The Big Story: Cold comfort

On Sunday, Union Minister Rajnath Singh wrapped up his two-day visit to the Kashmir Valley by saying the Centre wanted an emotional bond with Kashmir, not a relationship of necessity. In help forge this bond, presumably, he asked the youth of Kashmir not to pelt stones and urged the security forces to avoid using pellet guns on protesters. People injured in the protests were invited to Delhi for treatment. But it would appear that the home minister had not cut much ice in the Valley: Kashmir's traders and commerce bodies, academicians and civil rights groups stayed away from meetings.

Delhi's new policy of speaking a language of empathy with the Valley while maintaining a political hard line may be showing its limitations. Singh's soothing words were accompanied by a warning to Pakistan to stop instigating "terror" in the Valley and by the assertion that there was no space for a third party in the dispute. He was also non-committal on talks with separatist groups and made no comment on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's suggestion that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act be removed from certain areas of the Valley on an experimental basis. On the same day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Pakistan that all of Kashmir belonged to India. Days earlier in the Lok Sabha, MJ Akbar, minister of state for external affairs, had described the dispute over Kashmir as an "existential fight", where the strength of the secular "one nation principle" would be tested.

In all this sabre-rattling with Pakistan, Delhi has found little time to listen to voices in the Valley and their demands. Empathy does not go a long way when a government has choked off all space for political expression and denied people their right to a political will.

The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's big story
David Devadas on how half-truths on Kashmir, peddled by a poarised media, widen the gulf of ignorance and hate.
Fahad Shah travels to violence-hit Anantnag, where a number of people have been killed or injured in firing by security forces.

Political pickings
1. The Centre plans to redraw the Red Corridor, taking 20 districts off the map of areas affected by Maoist activity.
2. The prime minister's office has reportedly called up the Election Commission to push for joint assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
3. Nepal dislodged its prime minister, KP Oli, on Sunday, a move that is being read as a blow to China's attempts at intervention in the country and good news for India.

Punditry
1. In the Indian Express, Ghanshyam Shah on how the recent violence against Dalits in Gujarat is a result of food restrictions imposed by the Sangh Parivar.
2. In the Hindu, Shiv Visvanathan on how the onslaught of the gau rakshak's needs to be read as a threat to democracy.
3. In the Telegraph, Timothy Garton Ash on how Trumpism is a poisonous American version of Brexit.

Giggles

Don't Miss...

Maheep Singh on why he won't support banning Sardar jokes, even if they hurt:

Subconsciously and unknowingly, generations have inherited their parents’ flaws, racism, insecurities and the folklore that is Sardar jokes. There is a general belief that Sardars have a great sense of humour. That laughing at them is somehow alright.

Why am I talking about this now? Because of the Supreme Court’s decision to consider a petition seeking a ban on Sardar jokes. Around a fortnight ago, it gave Sikh religious bodies six weeks to devise methods to make sure that such jokes don’t get circulated.

As a humorist, I firmly believe that you have no right to make fun of anything if you cannot make fun of everything. And that includes stereotypes. But imagine being in the shoes of a Sikh child, five or seven years old, who fails to understand why he is the butt of all jokes and why the Sikh in all the jokes is an imbecile and a moron.

That is not humour – it’s bullying.