New Delhi: As the winter session of Parliament kicked off amid a row over tensions at the India-China border, the front pages of Urdu newspapers reflected that unrest. But the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra remained a key topic of conversation, more so due to the participation of Raghuram Rajan, with the Urdu press wondering whether the former RBI governor was looking to fill the gap left by an ailing Manmohan Singh.
Singh, an economist and technocrat much like Rajan, had been handpicked by the UPA for the post of prime minister in 2004.
Urdu newspapers also cover the outrage over the uniform civil code and the Congress’s win in Himachal Pradesh.
ThePrint brings you an overview of what the Urdu press covered this week.
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Congress & Raghuram Rajan
Coverage of the Bharat Jodo Yatra remained on the front pages and in editorials. On 14 December, an editorial in Inquilab about the yatra said it is a good thing that the Congress is accepting its past mistakes, but there is still a gap between acceptance and change. If the change had happened, the party would have fought an ideological battle instead of trying to tackle “real Hindutva” with “soft Hindutva”.
On Raghuram Rajan joining the yatra in Rajasthan, Siasat’s front page story on 15 December asked — ‘Is Raghuram Rajan trying to become the next Manmohan Singh of the Congress party?’
The party’s ascension to power in Himachal Pradesh too found space on the front pages. Roznama Rashtriya Sahara’s front page on 11 December carried the Congress’s announcement that Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu would lead the government.
The next day, its front page carried a picture of Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi alongside other Congress leaders in Shimla with the announcement that the party has formed the government in the state.
An Inquilab editorial published on 16 December said that it would not be fair to attribute the Congress’s win in the state to the tradition of the state government changing hands every election. The paper added that it is now important to replicate this success in Karnataka and Rajasthan. It noted that people are talking about 2024, but 2023, when 10 state assemblies go to polls, is perhaps a more significant year.
India-China border tensions
The winter session of Parliament kicked off with disruptions over the skirmishes between India and China along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh. The issue was also on the front pages of Urdu newspapers. Sahara’s lead story on 14 December was about Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement on the matter in both houses.
That day, Inquilab wrote that the government had given a clarification but opposition parties had held protests. In an inset, the paper carried the Congress’s charge that the government is trying to mislead the country by hiding the infiltration attempts by China. Another inset reported Home Minister Amit Shah’s counter that because of the “friendship” Congress had with China, hundreds of hectares of Indian land had been encroached upon in 1962.
A related story in Sahara on the same day said that the government had told Parliament that 3,500 companies in India have a Chinese director.
On 15 December, Sahara’s front page said that for the second consecutive day, there was chaos in Parliament over Chinese incursions. That day, Inquilab said that both houses of Parliament had seen unruly scenes over China.
Inquilab’s front page lead headline the next day was, ‘Is it not permitted to speak against China in Parliament?’ The paper was quoting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s question in the Rajya Sabha. He is also the leader of the Opposition in the House.
Economy
On 13 December, Inquilab and Sahara wrote that the Congress raised the issues of rising inflation and unemployment in the country during the winter session.
Inquilab reported that Congress leader Shashi Tharoor initiated the discussion on the supplementary demands for grants 2022-23. He alleged that the economy had slowed down after demonetisation and Covid slowed it down further. He said that he had predicted that the funds allocated for fertilisers in the budget were too low.
Inquilab also reported Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India’s economy is strong and growing at a fast pace.
On 15 December, Sahara’s front page reported Sitharaman’s remarks on the economy in Lok Sabha. She said the country’s economy is strong today despite fluctuations of the global economy because of the good economic management of the government. She added that inflation is coming down and the rupee is strong against the dollar.
Hooch tragedy
Roznama’s front page on 15 December was about the hooch deaths in Bihar’s Chhapra. The paper reported that local residents say the deaths were caused by drinking poisoned liquor. The statement issued by the police said that the exact cause of death will be known only after the post-mortem report.
Reporting on the same matter, Inquilab focused on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s reply to the Leader of the Opposition when the matter was raised in the state assembly. He said that everyone was in favour of banning liquor, anyone supplying it is doing dirty work, that whey will be ruined and driven away from the state. In a different column, the paper also reported the details of the tragedy.
Uniform Civil Code
On 10 December, Sahara carried news about a private member’s bill being presented in the Rajya Sabha to usher in a Uniform Civil Code on the front page. The Bill was met with stiff protests from the Opposition, the paper wrote, adding that when it was put to vote, there were 63 people supporting it and 23 opposing it.
Siasat also reported on the matter on its front page. It wrote that the Bill was presented despite protests from the Opposition.
On the same day, a Siasat editorial said that there is a need to refrain from politics in an issue as sensitive as the Uniform Civil Code. Nobody should be permitted to vitiate the atmosphere to serve their political interests. The government is perhaps silent because it is trying to gauge the situation, the paper wrote.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
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