According to the Times of India, Vandan was still dealing with jet lag when he participated in the tournament. After completing his four games, he went to bed without immediately telling his parents that he had played Carlsen.

Father found the result later

Vandan’s father, Alankar Sawai, a former banker, later checked his son’s Chess.com profile and found the game against Carlsen. He then asked Vandan about the result. The teenager confirmed that he had played against Carlsen and won.

As reported that Vandan’s mother, Dr Madhuri Alankar Sawai, said her son had simply informed the family that he had finished his four rounds. The significance of the result became clear to the family only after his father checked the games.

Vandan himself was initially unsure whether the result had come because of an error by Carlsen. He reportedly considered the possibility of a “mouse slip”, referring to an accidental online move.

His school friends also learnt about the result the following day. According to TOI, some of them initially did not believe that Vandan had defeated Carlsen. Vandan subsequently shared screenshots of the game with them.

The 50-move game

Vandan played with the white pieces and opened with e4. Carlsen replied with e5. The game developed through a Giuoco Piano variation.

The game remained competitive during its early stages. The Times of India reported that a key moment came around the 26th move, when Vandan’s bishop put Carlsen’s king under attack. Carlsen moved his king rather than taking the bishop, after which Vandan gained material. Vandan continued the game and eventually won after 50 moves. Carlsen had a rating of 2,823 for the game, while Vandan was a Candidate Master with a FIDE classical rating of 2,288, as reported

He was initially reluctant to play

Vandan had not originally planned to participate in the tournament. His mother told the Times of India that she encouraged him to play after his return from Europe. He also did not inform his coach beforehand that he was taking part.

The tournament was organised online through Chess.com. According to the earlier TOI report, titled players participate in the platform’s events, where Carlsen also plays.

Vandan played his usual opening approach in the game rather than making specific changes because his opponent was Carlsen.

Started playing chess at eight

Vandan began playing chess when he was eight years old. According to the Times of India, his mother introduced him to the game after learning it from her brother.

He initially developed an interest in chess puzzles and later began participating in competitive chess.

Vandan has trained with FIDE Master Gurpreet Pal Singh and International Master Kushager Krishnater, according to the newspaper.

The Delhi report also stated that Vandan is a class topper. He has not yet decided whether he wants to pursue chess professionally, although he has set his sights on becoming an International Master. After the victory, Vandan’s family planned a visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The family also planned to undertake sewa during the visit.

The family’s plans followed the online victory and the attention it received after details of the game became known.

Ambedkarite background

Vandan is being identified by his family and community as an Ambedkarite student. His achievement has subsequently been discussed within the Ambedkarite community in the context of education and academic development.

The details reported about Vandan’s academic record, chess training and family support form part of his background as he continues his schooling alongside competitive chess. His victory over Carlsen came in an online blitz game, while Vandan continues to compete and train as a young chess player.

From school and puzzles to international competition

Vandan’s chess journey began with learning the game at eight and solving chess puzzles before moving into competitive play. He has since obtained the Candidate Master title and reached a FIDE classical rating of 2,288, according to the Times of India.

The August 18 game against Carlsen was one of four games Vandan played that night. He won three of them and only later discussed the Carlsen game with his family.

His immediate response after completing the tournament was to go to sleep. As his mother told the Times of India, the family’s reaction came only after his father examined the games on Vandan’s Chess.com account and realised that one of his opponents had been Magnus Carlsen.

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The Mechanism of Caste

The post The Ambedkarite Champ: 15-year-old Vandan Sawai defeats chess great Magnus Carlsen appeared first on SabrangIndia.

According to his parents, Aditya was interested in joining the protest because he believed students were facing injustice. The couple decided to accompany him rather than prevent him from participating. The family travelled to Dak Bungalow Chowk by auto rickshaw and remained together during the demonstration.

Patna Police, however, have denied that the child was detained, saying he was rescued from a potentially dangerous situation at the protest site and later handed over safely to his family. The incident was reported by The Wire, which spoke to the child’s parents and the police.

Police say child was rescued

The Patna Police, in a press release issued on August 26, rejected social media claims that the child had been detained. According to the police, protesters had moved towards a restricted area and attempted to break through or remove barricades. Police said that amid the situation, they spotted a child at the protest site and intervened to protect him from the crowd and the possibility of a stampede. The police said the child was subsequently handed over to his family “safe and sound”. The family’s account differs.

Ranjit and Munni told The Wire that police first attempted to take Aditya away during the protest. According to them, media persons present at the spot intervened, following which the child was allowed to remain with them. Someone later gave Aditya a tricolour, which he began waving. When some protesters climbed onto a police bus that had reportedly been brought to detain protesters, Aditya also climbed onto the bus and continued waving the national flag. Ranjit said he subsequently took his son and attempted to leave the protest site.

According to him, police approached them and told him that his wife was waiting for him. He and Aditya followed the police and were subsequently placed in an ambulance along with Munni. The family says they were initially told they would be taken home. Instead, they were taken to the Kotwali police station, which is around 500 metres from Dak Bungalow Chowk.

Family alleges assault at police station

The parents have alleged that they were kept at the police station for several hours and assaulted by police personnel. Ranjit told The Wire that he and his wife were taken into a small room where around six police personnel were present, including four women police officers. He alleges that police personnel assaulted both him and his wife.

According to his account, officers instructed female personnel on how to beat Munni. He alleges that officers stepped on her legs and that he was beaten on the soles of his feet and hands with a baton. He also alleged that he was pushed to the ground, struck on his back and hit below the waist. Ranjit said the alleged assault lasted around 15 minutes.

“They treated us as if we were hardened criminals,” he told The Wire.

Munni separately alleged that police kicked her in the abdomen despite her having undergone a Caesarean-section delivery. Ranjit said he pleaded with the police to stop assaulting his wife.

The police have denied the allegations. Kotwali SHO Ajay Kumar told The Wire that no assault took place inside the police station. Responding to questions about injury marks on Munni’s body, he said the injuries could have been sustained during the protest itself.

Aditya kept asking about his parents

According to his father, Aditya himself was not assaulted at the police station. Ranjit said the child was offered biscuits and chocolates but refused them. Instead, he repeatedly asked to be allowed to stay with his parents. He also questioned police about why his parents had been beaten after seeing their injuries, according to Ranjit. The family says Aditya remained calm despite the situation.

His father told The Wire that the six-year-old has previously shown an interest in participating in protests. Aditya had also participated in an RJD-organised march in Patna on August 19, according to his parents.

Ranjit also claimed that Aditya’s actions during the August 25 protest had attracted police attention. According to him, police had lathi-charged protesters during the demonstration and some teacher aspirants suffered head injuries. Ranjit said Aditya asked in front of media persons who had ordered the lathi-charge. He further alleged that when a police officer was leaving the protest site, Aditya questioned him about where he was going after the alleged incident. According to Ranjit, police later asked the parents at the police station why their child had been asking about the injured protesters and the lathi-charge.

Mother taken to hospital

Munni reportedly became unwell while at the police station and complained of anxiety. Ranjit said he informed the police, who brought water for her. According to the family, she was subsequently taken to New Gardiner Road Hospital, a government hospital located around 500 metres from the police station. Munni told The Wire that two women police personnel accompanied her to the hospital.

She alleged that she was advised not to tell the doctor that she had been beaten at the police station. According to Munni, she did not tell the doctor about the alleged assault because she felt intimidated in the presence of police personnel. She was treated at the hospital and given a prescription. Munni alleges that the police took the prescription, telling her that it would later be given to her husband. She says the prescription was never returned.

The SHO denied the allegation that police had taken the prescription, saying that such a document normally remains with the patient. After her treatment, Munni was taken back to the police station. The family says they were finally released at around 8 pm and reached their home at around 9 pm.

Ranjit has further alleged that before their release, he and his wife were made to sign a written document. According to him, the document stated that strict action could be taken if Aditya participated in a protest in the future. He also claims that it stated that police could summon the parents for questioning at any time. Ranjit said he did not know the full contents of the document he had signed. The family also alleges that police instructed them not to speak about what had happened inside the police station.

