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Former union minister P.Chidambaram, who was sent to Tihar jail till 19 September, made headlines Friday. Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter being allowed to meet her mother who is under house arrest in Srinagar also found space.
Newspapers feature photographs of a smiling Chidambaram being taken to jail in New Delhi. The Indian Express headline is stark: “P. Chidambaram in Tihar,” Hindustan Times says, “Chidambaram sent to Tihar for 14 days of judicial custody,” The Hindu adds, “Chidambaram sent to Tihar jail till Sept. 19 in INX Media case,” while The Times of India gives it a dramatic twist with, “PC loses bid to avoid Tihar, to be kept there till Sept 19.”
“Observing that allegations against accused” were found “serious” and the “CBI has apprehension that because of his status and position, the investigation may be hampered by the accused,” a Delhi special court “sent” Chidambaram “to Tihar jail for 14 days in the INX Media case,” reports Express.
Hindu quotes Chidambaram’s comments after the court ordered his judicial custody, “I am only worried about the economy.”
On the other hand, TOI is concerned with the services provided to Chidambaram: “The judge allowed Chidambaram to carry his glasses and medicines to Jail 7, where he will be kept.”
Chandrayaan-2: Express’s second lead is Chandrayaan-2: “Chandrayaan: 15 terryifying minutes to history tonight,” while TOI says, “100m above Moon, Vikram will pick final landing spot”.
Express anticipates a historic moment, “a month and a half after it took off from the launch pad” at Sriharikota, “traversing a distance of over 3,84,000 km on a pre-defined path, Chandrayaan-2 is ready to face its moment of truth”.
TOI is technical in its report. It says Chandrayaan-2’s “preferred landing site is between two craters, Manzinus and Simpelius, about 350 km north of Moon’s south pole”.
TOI also features a National Geographic advertisement on its front-page flap, marking the moment when India will make history — Chandrayaan-2 Live.
Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter: The Supreme Court “allowed Iltija Mufti to meet her detained mother,” former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar, writes Hindu. It notes that when “she asked the court’s permission to move around” in J&K, “Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi orally remarked, ‘Why do you want to move around? It is very cold in Srinagar'”.
Hindu also points out that the top judge “did not pay heed to the government’s insistent pleas that Iltija Mufti had no business moving the august forum of the Supreme Court.”
Hindu is the only mainstream newspaper that reports, “Romila Thapar declines to send CV to JNU.” It mentions that she has “written a letter explaining what her status means”. Hindu quotes her, saying “they have contradicted themselves in the letter they sent to me”.
HT’s choice of lead today is, “US backs India’s terror tag for fugitives in Pak”. It says the United States “offered a resounding endorsement of the designation of four Pakistan-based terrorists by India in a move” that should “give pause to Islamabad which has sought to reset ties with Washington by leveraging its role in the Afghanistan peace process”.
Opinion
Express: In ‘Owning the Problem’, the newspaper writes that the government’s tight grip on banks in which it has holdings is turning out to be costly. The cabinet approved Tuesday a decision to pump capital into IDBI Bank, which has a “legacy” of bad loans, with the help of LIC. It is the government’s attempt to clean up the books of a bank in which it is not a majority shareholder, writes Express, and also indicates the government’s “political failure” in privatising PSU banks like IDBI, which was once “identified as a potential first candidate”.
LIC is in for the “long-haul” to determine if investments in “weak banks” like IDBI will pay off, explains Express, and it would in the government’s best interest to focus on retaining ownership in SBI, a few other large PSU banks and then “divesting the rest” when the time is right.
HT: It reviews the “state of play” in J&K a month since the government scrapped Article 370, and bifurcated the state into J&K and Ladakh. The move was greeted with “sullen anger in the Valley”, writes HT, but the international reaction has fared well for India.
Pakistan “reacted with predictable fury”, writes HT, which was backed by China, while the rest of the international community has “broadly fallen in line” with India’s position. The on-ground situation in J&K is still a matter of concern, adds HT, given the communication lockdown, large deployment of security forces and detainment of political leaders in the Valley.
The newspaper credits the state with having “managed to avert violence and killings”, but suggested a better balance of order and justice is needed so that PM Modi’s vision of “Naya Kashmir” can be fulfilled.
Prime Time
Prime time was dominated by Chidambaram, but the Ayodhya dispute, which is in the Supreme Court, and allegations against Amnesty International also came up for discussion. Kashmir, one month after the revocation of Article 370, was discussed too.
CNN-News 18 dedicated time to Chandrayaan-2, due to land on the moon in the early hours of Saturday.
India Today: “Has the Congress lost its perception war when it comes down to corruption?” was the question for the panel here with regard to recent detention of Chidambaram and Congress leader D. K. Shivakumar.
Congress’ Abhishek Singhvi, who is also Chidambaram’s lawyer, said, “The real question is on what urgency do you justify the need to keep him behind bars?”
“If he is guilty, by all means arrest him. If he is not, then you must acquit him,” he added
BJP’s Amit Malviya said, “The volume of evidence that is in front of the court is convincing enough for them to send Chidambaram to Tihar jail.”
On the merits of the case, Rahul Srivastav, national affairs editor of India Today, said, “ I will act like the statue we see in Hindi cinema — the one with the black band tied around its eyes.”
Pointing out the fact that a high-level politician was arrested for corruption, he added, “The arrest of P Chidambaram will set a political precedence.”
Republic TV: A show cause notice was issued to Amnesty International India by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged FEMA violations to the tune of Rs 51.72 crore.
“I believe Amnesty is not just corrupt, Amnesty is against India’s national interest,” declared Arnab Goswami. “All the money that has gone into Amnesty has gone into promoting a fake narrative of Kashmir,” he claimed.
“Amnesty is one of the very credible human rights organisations that is present in almost all countries,” said Mathews Phillip, human rights defender, Bangalore, and Executive Director, SICHREM (South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring).
Pradeep Bhandari, founder of Jan Ki Baat, retorted, “I doubt their credibility because if you look at the history of their stand on Kashmir or otherwise, it is close to Pakistan’s stand.”
“Human rights organisations have always been against the government,” commented political analyst Danish Qureshi.
Aaj Tak: Ayodhya was discussed on ‘Dangal’ with Rohit Sardana.
On the question of Lord Rama’s existence, BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “Is the name of Ram written on Mahatma Gandhi’s samadhi a lie? South Korea’s first lady who claims to be Lord Ram’s descendent recently visited Ayodhya.”
Mahmood Parcha, All India Muslim Personal Law Board member, insisted that the issue was not about Ram’s existence but about the land’s ownership.
Dalit activist Satish Prakash brought in the recent Ravidas temple’s demolition incident: “Why is it that Ram’s temple can be built on the basis of faith but Dalits are asked for land ownership documents?”
Zee News: On ‘Taal Thok Ke’, the decision to jail Chidambaram was discussed.
Political analyst Chetan Singh tried to defend Chidambaram by referring to his influential and respected family background. He added that this vendetta politics is dangerous for democratic values.
“Being from an influential family does not mean that the person is exempt from the possibility of committing a crime,” replied Major General (retired) S.P. Sinha.