Congress outsmarts factionalism; Zeitenwende for Kerala Muslim women; Afghanistan starves
Opinion Watch
Congress outsmarts factionalism
Congress seems to have taken lessons from experiences of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in choosing party’s leader in Himachal Pradesh and the chief minister of the state. If Congress had stayed on past course, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would have begun nibbling away the legislators to shore up its numbers. By choosing Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Congress has shown that the party is now riding the learning curve.
The Times of India in its Editorial has opined that Congress has dealt with factionalism, blunted the BJP’s dynasty ammunition, and has given a message to the feuding Karnataka unit to unite for the next year’s Assembly elections. The daily has opined that Congress should pay more attention to efforts to fight factionalism than the ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
Pratibha Singh, wife of late Virbhadra Singh, lobbied hard to become CM of Himachal Pradesh. But Congress was firm and counted legislators’ choices to prop of Sukhu, who comes from a very humble background. This is a departure from norms in the grand old party where legacy was always top criteria. Sukhu has shown to be a match to the BJP’s strength on the street. He gives a new lease of life to Congress in Himachal Pradesh where the party was known only by late Virbhadra Singh.
Zeitenwende for Kerala Muslim women
Mullahs have demonstrated a never failing ability to take the Muslim society to the medieval age, as they have done in Afghanistan, while occasionally they yearn for such power in India. But the Muslim women in India have seen benign impact of democracy, and they know the ways to strike back against misogyny and patriarchy in the Muslim society.
The New Indian Express has cautioned the Mullahs in Kerala that the Muslim women in the state are in the mainstream of the society – occupying front rows in schools and colleges, leading marches on the streets to claim their rights and staying firm against the patriarchal interpretations of the religious scriptures by the clerics.
A few days ago, the Muslim women and girls were sought to be stopped from entering the Jama Masjid in New Delhi if they were not accompanied by men, but the diktat was soon taken back following backlash. The Madurai-based daily advised clerics to not give fodder to those who want to defame religion. This should be a juvenile thought from the daily, as reforms in social practices are the natural consequences of democratic life, which don’t take place because of fear of some but for the rightful expression of life. The Muslim women must firmly back Kudumbasree Mission of the state government wherein they take the pledge for the equal distribution of the family properties without any gender discrimination. The Sunni cleric Nasar Faizy Koodathayi has claimed that the pledge is against the Sharia law.
Afghanistan starves
It has been more than a year since the Taliban recaptured power in Afghanistan after the US-led western powers, who wanted to give human rights to the people, ran away with a murky deal brokered by terror sympathizers. Now, over 90 per cent of the people in Afghanistan are starving, as the country faces grave food crisis in the aftermath of the sanctions imposed against the Taliban regime.
The Pioneer in its Editorial has lamented that the world is looking the other way, as the fallout of the worst drought in 30 years in Afghanistan takes a heavy toll of the people. The daily claims that India’s presidency of the UNSC and COP could make a difference to deal with the food crisis in Afghanistan since New Delhi has a vast experience in dealing with the country. But New Delhi must step up its engagement with Kabul only if there is an irreversible changes in the Taliban, which remains a terror outfit even now.
About The Author