Protest over TRE-4

The protest was organised by teacher aspirants who are opposed to changes announced by the Bihar Public Service Commission for the upcoming TRE-4 examination. Under the new pattern, the examination is to be conducted in two stages, while negative marking will continue in objective examinations. The protesting aspirants have demanded that the examination instead be conducted as a single examination and without negative marking.

On August 25, they began marching from Gandhi Maidan towards Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary’s residence. The protesters broke through police barricades during the march and reached Dak Bungalow Chowk, where police action followed. Aditya joined the protesters there with his parents.

Family now fears police harassment

Ranjit and Munni are a working-class couple. Ranjit has studied until Class 4 and works as a daily-wage labourer, earning around Rs 500 a day. Munni works as a domestic worker. The family lives in a single rented room. Aditya is their only child and studies in Class 1 at a private school. According to his parents, he enjoys Mathematics, Hindi and English and keeps a copy of the Constitution. The family says the events of August 25 have left them fearful of further police action. Ranjit told The Wire that he has stopped going to work for several days because he fears that police could arrest or assault him again. The family also says they did not eat or sleep properly after returning home that night. Munni said they kept wondering what they had done wrong. The family is now reportedly avoiding staying at home because of fears of police harassment.

Advocate Shivnandan Bharti, who is planning to file a writ petition concerning the incident, has described it as a case of illegal detention and questioned why the child was not simply handed over to his parents if the police intervention was solely for his safety.

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There is a detail worth pausing on before the argument even begins. The account’s bio carried a line from B.R. Ambedkar, “Educate, Agitate, Organise,” – before it was removed – which presented, evidently, as the spirit animating the campaign. It is hard to imagine a more complete inversion of what that phrase was meant to do. Ambedkar issued it to the very communities that reservation exists to protect, as an instruction for building collective power against a system stacked against them.

He was, not incidentally, also the principal architect of constitutional reservation itself. An account campaigning to dismantle his signature achievement, while quoting his most famous call to arms as its own mission statement, has not so much misread Ambedkar as run his words backwards.

That confusion turns out to be the whole story. RHA is being sold as something new – a fresh generation, fed up with a broken meritocracy, finally saying what previous generations were too timid to say. It is not new. The demand to “remove reservation” is one of the oldest, most recycled slogans in independent India’s political life, and it has failed, in more or less identical form, every single time it has been tried – against Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST) quotas as much as Other Backward Classes (OBC) ones, in state after state, for nearly fifty years before Gen Z existed as a demographic category.

Before Mandal: A fight older than the word “OBC”

The template was set in the late 1970s. In 1978, Bihar’s socialist chief minister Karpoori Thakur implemented 26% reservation for backward classes, based on the Mungeri Lal Commission – the first major state-level rollout of its kind in north India. It triggered a destructive anti-reservation movement, with upper-caste protestors, including some allied to his own coalition partners, taking to the streets against him. The quota outlasted his tenure; Thakur lost the chief ministership within a year.

Three years later, in 1981, a movement erupted aimed squarely at SC and ST quotas rather than backward-class ones. Ahmedabad saw India’s first big anti-reservation agitation, triggered by a state government move to raise reserved medical college seats for SCs and STs. It turned violent quickly, with Dalit students and neighbourhoods bearing the brunt of the backlash – an early, ugly template for what “antireservation” mobilisation would come to mean on the ground: not abstract policy debate, but targeted intimidation of the communities the policy served.

In December 1989, a separate wave of protest broke out in Uttar Pradesh, this time against Parliament’s routine decision to extend reserved SC/ST legislative seats for another ten years – a renewal that had never before drawn street opposition. Both agitations fizzled without altering the underlying quotas.

Then, in 1985, Gujarat erupted again, this time over a further hike in the OBC quota under chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki. What began as boycotts and marches by upper-caste students spiralled into months of rioting between February and August, killing well over a hundred people, before curdling into communal violence against Ahmedabad’s Muslim residents, who had played no role in the reservation dispute at all. The army patrolled the city; curfews ran for weeks; Solanki was forced to resign. The quota hike stood regardless.

1990 and 2006: Bigger stages, identical outcome

Then came 1990, the moment anti-reservation politics entered the national bloodstream in earnest. Prime minister V.P. Singh’s implementation of the Mandal Commission’s 27% OBC quota in central government jobs set off an agitation that spread across north India, marked by the self-immolation attempt of Delhi University student Rajeev Goswami – his image still invoked today by both sides of the debate. Dozens of copycat attempts reportedly followed, some fatal. The reservation survived regardless. The Supreme Court’s 1992 verdict in Indra Sawhney upheld it, adding only a creamy-layer exclusion and a 50% ceiling as concessions.

Sixteen years later, the argument resurfaced almost unchanged. When the government moved to extend 27% OBC reservation to the IITs, IIMs and AIIMS in 2006, a new organisation called Youth for Equality sprang up almost overnight, drawing medical students, engineers and general-category doctors into one of the most disruptive protest waves independent India had seen.

AIIMS doctors struck work, reducing hospitals to emergency services only; nearly a hundred thousand people rallied in Delhi; blockades shut down roads and rail lines across three metros for weeks. The protestors demanded a rollback, a white paper, merit-based alternatives to caste quotas. The Supreme Court instead upheld the quota in 2008, with additional seats added to protect general-category numbers rather than shrink them. Youth for Equality still exists today, now largely as a legal and political lobby rather than a street movement – itself a quiet admission that the agitation route did not work.

Numbers don’t lie

There is a structural reason none of these movements – 1978, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1990, 2006 — have ever succeeded: reservation is not a policy preference that a hashtag, or even a riot, can talk a government out of. It rests on constitutional protection, a court-enforced ceiling upheld across decades of litigation, and a cross-party political consensus that no electoral coalition has found worth breaking, whatever its private sympathies. Every time an anti-reservation campaign has gathered visible pace, a far larger counter-mobilisation has followed within days, not years, because reservation is tied to the political identity and material stake of hundreds of millions of Indians. One popular response to RHA’s overnight follower spike put the arithmetic plainly: for every lakh who want reservation gone, crores will show up to defend it.

Counter-mobilisation arrived within a day

The 2026 instalment has now supplied its own case study, and it has run true to form. RHA had sought permission for a demonstration at Jantar Mantar, and on August 21, Delhi Police instead issued a no-objection certificate for the alternative venue of Ramlila Maidan, capping the crowd at 500 people until 4 pm. Organisers cried foul, calling it a deliberate attempt to shrink their numbers. Hundreds of protesters – drawn, by their own account, from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan among other states — showed up at Jantar Mantar anyway and refused to budge even after the Ramlila permission window lapsed. By evening the standoff had escalated: Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed, and over fifty protesters were detained, with traffic diverted around Sansad Marg, Tolstoy Road and Ashoka Road for hours.

The demands articulated at the site – laid out by Ajeet Bharti, who addressed the crowd – were a government white paper on nearly eight decades of quota policy, a “quota within quota” so benefits reach the most deprived within reserved communities, strengthening of Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservation, and minimum qualifying marks for reserved-category candidates. Other protesters went further, demanding a “one family, one reservation” rule and withdrawal of the UGC’s 2026 caste-equity directives – closer, whatever the semantic hair-splitting, to the abolitionist reading the campaign’s own name invites.

The counter-mobilisation arrived within a day, exactly as the arithmetic above predicts. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav both framed the Jantar Mantar mobilisation as an assault on constitutionally guaranteed SC/ST/OBC reservation. By August 24, Union Minister Chirag Paswan had delivered the government’s own rebuttal in unusually blunt terms, calling reservation a constitutional right no power on earth can abolish, and pointing to continuing caste-based humiliation – Dalit grooms still barred from wedding-procession horses, a Dalit leader’s stage still “purified” after his visit – as evidence the underlying problem hasn’t gone away. RHA, for its part, claimed on August 22, that the government had agreed to talks and that a minister would meet protesters personally – the same face-saving off-ramp virtually every one of its predecessor movements eventually took.

