Month: June 2024

Reforming Anti-Money Laundering Laws: Insights from Supreme Court Rulings

As the Supreme Court prepares to review the Vijay Madan Lal judgment, a pivotal ruling concerning PMLA, here is a review of other important court rulings on the matter.

The international community has established the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organisation, that sets international standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. As part of its mandate, the FATF issued 40 recommendations, providing a framework for countries to prevent and combat these financial crimes.

In response to this international obligation, India introduced the Prevention of Money Laundering Bill in 1999, which was later enacted as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2002 and came into force on July 1, 2005. The core objective of the PMLA is to address the laundering of illicit funds generated through activities such as drug trafficking. By targeting the flow of illegal proceeds, the legislation aims to protect the financial infrastructure of the country. 

The beginning

If we were to envision a trilogy on the PMLA, the judgement of Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India would undoubtedly serve as its first chapter. On July 27, 2022, the Supreme Court upheld several contentious provisions of the PMLA. The court also upheld the act’s constitutionality, justifying its decision by stating that certain provisions of the Act are reasonably linked to its objectives.

However, this analysis focuses on two main aspects:

First, the requirement for recording reasons for arrest in writing and communicating the grounds of arrest to the accused promptly. The court emphasised the constitutional mandate under Article 22(1) of the Indian constitution, which necessitates informing the accused of the grounds for their arrest.

Second, regarding the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), which outlines offences investigated by the ED, the court clarified that while an ECIR is not a statutory document like an FIR, the accused must still be informed of the reasons for their arrest. 

Although Vijay Madanlal Choudhary’s ruling mandated the communication of grounds for arrest at the time of such arrest, it did not specify the mode of communication – whether in writing or orally. This ambiguity was resolved in the subsequent case of Pankaj Bansal vs Union of India.

The middle

On October 3, 2023, the Supreme Court delivered its judgement in Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India, holding that the Enforcement Directorate must inform the accused of the grounds of arrest in writing. The court said that non-compliance with this requirement vitiates an arrest and entitles the accused to be set free unconditionally.

The court highlighted that the mode of conveying the grounds of arrest must necessarily be meaningful to serve the intended purposes. First, to ensure transparency and adherence to legal procedures, the court noted that if the grounds of arrest are only orally communicated, disputes may arise between the arrested person and the authorities regarding whether the person was informed about the grounds or not. These disputes will pit the word of the arrested person against the authorities. By furnishing a written record of the grounds of arrest, such disputes can be prevented, maintaining the integrity of the arrest process. Second, providing a copy of the grounds of arrest will not only inform the arrested person of why they are being arrested but will also enable them to seek legal counsel and, thereafter, present a case before the court to seek release on bail.

While the judgement defined the mode of information, it did not specify as to when it should be provided to the accused. This is where the Ram Kishor Arora v. Union of India judgement came into place. 

The end

On December 15, 2023, in Ram Kishor Arora v. Union of India, the Supreme Court ruled that the accused need not be informed of the grounds of arrest in writing at the time of the arrest; however, this information must be furnished in writing within 24 hours. Additionally, the accused must be orally informed of the grounds at the time of the arrest. The bench interpreted section 19 of the PMLA that states the accused must be informed of the grounds of arrest as soon as may be. 

In essence, the trilogy of judgments explains the journey and commitment of the court of law to ensure the mandate of fundamental rights. However, by the end of this trilogy, we witness a deviation from the court’s original commitment when the extra leverage of 24 hours is given to the investigating agencies.

The trajectory raises three significant contentions:

Undue leverage to the ED

It is now established legal precedent that the ED must provide the accused with a copy of the grounds of arrest within 24 hours, if not at the time of arrest. However, granting the ED this period undermines the constitutional mandate, as it gives the agency undue leverage over the accused.

The Act stipulates that if the authorised person, based on the evidence at hand, has reasons to believe that an individual has committed an offence punishable under the Act, they must record these grounds in writing before effecting an arrest. This means that if the Act itself makes it obligatory to record reasons before an arrest. It should, therefore, not be seen as a tedious demand from the agency but as a mandatory requirement for the officer to promptly provide the accused with a copy of the reasons for arrest.

As per Section 19, the accused must be brought before a magistrate within 24 hours. The ED seeks remand for further investigation in this duration. This requirement intersects with the precedent mandating the provision of a copy of the grounds of arrest within 24 hours.

It is foreseeable that the ED may consider the remand order as fulfilling the obligation to inform the accused of the reasons for arrest. However, the remand order cannot be relied upon to inform the accused of the reason for their arrest as it typically provides limited information and does not sufficiently convey the specific allegations or evidence that form the basis of the arrest.

Without comprehensive disclosure of the grounds for arrest, the accused’s legal counsel is placed at a significant disadvantage. The advocate will be unable to fully understand the nature of the charges or the basis upon which they are predicated, thereby hindering their ability to construct a robust and informed defence strategy.

It is a fundamental principle of criminal justice that the accused must be apprised of the reasons for their detention. This also goes against the procedural safeguards outlined in Article 22(1) which aim to provide the earliest opportunity for the arrested person to rectify any misconceptions and to understand the accusations against them. This allows the individual to exercise their right to consult a legal practitioner and be defended effectively. This principle ensures that the defence counsel can effectively represent their client, challenge the legality of the arrest and prepare for all aspects of the legal proceedings. This transparency is essential to uphold the rights of the accused and to ensure the integrity of the judicial process.

The essentiality of supplying the copy of grounds of arrest can be understood by the recent Supreme Court judgement of Prabir Purkayastha v. State which declared the arrest of NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha’s arrest and remand, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA), as illegal because the grounds of arrest were not supplied to him.

The Court examined the relevant sections of both the PMLA and the UAPA. It found no significant difference between the language of Section 19 of the PMLA and Section 43(B) of the UAPA, both dealing with the procedure of arrest. The Court concluded that the requirement to inform an individual of the grounds for their arrest, as interpreted in Pankaj Bansal’s case, should also apply to cases under the UAPA.

Specifically, the Court noted that the wording regarding the communication of arrest grounds in Section 43B(1) of the UAPA is identical to that in Section 19(1) of the PMLA. Further, the court elaborated that the constitutional safeguard under Article 22(1) of the Indian Constitution, which mandates that no person arrested shall be detained without being informed of the grounds of arrest “as soon as may be,” applies to both the PMLA and the UAPA.

The court addressed whether informing an individual of the grounds of arrest in writing is mandatory, even though Article 22 does not explicitly require written communication. The court referred to the Constitutional Bench’s judgment in Harikisan v. State of Maharashtra, which held that communicating the grounds of detention in writing and in a language understood by the detainee is essential. Failing to meet this requirement would invalidate the detention order, as it would violate the guarantee under Article 22(5) of the Constitution. The Purkayastha judgment underscored the importance of the Right to Life and Personal Liberty, emphasizing that any encroachment on these rights is strongly disapproved by the court.

