The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. The Congress's Kalikho Pul stakes claim to forming a government in Arunachal Pradesh.
2. Former Delhi University lecturer SAR Geelani has been arrested on sedition charges.
3. As missiles in Syria kill at least 50 people, Turkey accuses Russia of acting like a "terrorist organisation".
The Big Story: Scenes from Patiala House
There were appalling scenes at Patiala House in Delhi on Monday, as Jawaharlal Nehru University Student's Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was presented in the sedition case against him. Lawyers who insisted that the court complex had to be cleared of "gaddars" went around roughing up and pushing out teachers, journalists and anyone who looked like a JNU student or supporter. Bharatiya Janata Party legislator OP Sharma, who was seen beating up a man, claimed he would have shot anyone who insulted "our mother", that is, India, if he had a gun. All the while, the Delhi Police looked on impassive.
Monday's incident was revelatory. First, it revealed who these mysterious "anti-nationals" that the government keeps warning about really are. They are journalists, who are "terrorists" anyway, they are teachers who may be concerned about how their students are treated by a whimsical state and they are, of course, students who dare to protest. Second, it revealed that the law has become an entirely subjective matter. Instead of arguing their case in court, lawyers decided to brand people anti-nationals and administer some rough justice. And the police will do nothing to protect the basic democratic rights of "anti-national" people. Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi called the Patiala House chaos a "minor incident" and said that Kanhaiya's arrest was completely justified, since he had been shouting "anti-national" slogans.
Monday's incident also gives rise to some questions. Was it a stray event, at a time when emotions were already running high? Or is this bullying and lawlessness part of a new template? Should we memorise the developments at Patiala House as a primer for times to come?
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's big story
Shoaib Daniyal asks if we're being ruled by a government for, of and by Twitter trolls.
Rohan Venkataramakrishnan talks to journalists beaten up outside Patiala House Court.
Harsh Mander volunteers to be tried for sedition.
"We don't want media trial," JNU students tell Mayank Jain.
Politicking and policying
1. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar denies calling Ishrat Jahan a "daughter of Bihar".
2. Text messages strengthen the case of sexual harassment against RK Pachauri, executive vice-chairman of The Energy Research Institute.
3. The Supreme Court intervenes after a Madras High Court judge stays his own transfer.
Punditry
1. In the Indian Express, Alok Rai on the growing idea of the "anti-national".
2. In the Hindu, Suhrith Parthsarthy argues that Section 124 A, the law on sedition, which forbids dissent, is "anti-India".
3. In the Telegraph, Bhaskar Dutta presents a list of expectations from the budget.
Don't Miss...
Nadeem F Paracha on the "complicated" relationship status of India and Pakistan:
Many believed it was a Zino-Zoroastrian conspiracy plotted by a diabolic Soviet agent, Malala Petrov, with whose DNA, Polish agent, Malala Yousafzai, will be spawned 25 years later to discredit pious men.
Zulfikar Ali Toto emerged as the new leader of Pakistan. And he got kind of overexcited about it.
Anyway, tensions between India and Pakistan were eased by the historic Mexican Accord of 1974 and after Pakistan recognised Bangladesh (and Thai food) in 1974.
In 1987, threat of yet another war between the two countries began looming when India (now called the Republic of Indira) accused Pakistan of funding a Buddhist insurgency in Indian Punjab.
To defuse the tension, Pakistan’s greatest leader ever and forever, General Saladin 2.2, indulged in some ‘cricket diplomacy’ by sending Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi – son of Indra Gandhi, daughter of Jawarlal Nehru, grandson of Mogambo – a gift of some of the finest crickets found in the bushes of Islamabad.
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