INDIA bloc shifts strategy meet online, Trinamool leaders to join, AAP uncertain
The source also informed that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has confirmed it will take part in the meeting. Either party chief Mamata Banerjee or senior leader Abhishek Banerjee is expected to attend online.This marks TMC's first participation in an INDIA bloc meeting since the Lok Sabha elections. The party had stayed away from previous meetings during Parliament sessions.However, there is still uncertainty about the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) involvement. While the source claims Congress leaders have tried reaching out, it is unclear if AAP will join the talks.Saturday's meeting will focus on preparing a united front for the monsoon session. Issues like the situation in Bihar, particularly around the Special Investigation Report, and operation Sindoor are expected to be major talking points.- EndsMust Watch
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Indian Express
14 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Amid Trump claims, V-P Jagdeep Dhankhar says no power can dictate to India
Amid repeated claims from US President Donald Trump that he had brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar Saturday said there was no power in the world that could dictate to India on how to handle its affairs. Addressing a gathering of the 2024 batch of officers from the Indian Defence Estates Service at V-P Enclave, Dhankhar said: 'Don't be guided by narratives outside. All decisions in this country, a sovereign nation, are taken by its leadership. There is no power on the planet to dictate India how to handle its affairs. We do live in a nation and nations that are a comity. We work in togetherness, we work in tandem. We have mutual respect, diplomatic dialogues. But at the end of the day, we are sovereign, we take our own decisions.' Dhankar did not name Trump but his statement comes a day after the US president reiterated the ceasefire claim and said that five jets had been shot down during the hostilities between the two countries. On Saturday, the Congress demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in Parliament clarifying the issue. Taking an apparent swipe at the Opposition in this context, the V-P said: 'Is it required to play every bad ball? Is it required to have wrestling sessions as to who said what? One who scores good runs on the cricket pitch always leaves bad balls. They are tempting, but not attempted. And those who attempt, you have safe gloves of the wicket keeper and someone in the gully.' Dhankar said there would be challenging times that could create divisions, and drew a contrast between Israel and Palestine, and Russia and Ukraine, on one side and Operation Sindoor, India's response to the Pahalgam terror attack in April, on the other. 'For example, we have seen global conflagrations — two of them in particular, you know them. These have become open-ended. Look at the devastation of property, human lives and their misery. And look at our calibration. We taught a lesson — taught it well. We chose Bahawalpur and Muridke, and then brought it to a temporary conclusion. 'Operation Sindoor' is not over, it continues. Some people ask the question — why was it stopped? We are a nation that believes in peace, non-violence, a land of Buddha, Mahavira, and Gandhi. We do not wish to kill even living beings — how can we target human beings? The idea was to generate sanity, to generate a sense of humanity in the others,' he said.
Time of India
14 minutes ago
- Time of India
Revenge of the vernac! Time to mind your angrezi, mister
A controversy of sorts erupted recently after home minister Amit Shah's declaration at a book launch in Delhi that 'those who speak English will soon feel ashamed — the creation of such a society (in India) is not far away.' The comments attracted widespread criticism from the opposition, which accused Shah of pushing the RSS's agenda of cultural domination. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the BJP-RSS did not want underprivileged children to learn English and make progress to become equal. So, what does it mean when a powerful politician hints at shaming people for speaking the language of colonial masters? Is it an unpleasant yet necessary process of the much-needed linguistic decolonisation of our minds, as Shah claims? Credit: Chad Crowe Or is it clever political messaging meant for the vast majority of aspiring young men and women from small towns and villages who speak in the 'vernacular' and hold an irrational grudge against the English-speaking class living in metropolitan India? Just to contextualise, the etymology of the word 'vernacular' is interesting: it is derived from the Latin word 'verna', which means a slave born in his master's house. One of the other variants derived from 'verna' is 'vernaculum' — a low-bred person or proletarian. I was made aware of my 'vernac' identity many years ago when an acquaintance hurled the word at me as an insult. He spoke rather fluent English and kept referring to Hindi speakers as 'vernacs' — a derogatory term to describe those who speak in the vernacular. I, on the other hand, was trying to argue with him in Hindi — the language I am most comfortable in. But my combative antagonist was not willing to stoop to my level by answering in the language of the general hoi polloi. Around the same time, I was offered a job in an upmarket English-language news magazine. But my excitement came crashing down in the very first editorial meeting. While colleagues were rattling off story ideas in their clipped accents and perfect diction, peppering their pitch with public school jokes, I forgot my well-rehearsed lines when my turn came, and could only manage to mumble a few words in Hindi. Suddenly, a thick pall of oppressive silence fell in the editor's room. I could see embarrassed faces all around me; some colleagues looking down at the floor to avoid eye contact. The sacrilege had been committed. A yokel had sneaked into the 'Exclusive Club of the English-speaking Gentry' and defiled it with his lowbrow 'vernacular', or so I thought. That was my first embarrassing encounter with linguistic shame. Dr Lori Gallegos, professor of philosophy at Texas State University, defines linguistic shame as something that 'involves feelings of embarrassment, a sense of inferiority, and attitudes of self-reproach that arise in relation to the way one