Delhi Confidential: Starry Affair
Senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday organised a special screening of the Aamir Khan-starrer Sitaare Zameen Par at a Delhi multiplex. Aamir, present at the screening, took questions from audience members about the film's message. Sitaare Zameen Par is the story of a basketball coach, played by Aamir, trying to teach the sport to a group of neurodivergent individuals.
Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan 'Lalan' Singh, who heads both the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, has delegated several responsibilities to his junior ministers over the last year. Most recently, his deputy, S P Singh Baghel, chaired a meeting of the consultative committee associated with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. The June 23 meeting was attended by 10 MPs and focused on ending proxy representation. The consultative committee meeting of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, which was chaired by Lalan Singh last month, saw the participation of three MPs.
The delegation led by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to Ireland, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Air India Flight 182 bombing, has received much praise within the BJP for delivering on a tight deadline. The group, which included the party's Sikh faces from five states and National General Secretary Tarun Chugh, was formed and dispatched within 48 hours. One of its members, who was in Europe, flew back to New Delhi to complete the requisite paperwork before boarding the flight as per the schedule.
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Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
Emergency: The betrayal that we must never forget, never repeat
It is tempting to believe that the national Emergency is history—done and dusted. Some like AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge even scoff, saying, 'It's a forgotten issue, raked up only by the BJP to hide its failures.' But such indifference is dangerous. The very reason we must observe this black chapter is to remind those born after 1975 that India once witnessed its Constitution being subverted, its democracy throttled, federalism undermined, and its people robbed of liberty and dignity. The Emergency was not just a moment—it was a mindset. A mindset that still lurks in the corridors of power, waiting for complacency to return. It must not be remembered merely as a historical footnote but as a blood-stained warning. A reminder that when citizens sleep, tyranny wakes. When a nation forgets to question, it forfeits its right to be free. Andhra Pradesh recently witnessed how blind faith in a single leader without vision and vindictive political attitude can ruin a state. Between 2019 and 2024, under Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, governance turned autocratic. The man earned the moniker of a political 'psycho,' and his party, the YSRCP, having been routed, still hasn't learned any lessons. Their brand of rule eerily echoed Emergency-era overreach—draconian laws, surveillance of dissent, and misuse of institutions. That is why we must understand: the tools of tyranny are always just a signature away from misuse. If we cannot guarantee that it won't happen again, we've learned nothing. And that would be the second betrayal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the newly released Emergency Diaries, recounts his role as a young RSS pracharak resisting Indira Gandhi's dictatorship. The book compiles first-hand accounts from those who stood with him in that fight. It's not about glorifying one man—it's about preserving the memory of those who fought to keep India democratic. While I do not wish to romanticise the rulers who imposed it, I refuse to whitewash the horrors either. Sanjay Gandhi—the de facto prime minister—led a brutal sterilisation campaign. Over 1.07 crore procedures were carried out in two years. People were denied rations, jobs, healthcare, and even housing if they had more than two or three children and resisted sterilisation. Coercion replaced compassion. Dignity was crushed. As a student at Delhi University, I witnessed this first-hand. I barely escaped arrest for resisting it. I remember the slogan that defines our collective duty today: Remember. Resist. Reclaim. Two moments are etched in my memory with permanent ink. The first: the night of June 25, 1975, when India lost its voice to Emergency. The second: the horrific 1984 anti-Sikh riots following Indira Gandhi's assassination. Thousands were killed, injured, and displaced. And yet, all Rajiv Gandhi could say was,'When a big tree falls, the earth shakes.' That was not just insensitivity—it was complicity cloaked in metaphor. Today, when Congress spokespersons and self-styled intellectuals lambast the Modi government for not calling a special Parliament session after Operation Sindoor or for not 'consulting' the opposition, I ask: did you ever question the undemocratic decisions under Congress rule? Take bank nationalisation in 1969. Was there a cabinet debate? No. The PMO summoned a Finance Ministry official and demanded a draft in three hours. An ordinance was issued unilaterally. When Emergency was imposed in 1975, even key ministers were unaware. Indira Gandhi called a meeting of select ministers including Jagjivan Ram during the early hours of June 26, told them of her decision, and then announced it on Akashvani. No agenda papers, no consultation, just dictation. This was not governance—it was authoritarianism. What followed was a national assault. A constitutional coup. At midnight—not to awaken a nation like Nehru once dreamed, but to push it into darkness—Indira Gandhi suspended the Constitution, jailed opposition leaders, censored the press, and turned institutions into loyalist echo chambers. Over 100,000 people were jailed under preventive detention laws like MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act). Parliament became a puppet theatre. The media, once the fourth pillar, fell to its knees. The bureaucracy obeyed whispered orders. The Constitution was turned into a pliable sheet of rubber. Fundamental Rights were suspended. Habeas corpus—the last refuge of individual liberty—was buried. The Supreme Court, the last hope, failed in its duty during the infamous ADM Jabalpur case. Only one judge—Justice H R Khanna—had the courage to dissent. For that, he was superseded and denied the Chief Justice's post. It took the 44th Amendment later to undo the worst constitutional wreckage. The Emergency was not imposed because of any real internal threat. It was to save Indira Gandhi's political career after the Allahabad High Court invalidated her election. The Congress sycophancy of that era echoed in slogans like 'Indira is India, and India is Indira.' What followed was not democracy—it was despotism draped in national flags. Where were the