Month: November 2023

First Day of COP28 Talks: Agreement on Loss and Damage Deal Reached

The first day witnessed the formal approval of the crucial Loss and Damage Fund for developing and least-developed countries.

Bengaluru: The 28th edition of the world’s largest climate conference — the Conference of Parties (COP28) — kicked off at the city of Dubai in UAE on Thursday, November 30.

Experts, activists and scientists have noted that this year’s COP is a crucial one in several aspects. Soaring temperatures broke world records this year. The COP will be crucial in setting new actions towards limiting global warming to under 1.5°C when compared to pre-industrial levels, including discussing actions based on the results of the first Global Stocktake.

Many countries in the Global South, including India and Pakistan – which have fewer economic and technical resources to deal with climate change and its impacts and have contributed lesser than developed countries have to climate change – are bearing the brunt of changing weather, including extreme weather events such as intense bouts of rainfall, floods and droughts. A decision on the details of the Loss and Damage Fund – which will include funds from developed countries to implement adaptation and mitigation measures to tackle the impacts of climate change in least-developed and developing countries – is expected to be taken at this COP.

And the first day of COP28 was witness to the formal announcement of this fund. Several countries including Japan and Germany have contributed to the fund already, which has received pledges of more than US$400 million so far. India inaugurated its COP28 pavilion on the first day. A report released by the World Meteorological Organisation on November 30 revealed that 2023 is set to be the warmest year ever, and the last nine years have been the warmest so far.

But while the formal announcement of the Loss and Damage Fund is good news, COP28 has already been marred by numerous controversies – including the appointment of the CEO of UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) as the president designate of the COP, and reports of UAE using their position as host of this year’s COP to further fossil fuel extraction in several countries. The COP28 president, however, has refuted these allegations.

COP28 kicks off

The UN Framework Convention for Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) annual Conference of Parties, or the COP, is where world leaders and country representatives discuss, negotiate and decide on the actions that can be taken to tackle climate change and limit global warming to 1.5°C, as per the Paris Agreement of 2015. The 28th edition of the COP kicked off on November 30 at Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Around 180 heads of states, world leaders and government representatives will take part in COP28, including India’s union environment minister Bhupender Yadav and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nearly 1,00,000 delegates are registered to attend the event and around 4,00,000 visitors are expected at the “green zone” area of business and technology exhibitions adjoining the summit, per a report. An estimated 170 ‘agenda items’ will be dealt with across multiple negotiation tracks and discussions.

This year’s COP will be a particularly crucial one, experts have stressed. Soaring temperatures, which experts attribute to climate change, broke world records this year. The current year is set to be the hottest year on record. Global warming has also resulted in more changes in weather patterns, and more extreme weather events such as intense bouts of rainfall, floods and droughts. The time to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions is right here, and right now, experts have stressed. COP28, therefore, will be crucial in setting new actions towards this goal. The Wire reported on November 21 about how a recent analysis by the UN – the UN Emissions Gap Report – has estimated that the world will need to cut emissions by 28% by 2030 to achieve the goal of limiting warming to 2°C as per the Paris Agreement, and by 42% to achieve the 1.5°C goal. Drastic steps will need to be taken to achieve this.

Simon Steill, executive secretary of the United Nations, in his opening speech at the plenary talks of COP28 on November 30 said that we are taking “baby steps”. 

“Stepping far too slowly from an unstable world that lacks resilience, to working out the best responses to the complex impacts we are facing,” he said. “We must teach climate action to run. Because this has been the hottest year ever for humanity. So many terrifying records were broken. We are paying with peoples’ lives and livelihoods.”

Loss and Damage Fund is formally approved

In a huge victory for small island states and developing and least-developed countries, the first day of COP28 witnessed the formal approval of the financial mechanisms of the Loss and Damage Fund. 

These are countries particularly vulnerable to climate change that has caused impacts including numerous changes in weather patterns. Many in the Global South, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are witnessing an increasing number and intensity of extreme weather events such as intense bouts of rainfall, floods and heat waves. For instance, the total GDP loss to India in 2022 is around 8% compared to a world without climate change, per a new report released today by the University of Delaware that analysed the estimated current GDP and capital wealth losses from climate change. As of 2022, India has also suffered a cumulative decrease of 7.9% in capital wealth, mostly due to climate impacts to human-produced capital (such as on infrastructure). Including GDP and capital effects over 30 years since 1992 (the Rio Convention), the total economic loss is estimated at USD 3,555 billion. Per the report, climate change has already caused a global loss of 1.8% of GDP, or USD 1.5 trillion, in 2022.

But while some of these losses caused by climate change are tangible, many others – such as the mental health repercussions caused by peoples’ migrations due to climate change events for example – are not. Many of these countries which are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change have also contributed far lesser than developed countries have to historical greenhouse emissions. 

All developing countries “that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in responding to economic and non- economic loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and slow onset events” can directly access resources from the loss and damage fund, countries agreed on Day One of COP28, as listed in the UNFCCC document. The Fund will be serviced by a “new, dedicated and independent secretariat” and will be hosted by the World Bank for a period of four years. 

It will be governed and supervised by a Board (which will be the decision-making body) of 26 members including 12 members from developed countries, three members from the Asia Pacific states and one member from a developing country that is not part of some of the categories mentioned in the list. Observers will also be permitted to attend the Fund’s meetings, and they can also develop and carry out an observer accreditation process, per the document. Funds will be operated through a resource allocation system that prioritises the needs of developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, and accounts for the scale of impacts of climate events “relative to national circumstances”. It will also have a minimum percentage allocation floor for the least developed countries and small island developing States.

So far, several nations including Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union have pledged more than 400 million in total to the Fund and more is expected, said COP28 president Al-Jaber. The threshold to operationalise the fund was USD 200 million, but it has “reached north of $400 and more in the coming days”, he said.

“The Presidency’s main focus is on translating visions and aspirations into real practical actions that will make a difference. Next is the realisation of the GST,” he said.

“Getting this done and over the line is a clear demonstration of our determination,” Al-Jaber added. “When we commit we deliver and that will be the DNA of COP28.”

“This is a hard fought historic agreement,” said Avinash Persaud, developing country negotiator and special climate envoy to Barbados and PM Mia Mottley. “It shows recognition that climate loss and damage is not a distant risk but part of the lived reality of almost half of the world’s population and that money is needed to reconstruct and rehabilitate if we are not to let the climate crisis reverse decades of development in mere moments.”

India’s union environment minister Bhupender Yadav called the “operationalisation” of the Loss and Damage Fund a “positive signal” and a “landmark decision”.

“A positive signal of momentum from COP28 in UAE on the first day itself,” Yadav tweeted. “Landmark decision on operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund was adopted in the opening plenary of COP28. India strongly supports the decision to operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund.”

However, amid the historic decision to operationalise the Loss and Damage Fund within a year of its establishment, addressing underlying concerns becomes critical, commented Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network. 

“On one hand, rich countries have pushed for the World Bank to host this Fund under the guise of ensuring a speedy response,” he said. “Conversely, they have attempted to dilute their financial obligations and resisted defining a clear finance mobilisation scale…The absence of a defined replenishment cycle raises serious questions about the Fund’s long-term sustainability. Therefore, a robust system, particularly integrated with the Global Stocktake process and the new climate finance goal, is needed to ensure that COP28 results in a meaningful outcome.”

Affluent nations must meet their financial obligations in a “manner proportionate to their role in the climate crisis, which has been primarily driven by decades of unrestrained fossil fuel consumption and a lack of adequate climate finance delivered to the Global South”, he added. 

Last nine years have been the warmest ever: WMO report

The World Meteorological Organisation’s provisional State of the Global Climate report, published on November 30 to inform negotiations at COP28 in Dubai, confirmed that 2023 is set to be the warmest year on record. Data until the end of October shows that the year was about 1.4 Degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial 1850-1900 baseline, it said. The past nine years – 2015 to 2023 – have been the warmest ever. 

“Greenhouse gas levels are record high. Global temperatures are record high. Sea level rise is record high. Antarctic sea ice is record low. It’s a deafening cacophony of broken records,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas.

The 2023 WMO report rings a dire warning for India, underlining the stark reality of a planet in crisis, said Anjal Prakash, Clinical Associate Professor (Research) and Research Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business and an IPCC author.

