The election scenario emerging in Punjab in the forthcoming assembly elections does not appear to be what it is.   Most of the political parties are dissecting society in the traditional format of castes and sub-castes, hoping the situation will go in their favour. But it appears that the calculations of almost all will lead them to surprising results.

 Since the past couple of weeks, discussion on Punjab politics is trending, wherein entry of new political parties is the peg. People of all walks of life are making their opinions about upcoming assembly elections, especially baiting upon the face of the Chief Minister. It is apparent that the entry of new political parties in Punjab has thrown open floodgates of speculations for 2022 Punjab Assembly Elections, making it a multi-cornered contest, thus making it challenging for the conventional parties, who are yet to announce their chief ministerial face.

Once believed to be a tall politician of Punjab and a stalwart Congress leader, Captain Amarinder Singh has suddenly started exhibiting repressive and inconsequential political shrewdness by resorting to name-calling and issuing certificates of nationalism. Despite having political acumen, Captain lost his temperament soon after resigning from the post of chief minister of Punjab, but pragmatically this behaviour is leading him nowhere.

It won’t be perhaps wrong to say that communal harmony in India is witnessing a great threat and expectantly it would not be a sweeping statement to claim that the entire government machinery is instrumental in encouraging those elements who are hell bent to dissuade the nation's diversity. The government is apparently not putting any efforts in identifying such elements, thus invariably reinforcing them.

Writing an obituary of your student is a bit difficult and apparently, an emotional task which not only inflicts pain but also plunges you into sadness and desolation. Sixty-seven-year-old Dr. Tara Singh Sandhu (Congress leader from Bhinder Kurd, Moga) breathed his last, after prolonged sickness, on 20th January 2021. He died of liver Cirrhosis that affected his Kidney as well.

The Supreme Court (SC) of India has come under severe criticism for its transgression into the Executive and Legislative jurisdiction, especially in the case of 3-controversial farm laws passed by the Parliament in an alleged unconstitutional way.

In the first-ever political activity in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, since the abrogation of Article 370 and demotion of the state into Union Territory, electorates in Kashmir have given a clear message to New Delhi by rejecting lotus (election symbol of BJP) and extending support to the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) and its mandate seeking restoration of Article 370 in the recently concluded District Development Council (DDC) polls.

Voicing his support for the farmers’ protest in India, the Speaker of Wisconsin State Assembly has urged the Indian government to reconsider its decision on the three farm laws and listen to the concerns of the affected farmers. Robin J Vos expressed his support through a letter to India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. He also wrote a similar letter to US Ambassador to India Ken Juster.

It is an hour of serious national crisis.  Lakhs of protesting farmers of India are demanding adequate prices for their farm produce, which is very genuine. They have left their houses hundreds of miles away, some of them with their womenfolk, and have made the protesting ground around Delhi their new shanti shelters as a protest- homes.

After a two-day massive high-pitched campaign, the Home Minister Amit Shan made a tall claim that BJP would achieve the target of 200 seats in the Next year West Bengal (WB) assembly election due in April-May 2021.

Urban journalists who may have never visited villages or seen the life of working farmers ask odd questions to the protesting farmers’ leaders that reflects more on them than the farmers at the Shinghu Border Delhi. To abreast the protesting farmers about the latest developments, the innovative Punjab Farmers and their young generations who appears to be IT savvy have launched a newsletter of four pages-Trolley times.

 The ongoing agitation by the aggrieved farmers from different states of India in support of their demands and the apathetic approach of the national media in colouring them anti-nationals is certainly a mismatch in a democratic society. Media has been ridiculing farm subsidies, which most capitalist countries including the USA and many countries of the European Union (EU) provide to their farmers, as a drain on resources.

As a symbol of unity in diversity, India has the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Height 587 feet/182 meters), who happened to be the first Home Minister of independent India and the statue has been named as the Statue of Unity. It stands in Gujarat as a new national monument to inspire a new generation towards the beauty of unity in diversity.

Article 14 of the Indian constitution states that: “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” However, the Supreme Court (SC) of India granted bail to Arnab Goswami, an anchor and Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, a media group perceived to be supportive of the ruling party, much sooner than it was expected and thought to be, but remained tight lipped for other journalists. 

The two anti-rape ordinances, approved in principle by the Pakistan Cabinet, recommended chemical castration and hanging to death of the rapist or rapists, the report said.To combat rising cases of sexual attacks on women and children in Pakistan, the federal Cabinet has approved in-principle two anti-rape ordinances aimed at handing out exemplary punishment, including chemical castration and hanging, to rapists, according to a media report.

In a democratic set up what would be more distressing and unfortunate than snatching rights of its citizens. India, which is the largest democracy of the world, in the recent past, has witnessed numerous such instances, where citizens are being subjected to apparent harassment and undue humiliation, either by enacting anti-people laws or by snatching their identity.

India is going through an interesting phase, wherein the freedom of press and the ethics of journalism have been descending to lowest of the low ebb during the past few years.  It is also for the first time that these two have been at the receiving end for not performing the role for which these have been designated for. 

The abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A from Jammu and Kashmir has apparently added a new dimension to the already contentious dispute, which no one has ever thought of. Now, the Peoples’ Republic of China has raised serious objections to the nullification of Article 370, claiming some large areas of Ladakh to be its part.

 Farmers in India have been protesting fervently ever since three controversial farm bills were passed without much debate in Parliament. President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent for the three contentious bills despite intensifying protests across the country by farmers and opposition political parties. 

With absolute majority in the Indian Parliament, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has passed a bill to include Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi as official languages of Jammu and Kashmir in addition to English and Urdu. Surprisingly, the government ignored Punjabi language, despite the fact that it has remained an important and well spoken language in the erstwhile state.

 Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan is a unique testimony of peace, brotherhood, and love, which has no parallel in the world. It is a rare symbol that is venerated by the entire human race and is an epitome of Sikh and Muslim unity. In fact, it’s believed that with the passage of time this revered place would become a source of inspiration for the lovers of peace from all over the world.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, one of the signatories to the dissenters' letter, has said that Congress will continue to sit in the opposition for the next 50 years if it did not conduct elections to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and other key organizational posts within the party.

After almost a year, the resolve of all major political parties in Jammu and Kashmir to reiterate the demand of the implementation of the Gupkar Declaration of 4th August 2019, has finally reflected the signs of dissent against the “unconstitutional” and “unilateral” abrogation of Articles 370 and 35 A.

 Notwithstanding high-level marathon meetings between India and China to diffuse tension at Line of Actual Control (LAC), no headway is visible, as China has categorically declined to retreat to its ‘May’ position in eastern Ladakh. More than ten rounds of high-level talks have been held, including five between the Corps Commanders, in addition to clandestine talks between the special representatives and the foreign ministers for disengagement and return of the PLA.

37-year-old Shah Faesal has apparently created history, not once or twice but thrice. He became the first Kashmiri to top the coveted civil services exams, then he became the first Kashmiri to resign from the job within ten years of his service to install his own political party and now he has created another history of quitting president-ship.

 Erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed yet another political upheaval, when a former bureaucrat Girish Chandra Murmu was overnight replaced by an ace politician Manoj Sinha as the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory. If media reports are believed, Murmu was summoned to New Delhi, reportedly due to his candid remarks on restoration of high-speed internet and elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), a ruling political party in India, has decided to celebrate one year of abrogation of Article 370, because they believe that the move of scrapping special status has led to complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India. These expressions are mostly disseminated from Nagpur, third largest city of Maharashtra and headquarters of Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an Indian right-wing, Hindu organisation, which helped BJP to sit in power. 

More than three decades down the line, nothing much has changed with regard to policing in India, especially in capital city of New Delhi, where the police has time and again proved his loyalties towards the ruling galleries. In New Delhi, the police are under the direct control of Union Home Minister. For its acts of omission and commission, the Delhi Police have been playing the role of collaborator in not only inciting violence but also abetting riots, apparently under the direct patronage of the ruling clique at the Centre.

 India has a strange sequence of events to narrate but fails to explain as to what happened to Sino-India relations within a few months of the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. When the things were really disturbing on Line of Actual Control (LAC), Indian Prime Minister Narendera Modi said “Na koi wahan hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai aur nahi koi ghusa hua hai, na hi hamari koi post kisi dusre ke kabze mein hain (Neither anyone has intruded nor is anyone intruding and no Indian post been captured)”. 

Indian Prime Minister and Chinese President have generated an unusual predicament over the ‘imminent threat’ that has been caused due to fresh aggression at Line of Actual Control (LAC) Galwan Valley in Ladakh region. While both sides have lost their soldiers, both the premiers are in denial mode. While Indian Prime Minister claimed that neither has anyone intruded into Indian Territory nor has anyone captured any military post.

On 27th of May 2020, a very sad and indeed an unprecedented shocking message arrived at my home in Chandigarh, India, when a friend from Pakistan called me to inform that an epitome of peace, Rana Sahfique has breathed his last in Lahore. Undoubtedly, a pall of gloom ascended at my residence in India on hearing news of his death, because despite being separated by borders, Rana Shafique always remained a brother to me, owing to his endeavours to usher peace across the sub-continent.

 ‘Tryst with destiny’ were the words used by the first Prime Minister of Independent India, Jawahar Lal Nehru while giving a speech on the eve of India’s independence. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world was sleeping, India woke up to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.

The Indian Newspaper industry is under severe financial threat caused by the side effects of the coronavirus. If the fight against coronavirus gets prolonged, as it appears to be, and complete lockdown periods or selected cordon-off the most affected clusters in urban and rural areas, the several newspapers may find themselves in the mold of a bankruptcy of a new kind.

India is surely changing under the present regime Right Hindu Wing, Narendra Modi’s Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), wherein it has become quite a normal routine for Hindutva vigilantes to use threatening and unpleasant annotations against minorities in general and Muslims, in particular,

The Covid-19 tally in India crossed the 40,000 marks on Sunday even as the country prepared for an extended lockdown, for the second time, with considerable relaxations in green and orange zones from Monday. According to the latest figures provided by the Health Ministry, the total number of coronavirus cases climbed to 40,263 with as many as 1,306 fatalities.