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Video: The crisis of constitutional governance in Assam
Play Is the Assam government functioning according to constitutional values and principles? As Muslims of Bengali-origin in the state are being targetted and thousands have been declared foreigners, the many lapses and violations of constitutional governance are the focus of this discussion in the latest episode of Yeh Daag Daag Ujala series. In discussion with writer and peace activist are Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, National Affairs Editor of The Wire; Aman Wadud, an advocate in the Guwahati High Court; and Paresh Malakar, general secretary of Asom Nagarik Samaj and editor in chief of the North East Now news portal.
The Wire
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
Why the Name ‘Operation Sindoor' Must be Examined Closely
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Opinion Why the Name 'Operation Sindoor' Must be Examined Closely Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty 34 minutes ago India's ruling party narrative had been hurt in Pahalgam, especially as PM had cast the Opposition as mangalsutra-snatchers less than a year ago. Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Donate now Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addresses a press conference regarding 'Operation Sindoor', in New Delhi. Photo: PTI New Delhi: Not many Indians would remember that the Indian government's deadly strike at the Karachi airport which broke the back of the Pakistan Navy in the 1971 war, was called Trident — named after the deadly weapon, the Trishul, carried by Lord Shiva. If you can't recall the name of that decisive Indian operation from the 1971 war against Pakistan which India won decisively, and which altered the course of history for the sub-continent, the answer is that the government of the day had then treated it as a national security operation — not to wield the 'trident' to its domestic constituency for political messaging. Let alone establish prime minister Indira Gandhi as the leader of a muscular government; the 'Durga' who could teach Pakistan a lesson at will. Fifty-five years later, on the morning of May 7, Indians across the country woke up to another Indian operation in Pakistan, code-named 'Operation Sindoor.' This Indian operation that struck at nine strategic locations within Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to hit terrorist dens across the border, is not comparable to 'Operation Trident' — not in terms of its effect, certainly not in terms of its aim. That's because unlike Operation Trident, Operation Sindoor is also expected to deliver dividends in domestic politics to the government of the day, or rather the Prime Minister. The BJP's impromptu slick video making the PM and not the armed forces the hero of the moment bears ample witness to that. Indian military operations against Pakistan, thus far, have been named variously; mostly to signify valour and national resolve — Operation Vijay was to take back Kargil during the Prime Ministership of Atal Vihari Vajpayee; Operation Meghdoot to secure the Siachen glacier from Pakistan army in 1984; and Operation Parakram was to flush out terrorists during the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. The security operation against the Pakistan-backed terrorists striking Mumbai in 2008 was named Operation Black Tornado. That was the last big civilian attack in India by Pak-backed terrorists before the horrific Pahalgam terror attack took place. But Operation Sindoor would likely stand apart from all these previous Indian operations against Pakistan or Pak-backed terrorists, primarily because it has been named specifically to send out a political message to the domestic constituency. Prior to Operation Sindoor, the political benefit of the 2019 Balakot airstrike against a Jaish-e-Mohammad training camp was reaped by the Modi government in the 2019 general elections, but let's not overlook that the name, Balakot, was drawn from a Pakistani town where the air strikes were carried out by India. Such a name also has its uses. That strike had since popularised the term then used by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — ghar me ghus ke margenge (We will enter your homes to kill you). The May 6-7 operation is also an extension of that political term utilised against Pakistan by the ruling party but Sindoor, in coming times, can be way more potent than Balakot from the Hindutva lens. The protector has finally risen to the occasion to protect the honour of the Hindu women? As expected, by 10 am on May 7, the Modi government's first political messaging to its domestic constituency through the specificity of the name of the military operation was made visible. Two women officers were strategically picked to address the first press briefing in New Delhi