“Unprecedented heatwaves, soaring greenhouse gas levels, and alarming declines in Antarctic Sea ice demand urgent attention,” he said. “India faces severe repercussions as rising temperatures exacerbate heatwaves, impacting agriculture, water resources, and public health. The heightened risk of extreme weather events, floods, and cyclones poses a direct threat to vulnerable communities.” 

As we approach COP28, India stands at a crossroads where immediate and decisive actions, including ramping up renewable energy, are imperative to safeguard our nation’s future, he added. “The 1.5-degree limit remains achievable, provided leaders prioritise sustainable policies over short-term gains. Let this report serve as a call to action for India and the world, recognising that the choices we make today will determine the well-being of generations to come.”

India and COP28

India inaugurated its COP28 pavilion on November 30. 

“In keeping with our civilisational ethos, India has always laid emphasis on climate action even as we pursue social and economic development,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a press release on November 30, just before setting off to attend COP28. 

“During our G20 Presidency, climate was high on our priority,” he said in the press release. “The New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration includes numerous concrete steps on climate action and sustainable development. I look forward to the COP-28 taking forward the consensus on these issues.”

However, leaders at the G20 summit – which India hosted in September this year – failed to reach a consensus on several aspects of climate action.

COP28 will also provide an opportunity to review progress made under the Paris Agreement, and chart a path for the “future course on climate action”, the PM said in his release. 

“At the Voice of Global South Summit convened by India, the Global South spoke for the need for climate action based on the principles of equity, climate justice, and common but differentiated responsibilities, as well as a greater focus on adaptation. It is important that efforts of the developing world be supported with adequate climate financing and technology transfer. They must have access to equitable carbon and development space to achieve sustainable development.”

This year, for the first time in the history of COPs, health is on the agenda. An entire day – December 3 – will be dedicated to discussions on health alone. However, while 70 countries are sending their ministers, there is no official communication from the Indian government yet on whether India’s representatives will be at this crucial meeting, reported the New Indian Express. 

India expects a “clear roadmap” on climate finance at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on November 30, reported PTI. 

COP28: Already mired in controversy

The 28th annual climate change conference, however, is already mired in controversy, as reports reveal. 

First, the appointment of Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber as the president-designate of this year’s COP raised heavy criticism. Al Jaber is UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, as well as CEO of ADNOC, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Activists called the move “deeply problematic” and have criticised the appointment saying it is in direct conflict of interest to the COP, as The Wire reported in January this year. Incidentally, on January 1, ADNOC formed a new gas company by merging its gas and LNG joint ventures with international oil companies to expand its international presence.

More recently, leaked documents revealed that the UAE planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals with 15 nations, the BBC reported. In their report published three days ago, it said that the documents revealed that ADNOC is willing to work with these governments, including Colombia, to develop fossil fuel projects in these countries. 

Al-Jaber, however, has refuted the allegations. 

Calling the allegations “false, not true, incorrect and not accurate” at a media briefing on November 29, Al-Jaber said that the UAE did not need the COP or the COP presidency to establish commercial oil deals. 

Embracing Godse’s Violence Over Gandhi’s Peace Has Undermined India’s Global Image

Modi’s New India – amidst a rising, ideological wave of Hindutva – embraces Godse’s violence and an eye for an eye vengeance-seeking mindset.

The allegations in a formal indictment issued in a New York court against an Indian national and an ‘identified Indian government employee’, among others, of plotting the murder of a US citizen active in the Khalistan movement are extremely damaging to the reputation of the country and those at the helm of national security.

Without getting into the legal details of the indictment and the case itself (for details see here), it is vital to contextualise the impact it can have on India’s global moral stature and foreign policy-security outlook. The current Indian government has aggressively pursued a policy of narrative control to please and project an image of a ‘global moral power’ and Vishwaguru (world leader) under Modi across each multilateral and plurilateral summit. 

More often than not, it is authoritarian countries like Russia, China or North Korea which are in the news for alleged crimes conducted on foreign soil, damaging their reputation. Can one imagine how India’s intel and information sharing architecture with its democratic allies and partners may be disrupted after an episode like this?

In a previous article, this author argued how India’s paradoxical world outlook and waning moral stature in conduct on multilateral (and some bilateral) issues, cannot be enveloped nor hidden in some ‘green tented sheet’. 

The US indictment also hints at what may have informed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s sensational September 2023 statement that there were “credible allegations” linking the Indian government to the murder of another Khalistan activist. While Ottawa has not revealed much in public – apparently to preserve the confidentiality of judicial proceedings, a piece published by The Wire says it is clear that “Canadian officials had the Pannun case in mind and that at least some part of the intelligence linking India to Nijjar has come in the form of electronic messages the US has captured”.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a still image ofthe Advance Payment as shown in the DoJ indictment of Nikhil Gupta, and Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

We have now seen at least two instances of charges by India’s democratic allies and partners of not being ‘honest’ or ‘truthful’ to its global moral standing. In India’s own amoral, apathetic exceptionalism, there is also a silent embrace of Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse, and his (Godse’s) ideological disposition, as against an embrace of Gandhian ideals of peace and non-violence which made India globally recognised and respected by all powers across the globe. 

It’s also buffoonish for India’s foreign policy ecosystem to believe it enjoys an undistilled faith amongst the (still) powerful G7 countries if the tools for channelising instruments of economic integration operate sans the basic domestic prerequisites of realised social cohesion; a safeguarded rights-based constitutional order, ensured by the separation of powers. India can hardly compromise on these prerequisites if it is serious about playing a more important role in a complex, multi-polar world.

Also Read: From Nijjar to Pannun, Modi Government’s Recklessness is Undermining National Interest

The West’s more accommodative position on a number of contested issues – India’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Ukraine-Russia war, or on domestic issues like human rights, minority protection, and freedom of press – is rather explained by their greater contempt for an authoritarian China under Xi Jinping, than say, a need for developing bonhomie with India.

Modi’s New India – amidst a rising, ideological wave of Hindutva – embraces Godse’s violence and an eye for an eye vengeance-seeking mindset. This has nothing to do with social justice. Justice isn’t about seeking vengeance or revenge – it is much more than that. 

Embracing violence and violent means of institutional propriety, and an apathetic conduct towards peace in India’s own domestic and subsequently international position, may, unfortunately, make the nation’s image regress, or fall into the same category of authoritarian nation-states (or ‘illiberal democracies’).  

Collective self-interest is difficult to realise by an independently motivated self-interested state of individuals unless each state has some form of assurance that others will conform if it does. And that assurance requires the external incentive provided by the sovereign, who sees to it that individual and collective self-interest coincide. It is critical for any nation (including India) to realise this. 

As The Wire‘s founding editor argued, India’s security history has been known to arm and train the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka; and launching ‘surgical strikes’ on alleged terrorist sites inside Pakistan-controlled territory. But, India has never so far been associated with targeted assassinations abroad. New Delhi has shown no appetite for physically targeting wanted men or opponents overseas not necessarily beacuse of the lack of capability but a realistic political calculation about the associated risks and benefits.

What the current US indictment and the recklessness with which India responded to Trudeau’s allegations have done is put not just the current government but India’s own image and global position in the international security arena, in a more vulnerable position. It may cause more distance to be observed by democratic allies. Preferring Godse over Gandhi has a cost, not just in terms of an ideological, political disposition, but also from the perspective of foreign policy and how the world perceives the country in the near (and far future). Any Indian government and its leadership would be wise to recognise this.

Deepanshu Mohan is associate professor of economics and director, Centre for New Economics Studies, Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University.

Haritha Haaram: How Telangana’s Afforestation Project Proved Detrimental to Adivasi Rights

On the flip side of the positive perception it garners, the BRS government’s afforestation programme has been accused of denying access to forest lands for those who are dependent on them for farming or grazing purposes, conflicting with the spirit of the Forest Rights Act.

During the electioneering in Telangana, several issues of welfare, development, and various demographic groups came to the fore. However, Haritha Haaram, a pet project of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, did not garner much attention. The stated objective of the initiative is to promote afforestation across the state. The initiative helps us understand the intersection of environmental politics, marginalisation of Adivasis, and the continued reliance on outdated, unscientific, and colonial conservation practices followed by the forest bureaucracy in Telangana.

Haritha Haaram: Boon or bane? 

Haritha Haaram, which was rolled out in 2014, is a state-wide plantation programme for planting seedlings to increase the state’s forest cover to 33% from 24%. With a massive investment of Rs 8,511 crore, as per December 2022 estimates, the BRS government claims to have planted around 266 crore saplings, surpassing the target of 230 crore saplings originally envisioned as part of the programme. It is, however, unclear how many of these saplings survived.