Issues with ECIR

The ED argues that the ECIR, being an administrative document, falls outside the realm of the CrPC, and therefore, unlike an FIR, it cannot be provided to the accused. It has been proposed that the ECIR should be granted statutory recognition and elevated to the status of an FIR. This adaptation would alleviate the uncertainty associated with ED summons, as recipients frequently find themselves unsure whether they are being summoned as witnesses or accused individuals, primarily due to the confidential nature of the ECIR. In contrast, in cases involving FIRs, individuals can easily discern the nature of the summons by checking the FIR number online, a convenience not extended to ECIR-related summons. Standardising the ECIR’s status would streamline the process and provide clarity for all involved parties. If the person being summoned does not know whether they are being summoned as a witness or accused, they may give a statement that could be used against them.

The ED also argued that the disclosure of an ECIR may undermine the objectives of the Act as it often contains sensitive details, such as evidence possessed by the authority, and their premature disclosure could adversely affect the integrity of the ongoing enquiry or investigation. For these reasons, withholding an ECIR, as it is an internal agency document, cannot be construed as a violation of constitutional rights.

It is recommended that to balance transparency with investigative integrity, the authorised officers may redact sensitive information from the ECIR before providing the edited grounds of arrest to the accused. This approach preserves the confidentiality necessary for effective investigations while fulfilling the constitutional and statutory mandate outlined in PMLA.

It is to be noted that according to Article 21 of the Constitution no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. In the case of A. K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, the meaning of procedure established by law was interpreted to mean not just any procedure prescribed by a competent legislature, but the ordinary well-established criminal procedure sanctioned by the CrPC. There is no procedure established by law with respect to the ECIR under PMLA. In the absence of such a procedure, the procedure under the CrPC must be followed, and the accused needs to be given a copy of the ECIR. 

Absence of Case Diary 

The case diary, as mandated by Section 172 of the CrPC, maintains a chronological record of the investigation process conducted by the police officer. This detailed documentation includes every step taken during the investigation, such as the date and time of receiving information about the crime, the start and finish times of the investigation, locations visited, witness statements recorded, and evidence collected.

This comprehensive record ensures continuity and transparency in the investigation, serving as a crucial handover document when different officers handle the case at various stages. It provides a clear picture of the investigation’s progress for all involved parties, including courts and defence lawyers. The case diary is essential for maintaining continuity and transparency in the investigation process.

The PMLA mandates thorough investigations into money laundering activities but does not specifically require the maintenance of a detailed case diary similar to the one mandated by under CrPC. This creates significant concerns regarding potential violation of individual rights and due process of law. Without a mandated case diary, investigators are not required to maintain a chronological and detailed record of their actions, which can lead to reduced accountability for the investigating officers.

Furthermore, the absence of a structured record can enable investigators to manipulate or selectively present evidence without a transparent trail of how and when it was obtained. This can lead to biased or unjust conclusions, undermining the integrity of the investigation. In cases where multiple officers are involved in different stages of the investigation, the absence of a detailed case diary can result in inconsistent handovers. Critical information might be lost or altered, impacting the continuity and coherence of the investigation.

It is important to understand that the accused under PMLA does not have an automatic right to view the case diary. Access to the case diary is at the discretion of the court or the police officer. However, the significance of maintaining a case diary as noted above, lies in its ability to keep investigating agencies diligent and accountable throughout the investigation. 

Furthermore, under criminal law procedure, it is considered a dereliction of duty if the magistrate does not request and review the case diary before authorising any form of custody for the accused. This includes both judicial and police custody. The haphazard maintenance of a case diary discredits those responsible and defeats the purpose for which it is required. Therefore, it is suggested that a similar practice needs to be followed in PMLA cases as well. This will enable the magistrate to objectively decide whether to remand the accused or not.

Recent judicial developments concerning the PMLA have highlighted critical issues detrimental to due process of law. Progress in addressing these issues has been delayed but promising, with an original bench formed to review the Vijay Madan Lal judgment focusing on two main aspects. First, whether the ECIR need not be supplied to the accused, and second, the reversal of the presumption of innocence. However, the bench was disbanded on November 23, 2023, due to the Union government’s request for more preparation time and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul’s retirement. The Supreme Court, having initiated hearings on these pleas, had postponed proceedings to July 2024.

The outcome of this case holds significant implications for the PMLA’s application and the protection of individual rights. A ruling in favour of providing the ECIR, or copy of grounds of arrest, would enhance the fairness and transparency of PMLA proceedings, ensuring the accused’s right to a fair trial. As the Supreme Court resumes hearings in July, the new bench’s composition and perspectives will be crucial in shaping the final judgement, which could fundamentally impact the legal framework for money laundering investigations in India.

Prakhar Bajpai is a law student at National Law University, Punjab.

Telangana: Farmers on Tenterhooks Over Delay in Loan Waiver Scheme

Agricultural activity in some parts of the state has come to a standstill as farmers are anxiously awaiting guidelines for the eligibility criteria for loan waivers.

Hyderabad: The long delay in implementation of a loan waiver scheme by the Congress government has put the farmers on tenterhooks in Telangana.

With sowing of kharif crops set to begin, farmers are clueless about the quantum of relief they can expect from government and if they should take fresh loans in the meantime.

At a public meeting addressed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Warangal on May 6, 2022, the party had declared that they would write off farmer loans up to Rs two lakh as soon as they came to power. The declaration was incorporated in the Congress manifesto for Assembly elections in November last year.

After nearly seven months in power, chief minister A. Revanth Reddy, on Friday (June 28), told media persons in an informal interaction at New Delhi that the government will release guidelines for the scheme in the next few days.

At another press conference in Hyderabad, following a meeting with his Cabinet on June 21, Reddy justified the delay by stating that his government had only about 100 working days, with time lost due to the model code of conduct ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Nonetheless, the government was committed to cancellation of loans in one go by August 15, as announced earlier, he said.

He recalled that the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime, which also promised the scheme in the 2014 elections and took nine years to write off loans, that too only partially, across its two terms up to 2023. It waived only Rs one lakh per farmer, aggregating to Rs 28,000 crore in four instalments after many postponements and with the interest component of the loans excluded.

The Congress, on the other hand, had taken the responsibility for waiving loans borrowed during the BRS regime, which remained uncleared from December 2018 to 2023. These loans amount to nearly Rs 31,000 crore. 

