Prime Minister Narendra Modi showers flower petals on the workers who were a part of the construction crew at the Ram Temple during the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony in Ayodhya on Monday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
(This is the latest edition of the Political Line newsletter curated by Varghese K. George. The Political Line newsletter is India’s political landscape explained every week. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox.)
The opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is not merely a religious milestone, it is a turning point in the history of the country, our editorial argues here.
I had the opportunity to discuss the role of faith and nation-building with some of the finest minds this week at The Hindu Lit Fest 2024 in Chennai. Can there be a ‘we/us’ that is not pitched against some ‘them’, wondered anthropologist Arjun Appadurai. You could find a gist of the discussion here.
This is a general discussion on the topic without a reference to Ayodhya or the temple.
I discussed with diplomat and scholar Ajay Bisaria his book on India-Pakistan relations. Pakistan is an example of a failed nation-building project. It failed at two levels. First, it sought to consolidate national unity through a common religion and forcing a national language, Urdu. Second, it thought it could advance its national interest by meddling in great power rivalries. On both counts, it has proved to be a failure. I had written in 2019 that India must guard itself against the type of politics that shaped, and continues to ruin, Pakistan, in this piece titled ‘The Language of Pakistan’.
Mr. Bisaria’s book explains in detail the difficult journey of Pakistan and India’s relations with it. You could find a gist of the discussion here: In this video, from 6.52 onwards, you can watch the conversation between Ajay Bisaria and me. I shall share a video link in next week’s Political Line.
Going back to the question of ‘us vs them’, which becomes the default question of nationalism, Devdutt Pattanaik’s outstanding lecture on Jainism offers some insights. “Veer is one who defeats another; Maha Veer is someone who conquers themselves. When Maha Veer wins, nobody loses.”
Federalism Tract: Notes on Indian Diversity
Statues that speak
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy unveiled the 125-foot statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, dubbed the ‘Statue of Social Justice’, at Swaraj Maidan in Vijayawada on January 19. Less than a year ago, the BRS government in Telangana had also unveiled Dr. Ambedkar’s statue and named the government secretariat building after the Dalit icon. In what is seen as a symbolic outreach to the sizeable Scheduled Caste communities — 19% — in the State, Mr. Reddy claimed that he drew inspiration for implementing the welfare programme, ‘Navaratnalu’, from Ambedkar. On the same day, the ruling YSRCP government initiated a caste survey to take the headcount of all caste groups in the State. The move comes amid the Opposition’s demand for a nationwide caste survey. The State will see Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections being held simultaneously this year.
Learning in mother tongue
The Centre is asking all higher educational institutions to introduce reading material for all courses in the languages mentioned under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, in tune with the New Education Policy of 2020.
A fading tongue
With just two fluent speakers left, Madhika, a local language without a script in Kerala, belonging primarily to the Chakaliya community, is set to go extinct. The speaker of the language, K.P. Narayanan from Kannur, laments that younger generations have no interest in learning a linguistic relic as mainstream education promotes the Malayalam language. Narayanan and his niece, Rajputhri, are the last living link to the forebearers from whom this language was inherited. The members of the community, which belongs to the SC category from Northern Malabar region, are worshippers of Thiruvenkatramana and Mariamma. Activists point out that the main reason why youngsters refuse to learn the language is due to social stigma as members of the Chakaliya community are considered untouchables.
Caste and committee
Following a promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the numerically-dominant Madiga community in the run-up to the Telangana Assembly poll, the Centre has constituted a high-level committee, headed by a Cabinet Secretary, to come up with a method for equitable distribution of resources and access to welfare schemes among the sub-caste SC population. Within the reserved castes, there have been criticisms that forward castes crowd out government benefits against other castes. Here is a detailed report with a view into the past demands and constitutional mechanisms to better address the caste justice question.
Free movement and borders
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on January 20 announced that the Centre shall reconsider the Free Movement Regime (FMR) across the Indo-Myanmar border. The Centre has argued that the illegal influx of immigrants from Myanmar has simultaneously seen an influx of drugs and militants across the border. The FMR, however, enables communities from across the border to enter the territory of Manipur for local trade and social interactions without mandatory paperwork. Amid these complexities, the Centre is aiming at fencing the 1,643-km India-Myanmar border.
Centre’s overreach
The Supreme Court has decided to examine the question of whether the Central government has the authority to extend the reach of the BSF in border States or whether it comes under the legislative domain of the respective State governments. The State of Punjab raised an issue that the Centre has extended the reach of the BSF from 15 km to 50 km from the India-Pakistan border.
Fiscal federalism
The Centre constituted the 16th Finance Commission in December 2023 to determine the formula to decide each State’s share in Central taxes. Recently, some State governments argued that due to their higher tax contribution, they should receive a greater share in Central taxes. Until the 9th Finance Commission, tax contribution from States was part of the formula to decide the share of States. However, the tax contribution criteria have been dropped.
Simultaneous elections and federalism
Can simultaneous elections across the country on the same day help democracy or ruin federalism? Some reflections here.