Multiple afforestation efforts have been on inside the forested areas and in non-forested areas, which include grasslands, wasteland, and community commons. According to officials, 90% of the seedlings survived inside the forested zones, whereas the success rate is 70%-80% for the plantations outside of forested areas. This is not verified by any independent auditor or scientific study, yet the NITI Aayog has endorsed and encouraged Haritha Haaram after eight years of its supposed ‘success’.

On the other hand, Telangana is among the top states to divert forest lands for non-forestry activities. According to the data from the Union Environment Ministry, Telangana diverted 19,419 hectares of forest land over the last 15 years under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. Here is the contradiction, on the one hand, the issue of rapidly depleting natural forests for non-forestry purposes, and on the other, parallel afforestation programmes underway, which are aligned with the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management Authority (CAMPA).

Various research has demonstrated the problems with such contradictory policies. Increasingly, studies in India and elsewhere have argued about the limitations of afforestation in certain landscapes. Replacing natural forests is not the one-size-fits-all solution for climate change mitigation strategy, for it harms local ecology, and dispossesses pastoral and indigenous communities.

However, this article will not dwell on the scientific unviability of these programmes, nor the claims of Haritha Haaram being ‘successful’. It is concerned with the plight of small-scale farmers and Adivasis who have been displaced due to the plantation programme.

Forest Rights Act, 2006 and Settlement of Rights

The Forest Right Act 2006 is a landmark legislation enacted to correct historical injustices meted upon the Adivasi, forest-dwelling, and pastoral communities during the colonial period as well as in the post-independent era. The Preamble of the Act states that historical injustices must be addressed. The Act ensures recognition of community rights and livelihood security for the Adivasis or the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Forest-Dwelling (OTFD) communities.

Photo: Roy/Pixahive, CC0

Adivasis consist of 9.3% of the total population in Telangana (Census 2011). Some of the major tribal communities in Telangana include the Lambada, Gond, Kolam, Thoti, Pardhan, Mannewar, Nayakpod, Koya, Kondareddy, Chenchu, Nakkala, Yerukala, Yanadi, among others. Pastoral communities like Kurumbas and Gola Kurumbs are also part of the ST communities. Most of the forest areas of Telangana are located in the erstwhile undivided districts of Khammam, Warangal, Adilabad, and Mahabubnagar. The total forest area in Telangana is around 63.50 lakh acres (26,904 sq. km).

Over the past few years, multiple media reports have shown the violent side of the Haritha Haaram programme, which involves the plantation of saplings as well as the large-scale digging of trenches around Adivasi habitations. This implies the denial of access to forest lands for those who are dependent on the same for farming or grazing purposes, conflicting with the spirit of the FRA. The provisions of FRA clearly state that eviction of forest dwellers without settlement of rights is a violation.

Also read: Telangana: Forest Officer’s Killing Brings to Fore Issue of Podu Cultivation Again

In districts of Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mancherial, Warangal, Adilabad, and Asifabad, the forest department has been forcibly evicting tribal households engaged in podu cultivation (a traditional form of shifting cultivation) on forest lands. The department has been accused of booking false cases in several villages because those tribals do not possess Recognition of Forest Rights pattas for those lands. While the plantation drive using Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management Authority (CAMPA) and other funds dilutes the key provisions of the FRA and Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA Act), it also comes at the cost of denudation of natural, biodiverse forests, and its replacement with monoculture plantations.

Habitat rights of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) have also not been recognised under the FRA in Telangana. Under the amended FRA Rules, 2012, the District Level Committee (DLC) chaired by the district collector, is mandated to ensure that the habitat rights of PVTGs are recognised. Such PVTG communities have also been facing the threat of eviction from their habitats for Tiger Reserve projects in Kawal and Amrabad Tiger Reserve.

There are hardly any records or reports of recognition of Community Rights (CR/CFR) and Habitat Rights for PVTG communities and other ST communities in National Parks and Protected Areas. There is also a lack of communication on rejected FRA claims and why fresh claims have not been accepted.

An inconvenient flashback

Source:  Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Monthly Progress Report: https://tribal.nic.in/FRA.aspx (June 2023)

The above table shows the progress in the last five years in FRA implementation in Telangana, which can be summed up as dismal and negligent. Of the 20,305 odd claims under the category of individual forest rights (IFR) and community forest rights (CFR) since March 2018, only 3,176 titles have been approved, which is only 15% of the claims. As many as 10,669 or 51% of claims have been rejected. There were 2,808 community rights title claims filed as of June 2023, and only 102 were recognised.

What is worrying is that as of June 2023, overall 92.7% of the claims were disposed of with respect to claims received, whereas only 47% of the total claims were approved. As many as 94,426 claims were rejected, and little has been done so far to convey the reasons for the rejections of claims to the claimants.

Reports have also suggested that rejection is often based on frivolous grounds, completely in violation of the FRA, 2006, which clearly states that detailed reasons must be provided for rejection of claims. Based on the data from CFR – LA Report, 2016 on the potential of the Forest Rights Act & Community Forest Rights in India, it was found that Telangana has almost 40 lakh acres of forest land which has the potential for recognition under the FRA, 2006 of various communities, including both ST and OTFD. More than 10 million people, which includes STs, pastoralist communities, and OTFDs may benefit from the provisions of FRA in the state.

Despite framing PESA rules in 2011 and adopted after reorganisation of the separate state in 2014, there has practically been no implementation of PESA provisions in Telangana. The failure to constitute habitation-level Gram Sabhas, and strengthen the same, has resulted in the poor implementation of FRA across the state.

Further, the primacy of Gram Sabha consent is being completely bypassed in the formulation or implementation of key decisions related to land acquisition for public purpose projects, use of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management Authority (CAMPA) funds for afforestation schemes – such as Harita Haaram or even selection of beneficiaries for housing schemes under the recently announced Gruha Lakshmi scheme, etc.

Afforestation with FRA, 2006 – The way forward

The afforestation schemes by the Telangana government, despite their perceived ‘success’, find little or no place in the electoral discourse of the ruling party. After all, it’s important to recognise that politics is not always about what is being said, but it is often about what is not being said. Many Adivasi families have been displaced and those who have resisted face cases against them.

A few months before the elections, chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao said that some cases would be withdrawn, however, the indignity that ensued in the process might have damaged the ruling party’s electoral prospects among Adivasis and marginal cultivators in predominantly Adivasi districts and constituencies. That is perhaps the reason behind the ruling party’s silence on its flagship afforestation project.

The afforestation programme has extraordinary ambitions. However, the programme can only be successful by including and consulting various communities. Existing laws like PESA and FRA offer relevant solutions to prevent governments from falling into the trap of an exclusionary model of conservation, which undermines the rights of the Adivasis and other forest-dependent communities. Recognition of forest rights – both individual and community – is central to the integrity of our ecological and social future.

Environmental concerns cannot isolate the issues of the Adivasis and the recognition of forest-dependent communities. The electoral value of these issues cannot be undermined, and political parties must speak up on these issues.

*619 Community Rights titles were cancelled on the grounds of violating the FRA. These Community Forest Rights (CFR) titles have been granted to the Vana Samrakshana Samitis (VSS) which are under the control of the forest department and are, in fact, not covered under the term ‘forest dwelling Scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers” as given in Sections 2(c) and 2(o) of the Forest Rights Act and therefore these committees cannot be considered as claimants for granting community forest Rights.

**102 titles are still recognised as Community Rights/CFR titles; however, the details of the nature of these rights remain elusive. 

Azam Danish is an independent researcher.

In Democratic India, Why Was Statue of Manu Installed in a Court Before Ambedkar’s?

The existence of Manu’s statue on a court premises can be seen as a glorification of values that are against the basic structure and values of the constitution.

On November 26, 2023, a nine-foot-tall statue of B.R. Ambedkar was installed in the premises of the Supreme Court of India on the occasion of Constitution Day.

Ironically, the architect of the Indian constitution had to wait for 75 years after independence for a statue to be erected in his honour. All this while, a taller statue of Manu (11 feet) – whose teachings are against the basic structure and values of the constitution – was unveiled on the premises of the Jaipur bench of the Rajasthan high court way back in 1989.