RHA also skips over what actually brought people onto the streets in the first place, and that omission is the tell. The CJP’s protests were about something specific and recent – a NEET examination scandal, a minister seen as unaccountable, an exam system that today’s students experience as rigged by coaching-centre capital and administrative failure, not by their classmates from reserved categories.

Turning that anger toward reservation isn’t a continuation of the youth movement. It is a hijacking of it, substituting a fifty-year-old argument that has never once won for the fresh, generation-specific grievance that actually filled the streets, and doing so under the borrowed authority of a thinker whose entire political project was to make that argument impossible to win.

Viral campaigns rise fast and vanish faster when the argument underneath them doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. RHA has the follower count of a trending hashtag, a bio quote it has fundamentally misread, a single Friday’s worth of detentions and traffic diversions passed off as a movement, and the record of every decade since the 1970s standing against it. History suggests it will have the shelf life of both – a brief surge of shares and outrage, followed by the quiet realisation that nothing about the underlying arithmetic, legal architecture, or political coalition around reservation has moved even slightly.

The post The ‘Reservation Hatao Andolan’ Isn’t a Gen Z Uprising. It’s a Rerun appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Bharat Chodo Slogan was coined by none less than Yusuf Meherali, the historic venue for the launch of the Quit India Movement was the Gowalia Tank Maidan, thereafter named the August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai.
112 years ago, and 37 years before the Quit India Movement, the words and melody of the Rakhee Sangeet by Rabindranath Tagore filled the streets of Bengal and Hindus and Muslims poured out on the streets to say ‘No’ to the Partition of Bengal. The Partition was revoked and east and west Bengal were re-united on December 12, 1911 by the British. A new partition which divided the province on linguistic, rather than religious grounds followed, with the Hindi, Oriya and Assamese areas separated to form separate administrative units: Bihar and Orissa Province was created to the west, and Assam Province to the east. The administrative capital of British India was moved from Calcutta to New Delhi as well.

Rakhee Sangeet
During the swadeshi and anti-partition agitation people in both the Benglas took out processions in the streets of towns and villages and sang swadeshi and patiotric songs. An English version of one such song, originally composed in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, is reproduced below.

Let the earth and water of Bengal,
Let the air and fruits of Bengal, be sacred, be sacred, be sacred, my god.
Let the homes and marts of Bengal,
Let the forests and fields of Bengal, be full,  be full, be full, my god.
Let the promises and hopes of Bengalis,
Let the deeds and language of Bengalis, be true, be true, be true, my god.
Let the lives and hearts of Bengalis,
Let all the brothers and sisters in Bengali homes, be united, be united, be united, my god.

Excerpts from Gokhale’s Presidential Address
Bengal was at its peak of the united nationalist movement at the dawn of 19th century, which eventually emerged as a formidable threat to the British Raj. Divide and Rule has always been the policy of the rulers be it the British or those who rule from Delhi today.

To curb this nationalist movement, the Britishers decided to divide Bengal, a move vehemently opposed by various leaders of the time, including Rabindranath Tagore.

The decision was taken at a meeting between Lord Curzon and a Muslim delegation in Assam in June 1905, where the Muslims were convinced of the idea of a separate state to keep their identity. The plan was to divide the Hindu majority regions of West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha from Muslim-dominated areas of Assam and Sylhet. The British government passed the orders of partition in August 1905, which came into effect on October 16 of the same year. However, the date fell in the month of Shravan, when the festival of Raksha Bandhan was celebrated by the Hindu community.

Tagore masterfully used the concept of brotherhood, togetherness and ‘the thread of protection’ as a medium to protest against British’s partition policy by showing a picture of unity among the two communities.

Gopal krishna Gokhale’s Presidential Address at the Banares  Congress Convention (1905), where the made a detailed analysis of the question  of the partition of Bengal and the Swadeshi movement are worth a recall:
“Gentlemen, the question that is uppermost in the minds of all at this moment is the partition of Bengal. A cruel wrong has been inflicted on our Bengalee brethren, and the whole country has been stirred to its deepest depths in sorrow and resentment, as had never been the case before. The scheme of Partition concocted in the dark and carried out in the face of the fiercest opposition that any Government measure has encountered during the last half-a-century, will always stand as a complete illustration the worst features of the present system of bureaucratic rule-its utter contempt for public opinion, its arrogant pretensions to superior wisdom… Lord Curzon and his advisers… could never allege that they had no means of judging of the depth of public feeling in the matter. All that could possibly have been done by way of a respectful representation of the views of the people had been done. As soon as it was known that a partition of some sort was contemplated, meeting after meeting of protest was held…. The Secretary of State for India was implored to withhold his sanction to the proposed measure. The intervention of the British House of Commons was sought, first by a monster petition, signed by sixty thousand people, and later by means, of a debate on the subject raised in the House by our over-watchful mend, Mr. Herbert Roberts. All proved unavailing…. To add insult to injury, Lord C m n described the opposition to his measures as “manufactured”-an opposition in which all classes of Indians, high and low, uneducated and educated, Hindus and Mahomedans had joined, an opposition than which nothing more intense, nothing more wide-spread, nothing more spontaneous had been seen in this country in the whole course of our political agitation.. . .

The tremendous upheaval of popular feeling, which has taken place in Bengal in consequence of the partition, will constitute a landmark in the history of our national progress. For the first time since British rule began, all sections of the Indian community, without distinction of caste or creed, have been moved by a common impulse and without the stimulus of extend pressure to act together in offering resistance to a common wrong. A wave of true national consciousness has swept over the province…. Bengal’s heroic stand against the oppression of a harsh and uncontrolled bureaucracy has astonished and gratified all India, and her sufferings have not been endured in vain, when they have helped to draw closer all pasts of the country in sympathy and in aspiration….”

On July 19, 1905, British governor-general Curzon announced the partition of Bengal into two provinces-Eastern Bengal and Assam, and the rest of Bengal which included Bihar and parts of Orrisa.

The main political aim of the partition decision was a divide the Bengal population and to weaken the nationalist movement of which Bengal was the most important entre.

The British move was also to disrupt Hindu-Muslim unity by convincing upper class Muslims that the newly created province with its Muslim majority was in their interest. However, it only served to arouse and bring in all sections of the people in Bengal into an unprecedented mass movement which soon spread too many other parts of the country.

The anti-partition agitation assumed a militant from on August 7, 1905 when thousands of people at a meeting in Calcutta resolved to boycott British goods until the partition proposal was withdrawn.

The Partition of Bengal came into force on October 16, 1905 which day was observed as a day of national mourning throughout Bengal. It was during this movement that Swadeshi or use of Indian goods and boycott of British Goods became an integral part of the freedom struggle. At thousands of meeting people took the pledge of Swadeshi and boycott. Resolutions supporting Swadeshi and boycott were also passed at the Benares session of the Congress under the presidentship of Gokhle in December 1905, although the Moderates then and later tried to restrict their scope. The message of Swadeshi spread to the entire country and helped in promoting Indian Industries. A large number of educational institutions were also opened by nationalists and a National Council of Education was set up. The movement which had begun in Bengal over the question of partition was transformed into a wider movement for freedom of the country. The British rulers, in order to crush the rising tide of nationalism, unleashed naked repression.

Congress Resolutions on Partition, Swadeshi and Boycott Movement

At the annual session of the Congress held in 1906 in Calcutta, the resolutions passed at the preceding session (1905) against the Partition, were re-asserted and further resolutions were passed, supporting the Boycott and Swadeshi.

Some excerpts from the resolutions VI, VII and VIII read”

VI.       The Partition of Bengal-This Congress again records its emphatic protest against the Partition of Bengal and regrets that the present Government, while admitting that there were errors in the original plan and that it went wholly and decisively against the wishes of the majority of the people of Bengal, is disposed to look upon it as a settled fact….

This Congress, composed of representatives from all the Provinces of this country, desires earnestly to impress upon the British Parliament and the present Liberal Government that it will be not only just, but expedient to reverse or modify the partition in such a manner as to keep the entire Bengali speaking community under one undivided administration and thus restore contentment to so important a province as Bengal

VII.     Boycott Movement-Having regard to the fact that the people of this country have little or no voice in its administration, and that their representations to the Government do not receive due consideration, this Congress is of opinion that the Boycott Movement, inaugurated in Bengal by way of protest against the partition of that province was, and is legitimate.

