What to Read in The Hindu Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

Editorial 1: Social justice and a lost chance by a Prime Minister

Context

As Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh’s decisions and indecisions caused a rift between subaltern Hindus and Muslims in the Hindi heartland.

 

Introduction

At the first official state dinner of his presidency, on November 24, 2009, Barack Obama, the first non-white President of the United States, hosted Manmohan Singh, the first non-Hindu Prime Minister of India. In the oldest and the biggest democracies of the world, that era was a high noon of liberalism. A coalition of minorities appeared ascendant, in both countries. Though Manmohan Singh would not be counted as a political leader like Mr. Obama, he too represented a political process that was common to both India and the U.S. — the climax and then the crisis of liberalism, on the social, economic and international affairs fronts.

• Mr. Obama and Manmohan Singh understood each other better than they both would the politics of their own countries.
• Manmohan Singh had a keen sense of global developmental challenges — he championed the India-U.S. civil nuclear deal, economic liberalisation and also amended New Delhi’s position in climate change negotiations.
• As a child of Partition and as a Nehruvian, Manmohan Singh understood the necessity of religious harmony.
• His presence, decisions and indecisions would transform Indian politics.
• It is essential to take note of it in order to understand the present-day politics of India.

 

The 2004 vote

• The Anti-Sikh Riots of 1984 and Sikh Prime Minister in 2004: The anti-Sikh riots of 1984 marked a low point in Indian pluralism.
  1. Sikhs made up about 1.72% of India’s population.
  2. The fact that one of them could become the Prime Minister 20 years later marked a high point.
  3. The majority Hindus did not find anything problematic.
• The 2004 vote against the celebration of the market: The vote in 2004 was one against the celebration of the market.
  1. Manmohan Singh, who became Prime Minister, was a votary of the market.
  2. He would reluctantly follow a welfarist agenda dictated by democratic politics.

 

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and Political Composition

• The United Progressive Alliance-1 Coalition: was a coalition of religious and linguistic minorities and subaltern social groups.
• Reconstitution Following the 2009 Elections: In 2009, subaltern representatives from the Hindi belt were left out.
  1. The Left was replaced with Trinamool Congress (TMC).
  2. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam continued.
• Political power in India (2004-2014): Political power in India between 2004 and 2014 was controlled, along with Manmohan Singh, by Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Pranab Mukherjee, and A.K. Antony.
  1. The coalition elected two Presidents of India, Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee, and Hamid Ansarias Vice President of India.
  2. Religious and linguistic minorities were represented for all 10 years.
• Exclusion of subaltern castes in 2009: Subaltern castes were pointedly expelled in 2009 by Congress managers.
  1. Nobody in the above list, save perhaps Sonia Gandhi, had any capacity to get an extra vote for the Congressin the Hindi heartland.
  2. The optics of the overwhelming presence of religious minorities and upper caste Hindus at the top turned out to be one of the causes of the shift by the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Dalits in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014.
• Parallels with the U.S. in 2016: This has parallels with what would happen in the U.S. in 2016.

 

Manmohan Singh's Leadership: Decisions and Indecisions

• Indecisions on iany Issues: Manmohan Singh was indecisive on many issues.
• The Social Justice agenda: Apart from the India-U.S. nuclear deal, Manmohan Singh put his foot down on the social justice agendapushed by cabinet colleagues Arjun Singh and Meira Kumar.
  1. He vetoed the social justice agenda, particularly the OBC quota in higher educational institutions.
• The surprise surge of congress in 2009: There cannot be a reasonable explanation for the surprise surge of the Congress in 2009 in the heartland without considering the OBC quota in higher educational institutions driven by Arjun Singh and OBC parties in UPA-1.
  1. This surge included Congress winning 21 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
• Imbalance between Secularism and Social Justice: The battle of wits between the two Singhs on the quota question is instructive of the imbalance between secularism and socialism justice.
  1. This imbalance made the UPA’s promise of progress short-lived.
  2. Manmohan Singh owned it.