Even as farmers are anxiously awaiting guidelines for the eligibility criteria for waivers, Reddy has made it clear that those who took loans mortgaging gold will not be eligible. Only loans meeting the guidelines of the State Level Bankers Committee will be considered. The loans will be evaluated on the basis of pattadar passbooks held by farmers.

Reddy’s terms are viewed in the backdrop of several speculations that the guidelines will be framed on the basis of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana of the Union government and that doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants and other professionals beside income-tax payers will be ineligible.

Due to lack of clarity on what the government intends to do, a progressive farmer of Mahbubabad, S. Jaipal Reddy, said the agricultural operations in villages have come to a standstill. The farmers have stopped the repayment of old loans and are not borrowing fresh ones to start their work. They are not sure whether the government will waive Rs two lakh in one go or in various slabs.

The government’s loan waiver scheme comes at a time when it is carefully managing its expenditures due to the poor fiscal health inherited from the previous administration. The Reddy government has explored various channels to raise the funds required to fulfil its commitment. Apart from commercial banks, the government has also negotiated with the National Cooperative Development Corporation, which funded the BRS government’s sheep distribution scheme. The scheme was hit by a fraud after the first instalment worth Rs 4,500 crore was released. Consequently, the second instalment was cancelled.

Sources said that NCDC funding could also hit a roadblock for political reasons if the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government was unwilling to help the ruling Congress in Telangana.

Similar demands from other states

The announcement of crop loan waiver by Telangana has triggered similar demands from farmers in Punjab and Maharashtra. The new BJP government in Odisha also announced a package of waivers for farmers for loans taken prior to 2021-22.

The convenor of Farmers Forum of Punjab, Sarvan Singh Pandher, who is leading the farmers protests in the state, has demanded that the total agricultural debt of the country be written off. This would amount to nearly Rs 18.5 lakh crore. 

Bankers at a meeting organised by a financial and business portal last week expressed concern that loan waivers hurt lenders’ asset quality and credit cycles. It hits the credit culture of a wider section in other states where the borrowers otherwise repaid borrowings promptly. They also start hoping for a waiver of their liability. Loan waivers have a clear political motive, they incentivised farmers to default.

Karthik Srinivasan, group head of financial sector ratings at Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA), said that farm loan waivers were a nightmare to banks. 

Prabhakaran. S, business head of agriculture and priority sector lending at RBL Bank, said farmers delay payments knowing that governments will announce loan waiver around elections.

The Telangana Jana Samiti president, M. Kodandaram, said that loan waivers were the best option to aid distressed farmers, as institutional lending met only 25% of the demand in Telangana. The low lending is attributed to poor repayment by farmers, banks analysing borrowers’ credit worthiness and a crisis in the cooperative sector. There is no other way to replenish capital in the agriculture sector, he added.

Uttar Pradesh: 11 Days After Death by Lynching, Muslim Man Charged With Dacoity, Assault of Woman

The woman who lodged the FIR told The Wire that she could not go to the police station to lodge a complaint on the same day due to the commotion of locals apprehending the now deceased Aurangzeb.

New Delhi: Eleven days after a Muslim man was lynched by a group of Hindu men in Aligarh city of Uttar Pradesh, a first information report was lodged against the deceased victim, his brother and five others on the charges of dacoity and assaulting a woman to outrage her modesty.

Aurangzeb alias Farid, aged 35, died on the night of June 18 after he was assaulted by local men, who, police said, suspected him of having attempted theft at a Hindu trader’s house.

Then, on June 29, an FIR was lodged against Aurangzeb and six other Muslim men under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 395 (dacoity) of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR was lodged on the complaint of Laxmi Rani Mittal, who alleged that Aurangzeb and his companions committed dacoity in her house on the day of the incident. She claimed that Aurangzeb suffered injuries after slipping on a staircase while trying to hurriedly escape the house after the loot.

The details of the FIR lodged on her complaint contradict the facts of the case that emerged on the basis of a viral video and FIR lodged in the case by the family of the deceased victim.

Mittal’s claims

Mittal told The Wire that her family runs an apparel store on the ground floor of the building and live on the second floor. According to the FIR lodged at Gandhi Park police station in Aligarh, on June 18, Mittal was in her kitchen, while her husband and children were resting in another room and her father-in-law had gone to the temple. At around 10.15 pm, she alleged that a group of five to six men climbed up through the stairs and entered their house. One of them carried an illegal country-made pistol while two others were armed with knives, she claimed.

Holding her at gunpoint, the men robbed a gold necklace she was wearing. “They threatened to shoot me if I tried to make any noise,” claimed Mittal, who added that one of the accused men placed his hand on her chest indecently.

The intruder led her to another room and demanded that she hand over all the money she had, Mittal claimed. She alleged that the robbers forced her to hand over Rs 2.5 lakh in cash that was kept in an almirah, and some gold and silver jewellery. The man then handed over the cash and the jewellery along with his pistol to his companions and told them he would be back with more items, Mittal claimed in her FIR.

Mittal further claimed that four intruders stood near the staircase for a while and escaped with the looted items as they feared getting caught, upon hearing sounds of people outside. The intruder who had accompanied her to the other room also tried to escape but slipped on the stairs and tumbled, said Mittal. The man suffered an injury on his head and his limbs, she claimed.

Also read: Aligarh: Group of Hindu Men Lynch Muslim Man on Theft Suspicion

‘Aurangzeb identified himself’

Mittal said that some locals caught hold of the man, who identified himself as Aurangzeb, after they heard her cries for help. According to her FIR, Aurangzeb allegedly told the local men about his companions who escaped. They had come to the locality to conduct a recce for a dacoity, alleged Mittal. Those named in the FIR were Aurangzeb, Salman, Aurangzeb’s brother Mohammad Zaki, Akarbar, Nawab, Shamim, Ashu Paan wale ka ladka and two others.

Explaining the delay in lodging the FIR, Mittal said that she could not go to the police station on the day of the incident due to the commotion. In her FIR too, she has mentioned that the local police station did not lodge her complaint, following which she had to address her complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Aligarh.

“We could not go to the police station on the same day,” she said.

Mittal told The Wire that she did not recognise the men who allegedly barged into her house. She said that locals who caught hold of Aurangzeb got information of his identity and those of his companions through him, she said.

Mittal further said that after locals apprehended Aurangzeb, her father-in-law, who returned from the temple, dialled 112, following which police arrived at the scene and took away an injured Aurangzeb.

S.P. Singh, station house officer at Gandhi Park, confirmed to The Wire that an FIR had been lodged under dacoity and assaulting a woman to outrage her modesty. Asked if police had identified those named in the FIR along with Aurangzeb, the officer said it was a matter of investigation. “All this is a part of the investigation,” he said.

No arrests were made yet in the FIR, he added.

