All Past articles on Domestic Political Trends This land is mine In this article, the authors explain that the recent amendments to India’s citizenship law, and the processes for listing Indian residents and Indian citizens in national registers together constitute an unprecedented threat to India’s secular democratic constitution. It explains that this is the first time a legal regime is being established which differentiates based on religious identity, which strikes at the heart of the humanist and inclusive framework of the Indian constitution. By Harsh Mander and Mohsin Alam Bhat Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019: A step towards undoing the Indian secular democracy The CAA is not the first and by no means will be the last attempt to further the agenda of Hindu Rashtra. One can anticipate many such moves meant to keep the hatred against Muslims simmering. However, the divisive politics will only hurtle India onto the treacherous road of relentless anxiety, uncertainty and injustice, exposing million of its own citizens against the vagaries of statelessness. By Neha Dabhade ‘We will give blood, but not our land’: The Citizenship Amendment Act protests in the context of Northeast India India’s Northeast, a land of volatile identities having an uneasy experience with migration, is held to-gether by a fragile consensus forged in the larger interest of peace and co-existence. The seams of these fault-lines pass by people’s lived realities, always at the risk of being burst open with an act of insensitivity. The enactment of the CAA is considered by many as one such act. By Kaustubh Deka The riotous colours of heartland politics It is election season in India, and there are few places like Uttar Pradesh to get a feel which way the wind is blowingIt is election season in India, and there are few places like Uttar Pradesh to get a feel which way the wind is blowing By Nikhil Roshan Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party: In defiance of a tired democracy After it was sworn in as the ruling party at Delhi’s Legislative Assembly in December, 2013 following a vote brimming with anti-incumbent sentiment and popular disenchantment with corrupt regimes, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has had nothing short of a roller coaster ride. This photo essay offers a few glimpses of its rocky ride through their 49 days in office in the first two months of 2014. By Nikhil Roshan The complicated rise of India’s regional parties The “rise” of regional political parties seems to be an eternal theme on the Indian political scene. The exponential increase in the number of parties contesting elections, particularly over the past two decades, and the shrinking margins of victory in parliamentary elections are direct results of the emergence of new regional power centers. By Milan Vaishnav The Aam Aadmi Party: A democratic revolt against the old order Emerged from an anti-corruption movement, the Aam Aadmi Party has made a spectacular entrance into Indian politics and challenged the rules of Indian politics. By Ajaz Ashraf The UPA II: Looking back, looking forward In the late spring or the early summer of 2014 India will conduct its sixteenth general election. The battle lines between the two principal, national political parties, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are now being drawn. By Sumit Ganguly Report: Prospects and challenges for India on the Ayodhya Verdict Mumbai - A group of concerned citizens gathered to discuss the verdict of the Allahabad High Court with regard to the Ayodhya dispute between Ram Janmabhoomi versus Babri Masjid in India. A number of perspectives were put forth. Article: Ayodhya Judgment – Triumph Of Faith Or Constitutional Legality? The much awaited judgment of Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court in the title suit filed by Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and others was at last delivered and has been welcomed by some and criticized by others, mainly by litigant parties. Those who want to see the controversy end for once and all are arguing that the judgment will help bring about resolution of the dispute as all three parties (Ram Lalla Idol has been treated by the judgment as a legal entity). Now Hindus can build a temple and Muslims a mosque, if they so desire and India can move on. By By Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer. Article: Force of faith trumps law and reason in Ayodhya case If left unamended by the Supreme Court, the legal, social and political repercussions of the judgment are likely to be extremely damaging. New Delhi: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has made judicial history by deciding a long pending legal dispute over a piece of property in Ayodhya on the basis of an unverified and unsubstantiated reference to the “faith and belief of Hindus. By By Siddharth Varadarajan Article: Mining Happiness for Orissa: Notes on a Fact-Finding Visit to the Troubled State. Orissa, the richest state in terms of mineral wealth, remains the most backward state in terms of development. The benefits of development havenot trickled down to the poor. The fact finding team under Dr. K.S. Subramanian surveyed the districts and revealed the striking ground realitie By Dr. K.S. Subramanian Election Results, New Government and its Tasks The election results of the Loksabha came as a surprise to all including the congress itself. The secularists were holding their breath. What is important to note this time is that percentage of vote got by the congress and that by BJP is much more decisive: ten per cent. There is one good lesson for all parties, regional or national. It does not pay to field candidates on the basis of caste, sub-caste and communities as all parties do By Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer Terrorism, Communal Violence and Police The role of police in democratic society is very different from that of police in colonial society. However, it is 61 years now that India became independent and there is no change in the role of police a wee bit. Today our police have become even more colonial in its attitude. The British colonial rulers had enacted the police an act in 1861 to use the police for suppression of people’s movement and to terrorize colonized people. Our police too is terrorizing innocent people fighting for their rights By Dr Asghar Ali Engineer Left-of-Left: The Link Between Revolutionary and Mainstream Politics Ever since its emergence, the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist brand of revolutionary politics has retained what can be described as a “sibling relationship” with India’s mainstream politics. India’s Communist movement has at once participated in parliamentary politics and experimented with revolution since the founding of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in the 1920s. Its first experiment with revolutionary politics was in Telangana in the 1940s. This was followed soon after by participation in the first general election By By: Prof. Ajay K. Mehra
