On Friday December 12, 2025, the Union Cabinet cleared HECI Bill under changed name the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan (VBSA) Bill 2025. The Bill has been tabled in the Winter Session. The press conference of over two dozen organisations including the All India Forum for the Right to Education (AIFRTE) has demanded that the Bill, which will redefine Government’s commitment towards public funded higher education and therefore, its purpose, is referred to the Standing Committee for wider consultation.

Reminding the public that the VBSA Bill 2025 is a revived version of a similar HECI Bill 2018, a draft of which was released in June 2018. The revision is largely around renaming the Commission and Councils under it. The Draft HECI Bill 2018 had received more than a lakh unfavourable responses from concerned citizens, students’ and teachers’ associations, parliamentarians and other stakeholders. The public opposition to the Bill was so strong and vocal that the then-NDA government was forced to shelve it, and let it fade from public memory in these seven years before bringing it back.  The draft VBSA Bill 2025 was released on the portal of Members of Parliament on 14.12.2025. The feedback from the stakeholders on the draft HECI Bill 2018 seems to have been ignored completely. Pointing out that the VBSA Bill 2025 will simultaneously repeal the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act 1956, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Act, 1987 and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Act, 1993. The draft VBSA Bill 2025 was released on the portal of Members of Parliament on 14.12.2025. The feedback from the stakeholders on the draft HECI Bill 2018 seems to have been ignored completely.

Some of the most pressing concerns about the VBSA Bill 2025 are:

1. Delinking of funding and regulation: No Council under the Commission has been set for funding of HEIs. The VBSA Bill is to make the Ministry of Education (MoE) responsible for disbursing grants. This will make the process of grant allocation more bureaucratic, arbitrary, and subject to political considerations. By delinking the function of policy-making from the allocation of financial resources, the proposed Bill will use ‘public funding’ as a reward or punishment for ideological It will also heighten hierarchies between different tiers of institutions (Central and state, general and professional, scientific and technical, research and vocational, metropolitan and rural).

2. Composition of members: The composition of the VBSA Bill 2025 signals a takeover of higher education by the officials of the Central government. 10 out of the 12 members of the Commission are either direct recruits of or nominated “experts” by the Central government. Teachers are reduced to just two in number, which is absolutely unacceptable in a body that is to determine the standards and quality of higher education in the country. Both teacher representatives from state higher education institutions will, by virtue of being ‘nominees’ of the Central government, will also likely be political appointments. The composition of the commission does not also reflect the diversity of the country and gives no representation to marginalised groups like SCs, STs, OBCs, women, transpersons, persons with disabilities, and minorities.

3. Centralised regulatory regime: The regulatory provisions of the Bill — grant of authorisation, graded autonomy, and ordering closure of institutions — will install a heavily centralised regime that will lead to punitive annual audit, wastage of time and resources, greater job insecurity for teachers, massive fee hikes, and This will cause students and their family’s great unrest and anxiety. Finally, the fact that the VBSA Bill will have overriding effect over all previous legislation has serious consequences for the nation’s federal character.

4. Complete disregard for diversity: With regards to the setting of standards for higher education, a ‘one size fits all’ model can never succeed. The diversity of this country, and the fact that higher education is still expanding to various sections and particularly rural sectors of society, demands a regulator that is socially responsive and geared towards social justice. The HECI Bill instead aims at downsizing higher education, and completely ignores questions of equity and access. It threatens the closure of ‘underperforming’ public-funded institutions, which are anyway reeling under decades of policy neglect through lack of infrastructure, faculty and other physical-intellectual

5. Threat to autonomy of institutions and principle of federalism: The VBSA Bill puts an end to the autonomy of institutions of higher education from government control. Every regulation relating to standards made by the Commission has to have the prior approval of the Central government. This not only violates the constitutional character of education as part of the Concurrent list, but also leaves the vast majority of the country’s higher educational landscape – run and aided by state governments – in a political tussle with the ruling party at the Centre. It will also encourage the use of regulations as a means to stifle freedom of speech, thought, and dissenting opinion in higher educational institutions. An atmosphere of forced obedience does not encourage meaningful improvements in society or in the state of knowledge.

6. Heightening the crises caused by NEP 2020: It is being argued that the setting up of the VBSA is in alignment with the vision proposed by NEP 2020. Colleges and universities across the country are currently struggling under the weight of the NEP’s vision – which has skewed syllabi and curricula with diluted content, delayed admissions processes through a compromised common university entrance test (CUET) and left seats unfilled, increased costs of undergraduate education with an extra year of college but zero value addition under the four year programme, contractualized teaching positions through lopsided teaching workload across semesters, slashed public funding through proposals for college mergers and institutional loans from the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA), reduced the capacity of the research sector and curtailed research fellowships. Under such circumstances, the introduction of another disastrous reform move through the establishment of HECI will be the last nail in the coffin of Indian higher education.

Post-Independence, the historic purpose of nurturing Higher education through public spending has been to enable progressive social and material transformation that will eventually result in greater Equity between various interest-groups in Society. The Constitution had envisaged education as a public good – a means to ensure dignity and upward mobility to individuals and for strengthening the democracy. Education was seen as domain to be shared by the Centre and States. The VBSA Bill 2025 is a structural change, which will lead to extreme centralisation and commercialisation and privatisation of public funded HEIs as they will be pushed to be self-reliant.

As stakeholders, we appeal that the Bill to be referred to the Standing Committee so that teachers, students, and educationists are given enough opportunity to present their case.

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The post Over-centralisation, Unaccountability, Political Considerations & Control: Stakeholders critique the VBSA 2025 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The post Kerala Local Body Election Results Ring Alarm Bells in the Left’s Last Bastion appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The united Opposition has demanded that this Bill, along with two others (three far-reaching Bills) to be referred to the Standing Committees concerned. Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress (INC), Jairam Ramesh stated that, “We are hopeful that in keeping with the best of Parliamentary traditions and practices, this demand will be agreed to by the Government. The Bills require deep study and wide consultations. 1. Higher Education Commission Bill 2. Atomic Energy Bill 3. G-RAM-G Bill.” It is to be seen if the NDA’s outside allies, Chandrababu Naidu Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) join the Opposition in demanding that these proposes changes and shifts are first deliberated on, as required by a Parliamentary Committee.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) –that was had strongly participated in deliberations on the 2005 original MGNREGA apart from being part of the 2004-2009 UPA—has, in a public statement, strongly opposed the Union government’s move to introduce the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-GRAMG Bill), which seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). In a statement issued today, the left party stated that, “The proposed bill completely negates the basic character of the MNREGA, which is a universal demand driven law providing a limited right to work. It legally absolves the Union government from its responsibility to allocate funds according to the demand.”

Further the CPI-M states that, “The government’s claim of increasing guaranteed employment from 100 to 125 days is merely cosmetic. In reality, the Bill opens the door to the exclusion of large sections of rural households in the name of rationalisation of job cards. The provision allowing governments to suspend employment for up to 60 days during peak agricultural seasons will deny work to rural households when it is most needed and make them dependent on landlords. Mandating digital attendance at work place is bound to cause immense difficulties to workers, like loss of work, and denial of their rights.”

Another major concern is the proposed shift in the funding pattern. The Bill reduces the Centre’s responsibility for wage payments from 100 per cent to a 60:40 sharing arrangement for major states. By doing this, the proposed law shifts the responsibility of bearing the expenditure on unemployment allowance and delay compensation from the Union to the states. In doing so, this places an unsustainable financial burden on state governments while denying them any role in the decision making process. The introduction of “normative allocation” – with state-wise expenditure ceilings imposed by the Centre and excess costs borne by states – will further curtail the programme’s reach and dilute the Centre’s accountability, states the CPI-M. Hence the party has also demanded a) that the VB-GRAMG Bill be withdrawn immediately and b) The Union government must instead engage in consultations with political parties, trade unions and organisations of the rural poor to strengthen MGNREGA and ensure its effective implementation as a universal and rights-based employment guarantee.

Meanwhile, John Brittas, a Parliamentarian in the Rajya Sabha representing the CPI-M has also provided a detailed critique of the new proposed law on social media, “X”. He states that the “Modi 3.0 government has removed the soul of a rights-based guarantee law and replaced it with a conditional, centrally controlled scheme stacked against States & workers.

“125 days” is the headline. 60:40 is the fine print – MGNREGA was a fully centrally funded one for unskilled wages; G RAM G downgrades it with States to bear 40%. States will now have to shell out around Rs. 50,000+ crore. Kerala alone will have to bear an additional 2,000–2,500 crore.  Cost shifting by stealth, not reform. This is the new federalism: States pay more; Centre walks away, yet claims the credit.

“MGNREGA was demand-driven: if a worker asked for work, the Centre had to pay – G RAM G replaces this with Centre’s pre-fixed normative allocations & ceilings. When funds run out, rights run out. A legal employment guarantee is reduced to a centrally managed publicity scheme at the expense of States.

“Panchayats have been side-lined, (digital) dashboards empowered – MGNREGA trusted Gram Sabhas & Panchayats to plan works based on local needs – G RAM G mandates GIS tools, PM Gati Shakti layers & central digital stacks. Local priorities are filtered through a Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack. It makes biometrics, geo-tagging, dashboards and AI audits statutory. For millions of rural workers, tech failures mean exclusion without appeal. “

Therefore, he says,

“Decentralisation replaced by centralised templates; People (have) become data points.

“Worse, G RAM G mandates suspension of work for up to 60 days every year in the name of agricultural seasons. Employment guarantee or labour control? Scheme labourers are legally told: Don’t work. Don’t earn. Wait. Stopping public works to push labour into private farms is not welfare – it is state-managed labour supply, stripping workers of wages, choice and dignity. “

He concludes by adding that,

“G RAM G stands for central control, State funds & conditional rights. Same workers. Less rights. More burden. This Bill doesn’t reform MGNREGA – it dismantles it fiscally, institutionally and morally.