VIII.    Swadeshi-This Congress accords its most cordial support to the Swadeshi Movement and calls upon the people .of the country to labour for its success by making earnest and sustained efforts to promote the growth of indigenous industries and to stimulate the production of indigenous articles by giving them preference, wherever practicable, over imported commodities, even at a sacrifice.

Widespread Protests at Meeting in Agra and Surat

Protest meetings against the Partition of Bengal were organised in all parts of the country on and after October 16, 1905.

From the Archives of the Amrita Basar Patrika.
AGRA CITY, Oct 22
At the Swadeshi Mass Meeting held in the Mankameshwar temple, over ten thousand people, both Hindus and Mahomedans, were present. Native Christians sent a sympathetic message explaining their absence that it was a Sunday. Lala Kedarnath Vakil was elected Chairman. The meeting commenced and terminated with singing national songs. A resolution was passed for the adoption of country-made goods….

Surat, Oct. 23…Public meeting of over 5000 people was held here-Parsis, Hindus, Mahomedans…. Israel and Native Christians attended. Lawyers, merchants, landlords, pensioners, artisans-in short, men of all classes and creeds assembled in the ball which was crowded to overflowing. Rai Bahadur Krishamukhram Mahata, retired Small Causes Court Judge, presided, supported by Divan Bahadur Ambalal Des     ai (Ahmedabad). Ali Mohamed Bhimji (Bombay) and Maulvi Abdul Halim Monghyr spoke in favour of the Swadeshi movement. Great enthusiasm prevailed. The proceedings lasted for three hours…. Handicrafts were exhibited A committee was formed to carry out the objects of the meetings.

Background of theBengal Partition and the Swadeshi Movement

What were Curzon’s  Aims  in Partitioning Bengal ?
The following  excepts from Curzon’s letter of February 2, 1905 to St. John Broderick, Secretary of state for India, give an idea of his aims in partitioning  Bengal.
“Calculation is the centre from which the congress party is manipulated throughout the whole of Bengal and indeed the whole of India. Its best wirepullers and its most frothy orators all reside here. The perfection of their machinery, and the tyranny which its enables them to exercise are truly remarkable. They dominate public opinion in Calcutta; they affect the high court; they frighten the local government and they are sometimes not without serious influence on the government of India.

The whole of their activity is directed to creating an agency so powerful that they may one day be able to force a weak government to give them what they desire. Any measure in consequence that would divide the Bengali-speaking population; that would permit independent centres of activity and influence to grow up; that would dethrone Calcutta from its place as the centre of successful intrigue, or that would weaken the influence of the lawyer class, who have the entire organization in their hands, is intensely and hotly resented by them. The outcry will be loud and very fierce, but as a native gentleman said to me-‘my countrymen always howl until a thing is settled; then they accept it’.

Partition Proclamation   
The text of the Partition of Bengal Proclamation issued from Simla on  September 1, 1905 is reproduced below:
The following Proclamation to which the sanction of His Majesty the King-Emperor of India has been signified by the secretary of state for India in council is published:
The governor general is pleased to constitute the territories at present under the administration of the chief commissioner of Assam to be for the purposes of the Indian councils Act 1861…a province to which the provisions of that Act touching the making of laws and regulations for the peace and good order of the presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay shall be applicable and to direct that the said province shall be called and known as the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam…

2. The Governor General in council is pleased to specify the sixteenth day of October,1905 as the period at which the said provisions shall take effect and 15^th  as the number of councilors whom the Lieutenant Governor may nominate for his assistance in making laws and regulations.
3. The Governor General in council is further pleased and appoint that upon the constitution of the said province of Eastern Bengal and Assam, the districts of Decca, Mymensingh, Faridpur, Backergunge, Tippera, Noakhali, Chittagong, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Rangpur, Bogra, Pabna, and Malda which now form part of the Bengal Division of the Presidency of fort William Shall cases to be subject to or included within the limits of that Division, and shall thenceforth be subject to and included within the limits of the Lieutenant –Governorship of the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam.

Calcutta in Morning
The first part of a news item, which appeared in the Amrita Bazaar Patrika of October 17, 1905 entitled “Calcutta  in Morning-A Unique Sight”, describing the situation in Calcutta on October 16, 1905, the day Bengal was partitioned, is given below.
Yesterday was one of the most memorable days in the history of the British administration of India. It being the day on which the Bengal partition scheme took effect, the day on which our unsympathetic government forced a measure by a proclamation in the official gazette against the wishes of the whole population, the day on which our rules tried to separate the Bengali speaking people of the East Bengal from those of the West Bengal, the people of Calcutta, irrespective of nationality, social position, creed and sex, observed it as a day of mourning. The leaders of the Bengali community-Hindus and Mahomedans-did not however silently mourn and weep. They did something more. They as a legacy to posterity and as a landmark to British administration laid the foundation of the Federation Hall. They also took a practical step towards the furtherance of the Swadeshi movement by opening the National Fund.

The Scene on the Bank of the Hooghly
From the small hours in the morning till noon, the bank of the Ganges from Bag bazaar to Howrah presented a unique spectacle. It looked, as if it were, a surging sea of human faces. From all streets, lanes and bye-lanes, leading to the bank a quick succession of streams of people all bare-footed-found their way to the bank to have a plunge in the sacred river.

As the day advanced, the gathering thickened more and more and by 10, about a lakh of the male population of the metropolis-all in mourning-thronged the bank and the Ghats of tender sex.

They cry of “Bande Mataram” now and then, broke the silence of the still air and reverberated through it imparting a chastening influence on the minds of those who gathered together there…innumerable processions consisting of scores and hundreds of men, after arriving at the bank of the sacred river and wearing Rakhi (yellow thread) proceeded in procession singing ‘Bande Matram’ all the way.

Several thousands of such processions passed all over the city especially the northern quarter of it from 8 am. To 2 pm. They accosted on the way everyone they met with “Bande Mataram” in embracing each other and putting on “Rakhi”. It was a sight for the gods to see….

Roads and Streets
The scene in the roads and streets of whole Calcutta was quite novel and was perhaps never before witnessed in any Indian city….No purchasers were there and thus no sellers had to exhibit their articles…All the mills were closed and the mill hands paraded the city in procession…The only cry that was heard was of “Bande Mataram” . Bands of Mahomedans and Marwari’s joined the processionists and greatly enhanced the enthusiasm.

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The incidents varied significantly in their immediate triggers. In some cases, police and media reports described clashes between groups following arguments and slogan-shouting; elsewhere, disputes centred on religious imagery, procession routes, sound systems or alleged acts of provocation. Yet a common feature ran through many of the reports: once videos began circulating on social media, competing narratives about who had provoked whom spread rapidly, often well ahead of verified police findings.

• Mumbai: Parel-Chinchpokli turns tense after Eid procession

The most prominent incident in Maharashtra was reported from Mumbai’s Parel-Chinchpokli area on the night of August 26. According to The Indian Express, tension erupted near Laxmi Cottage after two groups clashed following an Eid procession. Police said they suspected that both groups had raised slogans, leading to a verbal altercation. Reports of stone-pelting and the use of mild police force subsequently emerged. The Free Press Journal similarly reported that a scuffle and stone-pelting occurred near Laxmi Cottage during the Eid Milad-un-Nabi procession. It reported allegations that banners were torn and slogans were raised, while videos circulating online showed crowds blocking roads and police attempting to disperse those involved.

The police response was immediate. Mumbai Police Joint Commissioner (Law and Order) Dr Manoj Sharma said senior officers were present and appealed to people not to believe rumours, stating that the situation had returned to normal. Additional police personnel were deployed in Parel, Chinchpokli and surrounding areas, while roads leading towards the area were blocked as a precaution. The Byculla-Lalbaug-Parel Bridge was also shut to vehicular traffic temporarily.

