Bassi, again

The JNU sedition case has been transferred to the Special Cell because, says Bassi, the regular cops have too much to do.

A few days after registering the case in connection with the February 9 event in JNU campus, DCP (South) Prem Nath had written to the Commissioner, requesting him to transfer the case to Special Cell.

Mr Bassi had refused to do so then saying that the concerned police district has enough capacity to deal with the matter.

So on Monday, when Kanhaiya Kumar’s bail application is heard next, the cops can go: ‘We are in the process of transferring the case, it will take two days, the Special Cell needs time after that to study the case, we request extension of custody’. Meanwhile, everyone who actually indulged in violence are out on bail.

Open Thread

Off for the day — if you come across something interesting to read, do drop it off in comments.

Dividing the country to unify it

Apart from the poll plan, the other agenda is to control India’s cultural and education sectors, which the RSS has long held, is dominated by Leftists and liberals. The RSS seems to have been given a free hand by the government on this, and appointments of people supporting its agenda at FTII, CBFC and ICHR are examples. It fits in with the RSS’s larger goal of a “Hindu Rashtra” and a new “spiritual order” that will rejuvenate the “reservoir of knowledge” that went dry due to the creation of an “artificial culture” over 500 years of Mughal and British rule. Sources in the RSS say they look at the NDA government-with its absolute majority in the Lok Sabha and minus the encumbrances of coalition politics-as the best opportunity to push ahead with this plan. Something they couldn’t do when the NDA was in power between 1998 and 2004, partly because Atal Behari Vajpayee was not as committed to the cause and partly because the numbers were not as emphatic.

….”The three beliefs-Hindu culture, Hindu forefathers and Hindu land-that unite our society will have to be established. This is what the Sangh has been working for. This is the only way that will result in something. This is the time,” RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat had said in a public speech on the occasion of Dussehra last October.

A clip from a Kunal Pradhan cover story for India Today that connects dots and paints an unsavory picture.

‘Something extraordinary is going on…’

The most puzzling feature of the RSS’s campaign is that it seems utterly unfazed by the inevitable  loss of  electoral support that will follow the resurgence of ideology within the BJP. In 50 assembly by-elections in 2014, held to fill seats whose incumbents had moved to the Lok Sabha, the BJP was able to hold on to only 19 of the 40 seats it had  held before. This was followed by its shattering defeats in the assembly elections in Delhi and Bihar.

To stand a chance of winning the 2019 general elections, the BJP must widen its appeal and actively court the support of coalition partners. Under Modi and the RSS, it is doing the opposite. Could this mean that the RSS is planning to ‘derail’ democracy once more? The possibility is no longer remote, because hyper-nationalism  has been the final card played by governments of other countries that have felt their  support waning. Delhi shows that the BJP is beginning to play it too.

Prem Shankar Jha reads the tea leaves.

The dangerous cynicism of Congress politics

Chidambaram’s comments are even more insidious. They may seem like a defence of free speech, galling enough coming from the leader of party that gave India section 66A, but they conveniently come many years after the fact. Now that there is political currency to be earned from siding with those who question Guru’s involvement, Chidambaram is happy to do it.

Rohan Venkat on the dangerous cynicism of the Congress pol.

Beware the fury…

Zee boss Subhash Chandra announced his intent to act against media outlets that have been critical of his channel for doctored videos and much else.

We have send a legal notice to Bloomberg (the US media giant) for publishing rubbish about zee & India, asking apology

— Dr. Subhash Chandra (@_SubhashChandra) February 25, 2016

We r in the process to sue even some of Indian media to publish malicious informations in JNU issue, seeking apology

— Dr. Subhash Chandra (@_SubhashChandra) February 25, 2016