The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. The government has proposed to establish an oversight committee that will deal with complaints against judges, despite an earlier attempt at altering judicial structure being struck down by the Supreme Court.
2. Accused in Mumbai attacks David Headley is set to testify in the terror case via video conferencing on Monday.
3. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has claimed that the 39 Indians who were kidnapped by the Islamic State in Iraq are still alive.
The Big Story: Beefy decisions
The Haryana government has now clarified on comments by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar who said the state might consider giving permits to foreigners in the state who want to eat beef. An aide to the chief minister on Sunday insisted that Khattar was only asking if there was such a provision in the act to do so, much like Gujarat's relaxation of alcohol prohibition.
But this attempt at damage control should only make things worse. First, why is the chief minister having to ask what are the contents of an act banning beef that was controversially signed into law just three months ago? Shouldn't Khattar have known if there were any exemptions in his legislation, which mandates a 10-year jail sentence for cow slaughter.Next, what is the rationale behind any exemption? "Everyone has a personal lifestyle choice of eating and drinking, especially those who come from abroad," the chief minister was quoted as saying. "We don't have any opposition to that." Does this not also hold true for Indians who live in his state who might also have personal lifestyle choices of eating and drinking?
And as police in Gurgaon begin to crack down on beef in the city, allegations have emerged that accusations of beef possession are being used simply to go after Muslims in certain localities. Considering Khattar's controversial statements that Muslims would be "permitted" to stay in India if they stop eating beef, why is the chief minister so happy with letting foreigners – some of whom will presumably be Muslim – stay in his state and be legally allowed cow flesh?
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's biggest storyA short account of India's long history of hypocrisy on cow slaughter laws. Between banned beef and expensive dal, how are poor Indians supposed to get enough protein? Beef ban is an attempt to impose upper-caste culture on other Hindus: Kancha Ilaiah.
Politicking & Policying
1. The Congress, according to the Times of India, has told its Tamil Nadu unit to open talks with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam over an alliance ahead of elections in the state.
2. India and China conducted their first joint tactical exercise in eastern Ladakh on Saturday as part of an attempt to increase interaction between troops on either side of the Line of Actual Control.
3. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa confirmed that a meteorite was responsible for the death of a man in Vellore.
4. Despite the National Investigation Agency claiming connections to the Islamic State, the Indian Express found that a Muslim cleric arrested in Delhi had not spoken about IS in his speeches.
5. State-owned banks have waived a total of Rs 1.14 lakh crore of bad debts between 2013 and 2015, as India's banks continue to reel under a mountain of junk loans.
Punditry
1. Akshaya Mukul in the Times of India asks if the Mahila Samakhya scheme for Dalit and adivasi women will lose its edge after it is merged with the National Rural Livelihood Mission.
2. A leader in Mint calls on the government to "clean house" and be transparent about its approach to genetically modified crops.
3. What is the logic in reshuffling bureaucrats, asks AK Bhattacharyya in the Business Standard.
Don't Miss
Dilip D'Souza sits down at Hyderabad University to discuss everything that has happened.
People on both “sides” told me about a team of professors who arrived at the protest site on January 21 to attempt a dialogue, only to be driven away with this chanted slogan: “Brahminical faculty go back”. One side saw this as reprehensible. But R and P (names withheld again), presumably on the other side, told me that these professors had “a record of being Brahminical”, and if the label fits …
If professors deserve that label, do protesters similarly deserve the “Dalit goonda” label?
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