In the 1970s, veteran Ambedkarite leader Dadasaheb Gaikwad started his efforts to push for the installation of Ambedkar’s statue within the parliament complex. It was given heed only after 56 years. In contrast, it took hardly 23 days to install Manu’s statue in the Rajasthan high court, similar to the implementation of reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among the upper castes.

The prompt installation of the statue of Manu and the reluctance towards Ambedkar can be seen as a metaphor for the polity and society of post-independent India, which seems to show a continuity rather than a rupture after 1947.

The story of the existence of Manu’s statue can be seen as a glorification of undemocratic and oppressive Brahmanical values, sustaining all weathers, institutions, and governments of democratic India, which is slowly substituting Ambedkar from within. This is also a story of the victory of Manu’s India over the vision Ambedkar aspired for the country.

B.R. Ambedkar’s statue in the premises of the Supreme Court of India. Photo: X@ambedkariteIND

Manu’s Bar and Bench

On February 10, 1989, Padam Kumar Jain, the president of the Rajasthan High Court Officers’ Association, proposed installing Manu’s statue in the court’s premises as part of a “beautification plan”.

If beautification was the goal, why didn’t Jain consider an Ambedkar statue, is an irrelevant question. Immediately, just 23 days after this proposal, on March 3, 1989, the proposal was approved.

At that time, Shiv Charan Mathur of the Congress was the chief minister of Rajasthan; Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister, and Justice E.S. Venkataramiah was the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Why didn’t this move seem objectionable to any of them?

In opposition to the installation of Manu’s statue – which was considered a stain on the dignity and values of India’s Dalits, women, Shudras and working classes – the awakened Dalit community slowly began to protest. Hence, on July 28, 1989, a full court sitting of the Rajasthan high court unanimously decided to remove the statue.

However, immediately, Acharya Dharmendra, a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against it. The high court quickly accepted this PIL for hearing, and in August 1989, a stay order was issued against its own full sitting. Not only that, it also instructed that any further hearings in this case should be conducted only by a division bench, including the chief justice of the high court.

Since then, the stay order and Manu’s statue have remained on the premises of the high court. And the case itself has acquired the notoriety of the longest pending PIL in the history of the Rajasthan high court.

The most recent hearing on this case happened in 2015. Over 300 Brahmin and ‘upper’ caste lawyers had rushed from various courts to attend the hearing. As A.K. Jain, an advocate for the Dalit groups, tried to draw the judges’ attention to the anti-Dalit, Shudra and women verses in Manusmriti, these ‘upper’ caste lawyers started a commotion inside the court premises, leading to the postponement of the hearing. It has not been resumed since.

In the meantime, several Dalit organisations and Bahujan Samaj Party leaders have been demanding the removal of Manu’s statue. On October 8, 2018, two Ambedkarite women activists from Aurangabad, Maharashtra – Sheelabai Pawar and Kanta Ramesh Ahire – were arrested for throwing black paint on Manu’s statue.

But nothing could remove Manu’s statue.

Also read: The Laws of Manu and What They Would Mean for Citizens of the Hindu Rashtra

In Rajasthan, governments alternate between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in every election. The BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)’s stance has often justified the caste system. However, why didn’t the Congress party, which claims to be pro-constitution, put its weight behind the litigation to remove Manu’s statue when it came to power?

The answer lies in a statement by Congress leader and head of its manifesto drafting committee, Vibhuti Bhushan Sharma. According to Sharma, a former president of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association:

“When the statue of Manu was installed in the high court, it wasn’t for any particular caste. Manu is regarded as the first person to have come up with a written law. If there is any downside to that law, it is open to amendments as is done in our constitution. The statue shouldn’t be associated with any caste.”

The irony is this statement of the Congress leader resembles closely with the statement of VHP’s Acharya Dharmendra, who had filed a petition against the removal of Manu’s statue. He had said: “It was a great idea to have a Manu statue inside the high court as he was the first person anywhere in the world to draft a law. Those who oppose him are ignorant of Manu’s philosophy.”

How is the Congress’s understanding of Manu or the constitution different from the RSS, which claims Manusmriti to be the world’s best constitution?

If there is any difference, isn’t it enough to preserve Ambedkar’s ideals and the constitution from the onslaught of Manu, the RSS and the BJP?

Indifference of SC?

What has the Supreme Court, responsible for protecting the constitution, done in this matter?

When the case demanding the removal of Manu’s statue from the Rajasthan high court premises had been deliberately delayed for more than 25 years, several Dalit activists and organisations filed a PIL in the top court.

However, on February 24, 2023, the division bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Sundaresh, dismissed the petition, saying:

“We do not find any good ground and reason to entertain the present writ petition as a public interest litigation under Article 32 of the Constitution of India and hence, the writ petition is dismissed.”

This decision allowed Manu’s statue to remain. And the same court has unveiled the statue of Ambedkar on its own premises.

Manu and Manusmriti represent injustice, social inequality, caste hierarchy, and patriarchy. Ambedkar and the constitution stand for equality, compassion, socio-economic justice, and fraternity.

How can both coexist? How can both be symbols of the Indian judiciary that is tasked with protecting the constitution?

The Hindutva forces have reinterpreted the constitution and the history to suit the ideals of Manusmriti while at the same time idolising Ambedkar, They have perhaps made this possible.

Also read: Symbols Serve Oppressors, That Is Why Manu Must Fall

Constitution Day or Vedic Day?

Their latest stratagem was last year’s order by the Narendra Modi government to celebrate November 26, Constitution Adoption Day, around the theme of ‘India – the Mother of Democracy’. Along with this order, the Indian Council of Historical Research provided a conceptual note, which claimed that the khap panchayats were institutions of democracy.

In fact, Ambedkar, in his work Annihilation of Caste, had given a call to destroy the Vedas, Puranas, and Manusmriti, if Hinduism were to truly become a religion, and if a Hindu were to become a genuine human being, and if India was to become a genuine democracy.

Far from demolishing the ideals of Manusmriti, Manu’s statue stands on a court premises – with neither political parties nor the higher judiciary seemingly finding any contradiction in this.

Exit Polls: Close Battle Between Congress and BJP in Hindi Belt; BRS on Backfoot in Telangana

Soon after polling ended on November 30, the exit polls for five states – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram – which voted to elect new assemblies were released.

New Delhi: The exit polls show a close contest between the Congress and the BJP in the three Hindi-belt states – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and MP – with various agencies giving a slight edge to one over another.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

Soon after polling ended on November 30, the exit polls for five states – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram – which voted this month to elect new assemblies were released. Among these states, the first two had Congress governments and the third BJP. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is in power in Telangana while the regional Mizo National Front (MNF) is at the helm in the northeastern state.

In Rajasthan, the Axis India Today survey – which has the best record of getting its exit polls right – threw up a surprise when it predicted that Congress under the leadership of Ashok Gehlot may lead the BJP by a slight margin. Previous opinion polls believed that the state would follow its historic precedent of voting out the incumbent government and predicted a comfortable victory for the BJP. Most other exit polls, however, gave the edge to the BJP.

At the same time, the exit polls in Chhattisgarh also showed a neck-and-neck fight between the Congress and BJP, again contradicting previous opinion polls that showed a comfortable victory for the incumbent Congress. The Axis India Today poll gave a slight edge to the Congress.

In Madhya Pradesh too, the two parties are engaged in a close battle, the polls show. However, the Axis India Today poll predicted a landslide victory for the BJP in the state.

In Telangana, the grand old party may shock the BRS and chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), some polls showed while others predicted a close contest. The BJP could play spoilsport if it splits the anti-incumbency role, while Asaduddin Owaisi’s MIM will throw its numbers behind the BRS.

In Mizoram, the Mizo National Front (MNF) led by chief minister Zoramthanga is in a close battle with fellow regional player Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNF). The Congress may have a say in the outcome if a hung assembly is elected while the BJP may fail to make any impact.

