Raja Singh on Nupur Sharma path; Enlivening Congress; Carbon wrath
Opinion Watch
Moderation is not the virtue of rabble-rousers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party MLA in Telangana T Raja Singh took to YouTube to funnel his religious vile on Prophet Mohammed. Telangana Police quickly arrested him, and the BJP has suspended the Nupur Sharma inspired legislator.
The Pioneer and The Times of India have commented on the episode to dwell on larger issues of polarisation in politics and the prevalent conditional creative freedom in the country.
First, stick to Singh, as TP noted in its comment that the BJP is desperate to grow south of Vindhyanchal since the saffron outfit is already at its peak in other parts of the country.
Singh, who hails from Hyderabad, is a compulsive religious rabble-rouser, and the BJP had appointed him the chief whip in the Telangana Assembly.
But the law of diminishing returns applies on politics of polarization also, argued TP, while contrasting with the actions of the rightwing parties in the western countries where they don’t campaign for ban on books, freedom of speech of the left-leaning activists.
The Times of India has taken a different editorial flight, arguing that creative freedom is conditional since Munwar Faruqui, who incidentally riled Singh, didn’t get approval in Maharashtra and Karnataka for shows, but found the red-carpet in Telangana.
“The Supreme Court in the S Rangarajan case (1989) had observed that suppressing free speech in response to a threat of violence is tantamount to negation of the rule of law,” the daily stated.
The contemporary Indian discourse on free speech is akin to drawing lines on turbulent waters.
Enlivening Congress
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has reached out to the civil societies ahead of the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo yatra’.
The Indian Express in its Edit has claimed that “Congress is only kicking its political can – dented and rusted – down the road”.
The opposition party is looking to find a chief by September 21, and reports suggest that Sonia Gandhi wanted Ashok Gehlot, the Rajasthan Chief Minister to take the job, who in turn wants Rahul Gandhi back in the hot seat.
IE sums up the state of the affairs of Congress by stating that the party is desperately searching for crutches in the civil societies.
Indeed, the civil societies has their share of jubilation and assertion against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, for they forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come on television to announce not another shocker but withdrawal of the Farm Laws.
At Shaheen Bagh, they held out firm for months against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which till date awaits framing of rules and their implementation.
But the strength of civil society is in their apolitical credentials. They lost their credibility when one of them, Arvind Kejriwal, collected the gains to build the political edifice.
Will the civil society again burn its fingers by allowing to be co-opted by Congress?
Carbon wrath
Not less than seven rivers across the world has dried up. Europe melted under heat wave. Latin America fought wildfire. Hills in India are ravaged by flash floods. Climate change is staring at the humanity in most cruel proportions.
Deccan Herald in its Edit has commented on yellow alert in China and its drought emergency.
“There is a 45 per cent rainfall deficit in most areas of the Yangtse basin. The decline in rainfall has caused rivers to dry up. It is said that over 60 rivers, including the Yangtse, are dry or are running dry,” noted DH.
Now, people don’t need to be told that the climate change is a reality, for the impacts are visible everywhere. Instances can be counted by children.
The daily only gives an account, and ignores the ‘why’ of the crisis.
Indeed, the developed world and China abandoned the climate change response for several years, leaving Paris Accord orphaned.
The climate change response is one of the 17 sustainable development goals to which 200 countries have committed for actions, but the UN Report claimed that none of the goals witnessed improvements from any of the countries.
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