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Media pays homage to Swaraj, News18, Times Now compare Rahul with Imran Khan

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Jammu and Kashmir continues to dominate headlines Wednesday, although the death of former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj is given due prominence.

The Times of India headlines: “Article 370 nullified, with 370 votes in LS for bifurcation.”

The “scoreline” for the Bill to split J&K and Ladakh into “two Union Territories” was “laced with irony, reading 370-70,” says TOI.

The Indian Express mentions Home Minister Amit Shah ruling out “any talks with the separatist Hurriyat Conference” and declaring “that India will continue to claim the territories of J&K in PoK and Aksai Chin.”

However, Express presents a cautionary tale of the sorry state of the Valley. A “question mark the size of the Kashmir Valley hangs over” its residents who are under an unprecedented lockdown as security personnel “patrol deserted streets,” it writes. So “staggering is the sweep of the change scripted in” New Delhi and passed by Parliament today, that “residents are stunned trying to wrap their heads around what these will translate into,” it says.

Hindu highlights at least “15 incidents of stone throwing were reported in the last 48 hours in Srinagar and Awantipora districts.”

It also mentions Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks, warning of “more violence,” as India has “gone against their own Constitution”.

Hindustan Times says Khan has incited “Pulwama-like incidents.”

Express, on the other hand, says China “expressed serious concern” over India’s decision. Responding to the same, MEA said that “India does not comment on the internal affairs of other countries and similarly expects other countries to do likewise,” it writes.

Congress: The Hindu mentions the Congress Working Committee’s stance on revoking Article 370, calling it a “unilateral”, “brazen” and “undemocratic” way of going about it. “This provision that accorded special powers to J&K should have been honoured till it was amended constitutionally after due consultation,” says the CWC statement.

Hindu also highlights the confusion in the Congress — CWC members Jyotiraditya Scindia and Deepender Hooda “had earlier made comments supporting the Centre’s move.”

Express claims that the CWC Tuesday “nuanced its stand” in the wake of “young leaders backing the government.”

Sushma Swaraj’s death 

All mainstream newspapers carry the news prominently on Page 1 with coverage on the inside pages too. They mention her last tweet on the J&K decisions, thanking the PM.

“Towering BJP leader dies of cardiac arrest,” headlines HT. Swaraj “extended a helping hand to many Indians in distress abroad and acquired a reputation as one of the most accessible ministers in the first term of the Narendra Modi government,” it says.

Express calls her a “fighter-in-chief blended grit and grace.”

TOI’s headline says: “Sushma Swaraj, who took diplomacy to the people, dies.” It writes “despite a few spells of hospitalisation,” she was “believed to be on the mend.”

Meanwhile, Hindu pays tribute to the politician in a strap right above the lead.

“Sushma Swaraj bids adieu,” it writes, bringing to light her trajectory in politics from joining the ABVP in 1970s to being the only woman MP to receive the “Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.”

Opinion 

HT: In`The Abdication of the Opposition’, it writes a scathing criticism of the opposition based on the lack of clarity within its own ranks and poor strategies against the many contentious Bills passed by the ruling party within a few months of its re-election. The Narendra Modi government’s move on Kashmir caused disarray in the Congress party — Rahul Gandhi took 24 hours to tweet on Article 370 and party’s chief whip Bhubaneswar Kalita resigned in protest of the Congress stance.

Leaders of Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam Aadmi Party and Congress too supported the move – some Congress members didn’t turn up for the vote on the Triple Talaq Bill. As the opposition fractures with more resignations and shifts, empty benches pave the way for fresh state elections which “in turn, helps swell BJP numbers”.

Hindu: In ‘Great expectations’, it says there is no argument that surrogacy requires regulation and it ought to have come long before. It looks into the nitty-gritty of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019, recently passed by Lok Sabha.