“Bottom line: In the name of RAM, the States and poor are penalised, short-changed and fiscally sacrificed.”

Detailing the new 2025 Bill further, John Brittas says,

“Under Section 10 of the MGNREG Act, 2005, the ‘Central Employment Guarantee Council’ ‘ was statutorily bound to uphold social representation, mandating that not less than one-third of its non-official members shall be women and not less than one-third belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities. Yet, the corresponding rechristened ‘Central Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Council’ under Clause 12 of the G RAM G Bill conspicuously and deliberately omits these reservation requirements.

“In contrast, Clause 13 of the G RAM G Bill, governing the rechristened ‘State Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Councils’, explicitly retains the very same representation criteria for women, and for SCs, STs, OBCs and Minorities, exactly as provided in Section 12 of MGNREGA for the ‘State Employment Guarantee Councils’.

“This selective retention leaves no room for benign explanation. It clearly establishes that the omission at the Central level cannot be dismissed as an oversight or drafting error, but represents a conscious dilution of statutory social inclusion at the apex level. This follows a familiar pattern – much like the Union Government’s 2023 attempt to dilute mandatory SC/ST allocations under the revised MPLADS Guidelines, which was constrained to be rolled back after I (John Brittas) raised formal objections with the Minister – demonstrating that such exclusions are neither accidental nor unprecedented, but deliberate policy choices until challenged.”

Clearly rights based legislation is being diluted and rural work has been made more conditional and fragile. MGNREGA 2025 that revived rural economies, prevented migration, kick-started a demand based economic cycle is being formally throttled by a new law that will seek to control and not disburse and de-centralise economic growth and resources.

It is to be seen if the NDA’s outside allies, Chandrababu Naidu Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) join the Opposition in demanding that these proposes changes and shifts are first deliberated on, as required by a Parliamentary Committee.

Related:

MNREGA facing fund crunch despite highest ever budgetary allocation

CJP submits detailed feedback to Labour Ministry on Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025

Jharkhand BJP leader gets ration from Antyodaya, claims being MNREGA labour, while Savitri starves to death after being denied Antyodaya card

The post MNREGA to G RAM G: Ideological shift, erosion of rural workers’ rights, increase of fiscal burden on states appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“This fight is between ‘satya’ and ‘asatya’ [truth and untruth]. We will stand behind ‘satya’ and will remove [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi, [Home Minister] Amit Shah and the RSS government from the country. They have ‘satta’ [power] and they indulge in ‘vote chori’,” Mr. Gandhi said. Gandhi quoted from and lambasted Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), “The world respects not the truth but the powerful, display and manifestation of power alone” Bhagwat had been recently speaking at the Virat Hindu Maha Sammelan at the Andamans! 

Rahul Gandhi also repeated the sham voters and bogus voter’s lists issued exposed by him and the INC in the Haryana state elections in 2024.

Sabrangindia had, on November 5, 2025 reported on Rahul Gandhi’s exposure on how in the 2024 Haryana elections “One in eight voters fake” According to Gandhi, Haryana, with roughly two crore registered voters, had about 25.4 lakh bogus entries — meaning “one in every eight voters is fake.”

He said his team had classified the fake voters under five categories:

• 5.2 lakh duplicate voters,
• 93,174 invalid addresses,
• 19.2 lakh bulk voters (20 or more voters registered at the same address), and
• Several others linked to misuse of Form 6 (additions) and Form 7 (deletions).

“Despite clear technical capacity to detect duplicates, the ECI deliberately refused to run even a basic photo-identity matching query,” Gandhi alleged. “Why? Because they are helping the BJP.”

The ‘Brazilian Model’ case and recycled photos

Displaying a presentation with screenshots from the official voter database, Gandhi held up a photo of a woman he said is a Brazilian model, alleging that her image was used to create 22 separate voter IDs across 10 polling booths in Haryana. “What is a Brazilian woman doing on a voters’ list in Haryana?” he asked.

He further claimed that in some cases, the same photograph appeared 223 times across different constituencies. “This is just one example. There are thousands more. This is not voter error — this is organised fraud,” he asserted.

The Congress leader ridiculed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s explanation that voter IDs bearing “House No. 0” are reserved for homeless citizens. “We physically went to those addresses,” Gandhi said, showing a two-storey house listed as ‘House No. 0’. “This is not homelessness. This is hiding. The CEC is lying to the people of India.” In one instance, Gandhi said, 501 voters were registered under a single address, calling it “statistical proof of systematic rigging.”

“Industrialised vote theft”: Rahul Gandhi

In his major third time exposure on November 5, Rahul Gandhi had termed the manipulation “industrialised”, Gandhi said the same centralised pattern was visible in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, adding that the Congress had first detected the scam in Mahadevapura and Aland Assembly constituencies in Karnataka. “In Aland, fake login IDs and mobile numbers were used to delete voters remotely. In Mahadevapura, over one lakh names were found to be either deleted or duplicated. We saw the same pattern in Haryana — that’s when we realised this is national-scale rigging,” Gandhi said.

He added that the same strategy was now being deployed in Bihar (October 2025 Vidhan Sabha elections), where 47 lakh names were deleted during the recent voter list revision. Several affected voters from Bihar’s Jamui district joined Gandhi on stage, claiming their names were removed without notice.

“Thousands of BJP Voters in Two States”

Gandhi also claimed that thousands of BJP leaders and workers were registered in multiple states. “They are voting in both Uttar Pradesh and Haryana,” he said, citing examples of party office-bearers with dual entries.

To underline this, he played a video of BJP Kerala Vice President B. Gopalakrishnan, who had in August openly stated that his party would “bring voters from other states and settle them for a year to ensure victory.”

INC’s show of strength at Ramlila Maidan

The grand only party also showcased nearly six crore signatures it gathered as part of its campaign against vote chori and these would be submitted to the President. The portrayed a figure representing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, showing him in chains, while alleging electoral irregularities.

Addressing the ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’ rally, Mr. Kharge said the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat or RSS founder M.S. Golwalkar and Manusmriti would destroy the country, and only the ideology of the Congress could save it. He accused the BJP-RSS of trying to “finish off the Constitution and enslave the poor in the name of Hindutva”.

“These [BJP] people are ‘gaddars’, you will have to remove these gaddars. If you want to protect yourself, remove these gaddars. For that purpose, Rahul Gandhi walked throughout the country. BJP people are ‘dramebaaz’, they only believe in their own propaganda,” the Congress chief said.

Lakhs of Congresspersons arrive at Ram Lila Maidan, massive turnout

A massive turnout of Congress workers from across the country marked the party’s mega rally against alleged “vote chori”, with chants of “vote chor, gaddi chhod” echoing across the venue. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, several senior party leaders, and the Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh — Siddaramaiah, Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu — were present at the rally.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Gandhi named Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, alleging that they were working in favour of the BJP and standing with untruth.

The Lok Sabha Opposition leader alleged that “vote chori” was not merely theft of votes but an attack on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Constitution. “Had they not been indulging in vote chori, you would have removed them from power in five minutes. Like truth is in your DNA, there is untruth and vote chori in their DNA,” he said to loud applause.

Warns of action

Informing the audience on an issue that he has raised several times these past months and year, Rahul Gandhi recalled how Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought a new law granting “immunity” to the Election Commission, Mr. Gandhi warned, “We are telling you [election commissioners] clearly that this law is to protect you and we will change this law retroactively and will take strict action against you.”  He also claimed that the Prime Minister had lost confidence after the alleged vote theft was exposed, adding that Mr. Shah’s “hand was trembling” in Parliament.

“Amit Shah is brave only as long as he holds power. The day power is gone, his bravery will also vanish on that very day,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

Mr. Kharge asserted that only the Congress’s ideology could “save the country”. “The seeds being sown by the RSS-BJP are very dangerous,” he said, adding that the Congress’s fight was against the RSS-BJP and those indulging in vote theft.

Referring to Mr. Modi’s victory claims, Mr. Kharge remarked, “We lost at many places, but still our party and our ideology are alive. If Modi loses once, there will be no trace of him after that,” and urged people to strengthen the Congress’s struggle for the people.

The Congress chief also questioned the Prime Minister’s foreign visits during parliamentary sessions.

Congress MP Saptagiri Ulka said that the party will continue to fight against the SIR and “vote chori” from the House to the streets.

“We had forced the government to discuss it; this is a big issue… Our main problem is that through this SIR, an attempt is being made to remove the poor, backward, Dalit, and traditional voters of Congress and the INDIA alliance from the elections to gain an advantage; therefore, we are holding this rally against it,” Ulka said.

Related:

No vote can be deleted online by the public, ECI refutes Rahul Gandhi’s claim but refusal to share data raises doubts

“Vote Chori Factory”: Rahul Gandhi accuses ECI of protecting electoral fraud, demands action in 7 days

Rahul Gandhi alleges ‘Vote Chori’ in 2024 polls, accuses BJP-ECI nexus of systematic electoral fraud

‘Election Commission involved in vote theft’: Rahul Gandhi repeats charge, now drops ‘atom bomb’ ahead of Bihar poll, also says ‘won’t spare you’

The post Ensure free & fair elections, Congress warns Election Commissioners, threatens strict action over ‘vote theft’ at a massive show of strength at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Guardian reported the New South Wales Police stating the attack happened as hundreds gathered to mark the first day of Hanukkah and has been declared a terrorist incident. The victims include an Israeli citizen, according to Israel’s foreign ministry. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the national security committee was convened urgently following the attack. The attack occurred around 6:45 pm local time at Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration attended by around 1,000 people.

