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Saudi-Pak-Turkiye axis: A partial vindication of Samuel Huntington's 'Clash of Civilisations' thesis

The signing of a mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan, all Sunni Islamic countries, is a small signal that there is something to Samual Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations thesis. The defence pact, while not clear on when one country will go to war if another is attacked, is probably driven by a sense of common threat from Shia Iran and the Jewish state of Israel – both mortal enemies to each other themselves. Sunni religious identity is the basis of this pact for none of the three shares any common enemy that is existential in nature for all of them. Each one has a different enemy – Iran for the Saudis, India for the Pakistanis, and possibly Greece and Armenia for Turkiye, though both are minnows compared to Turkiye. In 1993, Samuel Huntington wrote The Clash of Civilisations in Foreign Affairs magazine, where he hypothesised that future conflicts and wars would be fought not only between countries but on the edges of “civilisations”. Huntington, a pro...
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A Govt on probation: Why Modi should prepare for a Million Mutinies now

By letting Dharmendra Pradhan go, albeit reluctantly, the Modi government may have bought itself some time to recoup political capital and rework its political calculations. But the time it has bought may be weeks, not months. For, once triggered, the chances are every major citizen’s dissatisfaction will now be aired in public. Some could also lead to Jantar Mantar. Already there is an E20 Janta Party in the making, comprising vehicle owners miffed about what E20 - ethanol mixed petrol - may be doing to their vehicles. Soon you could have farmers and other groups vying to get into the action. The Prime Minister, realising that the Jantar Mantar protests were driven by Gen Z - those in the 15-29 age group - and their instagram posts, has himself gone on Instagram. While there is no harm in this, he should not assume that his presence on this platform will change perceptions about this government. Reason: the Prime Minister is himself showing his age, and putting his own age on view for...
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Egg-protein in midday meals: Why less hypocrisy will serve both sides better

Eggs are back again on the national menu of heated public debates, this time because the new BJP government in West Bengal plans to give the job of providing mid-day meals to Akshaya Patra, an Iskcon affiliate, which does not serve eggs. This wasn’t the case when Mamata Banerjee was Chief Minister. The new BJP government wants to hand over the job to the Iskcon affiliate, which adopts dietary rules that are vegetarian and Vaishnavite. Akshaya Patra has a proven track record of providing clean and nutritious mid-day meals to millions of school children in various states, but it faces objections in some quarters because of its Hindu credentials. The issue is more political than just about raising the protein content in a child’s diet. Protein can be given in multiple forms, including through the use of soya and paneer in the food prepared. We need honesty in how we debate issues, but unfortunately this is lacking. People take hypocritical positions based on which political party or NGO t...
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Satluj question: When is it legitimate for state to use extra-judicial methods against terrorists and criminals?

The film Satluj has drawn a lot of heated arguments from multiple sides of the political divide. The film features Diljit Dosanjh playing the lead role as Jaswant Singh Khalra, a human rights activist and Khalistani supporter who was killed by the Punjab police in 1995. Khalra discovered that many missing people were secretly cremated during the peak of the Khalistani violence in Punjab in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the violent insurrection ended only when many police officers led by KPS Gill decided that the battle had to be fought by unconventional means - meaning without due regard to strictly legal remedies that involved capture and prosecution of terrorists under existing law. The controversy has revolved around two issues: one, whether the film should have been banned from over-the-top (OTT) channels, for which the answer is ‘no’. In today’s social media age, you cannot easily suppress anything, and suppression is often counter-productive. Two, critics said that the fil...
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Despite Ram temple theft, Govt has no business running temples - unless we are a Hindu Rashtra

The glee with which some opposition politicians and “secular” commentators have received news about “ chanda chori ” at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir is nauseating. The theft has also prompted many other people to suggest a direct government role in running temples. While genetically Hinduphobic people are rubbing their hands in anticipation of potential fallout on the BJP, those who think that such theft needs a stronger government role in its prevention are barking up the wrong tree (See this oped in The Times of India by a former government secretary). Bringing in the government whenever something goes wrong is a bad solution, and not in tune with the basic idea that religious affairs are not the business of the state. The assumption that thefts happen only in Hindu temples is, of course, nonsense. From the Vatican to mosques and churches in multiple countries, including India, there has been no dearth of incidents involving not just theft, but also wrongdoing of several kinds, including ...
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Priyank Kharge is barking up the wrong tree by targeting the RSS on its registration status

Priyank Kharge, Karnataka’s Home and IT Minister, believes that he has the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on the ropes with his letter dated 13 June addressed to Mohan Bhagwat. In his letter, Kharge asked for the registration details of what is widely touted as the world’s largest NGO. In a politely-drafted letter to the RSS chief, a letter that had undertones of political menace, he requested “the RSS to depute its authorised office bearers to explain the legal grounds on which an organisation of such magnitude continues to function with anonymity and without being formally registered as a legal entity.”  One need not go into the politics of it too much. It is obvious that the dynast, son of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, believes that he can open up new pathways for political progress by taking on the RSS - a project with which Rahul Gandhi too may agree. In fact, Rahul has repeatedly talked about the RSS as the ideological enemy to defeat , and even compared it to the Mus...
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2029 battle has already begun: neither UP in 2027 nor LS in 2029 will be a slam dunk for BJP

It is just over a month since the last round of state assembly elections ended, but we are already back in election mode. The two-and-a-half years left before the next round of general elections are announced will be intensely political and confrontational. There may be no respite. In 2027, we have the big contest in Uttar Pradesh, not to speak of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, followed later in the year by Himachal and Gujarat. In 2028, we will have Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and, towards the end of the year, Telangana. Most of these are big states, and then there are the smaller north-eastern states of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The stakes are sky-high for all parties, especially the BJP and Congress. And we cannot forget the presidential elections, for which the BJP seems reasonably well-placed right now. The election that will determine the immediate mood is Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP has to retain its majority for the third time and ...
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