This horrific war must end
Writing about the war in Ukraine for The Indian Express, P Chidambaram questions the Indian government's fence sitting. Arguing that Russia's security concerns vis-à-vis NATO's eastwards expansion is not a strong enough justification to "start a destructive war", he goes on to ask what is stopping India from mediating a ceasefire.
"I am clueless about the Indian government's policy. In my view, no argument can justify the war. So, despite the six principles outlined by the External Affairs Minister, why cannot India say that the war is unjustified? Why cannot India appeal to Russia to stop raining bombs on the civilian population and destroying homes, schools and hospitals? Why cannot the Prime
Minister travel to Moscow and Kyiv and try to mediate a ceasefire like the Prime Minister of Israel, who is making a brave attempt to do so? What has rendered India so incapable of any initiative and so impotent to intervene?"
Empowerment? No thanks
In the context of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's return to the United Kingdom after six years of incarceration in Iran, Rinku Ghosh, writing for The Indian Express , asserts that "empowerment robs the woman of her agency and seems like a charitable gift bestowed by the man or society at large."
"The maternal traits in a woman certainly don't make her different from any other aggressive entrepreneur. Besides prefixing 'mom' makes her look cutesy and needy for some serious consideration because she has fulfilled her primary social responsibility to the human race by birthing and raising a child. It is about under-cutting her self-worth, definitely not enabling it.
And the one we get routinely is, 'She's a strong woman.' Next time you say that to anyone, remember that she appears so because she has run out of options in life."
Biden brings out old Cold War playbook but fails to draw Xi in
In his article for The Times of India, Zorawar Daulet Singh discusses the power dynamics between the United States, Russia, and China with respect to the war in Ukraine.
He says:
"It is wrenchingly apparent that the US does not possess the military and economic preponderance or the global ideological sway to effectively pursue a dual containment strategy. The China front is, therefore, seen as more manageable among Russophobic US elites. China, for its part, has not fallen under any spell in this triangular geopolitics as it still values a strategic partnership with Russia."
New heroes in New India
Tavleen Singh, in her weekly column for The Indian Express, expresses her shock regarding what she claims is massive support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine among the Indian populace.
"What has astounded me is the number of people who are not part of the BJP’s troll army who have expressed hatred of the West and deep sympathy for Russia. Putin's argument that he was forced to invade Ukraine because NATO was inching too close to Russia's sphere of influence has more support in India perhaps than in any other democratic country."
Reassessing Jinnah’s stand on the Partition
Karan Thapar brings to our attention the gigantic biography of Mohammad Ali Jinnah written by Ishtiaq Ahmed (published in 2020), in his article for The Hindustan Times.
Thapar says that according to Ahmed's research, Jinnah never showed any interest in a united India or in a power-sharing deal with the Indian National Congress. He concludes his article by emphasising the need for a debate around Ahmed's "fascinating re-interpretations" of Jinnah's ideas.
"In fact, Ahmed goes further. He says, 'Jinnah was obsessed with having India partitioned'. Again, he seems to be able to prove this. On March 30, 1941, in Kanpur, Jinnah said he was prepared to sacrifice the 20 million Muslims who would be left behind in India 'to liberate' the 70 million in a majority in what became Pakistan. On April 14, 1941, Jinnah spoke in support of Dravidastan. He also said he would support a Sikh State. But Jinnah went even further. 'He tried to woo even Hindu-majority princely states ruled by Hindu maharajas to join Pakistan. Such an irrational approach derived from his basic political goal: To bring about the division of India and get as much territory as possible out of India for Pakistan.'
Forging a social contract for data
Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami in their article for The Hindu, discuss the IT Ministry's recent policy proposal titled "Draft India Data Accessibility and Use Policy 2022", which consists of strategies to utilise public sector data for governance and innovation.
They write:
"What we need is a new social contract for data whereby: a) the social commons of data are governed as an inappropriable commons that belong to all citizens; b) the government is the custodian or trustee with fiduciary responsibility to promote data use for public good; and c) democratisation of data value is ensured through accountable institutional mechanisms for data governance."