The incident has since generated sharply divergent accounts on social media. One set of claims alleges that Muslim youths were assaulted by Hindutva activists after a dispute over the alleged desecration or disrespect of a flag associated with the procession. Videos circulated online appear to show a physical altercation involving several people. However, subsequent reporting indicates that police were still investigating the precise trigger.

The Times of India reported on August 27 that three people had been booked following the Parel clash, while additional police personnel were deployed to prevent further disturbances. A later report by ABP Majha provided another version of the sequence, reporting that the confrontation occurred during police nakabandi and involved bikers allegedly violating traffic rules. It said the altercation began late on August 26 and continued into the early hours of August 27, with some police personnel also injured and three people booked.

• Bengaluru: Hindutva activists named in FIRs as police investigate competing complaints

A more detailed picture emerged from Bengaluru, where a clash took place in Basavanagudi during an Eid Milad procession. According to The Hindu‘s reporting, tensions flared near Garadi Apartments on KR Road when members of a Hindutva group, including activist Puneeth Kerehalli, allegedly raised slogans as the procession passed. Police intervened, but a youth identified as Murali was subsequently allegedly assaulted with a weapon.

Police later registered multiple FIRs arising from the confrontation. One case, based on a complaint by Abdul Razak Khan, invoked provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to promoting enmity between groups, unlawful assembly, assault and criminal intimidation. Kerehalli, Gopi Gowda and Vinod Nayak were among those arrested in connection with that case.

At the same time, a second FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint by Kerehalli. That case included allegations of attempt to murder and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Three people, namely Kamal Pasha, Abubakar Siddiq and Syed Anas, were arrested in that case, while two juveniles were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board.

A third case was registered by traffic police concerning obstruction of a public road. Police were examining CCTV footage and recording statements as the investigation continued. The Times of India reported that complaints had been filed by both sides following the Basavanagudi confrontation, with police maintaining additional security in the area.

• Rajasthan: Religious imagery triggers dispute in Chittorgarh

In Rajasthan, a separate confrontation was reported during an Eid Milad procession in Bassi town of Chittorgarh district. The Times of India reported that controversy arose over religious images on plastic sheets allegedly thrown into the air from a tempo-mounted setup accompanying the procession. The incident led to protests, and around 200 people from the Hindu community reportedly gathered near the old bus stand, shut shops and recited the Hanuman Chalisa. Police intervened and stopped the throwing of the plastic sheets. Additional forces were deployed and officials negotiated with representatives of the two communities. The procession was subsequently allowed to continue to its destination.

A complaint was later filed and Bassi police registered a case against unidentified persons under Sections 125, 299 and 302 of the BNS, according to The Times of India. Another report by Aaj Tak described the dispute as involving fariya, sheets or objects thrown during the procession, which allegedly contained images of Hindu deities. Hindu organisations objected and sought action from the administration.

• Gwalior: Confrontation over DJ music

Gwalior also witnessed a dispute during Eid Milad celebrations over the playing of DJ music. Reports from Madhya Pradesh said an argument broke out after police attempted to stop the DJ. A report by IBC24 News provided that the confrontation reportedly involved heated exchanges between police personnel and people participating in the procession.

The social-media battle begins almost immediately

The events of August 26 also demonstrate another increasingly familiar feature of communal tension in India: the speed with which isolated incidents become competing communal narratives. Within hours of the Mumbai incident, videos circulated claiming to show Muslims attacking Hindus; other accounts alleged that Hindutva activists had attacked Muslim participants. Neither narrative can safely be adopted merely because a video appears dramatic.

In fact, The Indian Express explicitly cautioned that reports of stone pelting and police use of force had not been independently verified. Meanwhile, as reported by Free Press Journal, Mumbai police publicly appealed to citizens not to believe rumours and said senior officers were monitoring the situation.  This is particularly important in communal incidents because the first version of events can acquire a life of its own. Once a video is captioned as an “attack by Muslims” or an “attack by Hindutva activists”, subsequent users often circulate it without checking its date, location, sequence or context. The result is not merely misinformation. It can itself become an accelerant of violence.

One cannot ignore the pattern of violence as well and hold that the August 26 incidents did not occur in a vacuum. Mumbai had already witnessed tension earlier in the week after eggs were allegedly thrown at a Ganesh idol procession in Mazgaon. Hindustan Times had reported that organisers alleged eggs were hurled at the Ganesh procession, following which tensions escalated and police deployed additional security. The Parel incident occurred only days later, and local accounts cited by Free Press Journal linked the atmosphere to the earlier Mazgaon episode. This is precisely where the responsibility of political actors, religious organisations, police authorities and media platforms becomes critical.

The August 26 incidents also expose a broader challenge for Indian cities entering the peak festival season: equal enforcement of public-order rules. If authorities prohibit provocative slogans, the prohibition must apply regardless of who raises them. If loudspeakers and DJs are regulated, the same standards must apply to every religious procession. If roads are blocked, organisers of every community’s procession must comply with traffic restrictions. If religious symbols are damaged, the police must investigate regardless of whose symbol was targeted. Selective enforcement does more than create resentment. It undermines public confidence in the neutrality of the State and provides fertile ground for competing narratives of victimhood.

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A people on the brink: The fight to protect the Shompen of Great Nicobar   

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The Shompen of Great Nicobar Island stand out as one of India’s most distinctive and endangered tribal communities. Living deep within the island’s forests, they have traditionally followed a semi‑nomadic life of hunting, gathering and horticulture. Their diet—coconuts, bananas, tubers, fish, wild animals and honey—reflects a sophisticated understanding of the forest ecosystem. Their indigenous methods of storing water in bamboo, their linguistic uniqueness and their customary practices have long fascinated anthropologists and administrators. Yet these very characteristics also make them exceptionally vulnerable to external pressures.

Historically, the Shompen have maintained minimal contact with outsiders, a factor that helped preserve their culture but also left them exposed to new risks as interactions increased. Their population numbers tell a story of extreme demographic fragility. Estimates have fluctuated sharply over the past century: 348 in 1901, 375 in 1911 and 1921, dropping to 200 in 1931, plummeting to 20 in 1951, rising again to 212 in 1981, falling to 135 in 1991 and reaching 229 in 2001. These swings must be interpreted cautiously, given the difficulty of enumerating isolated communities, but they nonetheless reveal how even minor disruptions—disease outbreaks, habitat loss or food scarcity—can have catastrophic consequences for such a small population.

Health remains one of the most serious concerns. Indigenous groups with limited historical exposure to communicable diseases are at heightened risk when contact with outsiders increases. The Andaman Islands have witnessed outbreaks of measles, mumps and tuberculosis among other tribal communities, underscoring the dangers of uncontrolled interaction. For the Shompen, healthcare policy must strike a delicate balance: ensuring access to essential services without exposing them to infectious diseases or creating dependency on external institutions. Preventive, culturally sensitive strategies—surveillance, vaccination where appropriate, nutritional support and emergency response—must be designed with respect for autonomy and minimal intrusion.

The Shompen’s survival is inseparable from the forests of Great Nicobar. Their traditional economy depends on access to wildlife, water sources and forest produce. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956 sought to safeguard indigenous territories by restricting land transfers and outsider access. Yet protected areas can create dilemmas when conservation measures unintentionally limit indigenous communities’ access to resources they have relied on for generations. Protection must therefore prioritize tribal rights rather than impose rigid administrative boundaries. Encroachment, agricultural expansion, commercial extraction and unauthorized entry threaten both the forest ecosystem and the Shompen’s livelihood security.

Contact with outsiders remains one of the most sensitive policy issues. Tourism, settlement and infrastructure development have increased opportunities for interaction, often with harmful consequences. Experiences involving other indigenous groups in the islands reveal how treating tribal communities as tourist attractions can lead to exploitation, cultural disruption and nutritional decline. When traditional food systems are replaced by market commodities, diets may become inadequate or unhealthy. Policy must follow the principle of minimum necessary contact, ensuring that interaction occurs only for essential purposes such as healthcare, protection or administration.