“There has been a devastating terrorist incident at Bondi at the Hanukkah by the sea celebration. This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith, an act of evil, anti-Semitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” he said.

“An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian and every Australian. There is no place for this hate, violence and terrorism in our nation. Let me be clear we will eradicate it,” he added.

A bystander fruit-seller emerges international hero

A bystander seen in a widely circulated video disarming a gunman during a deadly shooting rampage at a popular Australian beach has been widely heralded as a hero who saved lives. CCTV Video footage posted on social media shows a burly passer-by clad in a white T-shirt and dark pants crouching behind a parked car before sneaking up behind a gunman, grabbing him and wrestling away his firearm. The bystander then points the weapon at the gunman, who falls to the ground.

Identified by 7News as 43 year-old Ahmed al-Ahmed, a bystander fruit-seller, he suffered two bullet injuries from one of the terror attackers; he is the father of two and owner of a fruit shop in Sydney.

This extraordinarily brave act has drawn wide praise and acclaim including from religious political leaders alike. What is crucial is that the Australian media and international media have played up this heroic intervention that came from a resident Muslim. Central Synagogue rabbi Levi Wolff reported The Guardian said he is ‘grateful’ for those who aided victims of Sunday’s Bondi beach shooting attack, including a bystander who wrestled a firearm off one of the alleged gunmen. Praised as a hero, he is being identified by some media as a 43-year-old fruit shop owner from the Sutherland Shire. He suffered two bullet wounds, in his arm and in his hand, one of his relatives told Seven News outside a hospital. This brave intervention drew wide praise, including from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called it the “most unbelievable scene.” “A man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people,” Minns said. “That man is a genuine hero.”

Speaking from the White House on Sunday, even US President Donald Trump called Ahmed a “very, very brave person” who “saved a lot of lives.” Trump offered “great respect to that man that did that.”

Extraordinary courage from Ahmed El Ahmad, a Muslim, 43-year-old father of two, who bravely risked his life to save his neighbors celebrating Hanukkah.
Praying for his full & speedy recovery.

And so deeply inspired by his example. pic.twitter.com/HTeLRTlbFV

— Brad Lander (@bradlander) December 14, 2025

Unlike international media, Indian national media, including newspapers played up the gun attack on Bondi Beach; Only NDTV and the Week carried mention of the citizen hero, fruit-seller!

From the Bloody Scene at Bondi Beach

Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky told the media that he had moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.

“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. “I never thought would be possible here in Australia.”

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots. “I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible.”

Anti-semitic attacks have risen in Australia

Albanese vowed the violence would be met with “a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith.” Some of his political opponents and Israel’s government accused him of not having done enough to prevent such a horror.

Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.

Father and son duo alleged to be behind shooting using licensed firearms

Naveed Akram previously known to security agencies, prime minister says. His gun-owning father, Sajid, was shot dead by police at the scene said The Guardian adding that the alleged gunmen behind Sydney’ Bondi beach attack are a father-son duo suspected of using legally obtained firearms to commit the massacre, according to police.

Naveed Akram, 24, was nabbed at the scene itself and taken to a Sydney hospital with critical injuries. His 50-year-old father, who the Sydney Morning Herald first reported to be Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police. The two allegedly killed 15 people, with dozens more injured in the shootings which took place on Sunday, during a gathering to celebrate the first night of Hanukah.

According to reports, the son was known to New South Wales police and security agencies, while his father had a firearms licence with six weapons registered to him. All six firearms have been recovered, police said. Four of these weapons, long arms believed to include a rifle and shotgun, were seized at the scene in Bondi, with other weapons also found during a police raid at a house in Campsie, in Sydney’s south-west. As per a report in The Guardian.

Reportedly, Naveed Akram, who worked as a bricklayer, came under the attention of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) in October 2019, according to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese. He was examined for six months because of his alleged associations with others, with the ABC reporting claims that the counter-terror investigation involved an Islamic State cell. “[Naveed Akram] was examined on the basis of being associated with others and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence,” Albanese said. Sajid had held a Category AB firearm licence, police said. This is a licence which requires a person to demonstrate to police they have a “special need” for certain weapons, which can include muzzle-loading firearms (other than pistols); centre-fire rifles (other than self-loading); and shotgun/centre-fire rifle combinations.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said Naveed is an Australian-born citizen. His father had arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998, transferred in 2001 to a partner visa and had since been on resident return visas.

The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said the two men had lived at another house in Bonnyrigg, in the city’s west, which was also raided on Sunday night after the attack. He said there was nothing “to indicate that either of the men involved in yesterday’s attack was planning the attack”, and confirmed the older man had held a gun licence for a decade.

Lanyon refused to react or comment on reports claiming a manifesto or black Islamic State flag were found in the car driven to the scene by the alleged attackers. Instead of reducing the discourse to jingoistic Islamophobia, the North South Wales (NSW premier), Chris Minns, said there would “almost certainly” be changes to gun laws, and police were investigating whether there had been a failure of their systems in relation to how licensed weapons could have been used in a terror attack.

Attacker, a hard worker who enjoyed boxing?

Media reports also stated that, until recently, Naveed Akram had been working as a bricklayer. His employer then stated that he had taken him as an apprentice six years ago, describing him as a hard worker who never had time off. However, a few of months ago, he said Naveed reported that he’d broken his wrist while boxing, and would not be able to work again until 2026.

“He asked for all his entitlements paid up, annual leave and everything, but a lot of guys do that at end of year anyway,” said the employer, who did not wish to be named. He commented, “Now you can’t help but think, him getting all his money out, what’s he going to spend it on.”

He did not know Naveed well, saying he had employed dozens of people at the same time, but he was considered a quiet person. “In bricklaying, you work closely as a team on site, but he didn’t associate with anyone else out of hours … he’d have lunch himself, not with anyone else,” he said.

He said he knew Naveed came “from a Muslim background”, but Naveed did not speak much about religion at work. He said some employees had told him that Naveed’s parents had separated and that he closer to his father. He also contested claims that Naveed had lost his job, saying that he had wanted him to return to work, despite his wrist injury.

“He had been doing some boxing outside of hours … he said the doctor told him have a couple of months off,” the employer said. “I asked if he could come back a bit sooner … being a good worker and everything, I thought, fuck, I don’t want to lose this guy. “As a bricklayer, [I] could not fault him; his work was good. He was a good employee, as far as that goes.” Another bricklayer described Naveed as a strange colleague but a hard worker who had an interest in hunting. “No one was close to him,” said the former colleague, who did not wish to be named.

Although authorities have not said the son was a licensed firearms holder, the colleague claimed he hunted regularly, and spoke about shooting rabbits and other game around Crookwell, in the state’s southern tablelands. They worked across Sydney, with the last job in which he saw Naveed on a site in Penrith.

There has also been unconfirmed claims that Naveed was a member of a hunting club, after images emerged of what appears to be a membership card said to have been found in his wallet. However, these reports are unconfirmed.

Shortly after the attack, an old photo of Naveed originally posted by Sheikh Adam Ismail, the head of Al-Murad Institute, went viral. Ismail distanced himself from the man, telling Guardian Australia he hadn’t seen him since 2022. “As I’ve done with 1,000s of students over the years, I’ve taught him Qur’an recitation and Arabic only for a combined period of one year,” he said. Ismail said he was deeply saddened by what had occurred, and gave his condolences to the victims and Jewish community.

“[The] Qur’an … clearly states that taking one innocent life is like killing all of humanity. This makes it clear that what unfolded yesterday at Bondi is completely forbidden in Islam.”

At Bonnyrigg, reporters and police were gathered outside the home that remained cordoned off with blue tape on Monday morning. Two police cars were parked out the front. At around noon, three people returned to the house, which is owned by Naveed’s mother. A young man, and two women, who held paper over their heads to shield themselves from being filmed, exited a car and walked into the home.

Last year, the country was rocked by anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes sprayed with graffiti and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population lives.

Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran.

Israel urged Australia’s government to address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australia’s leader’s months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He claimed Australia’s decision — in line with scores of other countries — to recognize a Palestinian state “pours fuel on the anti-Semitic fire.”

“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of anti-Semitism in Australia … and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said.

Police will investigate what happened

Authorities were not looking for anyone else in connection with the massacre, said Lanyon. Police pledged a “thorough” investigation, he added. Further inquiries are likely to be announced.

Two improvised explosive devices were found at the scene. Bomb disposal experts rendered them safe. Lanyon described them as “rudimentary” devices that would have been detonated by a wick rather than a phone or electronically.

Australia rarely has mass shooting deaths

Minns said there would “almost certainly” be gun law changes after the massacre. The 50-year-old gunman who was shot dead was found to have six firearms when law enforcement raided the property where he’d been staying, police said. Questions about how he was able to acquire them gathered pace on Monday, in part because mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws, making it much more difficult to acquire firearms.

Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves. In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland State. Reported AP News.

World leaders express shock and grief

After the massacre, messages flooded in from leaders around the world. King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “appalled and saddened by the most dreadful anti-Semitic terrorist attack.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on X he was horrified, and his “heart is with the Jewish community worldwide.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X: “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Anti-Semitism has no place in this world.”

Who Is Ahmed Al Ahmed, The Heroic Bystander Who Disarmed Sydney Shooter?

Local outlet 7News identified the man as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit seller. The report said he suffered two gunshot wounds during the attack. Unitedly, Australians on Sunday praised a man described as a “hero” after his quick thinking during a mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, the deadliest attack in the country in years. Footage shared widely on social media showed the unarmed man tackling one of the gunmen as shots were being fired at civilians, a move believed to have saved many lives. The 15-second video shows the man hiding behind parked cars before running towards the gunman from behind. He grabs him by the neck, pulls away his rifle and forces him to the ground, before pointing the weapon back at him.