speaks.' She equates linguicism with other forms of discrimination, like racism and sexism. Apart from direct linguicism, which is still practised in some South Asian convents and public schools, there is another form of discrimination where 'people implicitly view those who do not speak English as uneducated or unintelligent.' PM Modi himself faces this kind of glottophobia regularly when he is mocked for mispronouncing an English word or phrase. Amit Shah's son, Jay Shah, is also trolled for his lack of fluency in English. Against this backdrop, Shah's unapologetic reverse linguicism — though one is not justifying it — becomes somewhat understandable. Ironically, Shah was echoing the sentiments expressed by the celebrated Kenyan-American Marxist writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, who died last month. Thiong'o shunned the English language back in the 1970s and declared that in future, he would only write in his mother tongue, Gikuyu. It was his way of protesting against the imposition of the language of the colonial masters, which he described as a 'cultural bomb'. So, when the wider Sangh Parivar eulogises India's past, it may appear to be rejecting the effect of the 'cultural bomb' as described by Thiong'o, but there's a big difference between the two. While Thiong'o sees English and many other European languages as an assault on native African languages, the Hindutva narrative is more selective in its approach. Urdu, an out-and-out Indian language, is as much an anathema to them as English. A more troubling thought is how such rhetoric could encourage the right wing's vast army of foot soldiers — often drawn from under-educated and poor marginalised castes who resent the English-speaking elite. Some of them have taken on the role of cow vigilantes who patrol highways. This foot soldier could now potentially have another assignment as a bhasha rakshak dal (defenders of language) vigilante — going from room to room in Delhi Gymkhana or the swanky clubs in South Mumbai, or inspecting seminar halls in universities and the India International Centre to check if the speakers are ashamed enough while delivering a speech in English. Should that dystopia become a reality, will the angreziwallas be then forced to form secret societies where one could only whisper in a language that shall not be named? Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
The Print
44 minutes ago
- The Print
INDIA bloc allies meet online for Monsoon Session strategy, set to raise Op Sindoor, Bihar SIR in House
It was the first meeting of the INDIA bloc in more than a year, albeit a virtual one. The alliance leaders last met at Kharge's residence on 5 June 2024, a day after the Lok Sabha election results were announced. The meeting, which included representatives from 24 opposition parties, was attended by top Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi. New Delhi: Leaders of the INDIA bloc held a virtual meeting Saturday to plan their strategy for the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, vowing to corner the Modi government over the Pahalgam terror attack and the sudden halt of Operation Sindoor. Apart from the Aam Aadmi Party, which has pulled out of the alliance, leaders of all other members of the coalition including Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee attended and spoke in the meeting which lasted nearly two hours. Sources who attended the meeting said that, in his remarks, Rahul said that the Pahalgam terror attack and the 'sudden halt' of the military operations against Pakistan were major issues that the Opposition must raise unitedly in Parliament. Leaders, including Rahul, also referred to US President Donald Trump's latest claim that five fighter jets were shot down during Operation Sindoor and underlined the need to question Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the matter. Sources close to Banerjee told ThePrint that the Trinamool leader questioned the one-year extension given to Intelligence Bureau chief Tapan Deka despite Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha admitting that intel failure led to the 22 April attack in Pahalgam resulting in the deaths of 26 people. The TMC national general secretary, who was part of a multi-party delegation dispatched by the Centre to various countries to present India's case against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, is also learnt to have questioned the objectives achieved by the initiative. 'How many countries came in our support? Instead of briefing our own people, MPs were sent to brief people and relevant stakeholders of other countries,' Banerjee is learnt to have said. Sources said CPI general secretary emphasised on the need for the INDIA bloc parties to act in a more coordinated fashion and avoid bickering in public. His suggestion came against the backdrop of the controversy sparked by Rahul Gandhi's remarks that he fights both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologically. CPI(M) general secretary who had termed Rahul's statement as deeply insulting, also attended the meeting but did not raise the matter, multiple leaders, who were in attendance, said. CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said there was a near consensus on the need to put the Modi government in the dock on the subject of foreign policy and India's 'complete isolation'. 'Many leaders expressed the need for holding a physical meeting of the alliance soon. It is likely that the meeting will be held during the Monsoon Session itself as it will last one entire month,' Dipankar said after the end of the meeting. Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said that the meeting would be held in August. Later, Congress Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Pramod Tiwari told reporters that the Opposition also agreed to question the government's position on the continuing Israeli assault against Gaza. Among other issues that the Opposition resolved to raise in the Parliament include the demand for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also attended the meeting. The other CM present there was Jharkhand's Hemant Soren. The Samajwadi Party was represented by Ramgopal Yadav, while Tiruchi Siva of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam also spoke at the meeting. (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Narasimha Rao reason why coalition govts perform better than majority govts, says Naidu
