India 'Secular' No More?
Tonight on Left, Right & Centre:
India 'secular' no more?
A new debate is brewing, on the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. After a Republic Day spread with a picture of the original preamble, that doesn't have the words 'secular' or 'socialist' - which were inserted by an Amendment in 1976. Now, BJP ally Shiv Sena has asked to go back to the original. As the Congress hits out at the BJP and its allies over this, we ask what the word means to people today.
US doublespeak on terror?
A baffling White House statement today, distinguishing between the Taliban and Islamic State. It has called the Taliban an armed insurgency and the Islamic State a terrorist group. While the comment is specific to the Afghan Taliban, and not its violent and brutal twin across the border in Pakistan, what has provoked this statement? And does it not indicate a worrying return to creating distinctions like 'good Taliban' and 'bad Taliban', that have been questioned globally. Coming days after US President Barack Obama's visit to Delhi, and commitments to combat terror collectively, this distinction doesn't sit well in Delhi. Is it an indicator of Washington's doublespeak?
India 'secular' no more?
A new debate is brewing, on the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. After a Republic Day spread with a picture of the original preamble, that doesn't have the words 'secular' or 'socialist' - which were inserted by an Amendment in 1976. Now, BJP ally Shiv Sena has asked to go back to the original. As the Congress hits out at the BJP and its allies over this, we ask what the word means to people today.
US doublespeak on terror?
A baffling White House statement today, distinguishing between the Taliban and Islamic State. It has called the Taliban an armed insurgency and the Islamic State a terrorist group. While the comment is specific to the Afghan Taliban, and not its violent and brutal twin across the border in Pakistan, what has provoked this statement? And does it not indicate a worrying return to creating distinctions like 'good Taliban' and 'bad Taliban', that have been questioned globally. Coming days after US President Barack Obama's visit to Delhi, and commitments to combat terror collectively, this distinction doesn't sit well in Delhi. Is it an indicator of Washington's doublespeak?