The man was identified as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit seller. He reportedly suffered two gunshot wounds during the attack.

7News spoke to a man named Mustapha, who said he was Ahmed’s cousin. “He’s in hospital and we don’t know exactly what’s going on inside,” he said. “We do hope he will be fine. He’s a hero 100 per cent,” he added. Ahmed was due to undergo surgery later that night. He reportedly had no experience with guns and was simply walking past the area when he decided to step in.

Online, he was widely praised for his bravery and fast reaction. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also described him as a “hero”.

The Week, India headlined their story thus, No, ‘Bondi Hero’ was not a Jew! Who is ‘brave Muslim’ Ahmed al Ahmed, the fruit seller who disarmed the shooter in Australia?

43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit seller by profession, was the brave soul who tackled one of the Bondi Beach gunmen from behind and took away the loaded gun, Australian authorities have confirmed. The video of a civilian risking his life to disarm one of the Bondi Beach shooters had taken the internet by storm. The man had become an instant internet sensation, winning hearts worldwide for his selfless act and unparalleled courage as he ambushed the gunman from behind and forcefully took the loaded gun from him.

The identity of the “Bondi Beach Hero” was debated for a while before he was officially identified by Australian authorities. Many on social media initially hailed him as a Jewish man who stepped up to protect his fellow citizens before Benjamin Netanyahu himself “saluted” the “brave Muslim man” who “stopped the terrorists from killing innocent” people.

Having lost one of his guns to Ahmed, the shooter was forced to join his companion on the bridge. As the attacker retreated, Ahmed wasted no time to place the gun against a tree and raise his hands to ensure the law enforcement didn’t mistake him for a villain, reports said.

He had no previous experience with firearms and was forced to intervene as his conscience didn’t let him walk away. Ahmed al Ahmed suffered bullet injuries in the incident and remains hospitalised, waiting for surgery. His kin reportedly told Australian press that they don’t know much about his condition apart from the fact that his surgery is scheduled for the night. Ahmed is native to Sydney’s Sutherland Shire.

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The post Australia, World express shock at Sydney’s Bondi Beach terror attack, toll rises to 16, Govt promises stricter gun laws appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The video—which has been widely circulated on social media and reported by The Wire—shows Tasing telling voters unequivocally:

“Government schemes will not go to those panchayat segments where the BJP is defeated… I do what I say.”

He reiterates the same statement moments later: “The panchayat segments where the BJP candidates lose will not get any scheme. As the panchayati raj minister, I mean what I say.”

The complaint argues that this constitutes a direct threat of withdrawal of welfare benefits, amounting to undue influence, coercion, and misuse of official position under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (Sections 123(2) and 123(8)), as well as a serious breach of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), which prohibits ministers from using their office to influence electors or making promises or threats linked to government schemes.

CJP, through its complaint, stresses that Tasing’s statement is not merely a political appeal, but an assertion made in his capacity as a sitting minister, explicitly invoking ministerial authority to condition access to State welfare on political loyalty. According to the complaint, this “strikes at the core of the principle of free electoral choice” and undermines the constitutional guarantee that public welfare funds belong to citizens, not to political parties or individual ministers.

It has also been noted that the Congress party in Arunachal Pradesh has already filed a separate petition with the State Election Commission, calling the remark “unlawful” and demanding Tasing’s resignation. The SEC has reportedly sought a factual report from the district administration.

CJP contextualises the issue within broader constitutional norms, stating that the Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasised that elections must be insulated from state-backed inducement or intimidation, and that public schemes cannot be used as instruments for conditioning votes. It references the MCC guidelines for ministers as well as the RPA’s prohibition on “threats of injury” to voters.

The complaint seeks:

• Immediate cognisance by the ECI;
• Proceedings under Sections 123(2), 123(8), and 171C IPC/Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita equivalents;
• A direction to the State Election Commission to file an FIR;
• Public censure of the minister;
• And consideration of his temporary removal from campaign responsibilities until the inquiry is completed.

It further argues that allowing such statements to go unaddressed risks setting a precedent where ministers feel free to link welfare access to political compliance, weakening public trust in the neutrality of governance.

While BJP state leaders have distanced themselves from the remark—calling it Tasing’s “personal opinion”—the complaint states that the issue is not personal expression, but the misuse of ministerial authority during an active election period, a matter squarely within the jurisdiction of the Election Commission.

The complaint may be read here.

Image Courtesy: nenow.in

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The post Complaint filed by CJP against Arunachal Minister Ojing Tasing for threatening denial of welfare schemes appeared first on SabrangIndia.

With barely months to go for assembly elections, West Bengal’s political discourse has taken a headlong communal plunge. Again. This is not the first time but this time round, the sudden recall of the ‘Babri Masjid’ –a contentious and sore issue—through a carefully curated and widely publicised “programme” for a foundation-laying ceremony of a Mosque in Murshidabad set the proverbial stone rolling. Invitations were sent out widely by an ‘ousted’ Trinamool MLA belonging to the Muslim community (Humayun Kabir) inviting physical presence of all manner of people at this “brick laying foundation ceremony scheduled for December 6”, the 32^nd anniversary of the demolition of the historic mosque in Faizabad-Ayodya in 1992. These went out in the last week of November; however clearly for the thousands gathered at Murshidabad on Saturday, December 6, the silent planning had gone on for weeks. Making strident calls for “donations for a 300 crore Mosque!” Kabir with other controversial leaders and clerics sparked nationwide coverage and controversy by laying the foundation stone for a “new” Babri Masjid in Murshidabad. The very next day –in a carefully choreographed “rebuttal”, ‘Sanatani’ Hindus gathered in huge numbers in the heart of Kolkata for a reading of the Bhagavad Gita and calling for Hindu unity!

On December 6, 1992, a staggering number of people turned up at the site — a 25-acre plot in Beldanga, a municipality town in Murshidabad — for the brick-laying ceremony, which Kabir described as a ‘prestige battle’ for Indian Muslims. According to some reports, several people had travelled from as far as North Dinajpur and Canning in South 24-Parganas, located some 240 kilometres away. Many were seen walking toward the site balancing bricks on their heads, which they wanted to use in the structure.

Split or Grab: the rush for the ‘Muslim Vote’ in West Bengal

Monetary contributions are not only being sought but unconfirmed reports of who is actually supporting this “programme” have led to widespread speculation. Clearly what is at stake in this communal battle are the 174 Assembly seats out of the total 294 with at least a 15% Muslim electorate — as per the 2011 Census, Muslims comprise 27% of the population — the BJP has made headway in terms of vote shares but has struggled to convert its growing presence into seats. According to pollsters this Hindu majoritarian party will look to “better its 2019 Lok Sabha election record” when it led in 42 of the 174 Assembly segments that have at least 15% Muslim electorate. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has been accused of its fair share of “appeasement” politics and the third (insignificant) player, the Indian National Congress-CPI (M) combine also accused of encouraging a Muslim communal Indian Secular Front (ISF), founded by Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui. Now the controversial Assaduddin Owaisi has threatened to throw in his hat in the West Bengal poll ring by fielding candidates of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM). Split or grab, it’s the Muslim Vote that is in demand in West Bengal!

In 2021, after an equally high-pitched (and even communal battle by the BJP), the Trinamool Congress (TMC) managed to retain power in West Bengal. The electorate rewarded Mamata Banerjee another term with a vote share of nearly 50 percent! This signalled a significant victory since it indicated of how Banerjee was chosen by not just the minority community, but all secular-minded people from different faiths. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that ran a deeply communal campaign, openly calling Banerjee “Begum”, alluding to her alleged pro-minority bias, appears to have failed in dividing the people on the basis of religion.

Banerjee’s TMC had won not only won seats in constituencies with large population of people hailing from the minority community, like Bashirhat (Uttar and Dakshin), Deganga, Islampur, and Kasba, but also in urban centres, mixed neighbourhoods, and constituencies with a larger population from the majority community. Some of TMC’s most significant victories in such seats were, in 2021, from Dum Dum, Howrah (Uttar, Dakshin and Madhya), Jadavpur, Kharagpur, Kolkata Port among others.

“Gita” recital event

A day later, this year, on December 7, devotees in large numbers (BJP claimed 6.5 lakh) turned up at Kolkata’s iconic Brigade Parade Ground to participate in a collective recital of the Bhagavad Gita, titled ‘Panch Lakkho Konthe Gita Path’, organised by the Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad — a collective of monks and Hindutva leaders from across states and institutions. The event, attended by the likes of Dhirendra Krishna Shastri (‘Baba Bageshwar’), Sadhvi Ritambhara and Baba Ramdev, also featured BJP leaders like Samik Bhattacharya, Dilip Ghosh, Suvendu Adhikari, Dilip Ghosh, Sukanta Majumdar, Locket Chatterjee, Agnimitra Paul and others. Participants arrived in huge numbers, in crowded buses, ferries, and trucks, not only from West Bengal, but also from neighbouring states such as Bihar, Orissa, Assam, and even Bangladesh and Nepal.  Clearly underlining central government’s support for the second event, Bengal governor C V Ananda Bose, too, addressed the crowd.

Communal speeches at both events

Before the onset of the brick-laying ceremony in Beldanga on Saturday, Kabir delivered an incendiary speech, going as far as declaring that Muslims, who account for 37% of the total population in Bengal, would willingly sacrifice themselves before letting the bricks of the Babri Masjid come undone. The attendees said that he had perfectly articulated the sentiments of the Muslims in the state. Compatriots of Kabir roared from the stage, “Humayun se jo takrayega, woh choor choor ho jayega!” (Translation: Whoever clashes with Humayun will be smashed to pieces!).

