Women’s Era; Dhaliwal’s Trudeau; Whither Himachal
PM Narendra Modi; Canadian PM Justine Trudeau; Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukkhu
Opinion Watch
Women’s Era
Headlines are often deceptive, and devils generally lie in details. Several dailies have commented on women’s reservation bill, tabled in the Lok Sabha, with celebratory tone laced with lamentations. The Indian Express in its Editorial has gone overboard to hail the Narendra Modi government for moving the Constitution (128th) Amendment Bill, 2023 to reserve one-third seats in the Lok Sabha and assemblies, also for the SCs and STs, but left it to The Times of India to spotlight devils in details – Census 2021 is in cold freeze, delimitation is frozen till 2026, and, thus, the 27-year wait for women is not yet over.
Women members constitute just about 14 per cent in parliament, and political parties with exceptions of the Biju Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress have shown in their deeds of ticket distribution that they are essentially least concerned with women’s participation in parliament and assemblies (examples are Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttarakhand state polls held recently).
Dhaliwal’s Trudeau
Justine Trudeau’s outlandish accusation against “Government of India’s involvement in murder of Harjeet Singh Nijjar” has been widely commented upon by dailies with the common theme that the Canadian prime minister is pandering to radicals to save his government. The Economic Times in its Editorial has argued that Trudeau is acting to appease Jagmeet Singh ‘Jimmy’ Dhaliwal whose New Democratic Party provides lifeline to the incumbent Canadian government. The business daily underlined that Dhaliwal is widely known for his pro-Khalistani politics.
Trudeau’s claim of “credible allegations” against India is a serious lapse on his part, and New Delhi must hold him accountable for unforgivable slandering. At the same time, diplomatic offensive must be launched to scorch the prevailing tendencies of the developed countries to nurse separatists on their soil.
Whither Himachal
The Himachal Pradesh floods caused damages estimated to be Rs 12,000 crores, and The Hindustan Times has quoted state Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukkhu’s demand from Centre that the calamity be called a national disaster at par with Kedarnath tragedy. The New Delhi-based daily has also quoted CM saying that constructions at 45 degrees inclines have now been banned, while spotlighting that throwing building norms in the hilly state was one of the reasons for the scale of the tragedy in the aftermath of floods.
While the demand of the state is indeed legitimate, Himachal Pradesh should act as a lesson for all states that allowing land sharks and builder mafia to encroach on water bodies comes at perils of the people only.
About The Author