 

Singh vs Singh

Manmohan Singh's Resistance to Arjun Singh’s Quota Plans

• Supreme Court judgment and reservation policy: It all started with a Supreme Court judgment in 2005, which brought into dispute the power of the state to enforce the reservation policy in admissions to private educational institutions.
  1. Many States had quotas in unaided institutions, which were questionable after the Court decision.
• Arjun Singh’s response and Constitutional Amendment: Arjun Singh championed it and Parliament amended the Constitution to insert a clause to Article 15, which specifically enabled reservations in “admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions.”
• Anti-Reservation Movement and regional differences: A new anti-reservation movement erupted in upper India while peninsular India remained calm.
• The OBC Quotas Bill
  1. The then Human Resources Development Ministry under Arjun Singh drafted a Bill that proposed OBC quotas in all government institutions of higher education which already had Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe quotas; and for all three categories in private ones.
  2. The Manmohan Singh-led Prime Minister’s Office instructed Arjun Singh to bifurcate the Bill — one for aided, and a second for unaided ones.
  3. Arjun Singh got both drafts ready.
  4. Late evening on a day before they were to be taken up by the Union Cabinet, Manmohan Singh instructed that the Bill for private ones be kept aside.
  5. Though the move for caste quotas in private institutions was halted, quota in government institutions of higher education rallied OBC communities in the heartland behind the Congress party in 2009.

 

The Aftermath: 2009 Elections and Political Decisions

• Congress Managers’ Interpretation of 2009 results: Manmohan Singh and the technocratic, Delhi-based Congress managers interpreted the 2009 results as an endorsement of the employment guarantee scheme, or even the U.S. nuclear deal.
• Arjun Singh's Exclusion from the New Council
  1. Arjun Singh was denied a berth in the new Council.
  2. Meira Kumar was restrained as Lok Sabha Speaker.
• Affirmative Action and the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP): Ms. Kumar had tried to implement an item in the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP).
  1. It had said: “The UPA government is very sensitive to the issue of affirmative action, including reservations in the private sector. It will immediately initiate a national dialogue with all political parties, industry, and other organizations to see how best the private sector can fulfill the aspirations of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe youth.”
  2. Ms. Kumar convened a meeting of industry leaders to open a dialogue, inviting the ire of Manmohan Singh, who instructed her to cancel it.
• Indecision on reservation for Governors: Nobody in the National Advisory Council, whose mandate was to implement the NCMP, said anything.
  1. Meanwhile, OBC MPs were pointing out in 2006 that not a single Governor in the country was from among their communities.
  2. On this question, Manmohan Singh remained silent — indecision.

 

The parallel line

• Context of Social Justice and welfare debates: This hostility towards social justice politics was happening alongside a discussion on the welfare of Muslims, Dalits, and OBC Christians.
• Court’s Inamdar judgment and Sachar Committee: The Court’s Inamdar judgment on reservations in private educational institutions and the appointment of the Sachar Committee to study the condition of Muslims happened months apart in 2005, triggering fresh debates on communal and caste questions.
• Congress's strategy: Muslims vs. Subaltern Hindus: The Congress, partly by intention, pitched the Muslims against subaltern Hindus, thinking that this could break the OBC-Muslim social coalition that had emaciated the party in the Hindi heartland.
• Unintended Consequences: Rise of Hindutva: But the consequences were unintended.
  1. OBC/Dalit segments of the heartland became the most fertile ground for Hindutva subsequently, as they came to believe that non-BJP parties were trying to provide quotas for Muslims at their cost.
• Manmohan Singh’s controversial statement: It is not a coincidence that the badly drafted line by Manmohan Singh about minorities having the first claim over national resources continues to haunt the Congress.

 

Conclusion

In fairness, Manmohan Singh was following a traditional Congress line of ignoring the OBCs and focusing on the rest. Arjun Singh sensed the ground had shifted and that the OBCs counted. The other politician who sensed that by 2009 was Narendra Modi, who addressed subaltern Hindus. Arjun Singh crossed swords with two Congress Prime Ministers — once on secularism and then on social justice. In 1992, he resigned from the P.V. Narasimha Rao Government for its failure to protect the Babri Masjid. In 2009 he was denied a cabinet berth by Manmohan Singh. The Congress party included in its 2024 election manifesto a promise of OBC/SC/ST reservation in private educational institutions — an idea stalled by Manmohan Singh. Rahul Gandhi today wants to rebuild the Congress on the twin plank of secularism and social justice. Manmohan Singh had an opportunity.

Editorial 2: The red flag as China’s expansionist strategy rolls on

Context

India, as the dominant regional power in South Asia, should take the lead in shaping a collective response to China’s aggressive actions

 

Introduction

In recent days, India has witnessed two significant incidents of Chinese aggression along the China-India border, highlighting vulnerabilities that not only threaten India’s territorial integrity but also undermine its sovereignty. The Chinese government’s announcement of the construction of a dam on the Yarlung Zangbo river (which is the Brahmaputra river), and the creation of two new counties in north-eastern Ladakh, have set alarm bells ringing.

