Above the fold: Top stories of the day
1. Hardik Patel claims he was abducted by cop-like people even as his close aide is charged with sedition by the Gujarat police.
2. Nitish Kumar releases the list of candidates for the Bihar Assembly election with Other Backward Castes snapping up the largest chunk of the candidates.
3. In its clean chit in the Uphaar fire tragedy, the Supreme Court in its detailed judgment says the Ansals were too old to go to prison.
The Big Story: We are not another Sikkim
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 2014 visit to Nepal was a gala event. With much publicity, Modi visited the famous Pashupati Nath temple and enthralled crowds wherever he went. However, beyond the optics, the core diplomacy side of the visit, it has now become clear, was far less successful, as Nepal’s newly promulgated constitution clean ignores almost all of Big Brother India’s policy objectives.
Nepal’s federal constitution restricts the political rights of the Madhesis, the Taru and janjatis (adivasi) groups. Madhesi people share close ethnic ties with Bihar and the region that they dominate, the Terai, adjoins India. Delhi fears that unrest in the region could have a spillover effect in India, especially given that the Bihar elections will be conducted soon.
While India tried its utmost to influence the constitution-making process to address these concerns, in the end, Nepali politicians ignored the Modi government when promulgating the new constitution. This came after a backlash from Nepal, where India was largely seen to be an overbearing Big Brother, dictating terms. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s press adviser even wrote an op-ed asking India not to interference.
As a last-minute response, India has now taken the unprecedented step of asking Nepal to make seven specific changes to its constitution.
The process has consequently seen a sharp backlash from the Nepali media. The Kathmandu Post says in an editorial, "Delhi would do well not to be seen as crossing the red line to meet its objective. It could box itself in a difficult position and see it lose its diplomatic leverage against certain parties and sections of the polarised society."
On social media, angry Nepalis also trended #backoffIndia which trended worldwide for around two days till Tuesday.
Until now, Nepal has refused to bend. Nepal’s ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay claiming in an interview with the Indian Express that his country’s constitution was the “most progressive in South Asia” and “is better than the Indian Constitution since it takes care of minorities as well as women”.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day’s biggest story
Not only India, many other commentators have issues with the Nepali constitution since it is seen to concentrate power into the hands of upper caste men, leaving behind the marginalised like the Dalits, the Madhesis, women as well as religious minorities.
Politicking & Policying
1. Chief Minister of Paschim Banga, Mamata Banerjee will support Saurav Ganguly for the post of the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal.
2. The Bharatiya Janata Party has taken a jibe at Rahul Gandhi’s US visit.
3. Defence Minister Manohar Parikar used tales from Hindu mythology to inspire the scientists form the Defence Research and Development Organisation
Punditry
1. India and Pakistan need to have a slow, measured meeting away from the media glare, says Nirupa Subramanian in the Indian Express.
2. The oldest nation-state of South Asia must be allowed its own space to implement its new constitution, says Kanak Mani Dixit in the Hindu.
3. To actually implement his Minimum Government, Maximum Governance moito, Modi will have to implement deep institutional change, says Kanika Dutta in the Business Standard.
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1. Hardik Patel claims he was abducted by cop-like people even as his close aide is charged with sedition by the Gujarat police.
2. Nitish Kumar releases the list of candidates for the Bihar Assembly election with Other Backward Castes snapping up the largest chunk of the candidates.
3. In its clean chit in the Uphaar fire tragedy, the Supreme Court in its detailed judgment says the Ansals were too old to go to prison.
The Big Story: We are not another Sikkim
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 2014 visit to Nepal was a gala event. With much publicity, Modi visited the famous Pashupati Nath temple and enthralled crowds wherever he went. However, beyond the optics, the core diplomacy side of the visit, it has now become clear, was far less successful, as Nepal’s newly promulgated constitution clean ignores almost all of Big Brother India’s policy objectives.
Nepal’s federal constitution restricts the political rights of the Madhesis, the Taru and janjatis (adivasi) groups. Madhesi people share close ethnic ties with Bihar and the region that they dominate, the Terai, adjoins India. Delhi fears that unrest in the region could have a spillover effect in India, especially given that the Bihar elections will be conducted soon.
While India tried its utmost to influence the constitution-making process to address these concerns, in the end, Nepali politicians ignored the Modi government when promulgating the new constitution. This came after a backlash from Nepal, where India was largely seen to be an overbearing Big Brother, dictating terms. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s press adviser even wrote an op-ed asking India not to interference.
As a last-minute response, India has now taken the unprecedented step of asking Nepal to make seven specific changes to its constitution.
The process has consequently seen a sharp backlash from the Nepali media. The Kathmandu Post says in an editorial, "Delhi would do well not to be seen as crossing the red line to meet its objective. It could box itself in a difficult position and see it lose its diplomatic leverage against certain parties and sections of the polarised society."
On social media, angry Nepalis also trended #backoffIndia which trended worldwide for around two days till Tuesday.
Until now, Nepal has refused to bend. Nepal’s ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay claiming in an interview with the Indian Express that his country’s constitution was the “most progressive in South Asia” and “is better than the Indian Constitution since it takes care of minorities as well as women”.
The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day’s biggest story
Not only India, many other commentators have issues with the Nepali constitution since it is seen to concentrate power into the hands of upper caste men, leaving behind the marginalised like the Dalits, the Madhesis, women as well as religious minorities.
Politicking & Policying
1. Chief Minister of Paschim Banga, Mamata Banerjee will support Saurav Ganguly for the post of the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal.
2. The Bharatiya Janata Party has taken a jibe at Rahul Gandhi’s US visit.
3. Defence Minister Manohar Parikar used tales from Hindu mythology to inspire the scientists form the Defence Research and Development Organisation
Punditry
1. India and Pakistan need to have a slow, measured meeting away from the media glare, says Nirupa Subramanian in the Indian Express.
2. The oldest nation-state of South Asia must be allowed its own space to implement its new constitution, says Kanak Mani Dixit in the Hindu.
3. To actually implement his Minimum Government, Maximum Governance moito, Modi will have to implement deep institutional change, says Kanika Dutta in the Business Standard.