The tactical dimension of the caste census apart, it will have long time substantial effects: even if fewer jatis than expected benefited from Mandal at first, the implementation of Mandal II, or reservation in higher educational institutions in 2006, helped thousands of young men and women experience upward social mobility.

https://thewire.in/politics/caste-versus-hindutva-again 

 Since the 1980s – even before Mandal – two political repertoires are in competition in the Indian public sphere: caste politics and Hindutva. This dialectic started in Gujarat when the BJP reacted to the reservation policies of Madhavsinh Solanki by promoting anti-Muslim polarisation in order to create a Hindu vote bank transcending caste-based divisions – a strategy that implied communal violence.

The dialectic between caste politics and Hindutva may be at a critical juncture again for good reasons as well as by default. First, paradoxically, the completion of the Ram Mandir is affecting the Sangh parivar’s mobilisation power. For decades its followers fought for what they considered their rights against an illegitimate mosque – and in the name of a sacred cause. But they’ve arrived and a kind of anti-climax is now palpable: they’ve achieved a decades-old objective, but this is not changing the face of the earth. But why should caste politics be more attractive than class-based issues for the opposition? For many reasons. First, caste and class overlap to a great extent – even though a small Dalit bourgeoisie and a larger OBC middle class are shaping up. Second, these two emerging social groups are primarily the products of caste-based positive discrimination – so much so that even dominant castes like the Marathas are asking for reservations.

by Christophe Jaffrelot

09/082024

Are law-enforcement agencies assisting Adani Group takeovers? https://www.adaniwatch.org/are_law_enforcement_agencies_assisting_adani_group_takeovers
Ayush Joshi & Paranjoy Guha Thakurta Sep 22, 2023   the acquisition of a cement company. Earlier instances include acquiring control of a media company and the awarding of rights to operate a port and the country’s second largest airport. All of these takeovers were preceded by searches by the Enforcement Directorate, the Income Tax Department, and/or the Securities and Exchange Board of India. ..

The interpretation of the rules of the Income Tax Department with reference to the imposition of a tax on capital gains in the acquisition of Holcim India’s businesses in India by the Adani Group through offshore entities in Mauritius controlled by Gautam Adani’s older brother Vinod Adani, has also raised questions.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/fsTD1yM274w2Y3xJ/ .

The latest episodes:
I. <https://www.facebook.com/share/p/nSaME4htP1HNxXqn/>.
II. <https://x.com/HindenburgRes/status/1822691385730040048>.
III. <https://x.com/ANI/status/1822594009623130493>.

2024: Is The Mandate Stolen? | Parakala Prabhakar | Voice Of TN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3-9ptOYJgE KULUKKAI

All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has hed The PM and Home MinsterResponsible for Growing Hate Crimes. They have demanded   Compensation of Rs 1 Crore and One Job for each Victim’s Family of the Three Cattle Transport Workers killed in Chhattisgarh/ They have also demanded a Law Against Mob Lynching and Hate Crimes with Fast Track Courts and thatGovernment must Purchase Cattle at Market Rates from Farmers For Full text of Press Release:

Read more …

SKM to Restart Agitation on Pending Demands of Guaranteed MSP Law, Loan Waiver, Crop Insurance, Farmers’ and Farmworkers Pension, Rolling Back Privatisation of Power and Other Demands

SKM to Observe 9th August as "Corporates Quit India Day", also Demanding that India come out of WTO and No MNC’s in Agricultural Production and Trade.. For full text of press release dated 11th March

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क्या जेल में CM केजरीवाल को मारने की साजिश रच रही BJP? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxylHzwnM7E  Atishi | CM Arvind Kejriwal Health 14.7.24

Why the New Criminal Laws Are a 'Posthumous Tribute to Lord Macaulay' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmGSvvq0KI8 Jul 14, 2024  The new criminal code and the manner in which it was rolled out has already garnered a lot of controversy. While the government has claimed that it wants to get rid of the laws of the colonial era, this promise has not been realised. Only 5-7% has been changed, says Kapil Sibal.

Congress's Sivaganga MP P. Chidambaram sheds light on the government aspect of the laws and how they are framed and brought to being.

Justice Madan Lokur highlights the constitutional and legal challenges with the new laws.

Justice Mukta Guptahas been speaking on these laws all over the country, also at the IAS Academy.

 Who will answer the questions? https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/p-chidambaram-writes-who-will-answer-the-questions-9451830/  Is not the claim that the government has thrown out the ‘colonial legacy’ a hollow claim?

why was the time-honoured practice to make a reference to the Law Commission not followed?

Have the new laws recognised and incorporated the progressive principles laid down by the Supreme Court in landmark judgments delivered in the last 10 years?

Why has the new law retained ‘death penalty’ that has been abolished in many democratic countries? Why has the cruel and dehumanising punishment of ‘solitary confinement’ been introduced? Why has the offence of ‘adultery’ been brought back into the criminal law? Was it necessary to retain ‘defamation’ as a criminal offence? Was it not necessary to stipulate a period of limitation to lodge a criminal complaint of ‘defamation’? Why is same-sex relationship without the consent of the other person no longer an offence? Was it not necessary to define the punishment of ‘community

Why has the offence of ‘sedition’ been enlarged and retained?

Have the new laws given greater latitude to the police to arrest a person and seek the person’s police custody?

Is the provision that enables an FIR to be registered in any police station of the country, irrespective of the place of the offence, constitutional?

Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill repressive, allows misuse: Civil society https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maharashtra/maharashtra-special-public-security-bill-repressive-allows-misuse-civil-society/article68400402.ece July 14, 2024
Activists and lawyers have flagged seven sections of the proposed legislation, aimed at fighting Naxalism in the State, saying the Bill has far reaching consequences
At least seven sections of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024 are either vague or bypass courts or give overriding powers to the State machinery, which is far beyond the objective of curbing Naxalism that the ordinance is aimed at, said civil society members.

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https://youtube.com/embed/TpyjKcejGhw?start=108&end=241 

Sanjay Sharma of 4 pm says that he has a twiiter account on x, @Editor_SanjayS seems to have a "shadow ban" (ie block a user from a social media site or online forum without their knowledge, typically by making their posts and comments no longer visible to other users) If this is confirmed he promises to file a legal notice on whether this is because he keeps questioning the government.

(comment: the statement could be seen as a "subscriber" enhancing appeal. Yet someone who promised to take the matter up should be supported.. i am therefore subscribing, but unfortunately this youtube channel itself does not alow any comments.. )

  https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3q744/where-did-shadow-banning-come-from-trump-republicans-shadowbanned    Since the early days of the web, a “shadow ban” has been a moderation technique used to ban people from forums or message boards without alerting them that they’ve been banned. Typically, this means that a user can continue posting as normal, but their posts will be hidden from the rest of the community...Twitter also had a bug (since fixed!!)that caused some accounts to not be auto-suggested in search results even when people were searching for their names.
The Birth of a Conspiracy Theory
The idea that Silicon Valley giants use shadow banning to silence conservatives was popularized by far right publications over the last two years... Today, platforms like Twitter have to moderate millions of people—billions, in Facebook's case. Because of this scale, content moderation is significantly different. Moderators are rarely members of the communities they’re moderating and are instead people who are paid to action content that is reported by users for violating a platform’s rules or content that is surfaced by algorithms..... In the case of Holocaust denial for example, Facebook will sometimes “significantly reduce the distribution of content" rather than outright ban it.