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Entire Opposition Join Hands Even As Doves in RAW And ISI Coo

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Entire Opposition Join Hands Even As Doves in RAW And ISI Coo

~By Saeed Naqvi

 

Two mutually reinforcing images from last week may well define the next phase in national affairs. It is too early to call them game changers but they have considerable potential.

 

The most comprehensive array of opposition leaders, almost a record, who assembled in Bangaluru for H.D. Kumaraswamy’s swearing in as Chief Minister of Karnataka is significant because it happened despite the contradictions inherent between various groups in that galaxy.

 

The occasion produced the man and he better be noticed: Kunwar Danish Ali, the Jamia Millia educated, JDS spokesman, carried sufficient credibility on both sides to swiftly stitch together the Congress-JDS alliance in the state. This became the platform on which stood India’s non BJP diversity. In stitching this extensive hem too Danish Ali is being applauded by those who know.

 

Muslims in politics are either too weather beaten or “too Muslim” to navigate diversity. Danish Ali, in my view, is a political animal with a wide reach and one who keeps his faith intensely private. We should hear more about him should the Karnataka experiment remain intact.

 

Read More: Winners May Be Losers in Karnataka’s Catch 22 Endgame

 

The other iconic image was, quite curiously, of a book release. It must have been a few hours of grave national danger, because seldom has the well appointed auditorium of the Claridges hotel been more packed with spies, past and present. For its sheer audacity, Spy Chronicles, RAW, ISI and the illusion of Peace, is by itself a thrilling title, but when the authorship comes out in sharp silhouette, the revelation takes ones breath away. A.S. Dulat, former chief of RAW and Gen. Asad Durrani, former head of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) have put their heads together and have, without compromising fidelity to their respective oaths of office, produced a 320 page document which must now onwards inform those in the sub continent shaping policy on Kashmir and Indo-Pak relations.

 

The high powered congregation in Bengaluru and the brave effort of the Dulat-Durrani duet, both respond to the same national quest – a softer more humane sub continent. Alas, a calmer India, on its own, divorced from the sub continent, is just not possible. It is, likewise, not possible for Pakistan. 1947 was both a blessing and a curse. We could define our separate nations according to our lights but we were also yoked together by geography from which proceed historical and sociological currents which flow forward but also regurgitate into the past.

 

Read More: Book Ringside Seats For May 15 Post Poll Poker In Bengaluru

 

The first concerted effort to wrench away from the sub continental centre of gravity came from Pakistan dictator, General Zia ul Haq. His push for Nizam-e-Mustafa invited nascent Islamophobia which has metastasized into the modern horror.

 

Just when fluctuations in Indo-Pak ties gives way to a seemingly interminable hostility, comes the Dulat-Durrani intervention, opening a ventilator in an otherwise suffocating hothouse.

 

What the book touches on is, in effect, the nub of the matter. Indo-Pak initiatives flounder on that ubiquitous document meant for the principal, say, the Prime Minister, marked “for eyes only”. If the Deep State on both sides is the obstacle, why not allow spymasters on both sides to sort out the cobwebs which the principals cannot?

 

Leftovers from Partition are Kashmir, Pakistan, Hindu-Muslim tensions. If tense communal relations are a requirement for the politics of Hindu consolidation, it follows, as night follows the day, that Kashmir and Indo-Pak relations must simmer in perpetuity. They have been placed on auto by our own hands.

 

To obviate communalism as an essential requirement for electoral politics, it is essential that the motley political crowd on the podium at in Bengaluru is regularized. Many societies called it a rainbow coalition.

 

Both, pre requisite and a consequence of the Bengaluru experiment is precisely this: tone down social disharmony which communalism aggravates. This end is unachievable without the Dulat-Durrani initiative taking off. Social disharmony, it needs to be stressed, is the overarching malaise under which communalism is played. That is why one photograph that came out of the Bengaluru assembly is epochal – Sonia Gandhi leaning her head against Mayawati’s.

 

It may be odd to remember Urdu poetry at this juncture but do indulge a line. The most graphic poet, Mir Anis, describes cosmic tumult in which two mutually hostile creatures come together in the face of common danger:

“Shaheen o kabk chhup gayey

Ekja mila ke sar”

(Facing danger, the falcon and the dove put their heads together in the thicket)

 

Considering that Congress lost its deposit in the March by-elections in UP’s Phulpur and Gorakhpur constituencies, Sonia Gandhi would be seen to be in requirement of the BSP supremo, Mayawati’s help. Mayawati may not have been the winner but it was with her help that Akhilesh Yadav’s SP won the two seats.

 

In this situation what would one make of Congress Election Chief in Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh’s statement from Bhopal. He dismissed any tie up with the BSP. Neither was Sonia’s photograph with Mayawati an announcement of a tie up, nor does Digvijay Singh’s reported statement scuttle it. This non-story is only a precursor to what is in store: political busy bodies will load a triangular situation – Congress, BSP, SP – with such heavy voltage speculation that some strand somewhere will snap. The process of coalition building will only be partly in the hands of the principals. To a large extent the process will be conditioned by the din surrounding it which will create misgivings all around as in rapid fire magazines.

 

The Dulat-Durrani initiative will be subjected to an even more severe ordeal by fire, at least upto 2019. The events of last week provide hope which will generate its opposite – the Pulley principle.