An MLA emerges

On the complaint of Aurangzeb’s brother Mohammed Zaki, an FIR was lodged on June 18 against 10 persons, all of them Hindus, and 10-12 other unidentified persons under the charges of murder, unlawful assembly, rioting with deadly weapon, wrongful restraint and committing a crime with common intention. In his FIR, Zaki had said that the assaulters had identified his brother as a Muslim.

Four persons were arrested in the murder case.

A video of the accused persons surrounding Aurangzeb at a small crossing in a locality in Aligarh and thrashing him with lathis and assaulting him with kicks and punches, was widely shared on social media.

According to the FIR lodged at Gandhi Park police station on the complaint of Zaki, Aurangzeb was returning at around 10:15 pm on June 18 after making rotis when he was confronted by some locals near a by-lane in the Mamu-Bhanja neighbourhood. They attacked him with the intention to kill and “identified him as a Muslim,” said Zaki in his complaint. He described it as a case of “mob-lynching.” The persons accused of murdering Aurangzeb were identified as Ankit Varshney, Chirag Varshney, Sanjay Varshney, Rishabh Pathak, Anuj Agrawal, Monu Pathak, Pandit Vijaygarhwala, Kamal Bansal, Dimpy Agrawal and Rahul Agrawal.

With the local BJP MLA Mukta Raja standing with those arrested in the murder case, claiming that they were being falsely implicated, the incident took a communal and political turn. On June 19, Hindutva activists and traders from the Hindu community led by Raja staged a dharna protesting against the police action against the accused persons and demanded that they not carry out further arrests. With members of both communities coming out on the streets, the area was boiling with communal tension but no further violence was reported.

Dreams, CGI and Patches of Grass: Is There Cricket in the US Beyond the T20 World Cup?

For the leagues, coaches and mainly immigrant players, who keep cricket alive in New York, the World Cup’s arrival in the US can perhaps be read more as a ‘career achievement award’ – some overdue visibility.

In the week leading up to the T20 World Cup final, a larger-than-life, gold statue of Virat Kohli was unveiled in Times Square, the ultimate sign of cricket’s arrival in the US.

Finally!

It’s the stuff the ICC’s dreams are made of.

With India winning a World Cup after 13 long years and the ICC hoping to win over America, King Kohli has been enshrined in the heart of consumerism. 

Except there’s no actual statue. It’s just a CGI ad campaign for the mattress company, Duroflex, that Kohli advertises for: ‘#greatsleepgreathealth’. There’s been some confusion about whether the statue is real or not. Which is also a bit like how the T20 cricket World Cup’s stopover in New York feels in hindsight. Did it really happen? Or was it all a dream? A mirage in the suburbs of Long Island?

Unlike the permanent Texas and Florida grounds, the modular stadium in Nassau county, Long Island, is being dismantled for good. The World Cup final ended with rapturous scenes in Barbados. But for now, the ICC’s American experiment is over. So how should we measure its success? And where to for cricket in places like New York? 

The ICC is thrilled that the total attendance at games across the USA was 190,000. The India-Pakistan clash was reliably seismic (34,028 in attendance) and is estimated to total $78 million in economic value for the New York region. Along with big numbers, there were of course big names at the India-Pak match. Cricket royalty like Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar watched alongside NRI power hitters like Satya Nadella of Microsoft and celeb chef Vikas Khanna of Bungalow, New York’s hottest new Indian restaurant. Nadella is also part of a group of investors who have bet nearly a billion dollars on making Major League Cricket soar in the US.

But the fans’ passion is what makes any of this possible. So what about measuring success in decibels? Rohit Sharma’s first six against Pakistan apparently provoked a 122db roar. The day after the clash, a Hispanic clerk at the Super Convenience store near the stadium was still stunned by the celebrating Indian crowds that overwhelmed the usually quiet suburban streets.

Despite not having the atmosphere of other India-Pakistan build-ups, the fans were irrepressible. They picnicked in Central Park the day before the match. Some who couldn’t get tickets – or refused to pay the high prices for them – went to a sold-out live screening at the Citifield baseball stadium, sponsored by Coca Cola. That ‘halftime show’ featured a performance by diaspora darling Tesher of ‘Jalebi Baby’ fame. There were also multiple watch parties in Manhattan bars, with Bollywood DJs, VIP tables and bottle service – which started at 9.30 am. A ‘desi power’ weekend of this scale was probably last seen when Modi howdied his way into Houston, Texas, in 2019.

But looking at the India-Pakistan match alone isn’t a particularly useful barometer of cricket in the US. Crowds and money will go wherever the two countries play. This time it happened to be New York. It was a huge, noisy, absorbing spectacle. But, like the stadium they played in, and the rain that threatened to derail the match, it came and went.

What can smaller moments tell us then? Like the brave-hearted, odds-defying performance of the co-hosts, Team USA? After beating Pakistan, the USA broke through to the Super Eights – and briefly even to mainstream American news. Oracle engineer and Ivy league grad Saurabh Netravalkar’s dazzling bowling turned him into, as the joke goes, every desi kid’s nightmare and their parents’ dream. With profiles in the New York Times and the Washington Post, will he be that one household name that helps cricket break through? Potentially through Major League Cricket? Or will the shine wear off now that the US team currently has no matches scheduled against full ICC members until the 2026 T20 World Cup?

What if we look beyond the World Cup for a moment? Big names, viewership and ticket sales are essential to sustaining the business of cricket. But what about sustaining cricket itself? What about those who’ve been playing, celebrating, covering, and promoting the game in America before the World Cup arrived, and will continue to do so now that it’s left? Their everyday passion can’t be captured by the tournament organisers’ numbers.

The Brooklyn Lycans of the NYPD Police Commissioner’s Youth Cricket League in 2018. Photo: X/@NYPDCommAffairs.

Consider the Brooklyn Lycans, a Bangladeshi team that plays in Bangladeshi Cricketers Alliance of North America (BCANA), an NYC-based league. The Lycans didn’t go to the stadium to watch the Bangladesh-India warm-up match because it clashed with their own league game. Well, all except one Lycan, newly minted 24-year-old law graduate, Ekok Soubir. “Going to watch Bangladesh play was always a dream of mine. But my teammates made a lot of fun of me for wanting to watch others play as opposed to playing myself”, he admits. “Winning a championship in our leagues is just as important to us as winning a World Cup”. 

For the leagues, coaches and mainly immigrant players, who keep cricket alive in New York, the World Cup’s arrival in the US can perhaps be read more as a ‘career achievement award’ – some overdue visibility. On the sidelines of the Bangladesh-South Africa match in New York, Ekok’s teammate Tareq Manawer said, “from 2009-10, when we came in, there was such a large Bangladeshi community playing without even recognition or anything like that”. For Bangladesh and other countries to play here in 2024, he continued, “it just shows how cricket has grown”. 