The newspaper explains that the Bill seeks to regulate commercial surrogacy and improve assisted reproductive techniques (ART) clinics that are necessary for the basic technology for the procedures. It also mandates medical expenses and insurance of a surrogate mother be paid during her pregnancy term, and exploiting her in any way would warrant 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.

Hindu says that the Bill, however, vaguely defines the ‘close relative’ criterion for surrogates, and only allows eligibility to married couples of a certain age group.

Prime Time

Swaraj’s death saw some confusion on TV channels. While CNN-News 18 announced her demise by 11.15 pm, others such as ABP and NDTVdeclared it after 10 minutes, awaiting confirmation from AIIMS, where she breathed her last.

 Meanwhile, the lead story on prime time was “Congress in disarrary” (India Today). From Times Now to CNN-News18 and Republic, anchors said Congress’s opposition to the government’s move was like Pakistan’s.

A division in Congress is out in the open with several party leaders from Scindia, Milind Deora to Janardan Dwivedi supporting the Centre’sdecisions on Article 370, while Rahul Gandhi opposed it.

Aaj Tak: On ‘Dangal’, anchor Rohit Sardana addressed National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah’s statement that he was under house arrest even as Amit Shah said that no one is locked up in Kashmir.

BJP’s Sambit Patra said, “They (the Abdullahs) will be upset. Until now there were three families who had a sense of entitlement towards Kashmir. But it is because of them that Kashmir is in the situation that it is.”

“I strongly oppose Congress’ statement that Kashmir is not an internal issue. Yeh Pakistan hai ya Congress party hai?” he asked.

Political analyst Salman Nijami challenged the government: “You say this is a gift for Kashmir, but you didn’t even ask the people. They don’t know what is going on because there is no internet or TV.”

He asked: “How could you rob us of our statehood? What kind of justice is this?”

Zee News: On ‘Taal Thok Ke’ with Aman Chopra, the set was adorned with the Tricolour, Vande Mataram was played on the loop and so also videos of ongoing celebrations over abrogation of Article 370.

Ashutosh Mishra, political analyst, said, “Abrogating 370 is not in Kashmir’s interest nor is it in India’s interest. BJP has done this purely to expand their vote bank.”

BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi countered, saying: “I don’t understand what 370 has to do with vote bank. This is about national security and equality.The kind of separatist rule that was going on there is extremely dangerous to national security. Which is why abrogating 370 was so important.”

CNN-News18: Anchor Bhupendra Chaubey discussed Congress’ conflicting views on Article 370. He drew a parallel between Rahul Gandhi’s stance with that of Imran Khan. However, in the discussion that followed, serious concerns were raised about the Centre’s moves.

“If the state descends into violence, we are back to square one, then what’s the point of removing Article 370,” said Khalid Shah, associate fellow at ORF.

Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement president Shah Faesal said, “It has decimated the political mainstream in Kashmir — there won’t be anyone who will raise the flag of India now. We are going to the Supreme Court, we still have not lost our faith in the institutions.”

BJP’s Narendra Taneja retorted: “We have been debating (articles) 370 and 35A for over decades now. Who says it has not been debated? All that we have done there in terms of law and order is for the safety for the people of J&K.”

Times NowOn ‘News Hour’, anchor Navika Kumar drew similar comparisons between Rahul and Imran Khan.

Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, BJP MP from Ladakh who made a rousing speech in the Lok Sabha, said:  “Throughout Congress’ rule, they never cared for Ladakh. We have no commonality with Jammu and Kashmir, and yet we sustained that relationship. Today, I spoke on behalf of all Ladakh people in Parliament.”

Majid Hyderi, political analyst, said, “For the last 72 years we have been trying to build a healthy and harmonious relationship and integrity with New Delhi, but suddenly we have been back-stabbed.”

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1 COMMENT

  1. There are still some States in India, which are given special status, visiting such states require permit from any Indian citizen .. THESE MUST BE ABOLISHED. ALL STATES ANT UT MUST BE TREATED AT PAR.

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