India News

3 dead, 9 hospitalised after gas leak at fertiliser plant in Maharashtra

According to police, the explosion released toxic chemical fumes.

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Three individuals, including two women, lost their lives and nine others were hospitalised following a gas leak caused by an explosion in a reactor at a fertiliser plant in Maharashtra’s Sangli district, an official said on Friday.

The incident occurred at approximately 6:30 PM on Thursday at the Myanmar Chemical Company, located in Shalgaon MIDC within Kadegaon tehsil.

Sangli Superintendent of Police Sandip Ghuge stated that the gas is suspected to be ammonia.

According to police, the explosion released toxic chemical fumes. “Approximately 12 people in the facility were affected and subsequently taken to the hospital. Tragically, two female workers and a security guard have died, while nine others are currently receiving treatment,” stated Sangram Shewale, Senior Inspector at Kadegaon police station.

Seven of the injured individuals have been admitted to Sahyadri Hospital in Karad, with five of them in critical condition in the ICU.

The deceased women have been identified as Suchita Uthale (50) from Yetgaon in Sangli district and Neelam Rethrekar (26) from Masur in Satara district, PTI reported.

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Ahead of Delhi Elections, Arvind Kejriwal launches Revdi Par Charcha campaign to seek feedback on freebies

Arvind Kejriwal said 65,000 meetings will be held across Delhi at micro levels by the AAP leaders and workers.

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Ahead of Delhi Elections, Arvind Kejriwal launches Revdi Par Charcha campaign to seek feedback on freebies

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday launched a campaign with a tagline Revdi Par Charcha to seek public feedback on freebies. The campaign comes ahead of the assembly elections, which is scheduled to be held in February.

Former Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal launched the campaign with his colleagues at the party office, saying while the opposition calls freebies as revdi, the party calls it services. This campaign will start on November 25 and will continue for 15 days until December 10, discussing the issues with common man.

Notably, the opposition has been targeting the AAP for providing free electricity, water and free public buses for women among other facilities. However, AAP feels freebies help citizens live a life of dignity.

Gopal Rai, AAP’s Delhi unit chief, said that so far, politicians used to enjoy the facilities, while citizens paid taxes. He continued that Arvind Kejriwal’s government decided that the people should also get the facilities like the politicians, adding the BJP called their attempt revdis. He said that AAP is launching the ‘Revdi Par Charcha’ campaign to discuss with the people in the city if the government should provide the facilities or not.

Launching the campaign, Arvind Kejriwal said 65,000 meetings will be held across Delhi at micro levels by the AAP leaders and workers. He said that AAP has six revdis for the people of Delhi. Mentioning that the Prime Minister and BJP have said several times that Kejriwal is providing freebies to the people that should be stopped, the former Chief Minister said that now people will now tell them if they want these six freebies.  He further concluded that if the BJP is elected here, they will stop these services immediately.

While listing the six services, the AAP national convenor said that Delhi is getting free electricity round the clock. He added that there was a time when Delhi used to see power cuts for 8-10 hours, but AAP ensured that the situation changed. He also noted that his party is providing free water, free pilgrimage to senior citizens, free bus rides to women, free world-class education and free medicine and treatments. Additionally, the pamphlet launched by Arvind Kejriwal also listed that soon the women in Delhi will get Rs 1,000 per month as well, later termed as the seventh revdi by the former Chief Minister.

Reports said that the paper will be circulated across the national capital. The paper also reads that if the reader feels they are getting huge water bills, they should not pay it. It mentioned that AAP will waive all water bills once Arvind Kejriwal is re-elected.

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Rahul Gandhi says air pollution in North India a national emergency, tourism declining, global reputation crumbling

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

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Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the air pollution in North India is a national emergency that needs a collective national response and not a political blame game. The Congress leader added that due to air pollution tourism is declining and “our global reputation is crumbling”.

It is a public health crisis that is stealing children’s future and suffocating the elderly, Gandhi said, adding an environmental and economic disaster that is ruining countless lives.

“As Parliament meets in a few days, MPs will all be reminded of the crisis by our irritated eyes and sore throats. It is our responsibility to come together and discuss how India can end this crisis once and for all,” the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

The former Congress chief said the poorest “among us suffer the most”, unable to escape the toxic air surrounding them. Families are gasping for clean air, children are falling sick, and millions of lives are being cut short, he added.

The Rae Bareli MP noted that the pollution cloud covers hundreds of kilometres. He said cleaning it up will require major changes and decisive action from governments, companies, experts, and citizens.

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

Gandhi also shared a video on a social media platform where he discussed the capital’s air pollution with environmentalist expert Vimalendu Jha. In the video, the Congress leader said he has been facing eye-burning and breathing issues and how the last week in Delhi has been terrible.

He said, “I tell my mother to leave town this month.” Jha explains to Gandhi that the sources of air pollution in Delhi are episodic and perennial. Episodic sources are firecrackers and stubble burning, which affect the month of November. “Vehicular contributes 50 per cent of Delhi’s pollution and construction-related roadside dust is another 30 per cent,” Jha said.

The Air Quality Index in Delhi has been severe since November 16, making it five consecutive days till Wednesday. On November 15, the average AQI was 396 (very poor).

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