Crucially, this growth has been happening well before the World Cup arrived in the US. Chubb Bedessee runs Bedessee Imports, the largest supplier of cricket gear in the US, which has been in business for more than four decades. Today, off the top of his head, he can list at least fifteen leagues in the New York region alone, from the Kerala Cricket League to the New York Tennis Ball Cricket league. 

Bedessee has also been coordinating an ambitious proposal to construct a permanent stadium in New York. After a citywide search, his group identified a plot near a Southeastern tip of Brooklyn close to Marine Park. They’re aiming to gather 100,000 signatures to petition the city. Meanwhile, the Ambani-backed team, Mumbai Indians New York, who won the first edition of Major League Cricket, are reportedly planning to build a permanent stadium in Marine Park. The Ambanis, with their deep pockets, might benefit from people like Bedessee’s deep knowledge of the local cricket scene.

While suffering post-World Cup withdrawal symptoms, it’s tempting to curl up on a Kohli-approved mattress and dream of a day when his golden statue might actually be in Times Square; when big players, audiences, and infrastructure are a staple of cricket in New York. But that’s not the whole picture by any means. 

“Despite unacceptable playing conditions, we are either playing on the weekend or spending our days thinking about how the next weekend seems so far away”, said Soubir. Meanwhile, in West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, New Jersey, wicket-keeper Sri Srikanth and a few friends convinced the school to let them set up a team, which debuted in a four-school tournament this May. “I think it’ll get slowly but surely bigger”, thinks Srikanth. “Even in my school people are trying to learn it”.

In fact, cricket in the New York region is a kaleidoscope that keeps revealing its different avatars the more you look – in schools, public parks, multi-use courts, car parks, and empty patches of grass. And it’s sustained, above all else, by passion. Still, it would be nice to someday have a stadium that doesn’t get torn down.

Ashish Ravinran is a Singaporean-Indian writer and filmmaker based in New York City. His upcoming feature documentary, Chasing Cricket, follows the story of immigrant teens playing in an NYPD-run cricket league.

TISS Fires Over 100 Staffers, Then Withdraws Termination Letter

Termination notices sent to the faculty said that the institute tried its best to pursue the release of grants from the Tata Education Fund but it has not received any decision from the Trust yet.

New Delhi: Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Sunday (June 30) released a statement saying the termination letter sent to over 100 staffers across its campuses has been withdrawn after it received assurance from the Tata Education Trust that it would provide the funds necessary to resolve this issue.   

TISS had terminated the contracts of approximately 108 teaching and non-teaching staff on Friday (June 28), without notice, across its four campuses, following non-approval for grants from the Tata Education Trust.

“It is crucial to clarify that these individuals were engaged under programs funded by the Tata Education Trust (TET) on a contractual basis for specific program durations. While it was unavoidable to issue discontinuation letters due to this contractual arrangement, there has been a positive development regarding the release of funds from TET.

Ongoing discussions with the Tata Education Trust have provided assurance that resources will be made available to TISS to resolve this issue. TET has committed to releasing funds for the salaries of TET project/programme faculty and non-teaching staff,” the statement read.

While the exact number of those who has initially been laid off is not known, those whose contracts had been terminated included approximately 52 faculty members – 18 in Mumbai, 15 in Hyderabad, 13 in Guwahati and 6 in Tuljapur. Additionally, at least 56 non-teaching staffers were laid off – 17 in Guwahati, 11 in Hyderabad, 13 in Mumbai and 15 in Tuljapur. 

A copy of the termination notices sent out to faculty members from officiating registrar Anil Sutar was accessed by The Wire. It referred to a letter sent out on May 31 stating that while the institute tried its best to pursue the release of grants from the Tata Education Fund for the payment of salaries, it has not received any decision from the Trust yet.

“The Institute tried [its] best to pursue for the release of grant from Tata Education Trust for the purpose of salary. The Institute made several attempts for the release of grant through official correspondence and personal meetings with the Tata Education Trust and the decision regarding further extension of grant period has not yet been received from Tata Education Trust,” the letter states.

“In view of above, it is extremely painful to inform you that your services at the Institute will come to an end w.e.f. June 30, 2024 (A.N), in the event of non-receipt of approval/grant from Tata Education Trust. Further updates, if any, regarding extension/continuation of your services at the Institute will be intimated to you once the approval/grant received from Tata Education Trust.”

Faculty members who have been laid off said to The Wire that an email had been sent on May 30, when their contracts technically came to an end, informing them that the institute is trying to ensure that the grants are approved.

“We never thought that this is a kind of a job where people can be sacked any time. People left when they got jobs, but there was no job insecurity as such. Our contracts came to an end on May 30. Every year this happens. Then our contracts get renewed and appraisals come. It was just a formality. But this time the Institute wrote that we are trying for your grants,” said a faculty member whose contract has been terminated and who did not wish to be named.

“We worked for one more month and  at 7:59 pm on a Friday night they told us that your position has come to an end as of June 30. Saturday is generally not a working day and Sunday is a holiday. So in a sense it was an immediate termination technically,” they added.

Those affected by the layoffs said that the Institute could have informed them at least a few months in advance. “Basically May 30 the contract ends. They could have told us a couple of months beforehand. There was restructuring of courses that happened for which we have relentlessly worked and designed the curriculum, faculty members worked on students’ dissertations, field work, among others. It looks like they required our services for one more month and that’s why they did not tell us. We did it because it was our service to the community,” the faculty member said.

The Wire has written to Deepshikha Surendran, head of communications, Tata Education Trust. This report will be updated when a response is received.

Failure of TISS leadership, silencing critical thought

Established in 1936 as the Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work, it was renamed In 1944, as the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. In 1964, it was declared Deemed to be a University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act (UGC), 1956.

Last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government gave itself the power to appoint key functionaries in TISS and four other privately-managed deemed universities. The Union ministry of education announced that it will appoint the chancellor and vice chancellor who, until then, were appointed by the Trusts of these universities. The government’s move was for deemed universities that received government funds exceeding their own annual earnings, according to the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, notified in June 2023 by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The Progressive Students’ Union has condemned the layoffs at TISS. The move is “completely a failure of the current leadership of TISS administration in running the institute and apathy of the BJP-led union government,” it said in a statement.

“After repeatedly targeting its students and curbing the campus democracy, the present TISS administration, under the BJP-led union government, has unleashed an attack on its employees as well. Recently, it has been learnt that on 28th June 2024 TISS administration sent termination letters to nearly 100 teaching and non-teaching staff at the Institute, informing them that their contracts will not be renewed and service ends on 30th June 2024. Even though the exact numbers are not clear, this shocking news comes just 48 hours before nearly a 100 institute staff members which were previously funded by the Tata Education Trust will become unemployed after years of service at TISS. It is completely a failure of the current leadership of TISS administration in running the institute and apathy of the BJP-led union government,” the statement said.