Tourism, in particular, demands strict ethical safeguards. The controversies surrounding the Andaman Trunk Road illustrate how commercial interests can overshadow indigenous rights. The Shompen must never be approached, photographed or displayed for entertainment. Their privacy, dignity and right to determine the nature of contact must take precedence over tourism revenue. Responsible tourism requires prohibiting exploitative encounters and preventing entry into protected tribal territories except under strictly regulated conditions.

Education presents another complex challenge. The Shompen possess their own language, ecological knowledge and cultural practices. Conventional schooling, if imposed without sensitivity, may erode indigenous knowledge and produce limited outcomes. Experiences from Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh show that educational programmes become more effective when they incorporate local languages and traditional learning systems. For the Shompen, flexible, community‑based approaches—introduced only with their consent—may be more appropriate than mass‑schooling models.

Government policy in the islands has evolved from colonial settlement and penal administration to post‑independence efforts aimed at protecting tribal communities. The 1956 Regulation established a legal framework for safeguarding indigenous territories, and subsequent measures strengthened restrictions on unauthorized access, tourism and photography. Research institutions have contributed to documenting tribal societies and informing policy. Yet legislation alone cannot ensure protection; effective implementation, monitoring and coordination are essential.

The Shompen require a policy approach tailored to their unique circumstances. Their territorial rights must be protected from encroachment. Contact with outsiders should be strictly regulated. Healthcare interventions must prioritize disease prevention and nutritional security. Cultural preservation—including documentation of language and traditional knowledge—should be undertaken only with community consent. Traditional food systems and livelihoods must be strengthened rather than replaced. Tourism must never compromise their dignity. Governance should respect their choices and customary institutions. Data collection must be careful, ethical and non‑intrusive.

The way forward lies in protecting the Shompen’s relationship with their environment. Their traditional practices—hunting, gathering and horticulture—are finely adapted to Great Nicobar’s ecology. Development interventions must avoid disrupting this balance. Infrastructure and economic projects in the Nicobar Islands must be planned with sensitivity to ecological and tribal concerns. The goal is not assimilation into mainstream society, nor romanticized isolation that denies essential services. The appropriate path lies between these extremes: protection without exploitation, assistance without dependency, development without displacement and contact without coercion.

The Shompen’s future depends on decisions made today. Their small population, isolation and dependence on natural resources make them acutely vulnerable. The history of tribal administration in the islands shows that even well‑intentioned interventions can produce unintended harm when indigenous autonomy and ecological realities are ignored. Policy must therefore place the Shompen’s life, land, health, culture and dignity at its centre. Their survival should not be measured by integration into mainstream society, but by their ability to retain identity, knowledge, territorial security and dignity while receiving essential protection when needed.

*Associate Professor (Retd.), National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD)

Courtesy: CounterView

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Pradip Prabhu, Pradipbhau to many, particularly villagers among whom he worked, breathed his last on August 25 at the age of 78. He studied at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in his early years (later he also taught here and contributed in many ways to this prestigious institute). However he found his true calling when he played a leading role in the setting up of the Kashtkari Sangathan (translated as organization of those who toil) in Dahanu (Maharashtra) in 1978. Here he was involved in many struggles against exploitation and injustices, which ultimately helped to bring many-sided benefits to marginal and small farmers as well as landless workers, mainly of Adivasi (indigenous, tribal) communities.

It was in the course of these struggles that Pradip developed the deeper understanding and perspective which helped him later to contribute in important ways to national level legislations for strengthening the rights of tribal communities in the form of Forest Rights Act and PESA or Panchayats (Exension to Scheduled Areas) Act.

At various stages of his life Pradip Prabhu was closely associated with several prestigious academic and training institutes including, apart from TISS, the National Institute of Rural Development and the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy. Apart from his continuing work in the the Kashtkari Sangathan, he contributed in important ways to several other social movements including the Bharat Jan Andolan, Shoshit Jan Andolan, Campaign for Survival and Dignity and Barefoot Academy of Governance.  In fact it is in the course of the meetings of Bharat Jan Andolan that I first met him. Dr. B.D.Sharma, former Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the Government of India, had after his retirement mobilized this social movement with the help of social activists in several parts of the country and one of the main demands that emerged in the course of this mobilization was in the form of extending decentralization of governance to tribal communities in a stronger form. Dr. Sharma found in Pradip Prabhu a very important friend and firm supporter to take this forward.

While rural decentralization in the form of Panchayati Raj was sought to be improved significantly in 1993, one criticism was that even the new law had not adequately strengthened the wider rural community as more powers were vested in the few elected representatives rather than in the community. However as this law did not apply to scheduled areas and there was provision of enacting different legislation for scheduled areas where most of the tribal communities live, there was still an opportunity for empowering entire tribal communities.

At this juncture an important role was played by Bharat Jan Andolan and its convener Dr. B.D.Sharma. This movement and Dr. B.D. Sharma along with friends like Pradip Prabhu played an important role in advancing the cause of a different decentralization law for scheduled areas which would strengthen tribal communities.

In the middle of a continuing campaign for this a committee under the Chairmanship of Dilip Singh Bhuria, Member of Parliament, consisting of several MPs and experts, was appointed for suggesting a suitable frame of decentralization legislation for scheduled areas. This committee submitted its report in January 1996.

However when there was no suitable follow-up action after this, representatives of Adivasi (indigenous, tribal) communities from various parts of the country went on a fast at Rajghat in Delhi. Both Dr. Sharma and Pradeep joined this fast. Members of various political parties came to extend their support and finally a consensus could emerge on new and different decentralization legislation for scheduled areas which would go a long way in strengthening the tribal communities.

On December 24, 1996 the Parliament finally passed the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 which is popularly known as PESA legislation. This legislation which applies only to scheduled areas (having a significant tribal population) firmly establishes the Gram Sabha as the most basic unit of Panchayati Raj in these areas. Section 4(d) of this Act says, “Every Gram Sabha shall be competent to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of the people, their cultural identity, community resources and the customary mode of dispute resolution.”

Section 4(e) says every Gram Sabha shall approve the plans, programs and projects for social and economic development before such plans, programs and projects are taken up for implementation by the panchayat at the village level. Section 4(f) states that “Every panchayat at the village-level shall be required to obtain from the Gram Sabha a certification of utilization of funds by that panchayat for the plans, programs and projects referred to in clause (e).”

Other clauses give the Gram Sabha important rights before any village land can be acquired for various projects or before any village land can be auctioned for its minor minerals. Similarly the Gram Sabha has been given significant power regarding minor forest produce, preventing alienation of land and restricting the sale of liquor.

Thus it is clear that the Adivasi (indigenous, tribal) communities in the form of Gram Sabhas in scheduled areas have been empowered in very significant ways under by the PESA law. While this has been widely appreciated by several people, this has also evoked a good deal of opposition by powerful interests. Hence there have been several obstacles in the implementation of this legislation and taking this forward in the right spirit for empowering tribal communities in a big way has been a big challenge.

The absence of Pradip Prabhu will be deeply felt whenever such challenges are being faced. He is survived by his wife Shiraz Bulsara who is a very highly regarded activist and scholar in her own right. Pradip’s memory will be cherished, apart from family members and close friends, by a very large number of people who stand for justice, by his numerous students and fellow-activists and by the people among whom he worked with continuity for many decades.

(The author is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now)

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According to KPSS, a communication dated August 23 and attributed to an outfit calling itself the United Liberation Council (ULC) has surfaced on social media. The communication reportedly carries the names and personal details of Kashmiri Pandit employees. The organisation says security agencies are examining its authenticity and origin, while reports have described the ULC as a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba-linked proxy. KPSS stresses that irrespective of the eventual findings of the investigation, the circulation of a communication containing identifiable personal information is serious enough to warrant an immediate, transparent and credible security response.

The distinction is important. The press release does not present the authenticity of the threat as an established fact; rather, it calls for the authorities to investigate precisely that question. What KPSS argues is that the potential danger cannot be measured merely by whether the communication is ultimately proven genuine. The very fact that personal details of individuals are allegedly being circulated in a threatening context raises questions about how the information was obtained, who prepared and disseminated the material, and whether any local network or facilitation was involved.

