Front Page
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Uttar Pradesh Wednesday, where he criticised the violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, is the lead story in mainstream newspapers Thursday.
The fallout of the anti-CAA agitations is also making news on page 1 — Hindustan Times, The Indian Express and The Hindu carry reports from Uttar Pradesh. The latter features a report from Aligarh Muslim University.
Modi’s speech: The headlines focus on different sections of PM Modi’s speech. The Indian Express’ headline reads “Right vs responsibilities: PM has a message for protesters”; Hindustan Times indulges in some wordplay “Will challenge the challenge: Modi in UP after CAA stir”; The Times of India calls the protests “riots” and notes that the PM has gotten sterner, “Modi sharpens attack on protesters for anti-CAA riots” and The Hindu simply reports “U.P. tense as PM calls for introspection”.
Modi “asked those who indulged in vandalism ‘in the name of protest’ to introspect if their path was right”, writes Hindu. Express highlights that he “cited the violence and vandalism in a section of the protests to distinguish between ‘rights’ and ‘responsibilities’”. HT notes that Modi “came down heavily on the damage to property” caused by the protesters. It adds that he said people should not believe in rumours and misinformation. TOI writes the speech “could further polarise the debate on large-scale violence and the police response”.
Fallout from anti-CAA protests in UP: Express reports that “cracking down on people they suspect were behind the violence in Uttar Pradesh… police have put out multiple reward posters in Kanpur, Firozabad and Mau”. It adds that “notices warning of property attachment have been issues in Gorakhpur while in Bijnor, police have announced a reward of Rs 25,000 each for information on three wanted persons”.
HT writes “eight districts in Uttar Pradesh have begun the process of recovering damages caused during the violent protests”. It notes that the “action comes at a time when several locals in the area have alleged police excess during the clashes that broke out last week”.
“Stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear-gas shells have all become part of student parlance at Aligarh Muslim University following a crackdown by the police on December 15” that left several students injured, one student even had his hand amputated, reports Hindu. It mentions that a former student union leader alleged that the police “used rubber bullets used in Maoist areas”.
Police shut PGs, coaching centres near DU: “Shutters were down at coaching centres and reading rooms in Mukherjee Nagar — one of Delhi’s largest coaching hubs — on Wednesday after a notice directing them to do so, purportedly issued by the police and a purported video of a police officer telling students to leave began doing the rounds,” reports Express. TOI highlights that the police said the video “had been edited and circulated to create the impression that students were being asked to vacate”.
Opinion
The Indian Express: The union cabinet Tuesday approved the post of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) whose major task will be to ensure coordination between the three services, writes Express. The CDS will also prioritise requirements of the three services within budgetary allocations, taking a big responsibility away from the ministry, it states in “Towards jointness”.
However, a CDS is not the commander of all the armed forces in the country, it clarifies. The CDS will be functioning as the secretary within the ministry while being at par with the three service chiefs in status and rank. Express speculates that there could be some “teething problems in the beginning”, but things are bound to fall in place.
It concludes that the navigation of entrenched institutional interests, hierarchical powers and military traditions will be required to lay the foundation for a strong CDS.
The Hindu: The editorial calls the government’s position on the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) as “dangerous doublespeak”. It states that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claims about fear-mongering being responsible for widespread protests are “lame and disingenuous”.
Concern that the combination of CAA-NRC could lead to harassment of the poor and marginalised, “was not born out of anyone’s imagination”, but it has been stated by the ruling party itself, it writes.
Hindu argues that if the government has a rethink on its strident position on NRC, it must do so by being upfront. It also suggests that the government “must seriously reevaluate” as the country has more burning challenges to tackle, economy being the most critical. It is time for Modi to demonstrate that he is a man of his word, as he promised that he will run the country on the basis of consensus and not of legislative majority, it concludes.
Prime Time
It wasn’t a very merry Christmas on prime time news Wednesday. India Today debated the NRC-National Population Register (NPR) link. While Arnab Goswami said #MakeRiotersPay on Republic TV as he debated anti-CAA-NRC protests, Times Now questioned the “latest advisory” by Delhi Police asking students to leave from their accommodation, else action would be taken against them. Zee News discussed Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s initiative to identify people who destroyed public property and recover the financial loss. On NDTV India, Ravish Kumar asked if the Modi government is contradicting its own statement after Amit Shah said that NRC and NPR are not connected even as the home ministry’s documents say otherwise.
NDTV 24×7: On “Left, Right and Centre”, anchor Vishnu Som discussed the violence at Jamia Millia Islamia University last week and questioned who instigated the violence resulting in brute force by the Delhi Police.
“No student of Jamia was involved in violence,” asserted Wasim Ahmad, chief proctor of Jamia.
AAP leader Raghav Chadha raised another point: “The students who were inside Jamia library, were they also involved in violence? They were just studying, so why was tear gas released inside the library?”
CNN–News18: On the “#RightStand”, Anand Narasimhan debated the #CAAShowdown asking whether the NRC and NPR had turned into a political showdown?
In agreement with the BJP line, Narasimhan said political analyst Tasleem Ahmed Rehmani and others like him were just trying to find an excuse to target PM Modi and they got it through CAA-NRC. The anchor further asserted, “More than 75% of our population is born in the 1980s, then why would it be a problem proving your identity?”
BJP IT chief Amit Malviya and Rehmani got into a fighting match as each accused the other of a “venomous mindset, trying to divide the people of India”.
India TV: BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi reiterated that NPR and NRC were initiated during the Congress regime.
“What is the problem with telling your parents’ name? Our government has many schemes which are for the family and we just want to double-check,” he said.
Congress’s Acharya Pramod Krishnan accused that the BJP is unaware of what it should do. “Before CAA-NRC-NPR, the BJP first should have made a DPR — detailed project report,” he said.
Zafar Sareshwala, former chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University, demanded that the Modi government must clear apprehensions of the Muslim community on the floor of Parliament.
Aaj Tak: “Hum bharat ke log, to NRC-NPR se darna kya (We’re Indians, why should we be afraid of NRC-NPR),” reads the headline on Aaj Tak anchor Rohit Sardana’s show.
RSS ideologue Sangeet Ragi said Congress was initially claiming the NRC and the NPR, but now it is against it. “Congress has been able to mislead a particular community, so now they think every policy can be criticised,” he said.
Political analyst Chetan Singh hit back at the BJP, “This government has unnecessarily complicated things… They have made a cocktail of CAA, NRC and NPR.”