This was both sudden and also planned. Local reports indicate that, Kabir had first expressed his desire to set up the mosque last year in December 2024. He had promised to make a cast of the Babri Masjid by December 6 of this year. “…With donations from everyone, we will build a new Babri Masjid in Beldanga in Murshidabad in West Bengal,” he had said. After this act on December 6, 2025, he was suspended by the Trinamool Congress, which cited communal politics as the grounds for its action. “He stays in Rejinagar and is an MLA from Bharatpur. Why then does he want to build a mosque at Beldanga? This is because Beldanga is communally sensitive, and if there are riots, it will result in polarisation and help the BJP,” Mayor Hakim was quoted as saying.

Both Kabir in Murshidabad and Shastri in Kolkata posed disquieting questions: Were they setting up their supporters for a prolonged confrontation and division?

At the Kolkata parade ground, Shastri, while calling for a Hindu Rashtra, asked: “You won’t be scared? (No) You won’t step back? (No) You won’t run away? (No).” In Beldanga, a speaker standing next to Kabir echoed a similar line of provocation: “You will not run away in fear of the police? (No) Are you ready to be beaten by the police to get what we want? (Yes).” Another compatriot of Kabir exclaimed from the podium: “Ladke lenge Babri Masjid.” (We will fight to reclaim Babri Masjid).

Divisive consequences

The unfortunate result of such verbal challenges translated into a spirit of aggressive religious posturing among the attendees. In Murshidabad, one attendee threatened to cut off the head of whoever stood in the way of the Babri Mosque and play football with it. At the Brigade Parade Ground, saffron-clad vigilantes assaulted one Sheikh Reyajul for selling chicken patties at the event. They kicked down his box of savouries, despite Reyajul pleading that it was his source of livelihood, and made him do sit-ups while holding his ears. Reports later emerged of a second incident where another Muslim vendor was allegedly assaulted for selling chicken puffs near the venue.

The Opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) predictably and openly endorsed the Gita recital event and made their presence felt on the dais. However Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is caught unawares. Forced to suspend Kabir days before the foundation laying event. Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim referred to him as a ‘traitor’, pointedly indicating that Kabir followed in the stead of ‘Mir Jafar’, implying his history of defections, which saw him change from the Congress, to the TMC, to the BJP, and then back to TMC, before his recent suspension. Furthermore, chief minister Mamata Banerjee skipped the Gita Path events despite being invited, citing ideological differences. “How can I go to an event organised by the BJP? I am from a different party, I have a different ideology… They (the BJP) are anti-Bengali”, said Banerjee in a statement.

The BJP in West Bengal didn’t take too long to retaliate. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that while the party did not object to the construction of the mosque itself, they had a problem with the naming. Addressing a press conference on Monday, December 8, Adhikari alleged that Kabir had the support of the administration in celebrating “Mughal-Pathan invaders”.

Notably, one section of those who attended the Murshidabad event seemed miffed with the Bengal government. While speaking to Aaj Tak Bangla, several devotees raised allegations of corruption against the Mamata Banerjee government and underlined that nothing substantial had been done for the Muslims.

Dubious background of Humayun Kabir

This is not the first time that Kabir was expelled from the TMC. In 2015, he was expelled for 6 years over anti-party statements. After contesting and losing as an independent candidate in Murshidabad’s Rejinagar seat in 2016, he joined the BJP in 2018. After losing again in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he rejoined TMC in 2020 and won as MLA from the Bharatpur seat.

MLA from Goshamahal, Hyderabad, T Raja Singh, notorious for his Islamophobic hate speeches and incitements to violence, released a video reacting to the ‘new’ Babri Masjid initiative. He exclaimed: “Mai aaj challenge karta hu — ke Bharat ke Ram-bhakto ko le jaakar Babar ka naam jis prakar se Ayodhya mai mita diya gaya tha, waise hi Bangal ke Ram-bhakt jayega, aur Babar ke naam ki bani huyi masjid ki ek ek eent ko samapt bhi karega.” (I’m issuing a challenge today — in the way that the Ram-bhakts of Bharat had removed Babar’s name from Ayodhya, the Ram-bhakts of Bengal will also come together to demolish each stone used in the building of a mosque in the name of Babar.)

The Wire has this piece on the controversy that may be read here

Saffron flags at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground

The sentiments against the foundation of the mosque spilt onto the Gita Path event the next day. While delivering his speech at the Brigade Ground, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri made several references to Babri Masjid. “In Bharat, should anything be named after foreign invaders? Does Bharat belong to Babur or Raghubar? (Raghubar is another name for the Hindu deity Ram.) It belongs to Raghubar or not? (A resounding yes follows) Hindus need to unite, wave the Bhagwa flag and go to villages far and near to wake the Hindus…” he says during his speech.

While calling for a Hindu Rastra, Shastri also posed several provocative questions. He said, “You have to decide if you want Ghazwa-E-Hind or Bhagwa-E-Hind, if you want tanatani (tension) or sanatani, if you want to see a moon on your flag or a flag on the moon, if you want to see a crack among the Hindus or unity…”

Sdhvi Rithambhara graced the occasion as the chief guest. Rithambara she was one of the 68 people named by the Liberhan Commission in its report on the 1992 Babri Mosque demolition and the riots that followed. Besides, she had played a key role in popularising the ‘Ram Janmabhoomi’ narrative through incendiary speeches — which would be distributed through audio cassettes, and played in public. Rithambara has been awarded a Padma Bhushan by the Narendra Modi government and in August 2014 –in a unique photo-opportunity moment was seen tying a “Raakhee” to the newly elected Modi.

Read this article on Rithambara’s Padma Bhushan here.

Re-incarnated in her role at the Kolata Gita recital assembly, she asserted: “Babar ya Babri ki koi buniyaad iss desh mai nahi hai. Koi eento ki maharat khada kar sakta hai, par hriday mai Babar ko basa nahi sakta. Ye rashtra Ram ka hai, aur Ram ka hi rahega. Yaha bhagwa hi pherahega, yahi satya hai—yai Sanatan satya hai.” (Neither Babar nor Babri has roots in this country. Let them build something out of bricks, it won’t change the fact that Babar can never reside in the heart. This nation belongs to Ram, and will only belong to him. Only the saffron shall rule. This is the truth — the Sanatan truth.”

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose also addressed the crowd, quoting extensively from the Bhagavad Gita and referring to the Indian epics. Reminding the audience that “something” had transpired in Murshidabad the previous day, he urged them to end “religious arrogance” in the state. Bengal is in a sad state of affairs and is ready to usher in change, he remarked. At the very beginning of his speech, he said, “I will try to speak in Hindi, since Hindi is our national language. The national language is the mother. English is a midwife, and a midwife can never be a mother.” This is an oft-repeated piece of misinformation, fact-checked by Alt News.

West Bengal: Will the Communal Narrative succeed?

While Kabir finds it difficult at the moment to make political allies, there is no doubt that the two events totally captured the political discourse in the state to an extent that almost everything else have been pushed to the distant margins. A significant marker of that is what Bengali TV news channels debated in the last few days. One can see the playlist of ABP Ananda’s primetime programme ‘Ghantakhanek Sange Suman’ here.

Republic Bangla went on an overdrive in reporting the Gita Path event on Sunday. The anchors went up on the podium, personally interviewing the guests on their observations on the mass gathering. Shows were run with the tagline “When Brigade turned into Kurukshetra.” Journalist Mayukh Ranjan Ghosh also interviewed Sadhvi Rithambhara, asking her whether she felt that Bengal was ready for such a spectacle. The latter indicated, with a wry smile, “Ye prarambh hai, aage dekhiye.” (This is the beginning. Let’s see what happens next). Ghosh was also on stage with Hiranmay Maharaj, who asserted that ‘yoddhas’ or ‘sainiks’ were being created at the venue, who had picked up the mantle of fighting injustice in Bengal, and instituting a Hindu Rashtra.

Bengali mainstream media channels such as Zee 24 Ghanta and ABP Ananda ran continuous coverage on either Humayun Kabir’s actions or the Gita Path controversy, with both stories dominating their news cycles over the weekend

Article 19India traced the dubious political history of Humayun Kabir. The Video may be watched here.

In 2021, Sabrangindia had carried a series of reports/videos on the issues impacting West Bengal Polls. These may be read/watched here and here and here.

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The post ‘Babri Masjid’ v/s Gita recital: In a cynical play of communal politics, pre-poll West Bengal sees active polarisation at both ends of the spectrum appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The post Bettina Bäumer’s Inclusive Philosophy Is What We Need in Such Times appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The study’s findings–published by the World Inequality Lab–also found that this wealth inequality in India has shown no signs of reduction in recent years. The richest 10% hold about 65% of the total wealth, and the top 1% about 40%, the report said.

In terms of income inequality, the top 10% of earners receive about 58% of national income, it said. The bottom 50% get only 15%. The income gap between the top 10% and the bottom 50% remained stable between 2014 and 2024, according to the report.

The average annual income in India was about 6,200 euros, or Rs 6.49 lakh approximately, per capita on a purchasing power parity basis. Purchasing power parity is an economic tool that compares the value of different currencies by measuring what the same amount of money can buy in different countries. The average wealth stands at about 28,000 euros on a purchasing power parity basis.

The female labour participation was “very low” at 15.7% and had shown no improvement over the past decade, the report said.

“Overall, inequality in India remains deeply entrenched across income, wealth and gender dimensions, highlighting persistent structural divides within the economy,” it added.

Inequality outlook for India. Source: World Inequality Report 2026

Global trends

Globally, wealth has reached historic highs, but remains, like India, “very unevenly distributed”, the report said. The report noted that the top 0.001%, which is fewer than 60,000 multimillionaires, owns three times more wealth than the entire bottom 50% of humans put together.