• India has strongly condemned these Chinese actions, asserting that they are illegal and a direct challenge to India’s sovereignty.
• In response to China’s ambitious hydropower project, India has expressed concern, noting that it is monitoring the situation and will take necessary measures to safeguard its national interests.
• These developments are particularly disturbing given the recent consensus on troop disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
• These new moves further underscore the unpredictability of China’s approach in the region.

 

The transboundary water issue

• Territorial encroachments on South Asian Countries: Nepal and Bhutan have been subjected to similar territorial encroachments by China.
  1. Disputes over land boundaries persist between China and several of its South Asian neighbours.
• China’s actions on Transboundary Rivers: China’s unilateral actions concerning transboundary rivers, particularly the Brahmaputra and Indus river systems, have the potential to jeopardize water security in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Pakistan.
  1. Despite these challenges, each country has opted to engage with China on a bilateral basis.

 

Chinese Dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River

• Proposed Chinese Dam and Its implications: The proposed Chinese dam, located on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo near the China-India border, has an annual capacity to generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.
  1. This massive infrastructure project presents significant challenges for downstream countries, particularly India and Bangladesh.
• Potential Impact on water flow and ecosystems: The construction of the dam is likely to reduce the amount of water and silt reaching downstream, which could have severe long-term consequences for agriculture, fisheries, and biodiversity in India and Bangladesh.
  1. During the monsoon season or in times of geopolitical tensions, the uncontrolled release of water could result in devastating floods along the Indian border, becoming a strategic vulnerability for India.
• India’s accelerated Hydropower Projects: In anticipation of these potential risks, India has accelerated plans to build its own hydropower projects and reservoirs.
  1. India has invested $1 billion to expedite the construction of 12 hydropower stations in Arunachal Pradesh.

 

Border disputes, cartographic aggression

• Strategic purpose behind China’s actions: China’s recent actions, including the creation of two new counties, are part of its ongoing strategy of cartographic aggression aimed at asserting control over disputed territories.
  1. This tactic is intended to gain strategic leverage over its regional adversaries.
• China’s territorial disputes with India: China’s territorial disputes with India are multifaceted, with recent aggression occurring along the western front, specifically in Ladakh.
  1. China also continues to lay claim to Arunachal Pradesh, a State that is an inalienable part of India.
  2. Beyond India, China asserts overlapping claims on territories in Nepal and Bhutan.
• Cartographic Tactics Employed by China: China’s tactics in asserting territorial claims include:
  1.  
     1. Renaming locations within Indian-controlled territories.
     2. Establishing settlements in disputed areas.
     3. Incorporating contested regions into official maps.
     4. In 2023, China standardised 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh to assert its ownership, following similar actions in 2021 and 2017.

 

Legal Perspective on Cartographic Aggression

• International Law and territorial claims: International law does not recognise territorial claims based solely on cartographic assertions.
  1. In landmark cases, such as the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Minquiers and Ecrehos dispute between the United Kingdom and France, maps were deemed insufficient evidence of sovereignty.
• ICJ’s ruling on Sovereignty: The ICJ ruled that effective administrative control and sovereignty are crucial for determining ownership of contested territories.
  1. Therefore, China’s use of cartographic aggression, while provocative, lacks legal validity under international law.
• Challenges in the future: China’s efforts to establish a physical presence in disputed territories, such as by building settlements, could complicate matters for India in the future.

 

The South Asian response

• China’s economic engagement with South Asia: While China has sought economic engagement with all South Asian nations, its territorial and water-related disputes with these countries continue to strain regional relations.
• Approach of Southeast Asian Nations: In contrast to South Asia, Southeast Asian nations have employed collective responsive measures through multilateral organisations, such as the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
• South Asian Countries’ Bilateral approach: South Asian countries, including India, have chosen to address their concerns with China on a bilateral basis.
  1. This approach has largely been shaped by the power asymmetry between China and its smaller neighbours.

 

Conclusion

India, as the dominant regional power in South Asia, should take the lead in fostering a collective response to China’s actions. A unified approach, including regional forums, multilateral institutions, or enhanced diplomatic coordination would strengthen South Asia’s position in addressing China’s increasing influence and territorial ambitions. A comprehensive strategy involving diplomatic engagement and regional cooperation is crucial for India’s sovereignty and regional security in the face of China’s growing assertiveness.