Editorial

Even as Narendra Modi seeks to lure the electorate in election-bound Gujarat by conjuring dreams of mega investment and grand development, the collapse of a British era suspension bridge in Morbi which has taken a toll of at least 134 lives has exposed the sordid reality of the much trumpeted Gujarat model. Details emerging from the Morbi bridge tragedy point to a shocking pattern of governance – utterly inept and corrupt. Morbi-based wall clock making company Oreva was awarded the contract to repair and maintain the century-old suspension bridge.

India’s downslide on the Global Hunger Index continues uninterrupted. From the 94th position among 107 countries covered in 2020, India’s ranking dropped by seven positions to 101st out of 116 in 2021 and by another six positions in the latest 2022 index dropping to the 107th rank among 121 countries. Except war-ravaged Afghanistan, all our neighbours are considerably ahead of India in this list. China, still marginally ahead of India to occupy the slot of the world’s most populous country, is way ahead in the topmost GHI range of 1 to 17.

On 14 October, 1956, Babasaheb Ambedkar, accompanied by lakhs of people, had embraced Buddhism. The place was Nagpur, and the venue since known as Deekshabhoomi where a stupa was inaugurated on 18 December 2001 by then President KR Narayanan and is now a widely recognised heritage site in Nagpur. The day was Ashoka Vijayadashami, to mark the anniversary of the occasion when Emperor Ashoka is believed to have abjured violence and embraced Buddhism after being moved by the devastation caused by the Kalinga war.

With less than two years left for the 2024 general elections and the economy tumbling rapidly downhill, the Modi regime is desperately working on its tested and trusted strategy of communal scapegoating to divert the people’s attention from the most burning issues facing the common Indian – soaring prices, vanishing jobs and dwindling income.

The death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran's morality police for alleged 'dress code' violation has sparked off a veritable rebellion in Iran. The simmering anger among Iran's women and the working people against the repressive theocratic regime and worsening conditions of life is now exploding in protests across Iran. More than fifty people are already reported to have been killed by the regime, but defying brutal repression protests continue to spread.

On 16 September, the day before the 72nd birth anniversary of Narendra Modi, his closest capitalist friend Gautam Adani had briefly become the world’s second richest person according to Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires List before being pushed back to the third position.

On 3rd September Teesta Setalvad walked out from Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Jail after spending 68 days in prison. Arrested along with R.B. Shreekumar, in what could only be termed as their politically vindictive arrests for pursuing justice for victims of Gujarat 2002 carnage, she was released from the jail on the orders of the Supreme Court entitling her to interim bail, while her main bail application is heard by the Gujarat High Court.

Along with Maharashtra, Jharkhand has long been known to be a coveted toppling target for the Modi-Shah regime. The detention of three Congress MLAs in West Bengal with carloads of cash was a clear pointer to the BJP's mischievous game plan. Now with the Governor keeping mum over the Election Commission's response on the BJP complaints against the elections of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his brother Basant Soren over office of profit allegations, things are getting murkier with every passing day.

Har Ghar Tiranga. A tricolour on every roof. This 13-15 August call of the Modi government was supposed to be the high point of the official celebration of the 75th anniversary of India's independence, the much publicised 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'. While the dominant media was immersed in amplifying this campaign and PM Modi's 9th successive Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Lal Qila, two news items from Rajasthan and Gujarat came as the starkest statements about the shape of things in today's India.

Two days before the seventy-fifth anniversary of Independence, India was once again reminded of the horrific continuing reality of caste oppression. Indra Meghwal, a 9-year-old Dali child from Surana village of Rajasthan’s Jalore district, who had been brutally beaten up by a school teacher on July 20 for drinking water from a pot apparently ‘reserved’ for the upper castes, succumbed to his injuries. The school was a Saraswati Vidyamandir run by the RSS educational network.