Within almost every region of the world, the top 1% alone hold more wealth than the bottom 90% combined, it added. The report added that the global financial system continues to be rigged in favour of the rich countries. Ricardo Gómez-Carrera, the lead author of the report, stated that inequality is “silent until it becomes scandalous”.

“This report gives voice to inequality – and to the billions of people whose opportunities are frustrated by today’s unequal social and economic structures,” Gómez-Carrera added.

The World Inequality Report was launched in 2018. Third edition, published on Wednesday, was released in the context of South Africa’s presidency of the Group of 20 in November, which highlighted two crises: the explosion of global inequalities and the weakening of multilateralism, the analysis said.

The report explores the new dimensions of inequality defining the 21st century, such as climate, gender inequalities, unequal access to human capital, asymmetries in the global financial system and territorial divides that are reshaping democracies.

Figure 2.7 provides a geographic breakdown of global income groups in 1980 and 2025, highlighting how the composition of top earners and other groups has shifted over time. In 1980, the global elite was overwhelmingly concentrated in North America & Oceania and Europe, which together accounted for most of the world’s top income groups. Latin America also had some presence near the top, but China and India were almost entirely confined to the bottom half of the distribution. At that time, China had virtually no presence among the global elite, while India, Asia in general, and Sub-Saharan Africa were heavily concentrated in the very lowest percentiles.

Interpretation. These graphs show the geographical breakdown of global income groups. Between 1980 and 2025, the global income distribution has shifted, with China gaining presence in the middle and upper−middle percentiles, while Europe and North America & Oceania’s dominance in top income groups has declined, but it is still large. In 1980, 1% of the world’s top 1% income group were Chinese residents. By 2025, this figure increased to 5%. This highlights the growing global share of China and the diversification of the global elite.

Sources and series: Chancel et al. (2022) and wir2026.wid.world/methodology.

Figure 2.9 turns to the middle 40%, often considered the backbone of the middle class. Here the contrasts are equally stark. In the most unequal settings, especially in Latin America and parts of Africa, the middle 40% receive as little as 23–35% of income, reflecting a fragile middle class. By contrast, in Europe and parts of North America & Oceania, this group’s share rises to 44–50%, making them central to national income distribution. Asia shows both ends of the spectrum: India’s middle 40% remains in the lower levels, while China’s earns a larger share.

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The post In India, Wealth Inequality among highest in the world, top 1% holds 40% wealth: Study appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This CCG visit came in the wake of the Union Territory legislative assembly elections and Operation Sindoor which followed a terrorist attack at Pahalgam, and the havoc caused by the heavy rains, floods, landslides in Jammu division but also in Kashmir. These major significant incidents that followed one after the other have taken a huge psychological and economic toll on people and communities in both regions of Jammu-Kashmir. The visit also came at a time when the statehood promised by the Centre at an “appropriate time” still seemed a distant dream despite an elected government, albeit a non-Bhartiya Janata Party led one, in place and dyarchy continued to prevail in Jammu and Kashmir — the chief minister still did not enjoy full powers and the Lieutenant Governor controlled much of the administrative and law and order structure.

During its most recent visit, the CCG members met leaders of political parties (including former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, current Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary of the National Conference, Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami of the Communist Party of India (Marxist),Tariq Hamid Karra President of the J&K State Pradesh Congress Committee, G. A. Mir, Secretary General and Nizam Uddin Bhat, Congress MLA and chief whip from Bandipora, Kashmir’s foremost religious cleric and political leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmiri Pandit leader Sanjay Ticku, civil society leaders, representatives of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, student activists from the J&K Students’ Association and journalists.

In sum, the CCG after its end October 2025 visit found that the situation on the ground, especially in the Kashmir Valley is much farther from the truth than the one presented by the Government of India or its media in Delhi.

Sullen Silence, Building anti-India sentiment

From the Jammu-Kashmir Report of the CCG:

The overwhelming sense in Srinagar was that of sullen silence. During the meetings with all those that the CCG met from civil society, they realised that the alienation had deepened, resentment and anger against the Central Government had increased but it was also partly directed now against the popularly elected Omar Abdullah government.

Different sections of Kashmiri society seemed angry over different issues. The student community was upset over the new reservation policy (which the present government had inherited) as that had reduced the general category reservation in higher educational institutions. People were also upset over the issues of the introduction of electricity metres and the non-restoration of Statehood.

When members of the CCG asked whether installing electricity metres was not a good measure, a senior Kashmiri retorted, “Sure but at least give us electricity. We are paying high electricity bills without uninterrupted electricity supply. These meters were supposed to prevent interruptions. Why are we paying such high bills when we produce hydro power here and yet have long hours of power cuts.”

This anger against the Abdullah government at times, stated the CCG report, seemed misplaced. In the last six months the local government has faced the war that caused casualties in the border areas and destruction of nearly 850 houses in Poonch district alone. Then there were unprecedented natural calamities. The Chief Minister was seen in the media visiting every disaster hit area within hours, inspecting the damage caused, giving instructions to the local civil authorities for steps to be taken to rescue victims to safer places, and providing shelter and compensation and meeting victims.

This year’s natural calamity, a result of climate change and possibly a recurring feature in the near future, is much discussed in both the regions of the UT. The road widening projects, reckless cutting down of trees and blasting of mountainsides was blamed for the landslides, mudslides and roads being washed away in Jammu region. There are, however, no signs yet of this emerging public concern converting itself into sustained civil society movement pushing for government action for mitigation of climate change impact.

Crucially, there is a pervading fear of voicing any dissenting views or opinions by civil society members. Repression by the police on this front is real that does not spare public intellectuals, media persons and others.

Meanwhile, anti-India sentiment is spreading widely. Public sentiment that had largely turned away from Pakistan has shifted since Operation Sindoor, we were told. While militancy remains at a slow burn, a churning among youth seems to be motivating them to enter spaces of greater radicalisation, possibly supported by forces across the Line of Control.

“We have been silenced”, said a prominent doctor of Srinagar speaking to members of the CCG, “But the eerie silence does not mean all is hunky-dory.” The volcano of suppressed anger and frustration bordering on hatred could erupt any time, he felt as “all it needs is a trigger.”

A retired professor claimed that there was “no protection for Kashmiri identity today” and on top that there was a sense of economic disempowerment. Another prominent civil society member claimed, “We Kashmiris are rebuked and abused at every occasion. The national media plays dirty and projects all Kashmiris as villains.” He also objected to the concert of Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam, which was only attended “by security personnel and their families” as ordinary Kashmiris boycotted it. “He reportedly has problems with the call for prayer, Azaan. He was sponsored by a corporate TV channel close to the government and people saw it as cultural invasion. We have our own cultural traditions. We don’t need people like him.”

The dominant civil society view –states the CCG report–was that India was moving towards majoritarian rule under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “We oppose the BJP because of what it is doing to the Constitution of India. We are dedicated to the Constitution because it gives us our rights as citizens of India. Our loyalty is to the Constitution and not to any political party,” a prominent civil society leader said.

Another public intellectual, a prominent academic, recalled that “Sheikh Abdullah agreed to join Nehru’s India but wondered quite often what might happen if Hindu majoritarianism came to power in India” suggesting that that scenario had come true. This was not the India, Sheikh Abdullah and the Kashmiris had joined, “As a Muslim in India today I am denigrated by those with a Hindu majoritarian mindset,” he claimed.

He went on to say, “nobody here talks of India’s need to engage with Pakistan. That is for the Indian state to figure out. Nor are we in a position to say what kind of dialogue should be held with those Kashmiris who are in jail. But we had an identity as Kashmiris. That was a protection against Pakistan’s designs on Kashmir. And now even that has been taken away.”

People were apprehensive about the constant anti-Pakistan statements by the senior ministers of the Modi Government and repeated visits of senior Army officers to the border areas.

Others told us that the lack of jobs, uncertainty about the future, general societal anger and alienation were producing two types of negative reactions in some of the youth: they are either turning to drugs or, increasingly, towards radicalisation. Both these trends worry the Kashmiris who feel that they are destructive for the Kashmiri society. However, they also feel helpless over how to address these negative trends.

A senior editor said, “This silence of the Kashmiri society is unsustainable. It has to explode and we cannot say anything about its timing. But when it does, it would be dangerous.”

A political leader sensing the mood at Ground Zero warned the CCG team, “Kuch bada hone wala hai (something ‘big’ is going to happen)”. One had heard the same apprehension in August. Was it a foreboding of the horrific terrorist attack of November 10 that took place after our Group returned and smothered 11 innocent lives? One does not know.

1. Overall political situation

From the CCG Report: A year after the National Conference led alliance won AN overwhelming majority in the 2024 Assembly elections and Omar Abdullah Government was sworn in, the government is struggling. The public is unhappy that the promises made to the electorate are not being fulfilled fast enough.

However, Omar Abdullah also presides over a powerless government. He is not able to take any major decisions, as most of the decision-making powers are with the Lieutenant Governor, including appointments of civil servants and police officers. All this is only adding to the people’s frustrations. People are resentful that hardly any Kashmiri Officers are posted as administrative heads at the districts and are effectively sidelined. The officers from outside the UT, they claim, neither understand the language nor the local situation, resulting in a gap in public connect.

The internal strain within the National Conference and disagreement between the Chief Minister and the party’s very popular Lok Sabha member from Budgam are played out publicly. This is having its negative fallout as both sides have hardened their respective stands over issues which has now turned into personal battle. As a result of this, there was public perception that National Conference would lose the by-election in Budgam constituency, which was vacated by Omar Abdullah. (The NC lost the election and PDP won it, giving the latter much needed boost).

