Editorial
Storm warnings: On weather forecast
Cyclone Nivar raised fears of another epic disaster for millions of coastal residents in the south, but its passage overland near Puducherry early on November 26 was less destructive than anticipated. The reported loss of at least three lives is a relatively low toll for such a large-scale weather system, although property and agriculture have suffered considerable damage from the fierce winds and massive volume of rain it dumped in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Citizens and the government were fearful of a deluge that could be a repeat of the 2015 flood — which killed a few hundred people — and they overcame COVID-19 fatigue to prepare for the worst. There was also a welcome emphasis on periodic alerts and warnings. The IMD has been getting better at forecasting slow-moving, linear tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, and multiple satellites now provide cyclone data. The deployment of over two dozen NDRF teams and disaster management equipment along the coast reassured civic agencies.
Editorial
Policing faith: On ‘love jihad’ laws
The proposed Uttar Pradesh ordinance seeking to prohibit “unlawful” religious conversions represents a regressive march towards unacceptable medievalism and a reprehensible zeal to police the private lives and beliefs of citizens. Cleared for promulgation by the Governor, it does not use the Islamophobic term that votaries of Hindutva have been bandying about to denote certain inter-faith marriages, but it is clearly targeted at the idea. It eschews the phrase “freedom of religion” that several other anti-conversion laws in other States have employed to title their laws. However, apparently inspired by similar legislation in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it has sought to include “alluring into marriage” as an additional ground for declaring an instance of religious conversion as illegal, apart from the use of “force, coercion, undue influence and deceit”. The U.P. proposal envisages prison terms, from one to five years in general, three to five years for conversions involving women
Editorial
Moment of reckoning: On Congress leadership
The Congress has set the ball rolling for organisational elections in a period of great uncertainty in the party. The Central Election Authority of the party hopes to have a session of the All India Congress Committee by February 2021 that will elect the Congress Working Committee and possibly a new president. The post of the president has been vacant after Rahul Gandhi resigned in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha election debacle in 2019. Sonia Gandhi filled in as interim president but the leadership vacuum has aggravated the morbidities of the party since then. In an extremely difficult political environment, the party has been drifting, aimless and rudderless. Its performance in the recent Bihar election was abysmal, made stark by the fact that Mr. Gandhi chose to go on a vacation in the midst of the campaign. Earlier it lost power in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh and almost lost it in Rajasthan. The edifice that held the party together from 2004 to 2014 when it was in power at the
Cricket test: On India’s tour of Australia
India will miss a couple of stars in the course of the Australia tour
Diplomatic offensive: On Nagrota encounter and after
India did well to highlight the terror threat from Pakistan amid steps along the border
Dangerous suggestion: On allowing corporate houses to set up banks
Industrial houses should not have access to household savings through their own banks
Peaceful possibilities: On J&K local body polls
Elections in J&K can lead to participatory politics and meaningful dialogue
Pressure and punishment: On conviction of Hafiz Saeed
The world must force Pakistan to take tangible steps against terror networks
Digital nation: On delivery of citizen services
The true measure of digitalisation would be seamless delivery of all citizen services