SabrangIndia’s detailed reports featuring conversations with Sanjay Tickoo, president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, on the two threatening letters can be read here, here and here.

A new medium for an old language of fear

For KPSS, the significance of the episode lies not only in the contents of the alleged threat but in the history it evokes. The organisation draws a direct parallel with the forms of intimidation experienced by Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s. Threats that once travelled through walls, posters, mosque loudspeakers and whispered warnings can now circulate through social media, digital platforms and encrypted channels. The technology may have changed, but, KPSS argues, the psychological objective remains disturbingly familiar: creating the perception that a Kashmiri Pandit’s birthplace is conditional, his property negotiable, his presence temporary and his safety dependent upon the permission of others.

That history makes the present threat particularly significant for those who have attempted to return to or continue living in the Valley. KPSS argues that a Kashmiri Pandit does not become an outsider because extraordinary circumstances forced him or her to leave an ancestral home. Nor does the passage of decades erase ancestral belonging. The organisation frames the right to remember one’s home, return to it and live there without fear as questions of belonging and security rather than matters for which the community should have to seek permission or sympathy.

‘Brotherhood’ cannot replace protection

The press release also takes issue with recent remarks attributed to BJP General Secretary (Organisation), J&K, Ashok Koul, reportedly made at Tirth Raj Kapal Mochan Nagbal in Shopian while speaking about the return of Kashmiri Pandits and the need for social cohesion. According to KPSS, Koul was reported as saying that “targeted killings won’t stop” while emphasising the need to build brotherhood. KPSS says the statement should not be sensationalised or selectively interpreted, but argues that it nevertheless raises an unavoidable question: what does security mean for a community being encouraged to return if targeted violence is presented as something that may continue?

The organisation’s objection is not to the idea of brotherhood itself. It explicitly recognises social harmony as indispensable. Its argument is that social harmony cannot be treated as a substitute for institutional protection. “Brotherhood” without security, KPSS contends, risks becoming an appeal made to those who are already vulnerable while leaving the structural conditions of that vulnerability untouched. Protection requires functioning security mechanisms, intelligence, accountability and preventive action—not simply assurances following an incident.

The question is therefore not whether Kashmiri Pandits should have faith in their neighbours or in Kashmir’s pluralistic traditions. It is whether institutions can guarantee that such faith does not require them to accept an unacceptable level of risk.

The burden of return

KPSS also highlights what it sees as a contradiction in the political and social discourse surrounding the return of Kashmiri Pandits. The community’s return has frequently been described as essential to restoring Kashmir’s pluralistic character. Yet, the organisation argues, returning Pandits are repeatedly asked to adjust to the prevailing situation; concerns over security are met with assurances that conditions are improving; questions over ancestral property are directed towards the future; and when threats emerge again, those same individuals are expected to display patience and faith.

This leads to the central question posed by the press release: How many times must the victim prove his commitment to Kashmir before Kashmir proves its commitment to him?

For KPSS, the answer cannot be another appeal to resilience. Returning home should not require extraordinary courage. It should be an ordinary exercise of citizenship.

Avoiding collective blame—but not collective denial

The press release is also careful to distinguish between militant violence and the wider Kashmiri population. KPSS states that the majority community should not be collectively held responsible for crimes committed by militants, and that the actions of a few should not be indiscriminately attributed to an entire society. At the same time, however, it argues that society must be willing to examine the environment in which intimidation can emerge, personal information can circulate and threats can again be directed at a vulnerable minority.

This distinction is central to the organisation’s argument. Rejecting collective blame, it suggests, cannot mean refusing to examine the social and institutional conditions that allow threats to emerge or circulate.

The real test of security, KPSS argues, is not the response after violence has occurred but whether warning signs are recognised before they become violence. A society’s commitment to its minority communities cannot be measured only by the solidarity expressed after a killing; it must also be measured by whether people can live, work, worship, own property and return to their homes without having to first become victims for their humanity to be acknowledged.

What investigators must establish

The organisation’s most concrete demand is for scrutiny of the threat itself. Rather than reducing the episode to the question of whether a poster or digital communication is authentic, KPSS asks authorities to establish who prepared it, who circulated it, how the personal details were obtained, whether it represents a genuine operational threat, and whether there was any local facilitation or network involved in its preparation or dissemination.

These questions have a significance beyond this particular incident. If personal information belonging to vulnerable employees has been obtained and circulated in a threatening communication, determining the source and pathway of that information is essential to assessing the seriousness of the threat and preventing further targeting. KPSS consequently characterises these not as political questions but as security questions requiring credible answers.

Return must mean more than physical presence

The final portion of the press release turns from the immediate threat to the larger question of what a meaningful return of Kashmiri Pandits would actually entail. KPSS argues that genuine brotherhood must manifest itself through protection, institutional accountability, social vigilance and an unequivocal rejection of intimidation. It says Kashmiri Pandits do not need ceremonial expressions of solidarity but confidence that their lives will be protected before violence occurs. They also need safeguards for ancestral property and institutions capable of identifying threats before they become fatal.

The organisation’s broader concern is that Kashmir cannot convincingly claim to have moved beyond the past if threats against Kashmiri Pandits continue to reproduce the same underlying fear, even through different mediums and under different circumstances. The question, as KPSS frames it, is stark: will Kashmiri Pandits be able to return and live as equal citizens, or will every return continue to carry the warning that their presence is temporary and their safety uncertain?

Its demands are consequently straightforward: threats must be investigated, security must be guaranteed, personal information must be protected, ancestral property rights must be safeguarded, and the right to return must be treated as a matter of security and justice rather than courage and chance.

The complete press release may be read below:

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In his letter dated August 25, 2026, Shivakumar said the SIR exercise had thrown up figures that required “serious attention”. According to the letter, Karnataka has 5.54 crore electors, of whom nearly 1.08 crore have been placed in the category of Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO).

The Chief Minister further pointed to the situation after publication of the draft electoral roll on August 24. He said verification notices were expected to be issued to roughly 43.8 lakh electors over “logical discrepancies” or absence of a link to the 2002 electoral roll.

In Bengaluru alone, according to the letter, 46.88 lakh electors have been placed under the ASDDO category. Shivakumar said the combined figures translated into about 1.5 crore voters in Karnataka facing possible deletion unless they submit claims for continuation or fresh inclusion.

Concern over voters marked absent or shifted

The Chief Minister said a significant number of voters categorised as “Absent” could be genuine electors who were unable to submit their enumeration forms because they were away from home when Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visited.

He cited work, health and other legitimate reasons as possible circumstances that could have prevented electors from being present during the verification exercise.

Shivakumar also raised concerns regarding voters who had shifted residence. According to him, electors who moved to a different polling station were not given an opportunity to submit enumeration forms at their new residence during the BLOs’ house-to-house visits.

Their names, he said, were consequently deleted from the electoral roll at their previous addresses.

Urban mobility could affect polling-station mapping

The letter specifically highlighted the implications of movement within cities. In Bengaluru and other urban areas, Shivakumar said even moving across the street could result in a change of polling station.

He argued that this could leave lakhs of genuine voters facing disenfranchisement under the “Absent” and “Shifted” categories and require them to file Form 6 for inclusion.

He also pointed to another category of voters who may not receive notices because notices are being sent only to electors identified under “logical discrepancy” and “unmapped” categories.

Such voters, the Chief Minister said, may not even be aware that their names have been deleted from the electoral roll.

‘Mobility should not translate into disenfranchisement’

Shivakumar said the issue was particularly significant in a society where individuals and families routinely move between neighbourhoods, cities, towns and villages for employment, marriage and other reasons.

“Mobility should not translate into disenfranchisement,” he said in the letter.

He also stressed the potential impact on poorer and marginalised citizens, who may move frequently and may not readily possess or have access to documents required to establish their eligibility.

The Chief Minister said the SIR exercise should protect the voting rights of every eligible citizen while maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the electoral roll.

ECI has dual responsibility, says Shivakumar

The Karnataka Chief Minister said the Election Commission has a dual responsibility: preparing accurate electoral rolls while ensuring that no genuine and eligible voter is excluded.

