The Interview With Karan Thapar

Was There Serious Mischief Behind the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Polls?

Relying entirely on official data made available by the Election Commission of India and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Election Officer i.e. entirely official data, the well-known economist and current affairs commentator Parakala Prabhakar has revealed there is reason to believe serious mischief took place in the Andhra Pradesh polls of 2024, both at the Assembly and the Lok Sabha level. He points out that between 11.45 at night and 2 in the morning on 13th/14th May 2024 just over 17 lakh people cast their vote in 3,500 booths. This means that on an average 491 people would have voted in each of the 3,500 booths in just 135 minutes. That comes to 3.6 voters per minute or roughly 20 seconds per voter. If you deduct from this the time taken by VVPAT machines to reveal a vote (and remember there were two VVPATs because this was both an Assembly and Lok Sabha election) you come to the amazing conclusion that each voter got just 6 seconds to vote.

Hardeep Puri Must Apologize and Resign Over Epstein or PM Modi Must Sack Him

The well-known and popular Trinamool Congress MP, Mahua Moitra, has publicly called for Petroleum Minister, Hardeep Puri’s resignation and apology to the nation over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. “He owes it to the nation to apologize and resign”, she says. Mahua Moitra has also claimed that “Puri has lied repeatedly and brazenly about his relationship with Epstein.” Furthermore, his emails suggest a friendship and intimacy that he has not admitted to.

IN Home Ministry Order on Vande Mataram is 'Constitutional Vandalism', 'It’s Executive Overreach'

In an interview to discuss the recent Home Ministry order directing all six stanzas of Vande Mataram to be played at official functions and that schools start the day with community singing of the song, Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hegde has called this “constitutional vandalism dressed up in national pride”. Hegde points out that there is no law that requires any Indian citizen to compulsorily sing any song and that the order regarding Vande Mataram is “executive overreach”. 

Bangladesh will seek “cooperative” ties with India, protecting Hindu community is “foremost” duty

In a wide ranging interview to discuss the outcome of the recent elections in Bangladesh and the new government that will be formed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party with Tarique Rahman as the new Prime Minister, Zafar Sobhan, the Editor of Counterpoint and former Editor of the Dhaka Tribune, has said that Bangladesh is now a democracy, even if credible questions can be raised about an election that excluded the Awami League, a major party. Sobhan says that the Tarique Rahman government will seek “cooperative” relations with Delhi and ensuring the safety and security of Bangladesh’s 13 million Hindus will be the “foremost” duty of the new government.

Indian Americans Are Very Afraid in a Way That They Haven’t Been Probably Since the Post 9-11 Era

With the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) picking up immigrants  especially brown looking people, and even deporting them, a climate of fear has built up among the Indian community, says Sravya Tadepalli. 
 
“Indians are the third most undocumented community in America,” says Tadepalli, deputy executive director of Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR). “Among Indians there is a perception that we are all here legally, as tech workers, doctors, but many Indians are not in a position of privilege,” she says in a podcast conversation with Sidharth Bhatia.
 
Many organisations are working on educating Indians of their rights vis a vis ICE, she says. HfHR runs a Know Your Rights programme. “We’ve operated at Hindu mandir’s in New York City, coordinating with 10 of them and distributed Know Your Rights cards, conducted training.” 
HforHR claims it is the ‘only Hindu organisation working to protect our community from the viciousness of ICE violence.’ Pointing out that organisations like Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh, which is linked to the RSS, “cares more about hating on Muslims rather than supporting Hindus. I’ve never seen a statement from the HSS about ICE. I've never seen any actions from the HSS about ICE. So that should tell us something.” 
She emphasises that HfHR spreads “progressive Hindu ideas. We have monthly discussions, called Baithaks for Liberation, where people talk about Hindu liberal ideas, which promote inclusivity, equality, diversity.” This emphasis on the “social justice principles of Hinduism can weaken the stronghold that Hindu nationalists have.”

Piyush Goyal lied or was ignorant when he said GM items won’t enter India

We present two separate interviews, packaged as one, with Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor at ICRIER, and Avik Saha, National President of the Jai Kisan Andolan, on the question has India been successful in ensuring that genetically modified produce or its derivatives are not given access to the Indian market? The government insists that is the case but could there be room for doubt? We explore the extent to which there is credible room for doubt. Both guests believe that traces of GM material will enter India. Mr. Gulati believes this will almost certainly be the case when we import Dried Distillers Grains from America and could be the case (we are not sure) when soya oil is imported from America. Mr. Saha is fairly sure that it will be the case both when DDGs and soya oil are imported. This means that when the Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, told a press conference on Saturday that “no genetically modified items will enter India” he was not correct. Mr. Saha inclines towards the belief that Mr. Goyal lied or was misled. Mr. Gulati believes that Piyush Goyal probably didn’t know that DDGs contain traces of GM and was perhaps only talking about the direct import of American soya and corn rather than their derivatives.

Ramachandra Guha on Why India is Becoming a Hindu Pakistan; He Calls It “Medieval Barbarism”

Historian, author and political commentator Ramachandra Guha, believes that India is becoming a Hindu Pakistan and that the treatment of Muslims is a form of “medieval barbarism”. He says: “India in 2026 is as close to being a Hindu Pakistan as it has ever been … in politics and in the law, in symbol and in substance, in word and in deed, India is … becoming ever more like Pakistan, except that here it is Hindus, and not Muslims, who rule over fellow citizens who are of other faiths.”

IN If BNP Wins Bangladesh Elections Tarique Rahman Will Improve Relations With India

In exactly a week, on the 12th of February, Bangladesh will hold what The Economist calls its first proper elections since 2008. Foreign policy expert Shafqat Munir, a Senior Fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, says that if the Bangladesh Nationalist Party wins, as is widely expected, it’s 60-year old leader, Tarique Rahman, will seek to reset and improve the relations with India.

PM wrong, this isn't an historic budget; it’s unremarkable and doesn’t tackle economy's problems

In an interview to discuss and analyse Sunday’s budget, economist, former Chief Statistician and former Country Head of the International Growth Centre Pronab Sen says the prime minister’s description of the budget as historic is not correct.
Instead, Sen described this as “a business-as-usual” budget which he called “unremarkable”. Asked how well the budget has tackled the problems the economy faces, Sen made clear that it has not done so effectively. He said he couldn’t see “the bada boost” to job creation, which the prime minister identified in his post-budget statement. And Sen thought it was “irresponsible” for the finance minister to have almost forgotten about agriculture in her budget.

Ajit Pawar Was Secular but Ran With the Hare and Hunted With the Hounds; His Legacy is Development

In an interview to discuss the politics, personality and legacy of the former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, who died yesterday in an air crash, political analyst Suhas Palshikar says he was secular and did not indulge in the Hindu-Muslim “bashing” associated with the Pawar’s ally the BJP. However, Prof. Palshikar says that Pawar’s style of politics was akin to “running with the hare and hunting with the hounds”.
Palshikar says that history will remember Ajit Pawar for the work he did for the development of Maharashtra. In time the scams that were associated with his name or the alliance with the BJP will be forgotten or diminish in importance and what will be remembered is Pawar’s commitment to development.