Rajasthan (Majority mark: 100)

BJP Congress Others
India Today-Axis My India 80-100 86-106 8-16
ABP News-C Voter 94-114 71-91 9-19
Jan Ki Baat 100-122 62-85 14-15
India TV- CNX 80-90 94-104 14-18
Times Now-ETG 108-128 56-72 13-21
News 24 – Today’s Chanakya 77-101 89-113 2-16

Madhya Pradesh (Majority mark: 115)

BJP Congress Others
India Today – Axis My India 140-162 68-90 0-3
ABP News – C Voter 88-112 113-137 2-8
Jan Ki Baat 100-123 102-125 5
News 24 – Today’s Chanakya 151 74 5
Times Now – ETG 105-117 109-125 1-5
India TV – CNX 140-159 70-89 0-2

Chhattisgarh (Majority mark: 45)

BJP Congress Others
ABP News – C Voter 36-48 41-53 1-5
India Today-Axis My India 36-46 40-50 1-5
Jan Ki Baat 34-45 44-52 0-2
India TV-CNX 30-40 46-56 3-5
News 24-Today’s Chanakya 33 57 0
Times Now – ETG 32-40 48-56 2-4

Telangana (Majority mark: 60)

BJP Congress BRS Others
News 24 – Today’s Chanakya 7 71 33 0
ABP News – C Voter 5-13 49-65 38-54 5-9
India TV-CNX 2-4 63-79 31-47 5-7
Jan Ki Baat 7-13 48-64 40-55 4-7

Mizoram (Majority mark: 20)

MNF ZPM Congress BJP
Jan Ki Baat 10-14 15-25 5-9 0-2
ABP News-C Voter 15-21 12-18 2-8 0
India TV-CNX 14-18 12-16 8-10 0-2
India Today- Axis My India 3-7 28-35 2-4 0-2

Watch | Doctor Who Lost 25 Family Members Wants Peace, Equality and Justice for Palestinians, Israelis

Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish speaks to Karan Thapar about the tragedies and traumas he’s suffered at the hands of Israel, which have not made him bitter but given him a determination to work to bring the two people together.

A Palestinian doctor, who in 2009 lost three daughters and a niece when an Israeli tank fired on his home in Jabbalia in northern Gaza, and then in October 2023 lost 25 members of his family when Israeli air strikes hit their homes says Israel and Palestine are “conjoined twins” and the two people have a lot of similarities and he is committed to working for peace, harmony, equality and justice for both communities. Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish’s story is heart-wrenching yet he was willing to talk about it and gave us permission to raise the subject. Far from making him bitter, the tragedies and traumas he’s suffered at the hands of Israel have given him a determination to work to bring the two people together. He calls it his mission.

At the moment, Abuelaish lives in Toronto and is a professor of Global Health. He’s written a book about his life and his mission. It’s called I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity.

Abuelaish speaks with equal passion and strength about what he calls his mission. His commitment and his determination and, indeed, his idealism shine like a beacon at this time of war and despair.

He is very possibly unique, both in terms of the sorrow and suffering he’s experienced but also in terms of the resilience he has shown and the courage and determination to stand up for peace, harmony, equality and justice for both Palestinians and Israelis.

A Resurgent Congress in Telangana and the Challenges for BRS and BJP

The rise of the Congress in Telangana has taken place following the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra and the decisive victory of the party in the Karnataka elections held in May this year.

The Congress party, with 22 MLAs out of 119 seats in the Telangana state assembly and vote share of 22%, stood in sharp contrast to the Bharat Rashtra Samiti’s (BRS’s) 88 and 47% figures, respectively, in the last assembly elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by winning 4 MP seats from the state in the 2019 general elections and securing the second position in the Hyderabad civic body polls was expected to take quantum leap in the electoral field and challenge BRS’s dominant position.

However, in a spectacular electoral turnaround, the Congress in Telangana has gained huge momentum, with the possibility of it even defeating the BRS headed by K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) in the elections being held on November 30. Very surprisingly, the BJP gone out of reckoning and is expected to secure a distant third or fourth position.

The rise of the Congress in Telangana has taken place following the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jod Yatra and the decisive victory of the party in the Karnataka elections held in May this year. Unlike the BJP, the Congress is considered to be a natural party in Telangana with fairly deep roots across the state even before it was carved out of Andhra Pradesh by the party under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. Sympathy for the Congress leadership for having created Telangana is now palpable and people feel that the KCR-led Telangana Rashtra Samiti (now BRS) has taken disproportionate credit and acquired power for his family.

Role of local leaders

While the Congress campaign in Telangana is being spearheaded by its state chief A. Revanth Reddy, the BJP is entirely depending on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah. Bereft of local BJP leaders, the rank and file of the party was perplexed when its popular OBC leader, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, was removed a few months before the elections, and G. Krishna Reddy was appointed in his place. Such a decision by the BJP’s central leaders is a replication of what it did in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where regional leaders were sidelined.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

BJP estimated itself as the main challenger to the BRS and stridently criticised the KCR government’s policies and accused it of indulging in massive corruption. OBCs constitute 50% of the Telangana population and Shah’s declaration that on forming government, he would appoint an OBC leader as chief minister of the state sounded empty. He also stated that the BJP after assuming power would scrap 4% reservation for Muslims and allot that for Scheduled Castes. It brought back memories of the BJP government in Karnataka rescinding reservation for Muslims. Eventually, it lost elections to the Congress there.

The Hindutva strategy has been deployed by the party in Telangana where there is no history of people getting mobilised on religious lines for electoral purposes. Shah also promised free darshan (viewing) of Lord Ram in the Ayodhya temple being inaugurated in January 2024 and many BJP leaders gave assurances of changing the name of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar. Such statements never assumed importance for the people of Telangana.

Rahul’s accusations

Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of having deep dealings with the BRS, which he called the ‘BJP Rishtedar Samiti’. He also hurled similar accusations against the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Musilmeen (AIMIM) and its leader Asaduddin Owaisi, an ally of the BRS. AIMIM contests only in nine seats in Telangana even as 13% of its population are Muslims. In other states like Bihar, it fields its candidates in dozens of constituencies.

Rahul Gandhi’s slogan, “Modiji ke hai do yaar, Owaisi aur KCR”, gained traction among the Muslims of Telangana. KCR engaging only with AIMIM to discuss matters concerning minorities angered Jamaat-e-Islami and Tablighi Jamat, which are now supporting a large number of Congress candidates. The high-pitch campaign of the Congress that AIMIM in collaboration with BRS has ended up benefitting BJP seems to have convinced Muslims.

Also read: As Telangana Votes, Close Fight Expected Between Nervous BRS and Resurgent Congress

BJP’s attempt for a three-cornered contest

The BJP in the last few days tried in vain to make the electoral battle a three-cornered contest, to keep the Congress away from power. Therefore, it attacked the BRS to take steam out of the Congress campaign that BJP is part of the BRS and AIMIM strategy for securing power in Telangana. Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the Enforcement Directorate took no action against KCR in spite of the corruption charges hurled by the BJP against him generated an impression that the BJP is soft on BRS.

Unlike Y. Rajsekhar Reddy who interacted with people by organising Praja Darbars regularly, neither KCR nor his MLAs did anything like that and so mounting anti-incumbency created fertile ground for the Congress to scale up momentum.

S.N. Sahu served as Officer on Special Duty to President of India K R Narayanan.

How Henry Kissinger’s Bombing Campaign Killed Thousands, Destabilised Cambodia for Long

To Kissinger, Cambodia was a ‘sideshow’ during the Vietnam War, exposing the story of America’s secret war with Cambodia from 1969 to 1973. The US bombing of neutral Cambodia saw an estimated 2,756,941 tons of ordnance dropped on 113,716 targets in the country.

Henry Kissinger, who died on November 29, at the age of 100, stood as a colossus of US foreign policy. His influence on American politics lasted long beyond his eight-year stint guiding the Nixon and Ford administrations as national security adviser and secretary of state, with successive presidents, presidential candidates and top diplomats seeking his advice and approval ever since.

But his mark extends beyond the United States. Kissinger’s policies in the 1970s had an immediate impact on countries, governments, and people across South America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Sometimes the fallout – and it was that – lasted decades; in some places, it continues to be felt today. Nowhere is that more true than in Cambodia.

I’m a scholar of the political economy of Cambodia who, as a child, escaped the brutal Khmer Rouge regime with four siblings, thanks in large part to the cunning and determination of my mother. In both a professional and personal sense, I am aware of the near 50-year impact Kissinger’s policies during the Vietnam War have had on the country of my birth.

The rise of the murderous regime that forced my family to leave was, in part, encouraged by Kissinger’s policies. The cluster bombs dropped on Cambodia under Kissinger’s watch continue to destroy the lives of any man, woman, or child who happens across them. Indeed, when the current U.S. administration announced its intention in 2023 to provide cluster bombs to Ukraine, the prime minister of Cambodia was quick to call out the lingering damage the munition causes.