on the post midnight operation with a carefully designed logo also officially displayed. Media reports at once highlighted that their presence was to signify a revenge taken by the widows of those killed in that horrific attack in Baisaran on April 22 whereby their 'sindoor' (the Hindu vermilion mark signifying their married status) was wiped out. No sooner did the news about the operation break, BJP social media handles began highlighting the name of the military operation in Pakistan to feed the notion of raw, brawn power of the Modi government. Pro-government news channels have begun taking that political messaging forward. A Times Now headline said: ' Behno ka chheena thaa sindoor, Ab chatai dhool (Those who snatched away our sisters' vermilion have now been taught a lesson).' Simultaneous to the press briefing, hundreds of phones pinged across the country, carrying messages from various BJP leaders celebrating Modi for carrying out Operation Sindoor. One such WhatsApp message sent out by senior party leader Sunil Deodhar said — ' Ghar me ghus kar mara hai, kabar tumhari khodi hai; Bharat ki gaddi par betha, baap tumhara Modi hai. Operation Sindoor.' (We have entered your homes to kill you; we have dug your graves; your grand daddy Modi is sitting on the chair that rules Bharat). The messages sent out by the ruling party through media and social media celebrating Operation Sindoor is understandable considering the military operation was also to have some control over the huge pressure that had built up domestically since the terror act; many had rightly questioned whether there was any security lapse leading to so many deaths of innocent people. It is noteworthy that during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, PM Modi specifically made another marker of HIndu matrimony, the mangalsutra, a political message, by telling crowds first in Rajasthan and then in other towns that the opposition Congress 'was after their women's mangalsutras.' After the Pehalgam attack, some satirists remarked on the irony of the Modi government's security failure having cost 26 women their mangalsutra. Many from within the right wing ecosystem also wanted Modi to be seen taking punitive action against Pakistan at once. Not having seen it coming, the frustration was growing. Hours before Operation Sindoor, former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik had told The Wire that Modi 'won't do anything'; he is a 'darpok' (coward). Malik had, in fact, held up the opinion of the domestic constituency that had wanted to see Modi act on his strong words against Pakistan too; and thereby continue to live up to his muscular image. In the days to come, the Modi government naming a military operation after sindoor, the hallmark of a devoted Hindu wife in a patriarchy, may likely come under academic scanner too, considering it is the first time a gender related nomenclature has been appended to an Indian security operation. But what must be attached to it is also the fact that some brave widows of the Pahalgam terror act did feel abandoned by the same forces who are now celebrating a revenge supposedly taken in the name of their 'Sindoor'. Those women were heavily trolled and shamed simply because what they had said publicly even after suffering huge personal losses seemed to have not quite matched the dominant narrative that the ruling party had hoped from the Pahalgam episode. No top leader of the party or the Sangh Parivar came forward in the support of those widows who chose to speak up against communalising their personal loss. Today's rejoicing within the Sangh Parivar ecosystem is another example of the use of a message which has been handed over to them by the Modi government. The purpose is to once again try and dominate the public narrative over the more pertinent questions of the serious internal security lapse and loss of 26 lives that had cast a long shadow over the public conversation. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News Pahalgam Shows Why 'Over-Propaganda' Can Send a Leader Riding the Tiger 'Pahalgam Attackers Communicating With Pakistan-Based Handlers, Our Response Proportionate': Govt 'Firm and Decisive Action': Modi Reiterates Pahalgam Stand After Meeting With Angola President The PM Has Vowed To Make Pakistan Pay. But What About Those Who Foment Communal Hostility at Home? 'We Will be the First to Die': Uri Residents Voice Fears as India-Pakistan Tensions Escalate Of All the Responses Modi Can Come Up With to Pahalgam, Plunging India Into War is the Worst 'They Called Me a Terrorist': Kashmiri Students in Punjab Face Assault After Pahalgam Attack, Forced to Flee Live | Pakistan Says it 'Reserves the Right to Respond' to Indian Military Action Kashmir Youth Picked Up By Army After Pahalgam Found Dead; NC, PDP Allege Foul Play About Us Contact Us Support Us © Copyright. All Rights Reserved.
