Netting Nitish; Masking Manipur; Forest Fright

Opinion Watch          

Netting Nitish

Opining in the backdrop of protests over teachers’ recruitment, The Indian Express in its Editorial pinned down revision of the domicile policy to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar preparing himself for national acceptance, while stating that the BJP is a desperate lot in search for issues to agitate despite having shared power. The Noida-based daily stated that unemployment among youth in Bihar is 20.1 per cent, while asking Kumar to address aspirations of the youth.

Kumar nurses national political aspiration, but has no vision for the youth of the country even while India has a young population. Onus for Bihar’s unabated backwardness squarely lies with Kumar and the BJP, for they shared power for over 16 of the last 18 years.

Masking Manipur

The Asian Age in its Editorial has asked the government to stop being hyper-sensitive after the Ministry of External Affairs accused the European Union of colonial mindset for taking up the Manipur ethnic violence. The New Delhi-based daily called upon the government to pay serious attention to issues raised over the Manipur violence.

More than two months of ethnic violence in Manipur has accounted for a toll of over 100 people and thousands are displaced, while the state is facing extreme food crisis. The inability of the Centre and the political class to effectively respond to ethnic violence for over two months now is too baffling to say the least unless there is some design in the drift.  

Forest Fright

The Time of India has cautioned the government against the proposed amendments to the Forest Act which may dilute stringent provisions in deemed forests, saying that they seek to circumvent the rights of the forest-dwellers and Adivasis. The daily also argued that the amendments would pave way for more tourism and commercial use of deemed forests, which have substantial share in India’s green cover.

Perils of destruction of the green cover of Western Ghats in Karnataka have been seen in severe climate change events. But lessons are hardly learnt even while Himachal Pradesh, as well as Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana, face the fury of taking climate change lightly.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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