‘Island of peace’

Counterfactuals are not the best tool for the historian; no one can say how Cambodia would have developed were it not for the Vietnam War and US intervention in Southeast Asia.

But prior to the US bombing of Cambodia, the country was touted as an “Island of Peace” by then-leader Prince Norodom Sihanouk, with a developing economy and relative stability.

After Cambodia gained independence from its French colonial masters in 1953, Sihanouk presided over what was seen as a golden age for Cambodia. Even Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of modern-day Singapore, visited Cambodia to learn lessons on nation-building.

The country’s independence from France did not require any hard fight. Neighbouring Vietnam, meanwhile, gained independence only after the bitter anti-colonial First Indochina War, which concluded with a rout of French troops at Điện Biên Phủ in 1954.

However, Cambodia’s location drew it into the subsequent war between the newly independent communist North Vietnam and the US-backed South Vietnam.

Cambodia wasn’t officially a party in the Vietnam War, with Sihanouk declaring the country neutral. But Washington looked for ways to disrupt communist North Vietnamese operations along the Ho Chi Minh Trail – which cut across Cambodia’s east, with Sihanouk’s blessing, and allowed the resupply of North Vietnamese troops on Cambodian soil.

Kissinger’s ‘menu’

Kissinger was the chief architect of the plan to disrupt that supply line, and what he came up with was “Operation Menu.” The secret carpet-bombing campaign – with breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert, and supper representing different targets and missions within Cambodia – was confirmed at a meeting in the Oval Office on March 17, 1969. The diary entry of Richard Nixon’s chief of staff, H. R. Haldeman, reads: “ … Historic day. K[issinger]‘s ‘Operation Breakfast’ finally came off at 2:00 pm our time. K really excited, as is P[resident].”

Presidential adviser Henry Kissinger, right, talks with members of the North Vietnam delegation after initialing of the Vietnam peace agreement was signed in Paris on Jan. 24, 1973. From left are Nguyen Co Thach, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs; Xuan Thuy, chief of the delegation to the Paris talks; Nguyen Dinh Phuong, interpreter; Le Duc Tho, special adviser to the delegation in Paris; and Kissinger. Photo: flickr.com/manhhai/CC BY 2.0 DEED

The following day, Haldeman wrote: “K’s ‘Operation Breakfast’ a great success. He came beaming in with the report, very productive.”

And so began four years of Kissinger’s legally dubious campaign in Cambodia.

To Kissinger, Cambodia was a “sideshow,” to use the title of William Shawcross’ damning book exposing the story of America’s secret war with Cambodia from 1969 to 1973.

During that period, the US bombing of neutral Cambodia saw an estimated 2,756,941 tons  of ordnance dropped on 113,716 targets in the country.

Secret and illegal war?

Kissinger and others in the White House tried to keep the campaign from the public for as long as they could, for good reason. It came as public opinion in the US was turning against American involvement. The bombing campaign is also considered illegal under international law by many experts.

But to Kissinger, the ends – containing communism – seemingly justified the means, no matter the cost. And the cost to Cambodians was huge.

It resulted in the direct deaths of hundreds of thousands of Cambodians. With the US government keeping the bombings secret at the time, comprehensive data and documentation are limited. But estimates on the number of deaths range from as few as 24,000 to as many as a million. Most estimates put the death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

Kissinger’s campaign also destabilised Cambodia, leaving it vulnerable for the horrors to come. The capital, Phnom Penh, ballooned in population because of the displacement of more than a million rural citizens fleeing U.S. bombs.

Meanwhile, the bombing of Cambodian citizens contributed to an erosion of trust in Camodia’s leadership and put into question Sihanouk’s policy of allowing the North Vietnamese access through the country’s east. On March 18, 1970, Sihanouk was ousted in a coup d’etat and replaced by the US-friendly Lon Nol. Direct US involvement in the coup has never been proven, but certainly, opponents to Lon Nol saw the hand of the CIA in events.

The ousted Sihanouk called on the country’s rural masses to support his coalition government in exile, which included the Khmer Rouge. Until then, the Khmer Rouge had been a ragtag army with only revolutionary fantasies. But with Sihanouk’s backing, they grew. As journalist Philip Gourevitch noted: “His name became the Khmer Rouge’s greatest recruitment tool.”

But Kissinger’s bombs also served as a recruitment tool. The Khmer Rouge was able to capitalise on the anger and resentment of Cambodians in the areas being shelled. Rebel leaders portrayed themselves as a force to protect Cambodia from foreign aggression and restore order and justice, in contrast to the ruling government’s massive corruption and pro-American leanings.

Kissinger’s bombing campaign was certainly not the only reason for the Khmer Rouge’s rise, but it contributed to the overall destabilisation of Cambodia and a political vacuum that the Khmer Rouge was able to exploit and eventually seize power – which it did in 1975, overthrowing the government.

Led by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge inflicted unimaginable atrocities upon the Cambodian people. Its genocidal campaign against political opponents, Cambodian minorities, and those deemed counterrevolutionaries saw between 1.6 and 3 million people killed through executions, forced labor and starvation – a quarter of the country’s then population.

The scars from that period are still felt in Cambodia today. Recent research even points to the economic impact Kissinger’s bombs continue to have on farmers, who avoid richer, darker soil over fears that it hides unexploded ordnance.

Anti-Americanism is no longer prevalent at the everyday level in Cambodia; indeed, the opposite is increasingly becoming true as China’s financial and political embrace becomes suffocating. However, anti-Americanism is frequently used in rhetoric by leading politicians in the country.

I don’t agree with some other scholars that Kissinger’s bombing campaign can be definitively proven to have resulted in Khmer Rouge rule. But in my view, it no doubt contributed. Hun Sen, Cambodia’s autocratic leader who ruled for 38 years before passing the prime minister baton to his son in August 2023, has cited the US bombing of his birthplace as the reason he joined the Khmer Rouge. Many others joined for similar reasons.

As such, the devastating impact of Kissinger’s policies in Cambodia cannot be overstated – they contributed to the unraveling of the country’s social fabric and the suffering of its people, leaving behind a legacy of trauma.The Conversation

Sophal Ear, Associate Professor in the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Raids, Seizures, Searches: How Central Agencies Have Taken Poll Position

ED’s latest round of searches and seizures have, again, been directed against important opposition leaders of states which are in the midst of high-pitched electoral battles, with BJP among the principal players.

New Delhi: The run-up to the assembly polls saw yet another round of central investigation agencies descending on opposition leaders in one case or another. The timing of such raids were questioned by many – especially when investigation agencies are increasingly being seen as aiding the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s political interests.  

In 2022, the Supreme Court allowed the Enforcement Directorate to conduct searches and seizures of property without a formal complaint in Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases, effectively presuming the accused person to be guilty. A three-judge bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar broadened the investigative powers of the ED by upholding the constitutionality of several contentious sections of the Act. Since then, however, the agency has targeted opposition leaders particularly during election campaigns, raising grave doubts about its autonomy.    

ED’s latest round of searches and seizures have, again, been directed against important opposition leaders of states which are in the midst of high-pitched electoral battles, with BJP among the principal players. Here are a few examples. 

Rajasthan

The ED raided the Jaipur and Sikar premises of Pradesh Congress President of Rajasthan, Govind Singh Dotasra, in the last week of October, when he was busy campaigning. No official statement was issued by the ED but it came to be known that the searches were conducted in Dotasra’s houses in an alleged teachers’s entrance exam leak case.

Along with him, properties of another Congress MLA – Om Prakash Hudla, from the Mahua seat in Dausa – were also searched. Interestingly, paper leaks in service selection entrance examinations was one of the primary issues that the BJP had been raising against the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress state government. Later in November Dotasra’s son Avinash and Abhilash also received summons from the ED. 

Around the same time, chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot also received ED’s summons, prompting the chief minister to compare the ED with a “tiddi dal” (locusts) obeying their masters, meaning the BJP. Gehlot said that the ED has been conducting raids against Congress leaders and workers, and those associated with the party, almost everyday amidst the election campaign. 

After the raids, Dotasra said that the ED officials could not find any cash or illegal documents from his premises, and yet seized his and his sons’ phones and pen drive. He said that the search warrant was in the name of his son Avinash, who is an accounts officer. Reports indicate that the ED has been probing Dotasra’s links with a coaching institute Kalam academy, but the PCC chief said neither he nor his sons have any connection with it.

Similarly, Gehlot’s son was also reportedly called by the ED in connection with a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case against a hospitality group called Triton Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd. 

