(The Political Line newsletter is India’s political landscape explained every week by Varghese K. George, senior editor at The Hindu . You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox every Friday.)
At least four discernible views have emerged on the elevation of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister of the U.K., signifying the divergence within India on the question of minority rights in a democracy, as I argue in this piece, trying to make sense of the responses of Shashi Tharoor, Mehbooba Mufti, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Mayawati.
Overactive Governors upset States
Governors act as a key link between the Centre and State governments. In the current time of massive political and cultural transformation in India, the role of the Governor is particularly important. Two Governors, R.N. Ravi in Tamil Nadu and Arif Mohammad Khan in Kerala, are in the news always. Mr. Khan is locked in a prolonged battle with the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, on questions of governance and his own role in it. Mr. Ravi seems more interested in countering the cultural politics of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which is in power in the State. Recently, Mr. Ravi said that the connection between Kashi and Tamil Nadu has existed for thousands of years. “This notion of India, created by the foreigners has eclipsed the very idea of Bharat. The connection between Kashi and the people of this land – Tamil Nadu – is thousands of years old. We all know that Lord Rama…how he worshipped Lord Shiva at Rameswaram…we know the story,” he said at an event to kick off a new initiative by the Centre to connect Tamils with Kashi, or Varanasi, in the Hindi heartland. As part of the programme, a total of 2,500 people divided into 12 groups would be travelling to Varanasi by train this month.
Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi
The DMK has now launched a campaign to remove Mr. Ravi from office. Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha belonging to the ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance have signed a memorandum to be submitted to the President of India seeking his removal.
Opening a new front against the ruling LDF in Kerala, Mr. Khan has declared that he is withdrawing his pleasure as far as Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal is concerned. The Governor wants the CM to sack the Finance Minister. Our editorial points out that “the polite phrase in the Constitution that applies the doctrine of pleasure to a Minister’s tenure is nothing more than a reference to the will of the Chief Minister on the continuance or dismissal of a member of his ministerial Council.”
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid a visit to TN CM and DMK chief M. K. Stalin in Chennai. She was in Tamil Nadu to attend a family function of Manipur Governor L. Ganesan, who is also in charge of West Bengal. Ms. Banerjee has piped down her relentless attack on the BJP and the Centre of late. She is cornered by scam investigations, tussles within her party and her botched attempts to expand her political operations nationally. She’s finding new virtues in the BJP!
Dravidian brotherhood
Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani on Tuesday called upon the ruling DMK and the Opposition AIADMK to remain vigilant and defeat what he called the BJP’s design to convert “Tamil Nadu, the land of the Dravidian Movement, into an Aryan land”.
Gujarat, Arvind Kejriwal join the BJP push for uniform civil code
The Gujarat government announced a plan to constitute a committee to evaluate all aspects of implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), similar to the move by Uttarakhand, another BJP-ruled State.
AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenged the BJP to push for UCC across the country.
Khasi protests
The Save Hynniewtrep Mission launched in Shillong defying prohibitory orders
Khasi groups are demanding the implementation of Inner-Line Permit (ILP), a British-era system that requires Indians from elsewhere to possess a travel document before entering a specified area, the eviction of the Mazhabi Sikhs and other Dalits from Shillong’s Harijan Colony and the inclusion of the Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Stateless Tamils and CAA
The Union Government will be making its case before the Supreme Court to extend citizenship to Indian-origin persons from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, as hearing starts on December 6. This piece discusses the plight of Indian-origin Tamils - 29,500 of them currently live in India as stateless people.
