Kashmir Killings; Growth Pangs; Pining Past
Opinion Watch
Kashmir Killings
The Hindu has expressed concern at the killing of a Kashmiri Pandit Sanjay Sharma in Pulwama. The daily said that this is the second killing since Janki Nath was shot dead in the 1990s at the peak of militancy. The Chennai-based daily also stated that 29 civilians were killed by terrorists last year, which included “three local Pandits, three other Hindus and eight non-local labourers, while 5,500 Pandits left the valley again”. The daily said that the killing has taken place in an area which was known to be safe earlier.
For past four years, the terrorists in the Kashmir valley have adopted the strategy of targeted killings. Recently, lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha vowed to resettle Pandits in the Kashmir valley. Terrorists have been able to strike even while security agencies claimed to have neutralized most of the militants. There are reports that sophisticated arms abandoned by the US military in Afghanistan have found ways in the Kashmir valley. Also, Afghanistan and Pakistan are facing acute starvation, which may also be pushing mercenaries into the Kashmir valley. Soon, Srinagar will host G20 meeting. Security forces must smoke and scorch remaining terrorists in the valley.
Growth Pangs
The GDP growth of 4.4 per cent, much below the inflation number, must not leave any in doubt that the Indian economy is not shining, but battling dark clouds of slowdown. Agriculture stays resilient, otherwise the third quarter GDP growth would have skipped below four per cent. The reopening after the pandemic high has all been absorbed in the economy, and the race to bottom is now at top speed. Expectation is to hold a 3.8 per cent GDP growth in the last quarter to manage a seven per cent for current fiscal, and aim to hold a 6.5 per cent GDP growth next year.
The Economic Times and others have opined on factors leading to the growth slump. The ET said that private consumption growth is declining – 20 per cent in Q1, 8.8 per cent in Q2 and 2.1 per cent in Q3. The daily also said that private investment growth too is sloping down from 20.6 per cent in Q1 to 9.7 per cent in Q2 and 8.2 per cent in Q3. The daily said that the growth is slowing down as underlined by policy rates previously, while consumption demand may revive soon.
Pining Past
Commenting on the observations of the Supreme Court Judges KM Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna over the consequences of a republic being a prisoner of the past, The Asian Age has said: “The authoritarian right that controls the Indian polity today is obsessed with its history”. The daily said that India “must stop fighting with its past”.
The daily was reacting to the apex court trashing a public interest litigation demanding setting up of a commission for renaming cities which bear signs of invasion of the country. Popularly, it’s said that the sign of age catching up is when one begins thinking of past excessively.
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