Domestic Political Trends

Article

Force of faith trumps law and reason in Ayodhya case

If left unamended by the Supreme Court, the legal, social and political repercussions of the judgment are likely to be extremely damaging.

New Delhi: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has made judicial history by deciding a long pending legal dispute over a piece of property in Ayodhya on the basis of an unverified and unsubstantiated reference to the “faith and belief of Hindus.”

By Siddharth Varadarajan more»

Publication

Emerging Trends in Indian Politics The 15th General Election.

 - This volume is the outcome of a study organised jointly by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung (HBS) India and the Centre for Public Affairs (CPA) before the 15th general elections to the Lok Sabha. The project attempted to gauge the emerging political trends that may influence the politics of the country. Ajay K. Mehra more»

Opinion

Terrorism, Communal Violence and Police

 - The role of police in democratic society is very different from that of police in colonial society. However, it is 61 years now that India became independent and there is no change in the role of police a wee bit. Today our police have become even more colonial in its attitude. The British colonial rulers had enacted the police an act in 1861 to use the police for suppression of people’s movement and to terrorize colonized people. Our police too is terrorizing innocent people fighting for their rights. By: Dr Asghar Ali Engineer more»

Opinion

Democracy, Elections and Minorities in India

 - The General elections in India are about to take place within three months and all political parties are readying themselves to draw up their winning strategies. The Congress has not been able to rehabilitate itself again in the eyes of the Muslims. The election calculus shows that the BJP would find it extremely difficult to increase its present tally in Parliament. 'The Terror Card' did not pay even immediately after the Mumbai attacks in November; and the BJP lost the election in Delhi. Thus 'terror card' no longer arouses emotions to be electorally exploited. Dr Asghar Ali Engineer more»

Opinion

Left-of-Left: The Link Between Revolutionary and Mainstream Politics

 - Ever since its emergence, the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist brand of revolutionary politics has retained what can be described as a “sibling relationship” with India’s mainstream politics. India’s Communist movement has at once participated in parliamentary politics and experimented with revolution since the founding of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in the 1920s. Its first experiment with revolutionary politics was in Telangana in the 1940s. This was followed soon after by participation in the first general election. By: Prof. Ajay K. Mehra more»

Opinion

Election Results, New Government and its Tasks

 - December 9, 2009 - The election results of the Loksabha came as a surprise to all including the congress itself. The secularists were holding their breath. What is important to note this time is that percentage of vote got by the congress and that by BJP is much more decisive: ten per cent. There is one good lesson for all parties, regional or national. It does not pay to field candidates on the basis of caste, sub-caste and communities as all parties do. Dr Asghar Ali Engineer more»

Opinion

Federal Debate in Jammu and Kashmir: What the Election boycatt can teach us

 - The election results in Jammu and Kashmir seem to have been the long awaited good news to shake off a bad year. The voter turnout in J&K hovered around 62%, slightly higher than the national average, and J&K has a new energetic Chief Minister, the youngest in India. If the editorials of the national English language print media are to be believed, the elections were a ‘triumph of democracy’ and validated ‘mainstream politics as the most effective mediator in finding solutions’. By: Patrick Hoenig more»

Opinion

Gujarat Elections and Aftermath

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Gujarat carnage was unparalleled in the history of India and it will continue to be discussed for a long time to come. Like partition of our country it cannot be easily forgotten. Any election in Gujarat will draw into discussion Gujarat carnage. Modi, I maintain, could not have won 2002 election without organizing that carnage, nor the 2007 election could he have won without it.

By: Dr Asghar Ali Engineer more»

Opinion

Muslim Party Should or Should Not Be

 - These days some Muslim leaders are throwing up the idea of forming a separate Muslim party. Recently some leaders from Maharashtra got together and said Muslims should not vote for Congress-NCP Alliance nor for Shiv Sena-BJP and since there is no third alternative hence a hurried conclusion was drawn to set up a separate Muslim party. Will it be a wise move to form a separate party? It has given rise to this debate. By: Dr Asghar Ali Engineer more»

Opinion

Terrorism, Police and Minorities

 - The police as such has strong minority bias right from the dawn of freedom. Our freedom came at the cost of partition and partition further increased Hindu-Muslim divide and the police could not remain unaffected by communalization of society. To what extent the police has been affected by the communal virus became abundantly evident during its conduct in investigating terror attacks. What happened in Delhi in Batla House on 21st September is indeed hair raising story of police prejudice against Muslims. By: Dr Asghar Ali Engineer more»