This land is mine In this article, the authors explain that the recent amendments to India’s citizenship law, and the processes for listing Indian residents and Indian citizens in national registers together constitute an unprecedented threat to India’s secular democratic constitution. It explains that this is the first time a legal regime is being established which differentiates based on religious identity, which strikes at the heart of the humanist and inclusive framework of the Indian constitution. By Harsh Mander and Mohsin Alam Bhat
Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019: A step towards undoing the Indian secular democracy The CAA is not the first and by no means will be the last attempt to further the agenda of Hindu Rashtra. One can anticipate many such moves meant to keep the hatred against Muslims simmering. However, the divisive politics will only hurtle India onto the treacherous road of relentless anxiety, uncertainty and injustice, exposing million of its own citizens against the vagaries of statelessness. By Neha Dabhade
‘We will give blood, but not our land’: The Citizenship Amendment Act protests in the context of Northeast India India’s Northeast, a land of volatile identities having an uneasy experience with migration, is held to-gether by a fragile consensus forged in the larger interest of peace and co-existence. The seams of these fault-lines pass by people’s lived realities, always at the risk of being burst open with an act of insensitivity. The enactment of the CAA is considered by many as one such act. By Kaustubh Deka
The riotous colours of heartland politics It is election season in India, and there are few places like Uttar Pradesh to get a feel which way the wind is blowingIt is election season in India, and there are few places like Uttar Pradesh to get a feel which way the wind is blowing By Nikhil Roshan
Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party: In defiance of a tired democracy After it was sworn in as the ruling party at Delhi’s Legislative Assembly in December, 2013 following a vote brimming with anti-incumbent sentiment and popular disenchantment with corrupt regimes, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has had nothing short of a roller coaster ride. This photo essay offers a few glimpses of its rocky ride through their 49 days in office in the first two months of 2014. By Nikhil Roshan
The complicated rise of India’s regional parties The “rise” of regional political parties seems to be an eternal theme on the Indian political scene. The exponential increase in the number of parties contesting elections, particularly over the past two decades, and the shrinking margins of victory in parliamentary elections are direct results of the emergence of new regional power centers. By Milan Vaishnav
The Aam Aadmi Party: A democratic revolt against the old order Emerged from an anti-corruption movement, the Aam Aadmi Party has made a spectacular entrance into Indian politics and challenged the rules of Indian politics. By Ajaz Ashraf
The UPA II: Looking back, looking forward In the late spring or the early summer of 2014 India will conduct its sixteenth general election. The battle lines between the two principal, national political parties, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are now being drawn. By Sumit Ganguly
Report: Prospects and challenges for India on the Ayodhya Verdict Mumbai - A group of concerned citizens gathered to discuss the verdict of the Allahabad High Court with regard to the Ayodhya dispute between Ram Janmabhoomi versus Babri Masjid in India. A number of perspectives were put forth.
Article: Ayodhya Judgment – Triumph Of Faith Or Constitutional Legality? The much awaited judgment of Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court in the title suit filed by Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and others was at last delivered and has been welcomed by some and criticized by others, mainly by litigant parties. Those who want to see the controversy end for once and all are arguing that the judgment will help bring about resolution of the dispute as all three parties (Ram Lalla Idol has been treated by the judgment as a legal entity). Now Hindus can build a temple and Muslims a mosque, if they so desire and India can move on. By By Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer.
Article: Force of faith trumps law and reason in Ayodhya case If left unamended by the Supreme Court, the legal, social and political repercussions of the judgment are likely to be extremely damaging. New Delhi: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has made judicial history by deciding a long pending legal dispute over a piece of property in Ayodhya on the basis of an unverified and unsubstantiated reference to the “faith and belief of Hindus. By By Siddharth Varadarajan
Article: Mining Happiness for Orissa: Notes on a Fact-Finding Visit to the Troubled State. Orissa, the richest state in terms of mineral wealth, remains the most backward state in terms of development. The benefits of development havenot trickled down to the poor. The fact finding team under Dr. K.S. Subramanian surveyed the districts and revealed the striking ground realitie By Dr. K.S. Subramanian
Election Results, New Government and its Tasks The election results of the Loksabha came as a surprise to all including the congress itself. The secularists were holding their breath. What is important to note this time is that percentage of vote got by the congress and that by BJP is much more decisive: ten per cent. There is one good lesson for all parties, regional or national. It does not pay to field candidates on the basis of caste, sub-caste and communities as all parties do By Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer
Terrorism, Communal Violence and Police The role of police in democratic society is very different from that of police in colonial society. However, it is 61 years now that India became independent and there is no change in the role of police a wee bit. Today our police have become even more colonial in its attitude. The British colonial rulers had enacted the police an act in 1861 to use the police for suppression of people’s movement and to terrorize colonized people. Our police too is terrorizing innocent people fighting for their rights By Dr Asghar Ali Engineer
Left-of-Left: The Link Between Revolutionary and Mainstream Politics Ever since its emergence, the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist brand of revolutionary politics has retained what can be described as a “sibling relationship” with India’s mainstream politics. India’s Communist movement has at once participated in parliamentary politics and experimented with revolution since the founding of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in the 1920s. Its first experiment with revolutionary politics was in Telangana in the 1940s. This was followed soon after by participation in the first general election By By: Prof. Ajay K. Mehra
