| The politics of boycotts and bans are back. Whether it is Pathan or Kashmir Files, the conversation is so divisive that it often tests classical Indian liberalism and shows it up as hollow.
Now, cinema halls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are not showing The Kerala Story. And Uttar Pradesh is making it tax-free viewing. The movie is dismissed as alarmist propaganda by some and hailed as brave truth-telling by others. Vir Sanghvi wrote in a provocative and important essay that people such as Shashi Tharoor and Shabana Azmi have come out strongly against the ban even as they disapprove of the film. But there is a growing backlash against the liberal let-the-people-decide point of view. Are liberals letting a secular, pluralistic and diverse India down by supporting those who spread communal poison?
Ibn Khaldun Bharti argued the liberal-secular patrons of the Islamic preachers neither talk about conversions nor let others do the talking.
Pakistan is imploding. Politics is broken, and the all-powerful army doesn’t appear to be united. Ayesha Siddiqa wrote that no leader created by the politically influential Pakistan Army has ever dug his heels and fought back this hard, especially in his early years of power. And the army chief needs to settle the difference with his Generals.
Praveen Swami wrote that Imran Khan might seem an unlikely icon for an explosion of proletarian rage: He is, after all, alleged to have helped himself to expensive gifts as well as state lands, and cultivated cronies one of whom flashes $100,000 handbags. But the fact is that for the first time in Pakistan’s history, action against a political leader has inspired an impromptu mini-intifada against the military itself.
After the Supreme Court verdict on the powers of Delhi government, Akshay Marathe wrote that the dispute between AAP and the Modi government is neither legal nor political or ideological. It was borne out of the BJP's inability to accept defeat. An environment secretary of the Delhi government skipped 20 meetings called by the environment minister to review preparedness for the pollution season.
The Ground Reports team fanned out across the country and brought stories about Blinkit delivery workers’ woes from Ghaziabad and online gambling addiction from Bengaluru.
The ambitious reform of transferring Army cantonment land to civil municipal authorities has begun. And the first city this is being implemented is Yol in Himachal Pradesh. Cantonments have existed in India for over two centuries, with the first being set up in Barrackpore in 1765 by the East-India Company. Suchet Vir Singh wrote that the Khas Yol cantonment board has now officially ceased to function. Files are being burned and furniture moved out. And citizens are anxious and excited about the big change.
The new Hajj season’s first flight from India is set to take off on 21 May. Saudi Arabia allotted a huge hajj quota of 1,75,025 to India this year, up from 79,237 last year. But there has been a worrying surge in Hajj scams and fake agents duping unsuspecting small town Muslims, reported Heena Fatima.
From domestic abuse to hospital expenses to neighbourhood troubles, the Gorakhnath Mutt has a solution for everything. The people of UP may not be able to easily reach CM Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow with their grievances, but the ancient mutt has emerged as the ante-room to the seat of power. They mete out solutions and dole advice, forward requests to Lucknow, bring in the city sub-divisional magistrate to check local problems and sometimes, even find a groom, reported Sagrika Kissu.
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