There is speculation in a section of the public that the National Conference’s Budgam MP is being instigated to weaken the National Conference and eventually destabilize Omar Abdullah government. However, there seems TO BE no evidence to support such a claim.

The Rajya Sabha elections for the four J&K seats that took place just before CCG’s visit, showed how skilfully the BJP managed to get the four extra votes, above its number of MLAs, in the Legislative Assembly. These elections have also widened the fissures between the governing alliance partners – the National Conference and the Congress. Each side holds the other responsible for this.

Former CM, Mehbooba Mufti is slowly growing in strength politically. She is raising issues that are of people’s concerns, holding demonstrations on different issues that are agitating the public. Recently she had filed a PIL in J&K High Court regarding those held for several years without trial in jails in different parts of the country, demanding that they be shifted to local jails as most families were unable to visit them due to lack of financial resources. She was herself present in the court for the hearing. This has struck a positive chord with the public as this has been a major issue of concern among the Kashmiris since 2019.

This issue of young people in prisons as well AS political leaders who are imprisoned since 2019, was also raised by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq during his meeting with our group. He told us that many parents come to him pleading that something be done to have their sons released from jails.

The Mirwaiz also told us about the kind of intimidation and surveillance he faces. Sometimes the senior cleric is allowed to give Friday sermons and then suddenly prevented from going to Jama Masjid for weeks without any reason. He is asked to show written text of his Friday sermons the night before for scrutiny. He is also asked to show his appointments for conducting marriages and even the Nikah Namas to the police.

The government, however, did allow him to go to Delhi to depose before the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Bill. During the visit he met people in Delhi and had hoped that some political process would be initiated. He is a strong advocate of dialogue between Delhi and Srinagar and also feels that the tensions between India-Pakistan can be addressed through dialogue as lack of diplomatic relations was having a negative impact on the ground. He told us he was willing to play his part in this process, as he had done earlier.

One of the promises that were fulfilled by the Abdullah government was the Darbar Move for six months to Jammu. On November 1, government offices shifted to Jammu. This was in response to the demands of the Jammu public to bring the government closer to them, as well as bring the Kashmiris and Jammuites closer and allow greater economic interaction between the small traders and businessmen of the two regions. However, this alone was unlikely to overcome the sentiments of the Hindus of Jammu. Since the Assembly elections polarization has increased in Jammu plains against Muslims of Kashmir Valley. There are isolated incidents of social boycott of Muslims in the outskirts of Jammu city and in rural pockets. For the first time Jammu city saw war come close to them during Op Sindoor. Many Hindus migrated from Jammu city during the short war to neighbouring Himachal or Delhi. Some have even bought properties there. One public intellectual said, “We in Jammu also feel like an occupied colony. We are nowhere in the scheme of things. Only Kashmir is talked about”. Anger and alienation against New Delhi seem to be building up AMONGST Jammu’s Hindus too.

2. Statehood denial and its implications

From the CCG Report: Resentment on the non- restoration of statehood continues to be massive and overwhelming. Our Group witnessed at first hand the anger, frustration and disillusionment on this issue during our interactions with members of civil society, trade and industry representatives, businessmen, educationists, media-persons and Kashmiri Pandit leaders among others. While statehood is a significant and serious issue in the Valley, our Group learned that the Jammu region also continues to nurse anger over the loss of statehood and many related issues impacting them post-2019.

A senior political leader indicated the “root-cause” of the statehood denial to J&K saying, “Elections happened but the results were not to the expectations of the BJP government at the Centre. They could not get a BJP-led or a BJP-dependent government in Srinagar. It has been a year since the popular protest mandate given to Omar Abdullah. But the Centre has not been able to digest it.”

At the CCG meeting with Farooq Abdullah, President of the ruling National Conference (NC), Chief Minister (CM) Omar Abdullah, Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary, Lok Sabha MP Gurvinder Singh ‘Shammi’ Oberoi and Political Advisor to CM Nasir Wani were present among others. The double whammy of denial of statehood and existential diarchy and its consequential impact came out in bold relief during the discussions.

Terming himself as “half a CM”, despite having an overwhelming public mandate (41 out of 47 seats in the Valley and absolute majority in the J&K UT Assembly), Omar Abdullah lamented that in the prevalent diarchy–a sharp democratic regress–the Lt Governor exercises meaningful and effective power while he and his elected government are helpless in meeting peoples’ needs, address their grievances and strive to fulfil their aspirations. The existential structure of governance, it is useful to recall, resembles the colonial-type diarchy of 1919-1920 under which the British denied political power to elected governments of states in India by implementing strict repressive measures.

A young professional speaking to the CCG, averred: Kashmir is a colony of the Viceroy; the elected government is seen as completely toothless. It is the civil bureaucracy that exercises vast untrammelled power on behalf of the LG. In such a scenario people gravitate towards civil servants for their needs and grievances in effect bypassing the Cabinet Ministers they elected.

In its first sitting in October 2024, the newly elected Assembly had passed a resolution for speedy restoration of statehood. But even after over a year there has been no progress. A degree of political engagement by the Centre of people across multi-dimensional vectors would have calmed matters somewhat. The need for restoration of statehood on an urgent basis was also conveyed to us during our meetings with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Hurriyat leader and Kashmir Valley’s Chief Cleric, Tariq Hameed Karra, President J&K Congress and its Secretary General GA Mir and Chief Whip Nizamuddin Bhat, NC’s Lok Sabha MP Syed Ruhullah, CPI (M) leader MY Tarigami and others. It hardly merits emphasis that non-restoration of statehood means the Human Rights Commission, Consumer Commission and appellate authorities—that routinely operate in a state—cannot function in a UT, leading to denial of redressal mechanisms to people in J&K who are already indignant and feel disempowered and alienated.

During the several conversations that visiting members of the CCG had with cross sections of society, A deep sense of loss felt by people of Kashmir—of identity, sub-identity, dignity and honour—found repeated mention. Exasperation and estrangement emanating from the humiliating nullification of Article 370, Article 35A and bifurcation of J&K into two UTs still persist. These hurt sentiments, sections of political leadership and civil society told our group, have compounded distrust towards the Centre with the non-restoration of statehood fanning the bitterness and feeling of political neglect even more. Omar Abdullah was forthright and categorical: no political entity, not least leaders of non-BJP parties in the rest of India have any sympathy and concern for the people of J&K. As to the ruling dispensation—aside from not fulfilling the promise of restoration of statehood made repeatedly by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister over the last seven years—when did it last convene an All-Party meeting on the situation in J&K?

During discussions, a view was expressed that the J&K Reorganisation Act (2019) provided the BJP ideology an opportunity to leverage the UT status of J&K not only to impose repressive policies but also initiate attempts to cobble together a BJP-led government. In such a situation, restoration of statehood would have found greater traction at the Centre. But with the Assembly elections putting paid to such a prospect, chances of early restoration are remote. A leading politician also ascribed the delay to the huge disconnect between Kashmir and its understanding in the rest of India.

It would be useful to recall that in the Supreme Court’s verdict on Article 370 petitions, the Bench said it would not adjudicate on the issue (of demoting and bifurcating an existing state into two UTs) because the Solicitor General had assured it that statehood would be restored. Significantly, in a separate note attached to the SC’s 370 judgement, Justice Sanjiv Khanna (who later became the Chief Justice of India) had stated that the demotion of a state to two UTs was “unconstitutional and should be summarily reversed.” It is this assertion that has sought to reinforce the views of the many we met that the reversal must happen without further delay.

When some petitioners that included Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak (retd) a member of our Group moved the Supreme Court again for fulfilment of the promise of restoration of statehood to J&K, the Court made oral observations that what happened in Pahalgam (April 22, 2025 terror attack) cannot be ignored. The alleged Red Fort terrorist attack of November10 (after our Group returned from Kashmir) may serve to further dissuade the Supreme Court. But it must render justice on the issue strictly on legal merits and not allow Pahalgam and now Red Fort terror attacks overshadow the urgent need for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

3. Reservations time-bomb

From the CCG Report: The youngsters of Kashmir are upset with the reservations policy in the UT and they are demanding ‘rationalisation’ of the policy – reservation according to a community’s share in the population. What seems to have upset them most is that the additional 10% reservation given to the Pahari community by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre which cuts into the share of the general category.

Overall reservations in J&K have, therefore, gone up to nearly 60%, the highest in the country when the broad Constitutional limit is 50%.

The formal reservation structure in J&K is as follows: Open Merit 50%; Scheduled castes 8%; Scheduled Tribes 20% (used to be 10% but Paharis have been given 10% ST reservation as well); Socially and economically backward classes 22% (residents of backward areas 10%; residents of areas adjoining Line of Actual Control/international border 4%, other OBCs 8%); horizontal reservations 6% (Children of defence personnel 3%, children of paramilitary and police personnel 1%, candidates possessing outstanding proficiency in sports 2% 0; and economically weaker sections (EWS) 10%.

However, since the horizontal reservations (defence, police, paramilitary and sports quota) and the EWS quota are from the Open Merit category, the effective reservation in that Open Merit category goes down.

The J&K Students’ Association which has been spearheading the demand that reservations be rationalised argues, “Reservations should be based on population ratios. According to the 2011 census, 69% of the Jammu and Kashmir population falls under the general category, yet the opportunities for open merit have been shrinking.” Therefore nearly 70% of the population competes for less than 40% of the job opportunities because of the expanded reservation quotas.

The immediate provocation for the students’ demand for rationalisation of reservations is the 10% ST reservation given to the Pahari speaking people of Jammu. While they clarify that they have got nothing against the Pahari community, they are against ST status being given for the first time in India on linguistic basis to Pahari speakers. “It was an appeasement measure. The BJP hoped that the Pahari community would vote for it if it were given ST reservation but that did not happen in the assembly election,” a student leader said.