According to Shivakumar, these objectives were not inherently conflicting and could both be achieved if adequate time and proper procedures were provided.

On this basis, he urged the ECI to consider four specific measures during the ongoing revision.

Demand to extend claims and objections period

The first request was for an extension of the claims and objections period.

Shivakumar said the period should be sufficiently long to enable genuine electors whose names were absent from the draft roll, including those placed in the ASDDO category, to ascertain their status and file claims through Form 6.

He referred to Paragraph 11.3.1 of the 2023 Manual, stating that it permits the Election Commission to extend the prescribed period by notification.

The Chief Minister also pointed out that there was no election due in Karnataka in the near future and argued that an extension was therefore “eminently feasible”.

Ward Committees and Gram Sabhas should be convened

The second request concerned implementation of the prescribed verification procedure.

Shivakumar asked that the Chief Electoral Officer specifically direct District Election Officers to convene Ward Committee meetings in urban areas and Gram Sabhas in rural areas, with adequate advance publicity.

At these meetings, he said, the draft roll should be read out and omissions and errors identified.

He referred to Paragraph 11.2.4(vi) of the 2023 Manual in this regard.

The Chief Minister noted that the CEO’s demarche, or letter, dated August 20, 2026, referred to the relevant provision but did not specifically direct that such meetings be convened.

According to Shivakumar, merely referring to the provision could result in “pro forma compliance” rather than creating an effective mechanism for identifying and correcting errors.

Three to four weeks sought for voters facing verification

The third demand related to the time available to voters facing verification over logical discrepancies or the absence of a link to the 2002 electoral roll.

Shivakumar described the proposed period of roughly 45 days for issuing notices and disposing of such cases as highly compressed. He said giving an elector approximately one week to respond, followed by a second notice, could place an unreasonable burden on working people, migrants and elderly citizens. The problem, he said, could become more difficult where voters are required to obtain documents or travel in order to respond to the verification process.

The Chief Minister therefore requested that each elector be given a minimum of three to four weeks to respond and furnish the necessary documents. He said this would ensure a meaningful opportunity for electors to establish their eligibility before any adverse decision was taken.

More Additional EROs and DEOs sought

The fourth request concerned the administrative machinery responsible for processing claims, objections and applications.

Shivakumar acknowledged that the ECI had appointed Additional Electoral Registration Officers (Additional EROs) to deal with the large volume of objections and applications expected to come for inclusion. However, he said the additional manpower would remain inadequate given the enormous workload and limited time available. He warned that unrealistic deadlines combined with insufficient manpower could result in avoidable errors and unfair exclusions.

The Chief Minister consequently asked the ECI to consider appointing Additional District Election Officers (Additional DEOs) in districts recording high numbers of ASDDO cases and logical discrepancies.

Karnataka offers administrative and logistical support

The Karnataka government, Shivakumar said, was ready to provide all possible assistance to the Election Commission.

This would include mobilising the local administration for Gram Sabha and Ward Committee meetings, undertaking widespread publicity to reach affected voters, and providing any other coordination or logistical support required by the Commission.

The offer comes against the backdrop of the large number of electors identified for further verification and the corresponding requirement for voters to understand their status and exercise their opportunity to file claims.

CM seeks roll that voters can trust

Concluding his letter, Shivakumar said the objective should be an electoral roll that the people of Karnataka can trust.

He said such a roll should ensure that every eligible citizen is included, every ineligible entry is removed, and no citizen is deprived of the franchise merely because of inadequate time, information or an opportunity to establish eligibility.

The letter was addressed to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at the Election Commission of India in New Delhi.

The Chief Minister’s intervention therefore centres on four issues: extending the claims and objections period, enforcing the prescribed local verification process, giving affected electors substantially more time to respond, and strengthening the manpower available to process the large volume of cases generated by the SIR exercise.

The Letter forwarded to ECI dated 25.08.2026 can be read here

Related:

ECI revises Maharashtra SIR schedule, final voter list to be published on November 4

Maharashtra SIR: 2.08 crore (20.8 million) voter forms “uncollected” hence may not be listed in August 24 draft electoral roll

SIR 2025-26: Dismantling the very Idea of India?

21 Opposition parties to CJI: SIR process is irregular and illegal, must be suspended

SIR and the Making of a Stateless Citizen? | R. Rajagopal Speaks Out | Teesta Setalvad

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Sonya was both feminist and communist, committed to working class and agrarian rights as much as gender consciousness within. She was secretary of the Maharashtra All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), known to all as Janwadi Mahila Sanghatana in Maharashtra and in the state party. Together with fellow women activists also committed to the laal bauta (red flag) she would learn about and organise women from the BDD Chawls Worli and Delisle Road, also in central Mumbai. As fellow AIDWA leader Mariam Dhawale recalled, when she took charge as AIDWA secretary in Maharashtra, she overcame the language barrier and took the organisation forward in the state.

Less than a week ago, Sonya and Sainath were in Hyderabad to celebrate his elder sister’s 75th birthday. That sister-in-law was bereft today as she travelled from afar to bid her farewell. She recalled to me what her mother, Sonya’s ma-in-law, would often say to Sainath, admiring the couple’s work, “You – you do all the writing, but Sonya does all the work!”

One moment she was there and the next moment she is gone, Sainath said to me, lips trembling as sobs took over, while the now familiar CPI(M) party tribute and farewells were paid this afternoon at the Janshakti office in central Mumbai. Fellow women activists from the Janwadi Mahila Sanghatana, AIDWA, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Mumbai and national CPI(M) members, as also writers, civil liberties activists from fraternal organisations paid tribute. Comrade Sonya Gill ko Laal Salam, Comrade Sonya Gill Amar Rahe, were the slogans that burst forth accompanied by the raised arm and fist!

Never before have I witnessed this man of suave turn of phrase, depth of thought and perspective so bereft, at a loss, shaking his head in utter disbelief at the loss of a forty-year steely companionship. Forty years, Sainath said to me, forty years we were together, how do I even think of how I will cope?

Not a week passed that she did not visit either the Worli or Azad Maidan offices of the party, constantly at work, rebuilding a vision of left mass organisations and politics, he said.

This party, the people stand by you through thick and thin, he said, still in disbelief. Last evening, after her sudden demise, Sainath had, apart from his Sonya now gone, Sugandhi Francis, a 38-year old saathee from Janwadi, a fellow working class organiser, Shailendra Kamble, Mumbai president of the party, CITU’s Dr Vivek Monteiro, all by his side while the formalities were completed. Today, comrade S.K. Rege and Mariam Dhawale, national vice president of AIDWA were also present.

Sugandhi, wife and partner of Dr Monteiro is heartbroken. They were, for many of Mumbai activists, a duo seen everywhere, their close cameraderie of 38 years, one an academic trained at the famed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the other a foot soldier of the party from the working class. Sugandhi recalls the ease with which Sonya related and reflected with all. Sugandhi was self-effacing about her own natural ease and charm with people and within the organisation.

The first post on social media that I read, bringing this loss to us all, was from the revered People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) network, of which Sainath was founder and Sonya the cofounder and trustee. Among the first of many to deepen notions of reportage and journalism, PARI has grown to be a formidable voice over the past decades.

People’s Democracy, the CPI(M)’s weekly organ, the Janwadi’s booklets and pamphlets, all had writings by Sonya Gill, be it on public health, right to an equitous public distribution system or communal harmony. They can still be read online.

But it is the training workshops conducted by the mass women’s organisation of the party, where activists were trained, where Sonya Gill with other women comrades regaled new recruits with historical accounts of valour by women comrades – the February 1946 shooting to death of veteran communist comrade Kamal Donde during the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) uprising at the Parel junction in Mumbai, while Ahilyatai Rangnekar and Kusum Ranadive also faced the bullets – that are remembered with awe.

Sonya Gill’s own quiet revolutionary journey will and must be treasured, by comrade husband Sainath, family, women saathees and party as it undoubtedly will. Adieu and Lal Salaam, Sonya.

Teesta Setalvad is co-editor of Sabrang India and secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP).

Courtesy: The Wire

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