Speaking to The Wire another member of the teaching faculty whose services have been terminated, said that the mass dismissal is a “continuation of the onslaught on higher education, in general, and social science education, in particular, over the last 10 years.”

“During the periods of the previous two BJP-led governments, TISS itself had seen a series of rollbacks of support for marginalised students, steep fee hikes etc. The latest moves come as a culmination of this process. I also think that this mass dismissal is of a piece with the authoritarian muzzling of dissenting and critical voices which the Union government has consistently and vengefully been carrying out,” the faculty member said.

“TISS has always been known for independent thought and critical scrutiny of power. I see the mass sacking as a part of the current regime’s overall enterprise of silencing, censoring, dismantling, or capturing institutions which nurture independence of thought and expression,” they added.

 

 

Julian Assange: A Timeline of Events

A timeline of the major events since the WikiLeaks founder’s arrest in 2010.

Julian Assange spent five years imprisoned in the UK. Now the co-founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing platform has been unexpectedly released. After years of legal tug-of-war, Assange negotiated a plea deal with the U.S. judiciary that allowed him to be freed and return to his native Australia. As part of the deal, Assange pleaded guilty to one count of espionage. In return, he is to be sentenced to five years in prison, which he has already served.

The Statista infographic provides an overview of the events surrounding Julian Assange since the publication of the classified U.S. documents in 2010. The Australian’s troubles began in August 2010 when the public prosecutor’s office in Stockholm, Sweden, opened an investigation into allegations of rape and harassment. Two women had accused Assange of sexual offenses, but the investigation has since been closed.

Although Assange was arrested, he was released on bail and, fearing extradition to the U.S. via Sweden, fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London in the summer of 2012, where he lived for the next seven years as a political asylum seeker. In April 2019, the new Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno revoked his asylum and citizenship, whereupon the whistleblower was arrested and sentenced to just under a year in prison for violating bail conditions. After serving this sentence, though, he remained in custody pending extradition. However, extradition to the U.S. was averted several times due to health concerns and international pressure.

Infographic: Julian Assange: A Timeline of Events | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista, where this article was originally published.

Karnataka HC Quashes MHA Order Cancelling FCRA License of Centre for Wildlife Studies

The court observed that the lack of personal hearing rendered the MHA order unsustainable. 

New Delhi: The Karnataka high court annulled the home ministry’s order to cancel the registration of Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).

The order, passed on June 25, was delivered by a bench consisting of Justice M. Nagaprasanna.

CWS challenged the FCRA license cancellation on grounds that it lacked justification and that a personal hearing, mandated under Section 14(2) of the FCRA, was not granted. The home ministry argued that personal hearings were not required before cancelling a registration, news agency PTI reported.

The research and conservation institute, founded by K. Ullas Karanth, had applied for a change of bank account in 2021 after which it received foreign contributions. Subsequently, the Union government issued a six-month suspension of the trust’s registration and a questionnaire, which CWS’s counsel said it had not received, the Indian Express reported.

After their registration’s suspension on March 5, 2021, CWS received a show-cause notice in December that year. The trust’s FCRA license was cancelled on September 4, 2023.

“The words depicted in the Act ‘reasonable opportunity of being heard’ cannot be restricted to issuance of a show cause notice but a personal hearing in the peculiar facts of the case owing to the peculiarity of sub-section (3) of Section 14 of the Act must have been afforded to the petitioner,” Justice Nagaprasanna said.

The court observed that the lack of personal hearing rendered the order unsustainable. 

“Non-affording of personal hearing to the petitioner has rendered the order unsustainable and the unsustainability of it, would lead to its obliteration. Let there be no confusion that there can always be a fusion between hearing and personal hearing.” the judge said.

 

When the Streets Speak, One Must Listen

Given the widening gulf between the rich and poor, India’s concept of public protests has changed in the last decade.

The results of the 2024 elections first stunned, then surprised and finally gave hope to the country with a weaker ruling coalition and a newly strengthened opposition. With the new parliament in session, India is rediscovering the pleasure of listening to actual debates. The opposition’s bold, though token, refusal to unanimously support the ruling party’s candidate, Om Birla, as the Speaker of the House was unthinkable during the previous Modi government. The opposition openly said that they found Birla taking a partisan stand and favoured the Modi government on crucial Bills. 

Mrinal Pande

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

While this was good, watchable TV, it dislodged the news about sudden cancellation of crucial entrance exams for medical school and senior university positions for research and higher learning. This is both sad and unfair. The reason was the surfacing of leaked exam papers a day before they were to take place. This happened on a national scale and indicated widespread corruption in bodies conducting the NEET and NET exams. Nearly 2 lakh aspirants take these exams each year. Enough has been said about the regular and systematic leakages of exam papers as well as their routine cancellations, which often favours students who can afford multiple trips to the centres and expensive coaching institutes that ‘guarantee’ success. 

There are multiple media reports about how there is a vast nationwide network of education mafiosi, responsible for the systematic leakages, and how it may be patronised by those working within the system and political parties. After the recent explosion of public anger, the CBI and other interrogative bodies hastily created by the Union government are examining the matter. However, by now the proverbial horse has bolted. This is going to deeply impact the future of young doctors and scholars as well as all levels of higher education.

Nietzsche, in Daybreak: Thoughts on Prejudices of Morality, wrote that all great problems come alive in the streets, and it is in the streets that they are always debated because the street has always held both the flesh and the world. Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya remarked, “Agar sadkein khamosh ho jayein tau Sansad awaara ho jati hai (If the streets fall silent, the Parliament goes berserk)”. Street voices may not be the hard story, but the climate, the feelings expressed outside offices and parliaments and assemblies – where frank talk had, of late, become increasingly dangerous – are what all major stories are shaped by. You have to listen to understand to know what is happening on the ground.

Listening to the streets and reading what is on placards and slogans, the first thing you notice is that the vociferous protesters are largely senior aspirants for entrance to government-run colleges of medicine (still rated the best). Together, they are not just our future doctors and engineers and managers, but also the nursery of faculties for institutes of higher learning, currently functioning on a fraction of their sanctioned strength.

Second, the students are hopeful of entering institutions like Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Aligarh University as well as those in Chennai, Bengaluru and Benaras, all rated among the best year-on-year and often treated shabbily by the educational system largely on political grounds. Despite this, they have kept alive the true spirit of public protest which has fast eroded in the last decade.