In early November, the ED also conducted searches of 25 premises in an alleged Jal Jeevan Mission scam being probed under the PMLA. The Jal Jeevan Mission is a union government scheme to provide potable water through tap in every household.The ED raided state minister Mahesh Joshi’s properties and the premises of additional chief secretary in the public health engineering department Subodh Agarwal. Along with him, multiple other raids by the ED happened in the properties of engineers, contractors, government officials. 

A scam was reported when the state government’s Anti-Corruption Bureau filed an FIR on the complaint of BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena who alleged a Rs 20,000 crore scam in the implementation of the scheme. The FIR alleged that two companies Shree Shyam Tubewell Company and Shree Ganpati Tubewell Company paid bribes to public servants to cover up irregularities and inflate bills for the work done by them. 

Earlier, in July 2020, when Ashok Gehlot was facing revolt from his colleague Sachin Pilot, the ED had raided the premises associated with the CM’s brother, Agrasen Gehlot, and his company Anupam Krishi in a case related to alleged diversion of fertilisers during 2007-2009. Agrasen has been questioned by the ED many times, even as the case continues to drag on. 

Chhattisgarh

The ED’s searches in Chhattisgarh began as early as August, 2023 when premises of chief minister Bhupesh Baghel’s political adviser and former journalist Vinod Verma and two Officers on Special Duty were raided in Raipur and Durg.  

Then, following a seizure of Rs 14.92 crore in Raipur and Durg, the ED named the chief minister in its statement as a beneficiary of Rs 508 crore in the Mahadev betting app case just four days before the first phase of polls in the state on November 7. 

The case itself was curious in the way it unfolded. First, the ED claimed that the app’s promoters Saurabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, two Bhilai-based residents who ran a juice shop, ran a huge online betting nexus with the help of several franchises. The ED also questioned several Hindi film industry actors in the case that was being probed since July, 2022. If there was a Congress connection, nowhere did it present itself. However, just before the Chhattisgarh polls, the BJP leaders released a video clip in which a person named Shubham Soni claimed to be real owner of the online betting app and alleged that he had paid Rs 508 crore as bribe to Baghel through his media advisor and an IPS officer to seek protection from any punitive action. Soni also claimed that he was told by Baghel to flee to Dubai. 

Soon after, the ED released a statement naming Baghel as an accused on the basis of the video released by Soni. It also claimed that Baghel’s name propped up in a statement made by a “cash courier” arrested in Raipur with possession of around Rs 5 crore. But the agency added that all these accusations “are a subject matter of investigation”.  

As the Congress slammed such accusations as serving the BJP’s political interests and tarnishing the popular chief minister’s image, Baghel claimed that he had never met any of the three people – Chandrakar, Uppal, and Soni – that the ED mentioned. He also said that if there was any merit to the accusations, the ED should show concrete proof.  

Startlingly, days after the elections were over, Asim Das, the alleged cash courier who was arrested in Raipur with around Rs 5 crore and whose statement was the basis of implicating Baghel in the Mahadev betting app case, wrote a letter to the Special Court, Raipur and the ED’s Director saying that he never delivered any cash to politicians and that he was being framed in a conspiracy. He added that he had visited Dubai to meet his childhood friend Soni regarding investments in his construction business and indicated that the cash seized from him had nothing to do with the betting app. 

In the run-up to the assembly polls, the ED also arrested state ASI Chandrabhushan Verma, businessman Satish Chandrakar, and alleged hawala operators Anil Dammani and Suni Dammani. The ED, following the raids, claimed that “high-ranking officials connected with the CMO (Chief Minister’s Office) received kickbacks to allow illegal online betting.

There were raids in other cases, too, by the ED. The agency conducted searches and seizures in 15 different places in October when it allied that state rice millers association in cahoots with officers of state’s Marketing Federation Ltd (MARKFED) illegally increased the price of paddy to an exorbitant Rs 120 per quintal after “higher powers” were bribed with Rs 175 crore.  

The ED had made similar raids and arrested persons in the coal levy commission case, allegedly involving Rs 540 crore and illegal liquor sale which allegedly cost the state exchequer Rs 2160 crore. In both cases, the ED claimed that the illegal money went to “a political party” but did not elaborate on the accusation. In both cases, persons said to be close aides of the chief minister Baghel were arrested. 

Madhya Pradesh

The ED made an arrest in August in an alleged Rs 354 crore bank fraud case involving many influential people associated with the Congress, including Ratul Puri, the nephew of Congress’s chief ministerial candidate Kamal Nath. 

In 2019, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had booked Ratul Puri, his father Deepak Puri, mother Nita in another case that accused Moser Baer India Ltd, a CD manufacturing company owned by Puri, and its promoters of bank fraud from a loan taken from the Central Bank of India. The ED also appears to be following the same case against Puri.  

The ED in August 2023 also arrested a former relationship manager of the Bank of Singapore Nitin Bhatnagar in the PMLA case against Moser Baer.

Congress leaders, meanwhile, claimed that the ED and the income tax department were trying to indict multiple Congress workers and associates under the scanner to help the BJP in the elections.. “We are getting information through newspapers that the offices of Income Tax and ED are being opened at different places…Officials are being posted…They are raiding the ruling (Congress) regime in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan,” Singh told reporters in Bhopal.

“If ED, IT offices are being opened in Madhya Pradesh, they should raid the chief minister, ministers and their favourite officers, but as per the news being received, they are planning to target the Congress and opposition leaders in MP,” he said.

Telangana

In the southern state of Telangana, the ED sent fresh summons to Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC K. Kavitha, who is also the daughter of the chief minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao, in the Delhi excise policy case, weeks before the assembly polls. She has received ED’s summons in the case earlier this year, too.

 The new excise policy introduced by the Aam Aadmi Party government in which 849 liquor shops were allocated to private firms was scrapped by the Arvind Kejriwal government after Delhi L-G Vinay Kumar Saxena recommended a CBI inquiry, citing irregularities in the policy’s implementation. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh have already been arrested in the case. 

The ED alleged that Kavitha, too, is a part of the “South Group” that paid at least Rs 100 crore in bribes to AAP through AAP worker and businessman Vijay Nair who has already been arrested. 

Along with Kavitha, various other BRS functionaries also faced ED’s raids.

A week before polling, the ED also swooped down on Congress MLA candidate G.Vivek in connection with a Rs 8 crore transaction between his company and one Vigilance Security Services Pvt. Ltd. The ED claimed that the transferred amount originated from an unidentified bank account. Searches were conducted on November 20 at various locations owned by Vivek, Congress MLA candidate from Chennu seat. Incidentally, Vivek had recently quit the BJP to join the Congress and is the richest candidate in the fray. 

The I-T department also conducted searches at Vivek’s premises. Earlier, the I-T department and the ED had raided the premises of Congress candidates Kichannagari Lakshma Reddy of Maheswaram and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy of Palair in different cases of financial fraud. 

Curiously, the BJP has used most of these raids as vehicles to advance its anti-corruption political rhetoric and have attacked the opposition parties in the run-up to the polls. In many of these cases, the BJP, more than the ED, has revealed the charges against the opposition leaders in its press briefings. How the BJP managed to get the details even before the ED revealed them was debated in political circles quite vigorously. 

The ED didn’t conduct any raids in Mizoram. The election in the state is between the incumbent Mizo National Front or MNF and the other seven-party regional alliance, the Zoram People’s Movement. The BJP has one MLA in the state at present and analysts say it does not have any major electoral stakes here, as it depends more or less on its regional allies. Narendra Modi cancelled his election rally here. The Congress used to be an important player but has now shrunk, with just 5 MLAs in the outgoing assembly.

The Wire had earlier reported that almost 95% of the cases probed by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation against political leaders are from the opposition. Although the ED claims that it has a high conviction rate of 96%, the figures appear to be misplaced if one factors in the number of cases it has closed since 2005. The ED registered 5,906 cases until March 2023 but completed the probe and filed a chargesheet in only 1,142 cases – out of which it has disposed of only 25 cases, a mere 0.42 of the total number of cases. Of those 25 cases, the ED has managed convictions in 24 cases, which is around 96% conviction rate as claimed by the agency. 

In a response to The Wire, the ED had earlier denied all allegations of bias.

There is a four-fold jump in ED cases since 2014; 95% of those cases are against opposition leaders. 