The student leaders said that the ST reservation was given to the Pahari community by an Act of Parliament. “However, we are making a demand on the state government to rationalise the reservation issues which are in their domain. For example, looking at the definition of creamy layer, regional distribution of reservations, making EWS reservations J&K specific, and re-examining whether Reservation for Backward Areas makes any sense or needs to be scrapped when all the areas of J&K are well connected through road and other infrastructure.”

CCG Report:

The students feel that an overwhelming majority of the reservations have gone to Jammu and “Kashmir is proportionately discriminated against.”  According to figures provided by the state’s minister for revenue in the UT assembly on October 27, in the last two years, of the reservation certificates issued Jammu residents received 99% of the SC, 87% of the ST, 57% of OBC, 88% of EWS, 32% of Resident of Backward Area (RBA), 85% of resident of Actual Line of Control and 100% of “other” category certificates.

Except in the case of RBA category, Jammu seems to have been the overwhelming beneficiary of reservation certificates issued in the last two years, underlining the deep regional imbalance that is emerging. This data is bound to reignite the debate on the new reservation policy and further fuel the anger of the students. The issue is already being agitated in the J&K High Court and the students have as yet put forward their demands peacefully without taking to the streets.

The J&K government did set up a three-member House Committee to look into the reservations issue and its report, accepted by the government, is now laying with the Lt. Governor’s office. The students are not happy with the Committee which apparently did not organise stakeholder consultations before finalising its report and has only members from the ST community. “So, how can we expect any justice from it?” asked a student leader. However, the details of the report are not as yet in the public domain and therefore its recommendations are purely in the domain of speculation as of now.

The students, meanwhile, demand that, among other things, the government rationalise EWS eligibility to reflect ground realities and make it less urban-centric, re-classify backward area designation, periodic review of the reservations policy every five years, eliminate ‘politically motivated’ and arbitrary inclusion in reservation lists, create a unified Backward Classes Commission for J&K, and protect the rights of the Open Merit (general) category.

However, Kashmiri students are not the only ones agitated about the reservations issue.

The 1947-48 Hindu refugees of Poonch districts now settled in Jammu are not included in the Pahari reservation although they are Pahari and Pahari-speaking. This group has a grievance that they have been arbitrarily excluded. Similarly, the Pahari-speakers of Ramban district have been excluded while reservation applies to the adjoining Poonch and Rajouri districts.

N.B.: The Gujjars who were angry and protested when Pahari reservation was announced have now calmed down as their 10% reservation is intact and not affected by the new reserved category. However, there is anger among them as the Indian Administrative Service and Kashmir Administrative Service Gujjar officers have allegedly been sidelined completely and are not in positions of decision making, not dissimilar to many Kashmiri officers. A Gujjar public intellectual said that one would not find any Gujjar even as SHO in the 10 districts of Jammu division. According to him, this is not just creating disquiet but also building up anger in the community. Gujjars point out that as Indian nationalists they have played a significant role in defending border areas. But are now sidelined. They feel alienated and this will have an impact on the security situation.

4. Media continues to be under threat

From the CCG Report: Contrary to expectations, despite the UT assembly elections of 2024, there has been no meaningful restoration of media autonomy. Ongoing censorship, surveillance and intimidation of media practitioners continues, restricting media freedom severely.

Although internet shutdown is now infrequent, harassment of journalists, revocation of press credentials and pressure to publish administration friendly narratives continue. Operation Sindoor placed severe restrictions on media reportage and most Kashmiri journalists were not able to report about the developments on the ground. Some were summoned by the police about their attempts to report. Reports that had been filed were pulled down under pressure because it went against the government’s narrative. Things, however, seem to have eased a bit in the last three months, journalists claim.

The head of Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) has been given additional charge in the Raj Bhavan (Lt. Governor’s residence) and he sits there. This, journalists claim, shifts the media control to the Lt. Governor’s office, which already has a media adviser, who has gained notoriety for capricious decisions about giving out government ads to selected news platforms and denying it to others. Media accreditation has been denied to prominent national publications like the Times of India, Economic Times, NDTV and The Hindu. The media accreditation of the Economic Times was inexplicably revoked.

Journalists are denied press passes even for covering the legislative assembly proceedings on the whims of the powers that be. Journalists in Kashmir complain that by not allowing them to cover public events organised by the government is akin to deliberately sabotaging their careers.

Meanwhile, the J&K administration has introduced a new verification process to identify “real” journalists by asking for submission of salary slips as well as detailed background information from those who want to be included in the list of “bona fide” media professionals.

In a directive issued on October 31, the District Information Officers have been instructed to collect the background information of the media personnel operating in their jurisdiction, request them to submit salary slips for the last six months and maintain a regularly updated “verified list” of accredited and bona fide media persons.

The justification for such a directive is the “repeated complaints” received about the misuse of media credentials, curbing impersonation, blackmail and extortion and circulation of defamatory content. Officials argue that the move was necessitated by the rise of social media platforms and locally trusted digital outlets. These, they claim have, blurred the lines between professionals and self-styled journalists.

Journalists have opposed the move calling it intrusive and a potential crackdown on press freedom.

The Lt. Governor, the journalists claim, keeps talking of tackling the over ground workers (OGWs) and the terrorist eco-system and apprehend that any one of them can be designated as part of that ecosystem and prosecuted. A journalist Irfan Mehraj has been in Rohini Jail in Delhi for over 1,00 days now they point out and each time he applies for bail, he finds the judge has changed and the hearing has to begin afresh.

5. Trade and business after Pahalgam

Tourism:

Post-Pahalgam terror, Kashmir was emptied of tourists overnight. The tragedy struck at the beginning of the promising tourist season in which thousands of Kashmiris are involved – Hoteliers and their staff members, taxi operators, houseboat owners, shopkeepers and scores of other businesses. The tourism industry was hit badly. As weeks stretched into months without any tourist traffic, thousands who depended on their livelihoods on tourism were left without work and prospects of no earnings, so necessary for the harsh winter months when tourist traffic is reduced.

During our visit several hoteliers also told us that many had to lay off some of their staff. During the Diwali vacation there was some tourist traffic which increased to about 30% but we also heard another hotelier saying the increase in tourist traffic was hardly 10-15%. Perhaps different categories of hotels were hit differently. However, the total loss to tourism industry is hard to estimate as no one has calculated the loss of revenue so far.

One of the other issues bothering the hoteliers of Kashmir (and also of Jammu), is the Union Territory’s new Land Policy. Most leases are expiring or have expired. But instead of renewing these, as happens in rest of India, the UT government as per the New Act decided to auction the land on which the hotels have been built.

Gulmarg has been a special focus for implementation of the policy. Although the land leases of hotels in Srinagar and Jammu too have expired, these are not the focus of government action. The current owners who have invested substantial amounts in constructing and running these hotels, are not given any preference in the auctions conducted. The hoteliers have been demanding that the same rules be applied to expired land leases in Delhi which is also a Union Territory, as well as the other states in the rest of India.

Horticulture:

From the CCG Report: This sector generates major revenue for Kashmir and Kashmiris. Almost every family in South Kashmir has a small or big orchard and earn something out of it. This sector of THE economy too suffered badly in 2025.

Just as the apples were being harvested, there were heavy rains in the Jammu region. This caused landslides with some stretches of Srinagar-Jammu Highway being washed away. For about 20-22 days, around 4,000 trucks laden with fruits were stranded on the highway. This transportation delay completely damaged the fruit. During that period the harvested apples remained in the orchards and could not be shipped out. Although Kashmir has now cold storage facilities for apples, it is not adequate to store all the harvested apples. Some of the fruit was also damaged when heavy rains came to Kashmir.

According to the President of the Pulwama Fruit Mandi, the orchardists have suffered losses of over Rs. 2000 crore this year. At the Pulwama fruit Mandi, every day during the harvest season, 50 trucks with an average capacity of 25-30 tons of fruits, are loaded. Each truck is worth around Rs 7 lakhs – amounting to a daily profit of Rs 3.5 crore. This activity goes on for about two and half months.

The Central Government and the J&K government did respond to the crisis by sending goods trains from Srinagar to ferry Apples to the Indian markets in Delhi and elsewhere to address the crisis but not before substantial losses had already incurred. Some smaller trucks also took the fruit via the Mughal Road to the Jammu Mandi. The Fruit growers want crop insurance for fruits as well. They also feel that the J&K Government does not give as much support as the Himachal government gives to the fruit growers there.

The launching of goods trains directly from Delhi and Punjab has, however, upset the Jammu traders and transporters, who transported goods including fruit, to the Jammu and Delhi markets. They fear that Jammu would suffer further economic loss because of this, as the entire transport sector – truck owners, loaders and others in Jammu Mandi would see job and income losses. A member of the Jammu Chamber of Commerce commented, “The government is not consulting traders here before implementing important decisions that will affect trade here.” He was very bitter about this.

Disclaimer: The CCG does not claim to do present a situation perfectly as it is virtually impossible to meet the representatives of all groups, communities, ethnicities and interests. Often the administration itself makes it impossible for the group to meet people, such as advising them not to meet us as happened this time when the CCG members wanted to visit Shopian to meet the apple traders in the local mandi (wholesale market). Earlier, the group members have been confined to their hotel premises by the police, locked up at the Srinagar airport lounge and one of its members even deported to Delhi. While with the advent of a democratically elected government the group expected that its movement would not be restricted, this time around the people we were supposed to meet were told not to meet the group.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

Related:

From Prison to Uncertainty: After Battling for Bails, Kashmiri Journalists Battle Stigma, Financial Crisis and Isolation

Syncretic Dreams, Shattered Realities: Kashmir in “The Hybrid Wanderers”

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