.

The stampede at Mecca is a very unfortunate incident. Infact more than one lakh Indians are currently on a Haj pilgrimage and naturally their families here at home are worried. We hope they are fine and pray for their safe return. Lakhs of Haj pilgrims visit Mecca from all over the world every year and ironically nearly every year there is some untoward incident. During the ritual of ‘stoning the devil’ hordes of people assemble together and the pushing & jostling triggers even a minor incident into a massive tragedy. Saddest part is that many a lives have been lost in such stampedes which have occurred several times in Mecca but the authorities are yet to undertake preventive measures.

It appears that PM Modi is going to those places where no Indian PM has visited for a while. California in the US and Ireland are such examples..it is worth admitting that engaging with such countries will only help India’s ties with them but will also help us become a stronger nation.

Other than caste, there are two more issues ruling the roost in the Bihar polls. One is dynastic politics and other opportunistic politics. Not only have family members got preference, many ‘bahubali’ or influential & powerful leaders have also got tickets and yet every political party professes to be fair and promises to abolish such means!

Hardik Patel is clearly exhibiting a lack of experience.Sometimes he talks of reservation and sometimes he says reservation should be discontinued. Sometimes he appears in public meetings and then there are moments he goes into hiding…at times he talks of police harassment and at times says police have kidnapped him!

In order to protect the Ganga from pollution, the High Court has banned the immersion of idols made of toxic materials. The seers who wanted to immerse Lord Ganesha’s idol had assured that the idols were eco-friendly, non toxic and made of clay and the police should have considered their demands. Besides, neither did they possess any weapons nor damage any property. They were there to protest peacefully. The administration should have engaged with them instead of resorting to violence against them.

When Parliament was in session, Congress MPs were protesting against the Land Acquisition Bill. Sonia Gandhi was infact leading the protests. Rahul Gandhi however was nowhere to be seen. Now when the Bihar Polls near and campaigning is on in full swing, Rahul Gandhi has left for the US. There are too many questions on Rahul’s disappearing acts especially at critical times like these and that too when the party needs him the most. Even leaders within his own party are raising this issue.

Every leader & every political party claim that development is their main agenda and yet to garner votes they resort to caste and reservation politics since they are well aware of the pitfalls of ignoring two such crucial factors. And Bihar is no different either. It is clearly evident in the manner in which seats have been distributed by the NDA and the Grand Alliance. Even the list of candidates released by Nitish Kumar clearly shows a caste bias. How can we then expect the electorates to cast their vote in the name of development?

Police or a country alone cannot fight ISIS. The world should join hands to defeat them, all countries should help each other. UAE has done a good start. The country deported an Indian lady who had links with the ISIS. Other countries should also co-ordinate with each other on this issue. Religious scholars can play an important role to address this problem. India’s Islamic scholars have already started this great initiative.

The process of electing the Mayor was as per the laid rules, but the result was not according to the wish of the people of Bengaluru.

The Centre has around 130 files related to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. These files have not been made public by the Central Govt. After Mamata Banerjee’s statement, pressure will build on the Centre to de-classify these files. In the first instance, Mamata herself could demand it because she knows that people of West Bengal are emotionally attached to Netaji. And elections are not far away!

Pakistan Rangers have assured to maintain peace and tranquillity at the border. The Rangers also agreed on all possible help to India to stop infiltration and smuggling of drugs. However, Pakistan has conveyed this to India many times in the past. Hence, we should trust Pakistan only when we see results of this meet at the border.