Also read: NEET Exam Scandal: Congress Accuses BJP of Protecting Alleged Fraudulent Institution in Gujarat

The third point is that there are some notable fence-sitters among the power pack. They are part of a small, creamy-layer and have copped out of the Indian system altogether by simply buying their wards a seat in some well known universities abroad. This creamy layer largely comprises senior ministers, powerful diplomats, bureaucrats and corporate honchos. When cornered, they deplore the corruption in India’s higher education system and its falling standards, but listlessly condone it in public saying it is all because of our vast population and lack of many more private colleges to admit all.

Given the widening gulf between the rich and poor, India’s concept of public protests has changed in the last decade. Those who agreed with the protesters, several of whom were jailed or expelled, feared to be seen on the streets with a dozen TV cameras recording their presence. You do not see a writer, a poet, a social scientist, a senior faculty member or a retired vice chancellor amidst the students. 

Most protests in a democracy are not for ushering in revolutions, but for reforms in corrupt and dysfunctional systems. And when you write of change, it can be validated only if you were there in the street, among the protesters, when they were demonstrating and talking to each other as human beings under stress. The term ‘protest’ implies acceptance that there is an authority that is lending them an ear and taking heed of their grievances. Therefore, to report  protesters, especially young students, simply as anarchists, and applaud their voices being silenced is foolish and counter-productive, even for the government. 

Once upon a time, street protests were well-reported and managed to trigger change. Remember the Navnirman movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan, the spontaneous rallies at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan or Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, the much more recent peaceful candle marches against Nirbhaya’s rape or the internationally reported long dharna on Delhi’s borders by our farmers? The vast majority of our people who have the vote but not the voice, nor the access to ears of those who frame policies for the poor and the marginalised. They were given a platform in these gatherings and were reported well by the media. You could call them personal reportages but they were important and timely.

What is worrisome, when one looks around today, is that many among yesterday’s student protesters and their media friends, have graduated to higher jobs, gotten married, and turned complacent in a life of material privilege. To quote German novelist and poet Günter Grass, today their “mistaken sense of loyalty heaps blessings on yesterday’s crime”. 

The students, hollering against the injustices embedded in the gradual privatisation of the machinery that conducts the vital entrance exams, have a point. Most of them have been forced to pay large sums of money for joining coaching schools, run and encouraged by the educational system, and tom-tommed by the media through full page ads about their ‘success’ rates. Those who have worked hard and with honesty, within a system they knew to be unfair, face a double whammy. Add to this the recent reports that say yesteryears’ role models, raking in six or seven-figure entry-level salaries after graduating from IITs and IIMs, are gone. The Deloitte Campus Workforce Trends report is indicating an atrophy in both the number of jobs and entry-level salaries. The criteria is no longer academic credentials but the skills required in using micro-learning, virtual augmentation and use of various AI-assisted technologies.

Once the Election Commission declared severe punishment for anyone caught breaking the model code of conduct, government agencies swung into action against all heinously culpable. The resulting silence was seen by the ‘400 paar‘ group as good news. They were too busy crunching numerical, state-wise data on age and caste, and forgot to read the silent streets. They stuck to the traditional Indian hierarchies in public speaking. The higher the personage, and proximity to The Leader, the more media focus they were given. There were no friendly and garrulous bureaucrats or Party spokies who used the media as sounding boards in exchange for information. Throughout 2024, The One spoke while others appeared to listen or thump the table. 

This is why the beginning of a stirring among the opposition benches came as such a pleasant surprise. One hopes it will grow organically and restore the healthy tradition of debate in the parliament, and questions other than those of Parliamentary decorum will be raised: an angry, waterlogged capital, flooded streets of Ayodhya and overcrowded cremation grounds of Tamil Nadu with grieving families of the poor killed by scorching heat, hooch or crashing infrastructure – newly inaugurated bridges, airports and roads – built at a humongous cost.

In brief videos, we saw wood crackle and flames fly. Death came alive among the living, smelling of ghee, incense, wood smoke, and water – water everywhere. After the cremations and demonstrations, as the people spill out onto the streets subdued, what are they talking about? Is it irrelevant for the media to highlight the debate on Sengol and the Emergency?

Mrinal Pande is a writer and veteran journalist.

Saakhi is a Sunday column from Mrinal Pande, in which she writes of what she sees and also participates in. That has been her burden to bear ever since she embarked on a life as a journalist, writer, editor, author and as chairperson of Prasar Bharti. Her journey of being a witness-participant continues.

‘Concerns of 20 Lakh Ignored’ As Karnataka Again Exempts IT Companies from Key Labour Law

While corporates complain that labour laws cannot be applicable to ‘sunrise’ industries and would mess with their ease of doing business, it is crucial to ask, aren’t fair working conditions a fundamental right, hard fought for and achieved? 

Information technology or IT companies have been once again exempted from the Industrial Standing Orders Act 1946, which gives protection against arbitrary layoffs, unreasonable working hours, grievance redressal, sexual harassment and so on. In fact, the IT industry in Karnataka has been exempt from following the Standing Orders Act for 25 years or so, informs Sooraj Nidiyanga, general secretary of the Karnataka IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU). 

Business has no doubt been booming in the IT industry for the past many years. Last year, the chief minister Siddaramaiah, speaking at the Bengaluru Tech Summit, had acknowledged,“Our state has been a driving force behind the sector’s success, contributing around US$ 85 billion to the nation’s exports.”

Karnataka is home to about 20 lakh employees working in 8,785 IT and BT or bio technology companies. The government had promised a re-look at this exemption, and talk to all concerned parties before taking a decision. However, fast forward to June 10, 2024, Karnataka government has once again given exemption to IT and ITES companies to continue without Standing Orders. 

However, the companies are still required to follow basic labour practices, like constituting an internal committee as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, constituting a Grievance Redressal Committee, intimating information about all the cases of disciplinary action like suspension, discharge, termination, demotion, dismissal etc., of its employees to the Jurisdictional Deputy Labour Commissioner and Commissioner of Labour in Karnataka and more. 

So what is the track record of IT companies when it comes to labour practices? 

Starting from fresher hirings, things are often dismal. Young recruits are expected to deposit all their original qualification certificates with the human resources department for a lock-in period of two to three years depending on their contracts. The establishments demand huge penalties in case the employee wants to discontinue their employment. This sounds exactly like bonded labour but has unfortunately become a norm in several companies.

Then there is the practice of contract employment rather than permanent jobs. Hundreds of establishments are employing people as contract employees at various levels without a statutory license or registering under Contract Labour Abolition (Regulation) Act 1970. 

Arbitrary layoffs are not hidden either. Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, IT firms big and small have laid off employees en masse. Ideally, any establishment employing a hundred or more workers is required to obtain written permission of the government before laying off or retrenching workers under the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947. But being exempted from the Standing Orders allows the companies an easy pass in such scenarios. 