Narrow Nationalism Has Won Over Cosmopolitanism Again, This Time in the Netherlands

International integration has produced domestic disintegration in many countries. The populist response, including in India, seems to have taken a mostly right-wing form.

Around the 1990s, Western political theorists began to build on the foundations of trade and financial liberalisation and globalisation, a structure of global political theory.

For long, political theory and international relations had little to do with each other. Political theorists tended to analyse and prescribe for nationally-bounded sovereign states. International relations theory was preoccupied with sovereign nation-states as the primary units of the international system.

In the aftermath of globalisation, Western political theorists went global. They realised that in an interconnected globalised world, both problems and the solutions to these problems have to be global. They also showed immense concern for poverty in countries of the global south, and inequalities between the global north and the global south. The influential theory that emerged from Western academia was that of global justice.

The ground for the global justice debate was inspired by a 1972 paper by the utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer on ‘Famine, Affluence and Morality’ in the reputed journal Philosophy and Public Affairs.

Photo: Mal Vickers/Wikimedia Commons. CC BY SA 4.0.

He argued that suffering and death from a lack of food, shelter and medical care are simply bad. If it is within the power of the citizens of the affluent West to prevent something bad from happening, without sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, they are morally obliged to do so.

It does not matter that people who suffer for avoidable reasons are distant or proximate, or whether they are fellow nationals or needy foreigners. The need of strangers is as morally compelling as the need of neighbours or fellow citizens.  It also does not matter that other people do or do not contribute their mite to the alleviation of poverty and misery; individuals should take on this moral responsibility.

And finally, he wrote, donating to famine relief is not a matter of charity but that of duty.

In a later work titled One World, Singer argued that since the world is interlinked, we need a transborder global ethics.

Imagine, he suggested, that you walk along a pond and see a small child in danger of drowning. It would be morally wrong not to try to save the child even if the suit we wear gets wet and is ruined. The cost is small compared to the good of saving the child.

We can have special feelings for those we love or those who are close to us, but this need not prevent us from helping others. There is no great difference between compatriots and the distant needy. Therefore, the middle-class American should give to the global poor something like one percent of his or her annual income. Basically, Singer focused on moral choices between spending on personal desires and helping the needy.

A number of political theorists living and working in what was once called the third world, were considerably sceptical, even outraged at this newest version of the ‘white man’s’ burden.

Could we in the global south afford to wait for citizens of the West to recognise their obligations to the distant needy? Should we be doing so?

Also Read: Palestine, Palestinians and the Western Liberal’s Burden

Justice it not dependent on charity. It has to be wrenched from the recalcitrant fists of elites through mass struggles and agitation. Despite some acrimonious challenges to the universality of global justice (for we who inhabit the world of the distant needy had no role to play in these theories except as a recipient) the debate taught us a valuable lesson.

There is need to expand the notion of duties and concern to people who live outside our borders. We should adopt a cosmopolitan approach towards human well-being. Cosmopolitanism moderates nationalist ambitions and opens many doors to solidarity across national borders. This is its virtue.

By the second decade of the 21st century, the context of political theory had dramatically changed. Across the world, the extreme right-wing came to command power. Under the impact of right-wing extremism, cosmopolitanism was thrown out of the window, and societies closed their doors and windows. They were now preoccupied with hostility against minorities, immigrants, ‘outsiders’ and neighbouring countries.

The imaginary enemy, right-wing populists told us, does not lurk on our border alone, it is within our own borders. Our fellow-citizens and those who sought citizenship became our enemies.

Never has the shift from cosmopolitanism to a narrow and ugly nationalism taken place so rapidly, except in the period leading up to the consolidation of German Nazism, which was openly hostile to the internationalism of the Left.

The notion of obligation towards the ‘distant needy’ or even the ‘proximate needy’ who did not belong to our religious community, were replaced by duty towards our own people with whom we were bound by ties of religion or race.

The distinction between cosmopolitanism and a nationalism that urges us to confine our loyalties to our own, came to mind as we read of another victory of the extreme right in Europe – the success of Geert Wilder’s Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands.

Geert Wilders. Photo: Wouter Engler/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The PVV, winning 37 of the 50 seats in parliament, is now a majority party. The Netherlands, for long identified with centrist politics, has now turned to the right. The implications are grim because Wilder is a polarising figure. He is against immigration, Islam and the European Union. He has opposed the construction of mosques, advocates strict control on drugs and urges a reduction in taxes.

In recent decades, most of Europe has been taken over by right-wing populists. Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, has directed the erection of fences to keep out refugees from war-torn Syria, captured the judiciary and other institutions, has openly encouraged crony capitalism, incorporated Christian values into the Constitution and is reportedly against gender studies in university curricula.

He has written the standard text of right-wing authoritarianism/populism: institutional capture and democratic backsliding. Right-wing authoritarianism has transformed former liberal democracies into illiberal electoral democracies. All that remains on the political landscape is elections. The script is surely familiar to Indians.

There are other examples that come to us from Europe. One is the rise of Georgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy in Italy: nationalistic to the core, anti-immigrant and obsessed with state sovereignty. The increasing prominence of Marine Le Penn’s National Rally in France promises that another right-wing populist will come to power at some point in a country that expanded and popularised democracy first conceived of and implemented in Greece.

There are countless other examples of right-wing populists: Netanyahu in Israel and Putin in Russia, Donald Trump, the former President of the United States, and of course, the current leaders of India. They insistently subvert democracy, erode liberal ideas of obligation to others simply because they are human beings, dismiss inclusiveness and pluralism, mock equality and dignity, tolerance and secularism, corrode institutions, curtail civil liberties and openly head-hunt minorities.

In Europe and the US, the right head-hunts refugees who have been driven from their homes by wars not of their own making. Europe, once the site of the Renaissance and the rise of humanism and modern political values such as liberty, equality and fraternity, has become a graveyard of all these values.

Also Read: The Right Wing Is on the Rise Globally

This is not to misrecognise the fact that European countries violated their own values while colonising our world. But this is not the issue at hand, it requires a different story. The issue is as follows.

‘Why does Globalisation Fuel Populism?’ This is the title of the well-known essay authored by the economist Dani Rodrik of Harvard University in the 2021 Annual Review of Economics. There is, he suggests, compelling evidence that globalisation shocks, often working through culture and identity, have played an important role in driving up support for populist movements of the right-wing kind.

International integration has produced domestic disintegration in many countries. The populist response seems to have taken a mostly right-wing form.

There are other factors that intensify uncertainty amidst globalisation. Across the globe, one of the main consequences of globalisation is the dismantling of the welfare state.

In India, whatever social legislation was passed in the 2004-2014 period of UPA rule has been pulled to pieces by the NDA regime. The religious right-wing in the country has put into place a highly personalised system of the grant of benefits.

Social welfare is no longer an aspect of an appropriative state; it amounts to little more than the gift giving of a handful of grain and a little money. The grateful consumer is expected to show her, well gratitude, by casting a vote for the gift-giver. The citizen, as Yamini Aiyar puts it, has been reduced to a labharthi.

The dismantling of the welfare state that had been built brick-by-brick by social struggles, and in some cases a sympathetic judiciary, has led to tremendous insecurity. Privatisation of assets to industrial houses openly aligned to the ruling party has gravely reduced government jobs. Whatever jobs are left in the government sector have become the object of fervent desire, simply because they promise security.

And above all, globalisation brings a sense of homelessness because we no longer have a definite identity in an interconnected world. This was an identity that was carefully fashioned by the leaders of our freedom struggle.

Into this vacuum stepped in the religious right, flourishing the pennant of ‘we versus them’, advocating a strong state and an even stronger leader, and urging us to believe that the main issue is cultural homogeneity and the marginalisation of people who do not fit in.

Right-wing populists are dangerous because their politics is extremist, their ideology exclusionary, their enmity to those who do not belong palpable, their religious rhetoric cynical and opportunistic, and their chief desire to divide people so that they can rule.

It has been only a little over three decades that political theorists were speaking of a cosmopolitanism, a concept that Indians were already familiar with through the creative writings of Rabindranath Tagore.

Today we speak the language of provocation, taboos, censorship, coercion and bullying. Globalisation has battered the notion of obligation to each other simply because as human beings we owe each other. We now live in a Hobbesian state of nature, which is a state of war of all against all. We wait for a Leviathan to restore and reinforce our social contract – our Constitution that promises fraternity.

Neera Chandhoke was a professor of political science at Delhi University.