New Delhi: China remained the flavour of the week in Parliament as well as on the front pages of Urdu papers, with editorials arguing that while national interest should be paramount for both the Modi government and the Opposition, the former’s insistence on silence may not be the best way to deal with the issue.
The government’s continued silence on what is happening at the borders even as countries like the US and Germany express their concern emboldened India’s neighbours, the editorials said.
Among other news that made the front pages was the worrying Covid situation in China and the resultant alert in India, the ongoing debate about halal meat in Karnataka, and the government’s tussle with the judiciary over appointments.
ThePrint brings a weekly roundup of what made headlines in Urdu papers this week.
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China at the border
In a 17 December editorial titled ‘There is something that attempts are being made to hide’ Inquilab argued that something must be afoot at the India-China border that prompted the United States to say that it was keeping a close watch, or the German envoy to express his concern.
That’s why the silence of the Indian prime minister is baffling, the editorial said, adding that efforts were being made to keep something hidden. The piece came out a week after Indian and Chinese troops clashed at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
On 18 December, Siasat said in an editorial that there was politics happening over the border situation with China. The government, it added, needs to take opposition parties and others concerned into confidence about the situation.
It cannot be denied that China has been trying to create tension at the borders, the editorial said, adding that both the government and the Opposition need to be conscious of national interest when dealing with the issue.
In another editorial titled ‘Talks should not stop’, carried the same day, Inquilab said that China has become more and more audacious and is taking advantage of the Indian government’s silence.
In order to stop this, it’s important that the situation at the border isn’t kept hidden and the public be told what’s happening.
On 20 December, Inquilab wrote that the Congress had walked out of the Rajya Sabha after a discussion on the border situation was not allowed.
The editorial also said that the issue of Delhi-based thinktank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) — where External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s son Dhruv works — allegedly receiving funds from the Chinese embassy was also raised in the House.
Roznama Rashtriya Sahara reported about Sonia Gandhi’s address to the Congress Parliamentary Party as its front page lead on 22 December. In her speech, Sonia said that the refusal to discuss the border situation amounts to the country’s democracy being undermined.
The report was carried alongside a photograph of Congress leaders protesting in Parliament.
On 23 December, Sahara reported that the Opposition was insisting on a discussion on the China issue and that parliamentary proceedings remained disrupted.
Covid in China, ‘red alert’ in India
On 21 December, Siasat’s front page lead reported the surge of Covid cases in China, highlighting that experts were predicting the deaths of “lakhs of people”.
On 23 December, all three papers — Inquilab, Siasat and Sahara — reported that concerned about the rise in China’s cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired a review meeting.
In its lead report that day, Sahara wrote that there was an alert across the country because of a new Covid variant, BF.7. The report also quoted the central government as having said that while the country is “fully prepared”, the public must take appropriate precautions.
A separate report in the same newspaper said that state governments across the country were holding meetings to ensure they were prepared.
In its report, Siasat said the central government had advised people to remain vigilant and there was a special meeting at the Union health ministry on various issues.
Another report in the same paper also carried Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegation that Covid was being used as an excuse to stop his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
He was responding to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s letter stating that the mask mandate and other Covid protocols must be adhered to at the yatra.
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Bharat Jodo Yatra
On 21 December, Sahara’s editorial quoted Rahul Gandhi as saying that the yatra was “opening a shop of love in BJP’s market of hate”.
The editorial said that “the fact is, this fight is a fight of ideology”, adding that this is a war against an ideology that is fueling “hatred and ugliness” throughout India.
For centuries, the piece further said, Indians have been living side by side with hatred against each other in the name of religion. The fire of violence born out of this hatred is ready to destroy the peace and stability of the country, it added.
“Ideological differences have been declared as enmity against the nation. This atmosphere of hatred has turned brother against brother. Every Indian is looking at each other with suspicion. Minorities, women, and Dalits are also vulnerable. Democratic values are being trampled underfoot,” it remarked.
In its 23 December editorial, Sahara stated that the Bharat Jodo Yatra, currently in Haryana, had completed 85 per cent of its journey and would reach Delhi in 9 days.
Only a 570-km stretch of the yatra remains, the editorial said, adding that throughout its journey, the yatra had done the work of love, brotherhood, and communal harmony that the country desperately needs.
It’s acting as a “vaccine against the spreading virus”, connecting people to each other, but it seems that the government and BJP don’t like this and so advice and instructions are being given to shut down the yatra on the pretext of Covid, the editorial added.
Targeting minorities
On 19 December, Inquilab reported on BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s statement that in the name of the ‘Sachar Committee’, an attempt was made to convert the Muslims’ trust in the government into fear and confusion. Naqvi was addressing a ‘Minority Rights Day’ programme organised by the Uttar Pradesh Minorities Commission.
Set up in 2005 by the then United Progressive Alliance government, the Sachar Committee had reported that Muslims were among the most economically, educationally, and socially backward sections of Indian society.
On 20 December, Urdu newspapers prominently carried news of the ruckus in Karnataka assembly over the ban on halal meat. The ruling BJP and the Opposition faced off at the ongoing winter session of Karnataka over the Bommai government’s proposed anti-halal meat law.
Govt vs judiciary
The revival of the debate over the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) also made the front pages.
On 19 December, Inquilab reported a statement on the subject by senior lawyer and independent Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal that the government was trying to “take over” the judiciary and it was important to protest. The report, carried on the front page of the newspaper, also quoted Sibal as saying that courts were the last bastion of democracy and that there will be no hope left if they fall.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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