Suraj Nidiyanga from KITU says, “Companies are clearly not following the conditions in lieu of the Standing Orders Act. In fact, almost 50 disputes are pending with the labour department in the last two to three years.”

KITU has been functioning for the last six years and has a membership of over 10,000 IT employees. In 2019, it filed a writ petition in the Karnataka high court, asking the court to strike down Section 14 of the Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act, 1946, as ultra vires of Article 14 of the constitution of India. Section 14 of the Standing Orders Act grants the ‘power of exempt’ to not follow the act. 

KITU is worried that not following the standing orders leaves IT and ITES employees without fundamental rights – the right to know your service conditions, proper working hours, working environment and so on. 

While corporates complain that labour laws cannot be applicable to ‘sunrise’ industries and that it would mess with their ‘ease of doing business,’ it is crucial to ask, are fair working conditions not a fundamental right, hard fought for and achieved? 

Not too long ago, Narayana Murthy, who made a fortune selling knowledge systems built on India’s cheap labour services, asked the youngsters of the country to work 70 hours a week. Jokes and memes followed but the outrage did not give way to constructive discussion on the topic. From an eight-hour work day, we are now already stretched to 12-14 hours, with workers complaining of incessant phone calls and work emails even when they are off. The labour of the working class in fact is being squeezed well beyond 12 hours. The dilution of labour laws in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, along with the proposed labour codes are pushing the already repressed working class into slave-like conditions.

KITU organised a protest march to the labour office earlier this year to make their demands heard. Yet despite the assurances to hold tripartite discussions, the government of Karnataka has taken a unilateral decision to extend the exemption for another five years.

“This is a blatant attempt by the government to appease its corporate bosses, completely disregarding the concerns of the 20 lakh employees in this sector,” said the statement by KITU. 

Kavita Kabeer is a writer and satirist, associated with the Centre of Financial Accountability. 

Interview | Iqra Hasan on Being a Dynast, a Politician and a Representative of Communities

‘I have always felt that education, especially for women, is an important field and I hope to give my attention to that.’

In an interview with The Wire‘s Arfa Khanum Sherwani, first-time Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Munawwar Hasan spoke of a vision for leadership that embraces all communities.

The free-wheeling discussion in which she answered questions from two other journalists as well, Hasan, who is also called Iqra Hasan Chowdhary went over her background and the symbolism of her election from Kairana.

Key elements of the interview are presented below, in English.

How does it feel to be elected as a member of the parliament? 

I feel proud to be in this position. I’m aware that this is the big stage of democracy and I have been given this responsibility and I hope to fulfil it to the best of my capacities. Even as I was in the parliament today, many of our older members told me that I am entering this arena at a time when things seem much better, when the opposition is in a far better shape. I saw the unified and strengthened front of the opposition and I am proud to belong to it. 

What is your political and academic background? 

I studied at the Lady Shri Ram College of Delhi University, and then at the University of London. My masters was based on electoral reforms because having grown up in a political family I was always interested in the functioning of a democracy. My hypothesis and research was based on how the current electoral system promotes majoritarianism and how if a preferential voting system was implemented it might reduce the instances of hate speech. However, during the second wave of covid, when I had returned home, there were cases against my brother and my mother, and I had to take care of the house. From that point onwards began my legal battle against the BJP, and now that I have an opportunity to step into the political arena, I feel this is just a continuation of that battle. 

What has changed in these elections? 

From where I come, around 2013, a lot of seeds of hatred had been sown amid the various communities. Most of these communities are made up of farmers, and the BJP government had promised to double their incomes and give them a better MSP, but now they are facing disappointment. In these elections, farmers who were divided on the basis of religion and caste have come together and have been united by their common problems and complaints. I have noticed that these elections have not been about any larger national narrative but rather about the smaller problems of people, and I have seen my community adopt a more localised perspective while voting. Instead of voting for absent politicians who win on the basis of [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi’s name, they have chosen to put their faith elsewhere. 

Do you think the SP has really helped Muslims in earlier terms? 

If you say that SP has not helped Muslims enough then there must be some truth to that. I agree that the efforts that were made earlier might have been lacking, but the party has faced the consequences of that already. Now that the party has regained some power they are in a better position to fulfil their duties.

Regarding the recent atrocities against Muslims, we have tried helping the two victims in our region, but the fight against hatred is a long term fight and until there are strong laws condemning it, nothing can be done. The extremist Hindutva narrative has done a lot of damage in society, but undoing that will take time and cannot be rushed. SP’s ideology is fundamentally not discriminatory, but speaking up too loudly might not be a tactful way of countering the poison in people’s minds. In short, secular leaders may still cause polarisation if they voice their opinions too strongly. 

Do you think you are a dynast? 

Yes. I must acknowledge that I do come from a privileged position, and I am grateful that because of my background I have been able to rise to the role I now hold. I hope to use this privilege in the best way possible, and work honestly for all the communities that surround me. I may be privileged, but I don’t want people to feel like I cannot be their voice, or I cannot support them in their time of need. Through my hard work I hope to erase the fact that I am a dynast. 

Modi seems to consider himself to be a messiah of Muslim women, do you agree? 

Absolutely not. He can continue believing whatever he wishes, but many Muslim women are unhappy with him because no matter his actions, his intentions are well known. In the case of the triple talaq, Modi turned something civil into a criminal act, and I believe that he did this with the simple purpose of putting more Muslims in jail. There should have been more discussion on this topic, and people from the community should have been consulted. In many cases today, women are just abandoned, and men refuse to divorce them or offer them the shelter of any financial support. 

How do you want people to connect with you? 

During my election campaign I called myself the daughter of the community and that is how I want people to look at me. I come from a region where there are many different religious and caste groups, but in the past election I have seen a brotherhood emerge, and hope to strengthen that. I want to prove that just as a Hindu leader represents all religions and castes, so too a Muslim leader can do the same. 

What is your plan for the next five years? 

In the next five years I hope to work for the progress of my constituency and community. I have always felt that education, especially for women, is an important field and I hope to give my attention to that. Since I also come from a farming background, I also hope to give a voice to the issues of farmers whenever I can. As a leader, I also want to make sure that the medical facilities under my governance are being run honestly. As a leader, as a part of the opposition, I hope that we can put aside past issues and focus on the current needs of people. Now that the opposition is stronger, I hope that they will be able to raise their voice and be heard. 

What is the significance of the dupatta covering your head? 

This is a representation of my faith, my culture, as well as a sign of respect. From where I come, this is something both Hindu and Muslim women wear, and I believe that speaks a lot about the diversity of Indian culture as well as the kind of interplay of culture we see in society.