voices of conscience then? Today's loud liberal intellectuals—editors, poets, professors—pontificate on freedoms, but where were they when journalists were jailed and newspaper printing presses were sealed? Their silence then was louder than their activism today. The Emergency also exposed how easily our institutions could crumble. They were not destroyed from outside—but from within. The executive bent them. The judiciary surrendered. The press folded. The opposition was crushed. And yet, democracy survived—not because of institutional bravery but because of public resistance. At the helm of that resistance stood Jayaprakash Narayan. JP was no career politician—he was the moral compass of the nation. His call for 'Total Revolution' united students, farmers, intellectuals, and politicians across ideologies. His arrest wasn't just an attack on a man—it was an attack on the soul of India. He rightly said, 'This is not a struggle for power. It is a struggle for the soul of the nation.' And when he warned that if Emergency continued, democracy would die—he wasn't exaggerating. We survived because we resisted. India's democracy survived because the people stood up—not because the system saved them. Those who fought deserve honour. Those who stayed silent deserve history's condemnation. As we mark 50 years since that night, we must ask the hardest question: Could it happen again? The answer is asobering—yes. It can happen again if we become complacent. If we stop being vigilant. If we allow institutions to decay. If we forget history. Indira Gandhi is gone. But Emergency as an idea isn't. It lives on in every authoritarian instinct, in every call for censorship and in every abuse of power. It survives in every arrogant dismissal of democratic consultation, and in every attempt to centralise power in one hand. Emergency was not merely a past event. It was a trauma, a warning, a mirror. Let us never allow it to be repeated. Let us pass this memory to every generation. Not as a tale of despair—but as a torch of vigilance. India must remember. India must resist. India must reclaim. (The author is former Chief Editor of The Hans India)
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Socialist', ‘secular' don't reflect India's core cultural values: Chouhan
Jun 28, 2025 05:30 AM IST VARANASI Amid a national debate on whether the words 'Socialist' and 'Secular' should remain in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday invoked India's civilisational ethos to argue that these words do not reflect the country's core cultural values. He came down heavily on the Congress, saying the party should apologise for imposing Emergency in the country 50 years ago. Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan addresses a press conference, in Varanasi, Friday. (PTI Photo) He said the word 'secularism', added to the Constitution by the Congress, should be removed, while there's also no need for the word 'socialism' as equality is the basic principle of India. 'Sarva dharma sambhav (equal respect for all religions) is the core of Indian culture, but secularism is not a core value of our was inserted during the Emergency. That is why there should be strong consideration on removing the word 'secularism' from the Indian Constitution,' said the minister, responding to a query at a press conference. 'The second word is 'socialism': Sabko apne jaisa maano (treat everyone like yourself), live and let live, the world is one family are the core of India. That is why there is also no need for the word 'socialism'. It's removal should be considered seriously,' added Chouhan. The minister alleged that the Congress amended the Constitution to save its power as well as to impose its ideological agenda. 'The Congress added words like 'secular' and 'socialist' to the Constitution by amending it so that the party could impose its ideological agenda on the nation. This amendment extended the period of Emergency and the President got the right to declare emergency even without prior approval of Parliament,' he said during a press conference. In response to if his ministry was planning to start 'Ladle Kisan scheme' to make sure that farmers don't go away from farming, Chouhan indicated that such a scheme may be started in near future. He said the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan is being run across the country for strengthening agriculture.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Survey for Mizoram-Myanmar rly route done: MP
1 2 Aizawl: Mizoram's lone Rajya Sabha MP, K Vanlalvena, has announced the completion of a preliminary survey for the proposed extension of the railway line from Sairang/Sihhmui, on the outskirts of Aizawl, to Zorinpui near the Myanmar border in southern Mizoram. Vanlalvena met Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Delhi on Thursday to reiterate his long-standing request for a railway link to Myanmar under the Centre's 'Act East Policy' aimed at boosting trade connectivity with Southeast Asia. "Aizawl-Zorinpui rail link will serve as a parallel corridor to the ongoing Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project, which seeks to connect Mizoram with the Sittwe Port in Myanmar's Rakhine state through both highway and inland waterway routes," he said. The project envisions linking Kolkata to Mizoram via the Sittwe Port by a 539-km sea route across the Bay of Bengal. While the survey for the proposed line has been completed, the route alignment is yet to be finalised. Vanlalvena said the railway minister told him the inauguration date for the 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang new line is yet to be finalised, pending some technical inspections. However, northeast frontier railway (NFR) officials confirmed that the line is likely to be inaugurated before July 31. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cuối cùng, chơi miễn phí game chiến thuật hay nhất 2025! Sea of Conquest Phát ngay Undo "I expressed my deep gratitude to the Railway Minister for the completion of the Bairabi-Sairang/Sihhmui project, and he congratulated me on this significant milestone towards integrating Aizawl into India's national railway grid," the MP said. The Bairabi-Sairang line recently underwent safety inspection by the commissioner of railway safety on June 10. Final approval of the report is awaited from the ministry of railways. A speed trial using a special diesel locomotive inspection train has also been completed. The 51.38-km railway project is regarded as an engineering feat. It comprises 48 tunnels, 55 major bridges, and 87 minor bridges. The combined tunnel length stands at 12,853 meters. Notably, bridge number 196 stands 104 meters tall — 42 meters higher than the Qutub Minar. The project also features five road over bridges and six road under bridges, and is divided into four segments: Bairabi-Hortoki, Hortoki-Kawnpui, Kawnpui-Mualkhang, and Mualkhang-Sairang.
