Riot nation



There is a fundamental difference between utterances of Harsh Mander and Kapil Mishra (The Daily Fix: Supreme Court should see through BJP’s attempt to discredit Harsh Mander). Mishra merely asked for punishment for trouble-makers. Nobody shot at people in Shaheen Bagh despite suffering a great deal because of the road blockage. Mishra basically tried to make India a law-abiding country, but his method was not right. Meanwhile, Mander asked for justice through mob power, which may lead to anarchy. Can India afford civil disobedience in the same way our forefathers did? If these people believe in the Supreme Court, why are calling for a decision to be taken by the people on the streets?

I am a law-abiding citizen who wants the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens to be implemented, so that every intruder is identified easily and the country is better regulated. Should I go to the road to protest against the hijack of the nation by few malafide, misguided people? Weren’t the students of Jamia Millia Islamia the first ones who destroyed public property and threw stones at the police? If people supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act come out on the streets, there will be riots. Because the so-called liberty seekers are not liberal at all, they easily resort to violence when somebody opposes them, as seen in Jawaharlal Nehru University and North East Delhi. Our patience in maintaining law and order should not be taken as a weakness. All these injustice makes me realise that Hinduphobia is running high among some fake seculars who, instead of making people understand the law, are just disguising and instigating them . It is high time India take action against those traitors. Otherwise, it may be too late. – Prasanna Tripathy

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I beg to disagree with your opinion (The Daily Fix: Supreme Court should see through BJP’s attempt to discredit Harsh Mander). Whether Mander’s views are contemptuous or not has to be decided by the courts. However, his views are dangerous. He suggested not to go to court, but take the fight to streets. The opponents of liberal democracy will also take to the streets. It is a pity that even Left liberals wish to copy Right’s tactics. – R Venkat

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This is a profoundly sad commentary on what is grievously harming India under Narendra Modi (Arundhati Roy on Delhi violence: ‘This is our version of the coronavirus. We are sick’). A country with so much history and culture polluted by racism and violence will affect its future and that of its children for generations. I know that India is not alone in moral and economic corruption – the politicians of the world seem to be infected by a disease distorting their moral compass that seems to spread as swiftly as Covid-19. This is a sad time for India and equally sad that the rest of the world stands by and watches the cruelty and slaughter of the innocents. It’s hard to comprehend such evil from the safe insularity of Australia. Our government is not known for social activism. Perhaps Covid-19 will create a diversion from the violence, as people become more worried about their health than racist anger. – Carl Conrad Merten

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This is an incendiary type of cheap journalism to stoke anti-Hindu sentiments and defame the Indian government and society (‘I coloured my sword red’: Meet Delhi rioters who say they killed Muslims). It is axiomatic that some minorities, particularly Muslims, have treated India and Hindus – who are the most liberal society in history – as legitimate fodder to feed their expansion through violence, organised state power and propaganda. Your writing fits there. – Jatinder Sibal

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Arunabh Saikia is definitely from West Bengal and is settling scores with Hindus to get a “secular” certificate (‘I coloured my sword red’: Meet Delhi rioters who say they killed Muslims). Your story will appear in every Muslim-supporting newspaper and will be circulated like wildfire. Why haven’t you given any details about the hate speeches of Tahir Hussain and Amanatullah Khan. When you claim to give such news, you should give full details of who started the Delhi riots. Your write-up is based on communal hatred against Hindus. Shame on you for playing the Muslim victim card. You people cause more damage to the country. – PN Raina

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Don’t bank on it

A body blow to a private bank is being absorbed by a state-owned bank (Explainer: What happened at Yes Bank and should account holders be worried?) The State Bank of India is perhaps the best shock absorber in the banking sector. But with several mammoth enterprises across sectors experiencing stress and surge in bad loans, how long the SBI can retain its elasticity is a matter of grave concern. From the depositors’ perspective, the move is de-stressing compared to the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank case, with higher withdrawal limits. With the value of non-performing assets expected to plummet further, ripples of the financial stress continue to cause concern. – Ramana Gove

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The recent crisis at Yes Bank is alarming, causing a loss of confidence in the banking sector yet again, after the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank and Punjab National Bank debacles (The Political Fix: What does the failure of a major bank tell us about the Indian economy?). The crisis has now taken a toll on customer-focused approach, which is otherwise a primary goal of the lenders. The Reserve Bank of India should have stepped in at the right time instead of being a mute spectator until the panic button was pressed at the 11th hour. It is also surprising that while the central bank has quickly stepped in to rescue other private banks in the past, it maintained an arm’s length in the latest case. The State Bank of India’s takeover bid may only result in delayed transactions, thereby inviting the trusted customer’s ire. It should instead speed up the process of acquisition and be unanimous in its approach to rescue banks, where public interest plays a larger role than banking regulations. – Varun Dambal

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Miscellaneous comments

I was totally taken in by the way Namita Devidayal described her musical journey (A life in song: Namita Devidayal on losing the melody – and finding it again). Absolutely real and yet, so herculean a task. I don’t think I have a single musical note in me but I do love listening to music. Thank you for allowing me a peek into your world. – James Mani

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Firstly, I must commend the Scroll.in team for writing on an issue that has severally been swept under the proverbial carpet for at least five years, if not a decade (Data check: Why is this generation of Indian cricketers so bad at playing swing bowling?). As the numbers prove, people with good techniques like Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Azhar have fared well in the swinging conditions. While Ashish Magotra did not try to decode the problem himself and quoted what the batsmen themselves thought, which is fine as they are all great batsmen, it is the reason for certain political correctness in the article. Having seen the greats play all through the ’90s, I feel I could share a few thoughts about this problem. Of course, I have no qualification to comment on how Kohli should play. But I feel compelled to share the slightly rougher opinion.

T20 cricket started in 2005 and India accepted it after the 2007 victory and has embraced and even owned it for the past 12 years. Now as a format, T20 is not bad per se. However, in the lust of making the most out of this golden goose, the Board of Control for Cricket and the whole cricketing world have stopped being sane about how easy or difficult batting should be. International matches are being played in grounds that are smaller than some of the league match grounds we have in Hyderabad. Pitches are turned into roads, so that all the batsman has to do is swing in-line. And that is exactly what this generation has grown up doing.

Even spinners are bowling cannonballs on regular days. Ball movement is missing from their lives until the day of the first test match in NZ or England. Honestly, I think this will also be a short-lived phenomenon. Just like how South African, West Indian and Australian pitches lost their unique abilities like pace and bounce, the movement will soon be gone from the pitches in England and New Zeland too. That day is not far and then all formats of the game will have cannonball spinners, slower-bouncer and wide-yorker bowling pacemen and in-line swinging batsmen. Until there is a clear classification between the formats and the International Cricket Council changes the playing conditions to include minimum ground size, some rules about grass on the pitch and ban the drop-in roads. We will one day tell our next generation that the ball used to swing as well but now it cannot because no one knows how to. – Dhimant Chovatia

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As many as 43 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in India (Coronavirus: Three test positive in Karnataka and six in Kerala; India has 56 cases). The government should now take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of this pandemic. Necessary extensive communication on personal hygiene and best practices should be promoted across all communication channels, including social media. The Swachh Bharat campaign should be extensively used to dispel the fear of the virus outbreak and thus, intensify the efforts to contain it by ensuring cleaner surroundings in public places. It is also suggested that adequate hand-sanitisers be made available at the airports’ bus terminals, railway stations, and public transit places. International airlines, tourism agencies, World Health Organisation, local governments and health authorities should extensively communicate necessary precautionary measures and enforce the best practices of personal hygiene to its passengers. – Varun Dambal

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