The Wire
05-05-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
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Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Politics 'The Right is Using the Political Touch Points of the Left to Justify Their Existence' Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty 5 minutes ago In conversation with Arena Williams, a two-time member of parliament and youth leader from New Zealand. Arena Williams. Photo: Special arrangement Hyderabad: The Telangana government hosted the Bharat Summit on April 25 and 26 in Hyderabad. It has been widely hailed as one of the biggest gatherings of global progressives from across the world in recent times. Elected leaders, activists and thinkers from nearly 100 countries congregated to find a road map to fight the surge of the right wing, globally. On the sidelines of the summit, The Wire spoke to Arena Williams, a two-time member of parliament and youth leader from New Zealand about how New Zealand has been somewhat successful in tackling the rise of the Right, and lessons that progressives around the world can learn from India. Williams, a member of New Zealand's Labour Party, represents Manurewa, a suburb in South Auckland. The electorate of Manurewa has been sending a Labour Party representative to parliament since 1963. Excerpts from the conversation follow. At a time when we are seeing Europe and US moving to the far right politically, why is New Zealand not so prominently tilting towards it? This is such an interesting observation. As a New Zealander with progressive values, sharing space at a forum like the Bharat Summit with a number of elected politicians from different parts of the world, I have thought about the rise of the Far Right; and what that would mean not only for me but for them too. So, when I look at New Zealand, I think we have the privilege to be in a position where we have this system called MMP (mixed member proportional) of parliamentary representation, whereby voters have one vote to elect their member of parliament to represent their region, and another vote to represent the party which they wish to govern. That electoral system means usually, the government is formed by two or more political parties, some of which could be minor parties too. At the moment, the governing party is a right-wing party (New Zealand National Party) but it is supported by New Zealand First, a small populist party, and the ACT Party which is a hard right neo-liberal party. I agree that one of the reasons why the far right hasn't had a reactionary rise in New Zealand in the way we are seeing it unfolding in many of the European states and in the United States is because we have an outlet for those views, and because in a pluralist democracy like ours, we are able to debate them well, meaning, those views have a way of being represented within a dialogue. However, I would also say that there are different conditions in New Zealand where we are not dealing with many of the challenges that countries represented at the Bharat Summit [from Europe] are. For example, New Zealand's geographic distance means we have not seen the rising tensions of the threat of war at our doorstep that many of these countries have. We have also not had mass migrations in the last ten years of refugees. We will have to deal with climate refugees in our region of the Pacific but we have not seen people coming in numbers undocumented, and this is one of the reasons why our immigration debate is very different from many of the European countries. People in New Zealand who have come to the country are there because they have come on a visa, either to work or to seek education; they are very few migrants who are undocumented. So, our migration debates can be about how many people we need to fill jobs in areas there have shortage; how many people the infrastructure can sustain; and their housing developments can sustain; and they are not about undocumented people like many of these countries that are seeing rash, reactionary anti migration discussions occurring. New Zealand may be a little different at the moment because it is not directly affected by the refugee issue, but as a representative of a centre-left political party, does anything in particular about the global right wing concern you? I am interested in thinking about the rise of the old right and how they are addressing issues like women's emancipation, etc; how it is playing out in democratic discourses around the world, led by many of the old right strongman elected leaders. They are using, say, things like immigration, to state that women are losing their place in the society because of it; they are facing more misogynistic views because of migration. They are also pointing to the LGBTQ communities in their countries, saying that migration is undermining their place in society too. So, what we see is, the Right is using the political touch points of the Left to justify their existence. It is something that I would say, is beginning to take hold in parts of Europe. For instance, Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban recently gave a speech at the European Union parliament where he very squarely pointed to migrants leading to the undermining of women, of gay people, of young people within his economy. Its a worrying trend for lot of reasons but the biggest one for me as an elected member is that there is a lack of focus from elected members globally to deal with the real problems facing people; say, for instance, women's emancipation and the progress of working people require political focus, and we cannot exit a political narrative that sees that the reason why these people aren't getting heard is because of migrants. We have to address and tackle the underlying economic factors that are holding such people back; why young women can't be educated in many states; why young people can't afford to buy houses and can't afford to save for their futures; those are things that are symptoms of rising inequality in the world, and are not a symptom of migration. A panel on economic justice at Bharat Summit in Hyderabad, Telangana. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad It is also true that a large number of undocumented migrants from countries like Syria, or now from Palestine, are heading to the West because of the foreign policy and military decisions of the First World and their friends. You are completely right there. Those undocumented people who are seeking safety – seeking homes, jobs, for their families – absolutely deserve those things and we as a global community need to make sure that they have those things. However, the pressure that they didn't put on the other states is also something we should be thinking about because we should also be keeping in mind those people who are receiving the refugees. I think, some ordinary working people who usually vote for left-wing politicians (in Europe) are seeing a lack of care and respect for the everyday experience they are feeling; that they might lose their jobs; their children's education is suffering because of migration, etc. They say that there is no real response from the democratically-elected leaders from the progressive liberal space. So, the alternative Right is being able to fill that void. I also think that pointing to those war-related issues is an uniting issue; its exactly what the democratic Left around the world needs to hear; that we do have models to address such issues and hope is not lost. Do you have any particular model in mind? Can India provide any solution? Yes, for instance, look at India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru who gave the Indian people not only the seeds of the nationhood but also a sense of national purpose by creating an industrial policy plan for India where every man, woman and child was called upon to join that national project of creating and building steel, dams, projects of making jobs, and that has to be the answer of the Left too. When people are scared that they won't be able to hold on to a job, when people are scared that they won't have a house to live in, it is only the government that can step up to the challenge and provide those jobs. The governments can provide those jobs by creating industries, by working with private sector to unlock resources to be able to harness the collective power within a country to create something. I think that's what we will see from Europe, to not only electrify but rearm Europe in the next decade which would be a huge call to the ordinary working class people that the government has a project where they will have a place. We will see it not only in Europe but also in the Trump Administration to some extent, re-industrialising America in what he is calling national resilience and self reliance as his project. We need socially progressive democratically elected leaders to re-harness the tools of government to be able too recreate those jobs, and set up industries too; we can't leave it to the Right because we will then see a consistent undermining of those rights that people have to be involved in. Prime Minister Nehru, long back, had got it very right; he included people, brought women too to the picture and that is the way forward even now. We have seen thinkers, activists, elected leaders like you from nearly 100 countries congregating at the Bharat Summit to address various panel discussions and also to participate in closed-door conversations. Do you see a larger holding of hands of the progressive forces worldwide in the near future trying to find an answer to fight the Right? There is value in bringing people together for such discussions, whether they are civic level elected leaders, or from the city or state level or leaders at the national level. But we have to be very conscious of the people who are not in the room. In the panel discussion held at the Summit on Youth and Politics of Tomorrow (on April 25), there were very good questions put by the audience about whether young marginalised domestic workers and gig workers are being represented in the conversation. What I mean to underlines is, we need to be conscious that the decisions we make here (at the Summit) are for the good of the people, and the people see themselves represented within the conversations. Of course, the beauty of a democratic method of governance is that we all come with a community's best interests at heart; likewise, we are all here representing a constituency – as different as they may be and with their interests informing not only the political discussions but also the values that we hold. Democracy is often described as having the best and the worst solutions; its a messy one, but it is also something that we all can work very hard to make it right. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News Forging a Progressive Global Alliance to Build Societies Free From Hate At Bharat Summit, Global Leaders Call For 'Unity of Progressives' Against Far-Right Forces Bharat Summit Shows New Hope in the Wake of Hatred and Violence Supreme Court Orders TISS to Reinstate Dalit PhD Scholar Suspended Over 'Anti-National Activities' A Look Back at India's Caste Census Journey 2,000+ Academics Condemn Israel's Attacks on Gaza's Educational Infrastructure Jairam Ramesh Counters Ashwini Vaishnaw's Defence of 'RTI-Destroying Amendment' to DPDP Act Reform UK's Local Election Win Could Be a Turning Point for British Politics 'Draconian Impact' on Citizen's Rights: Opposition MPs Demand Repeal of Section 44(3) of DPDP Act About Us Contact Us Support Us © Copyright. All Rights Reserved.
