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ISLAMABAD: India&#39;s government spent years designing a new legal order for labor. It passed four codes that replaced 29 laws, promised streamlined dispute resolution, and called it reform. The first four months of 2026 were the stress test: the codes failed it. The failure was not sudden. The Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, passed in February, repealed the foundational labor laws of 1926, 1946, and 1947 with retrospective effect, as reported by PRS India.&nbsp; The government called this modernization. But the codes exclude establishments with fewer than 10 workers, leaving 93% of the workforce outside the scope of safety compliance, according to local media. The architecture was never built for the people it claimed to protect. The Panipat refinery strike in February made that visible. Contractual workers at one of South Asia&#39;s largest refineries, formally excluded from many of the codes&#39; provisions, reported 12-hour shifts without overtime pay, per Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. They refused to return without written assurances. These were not unionized workers operating within the dispute mechanisms created by the new codes. They were workers who had written out the codes. That distinction matters. The Feb. 12 general strike drew 300 million participants across 600 districts, according to The Hindu, with union leadership declaring demands and organizing geography. It was large but legible. The April violence was neither. When the channels break When the West Asia conflict pushed black-market LPG prices from ₹500 to nearly ₹2,000, according to Reuters, for workers earning ₹500 to ₹800 rupees per day, the calculus became simple and brutal. While legislative grievances are negotiable, the inability to feed a family is not. Haryana moved first. After sustained unrest in Manesar, the state ordered a 35% increase in the minimum wage, as reported by the Deccan Herald. The decision resolved Manesar and detonated Noida. Workers across the border in Uttar Pradesh, employed by the same multinational supply chains, demanded the same rate. The state offered 21%. On April 13 and 14, arson and vehicle torching spread across four sectors of Noida, with approximately 45,000 workers on the streets and no union leadership directing them. This is what the collapse of formal channels looks like in practice. The Labor Codes were designed to streamline collective bargaining and dispute resolution. The Noida workers had bypassed both entirely. The mechanism failed before it was tested. A state-by-state minimum wage in an economy bound by shared supply chains cannot diverge without consequences. Haryana discovered this within 72 hours of its own concession. The government has no national floor wage to fall back on. That absence is now a live emergency. The politics of exhaustion The political reach of the unrest is its most telling feature. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, an RSS affiliate and ideological ally of the ruling BJP, acknowledged the genuine concerns driving the protests. This is not the language of a party that believes the crisis belongs to the opposition. In Maharashtra, 1.7 million state government employees, teachers among them, began an indefinite strike on April 17 over a pension revision the government agreed to in 2024 but never formalized, as reported by The Hindu. The state invoked emergency legislation and classified the strike as misconduct. Treating a pension dispute as a law-and-order problem is the response of a government that has run out of political ones. The factories absorbed the damage in the only way available to them. Tata Motors raised commercial vehicle prices up to 1.5% and passenger models 0.5%, per the Economic Times. Audi India added 2% across its range. The human cost arrived on April 24. Two factory explosions, one at a Chhattisgarh thermal plant and one at a Tamil Nadu firecracker factory, killed 31 workers combined. The National Human Rights Commission issued notices to both state governments, as confirmed by the Press Information Bureau. For labor unions, the timing sealed the argument. The codes that were meant to protect workers had not. The channels that were meant to contain grievances had not. What remained was the street.

Workers protesting in the city of Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. (CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine)

India

From a record general strike in February to arson and street violence in April, India's industrial order has fractured under sweeping labor law reform and an energy crisis born from war.

Strikes and violence mark wave of unrest in India's 2026 economy

ISLAMABAD: India held state elections this week in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two of its most politically consequential states. Both contests were shadowed by allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s federal government used its institutional power to tilt the outcome: through a televised address that opponents say broke campaign law, the mass deletion of voters from electoral rolls in West Bengal, and the forced removal of senior state officials by an election body critics say is no longer neutral. Five days before polls opened, Modi addressed the nation on Doordarshan and Sansad TV &ndash; &nbsp;India&#39;s state-owned broadcaster and parliament channel, both funded by the federal government. The address aired while the Model Code of Conduct was in effect. That code is a constitutionally recognized set of rules that bars incumbents from using government resources or platforms for political purposes once an election is called. Communist Party of India MP P. Sandosh Kumar filed a formal complaint with the Chief Election Commissioner, arguing the broadcast was &quot;political in nature&quot; and contained &quot;partisan assertions&quot; designed to sway voters, according to The Hindu. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called it an &quot;illegal campaign,&quot; as reported. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin warned that BJP campaign visits to his state were accompanied by the &quot;denial of funds&quot; for essential development, a reference to a persistent grievance among India&#39;s opposition-governed states that New Delhi withholds centrally allocated budgets as political leverage. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut separately stated the BJP was using government funds to bus specific voter groups to polling stations, according to The Hindu. Tamil Nadu: Fund denial, election coupons In Tamil Nadu, where the incumbent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party faces a BJP-backed opposition alliance, the interference allegations ran alongside a separate financial scandal. The Madras High Court began hearing cases on April 16 against candidates from both major alliances over the alleged distribution of coupons worth between ₹8,000 ($84.86) and ₹10,000 ($106), redeemable at designated commercial outlets. Prosecutors say this method was designed to evade cash-seizure checks. By April 22, federal authorities had seized more than ₹1,000 crore (approximately $106 million) in cash, liquor, and inducements across both Tamil Nadu and West Bengal combined, according to The Hindu. West Bengal: Voter deletions In West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) &mdash; a regional party that has governed the state since 2011&ndash; faces its toughest election yet against Modi&#39;s BJP. The central controversy before votes were cast was the deletion of roughly 12% of the state&#39;s total registered voters from the electoral rolls. The Election Commission of India, the country&#39;s constitutionally &lsquo;independent&rsquo; elections body, carried out the revision. Of the voters removed, 34% were Muslim, according to the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. This is well above the community&#39;s 27% share of the state&#39;s population. The TMC called the deletions a &quot;deliberate design&quot; to target its core supporters, per The Hindu. The BJP said the exercise was necessary to remove undocumented Bangladeshi migrants who had obtained fraudulent Indian identity documents through &quot;TMC-backed syndicates&quot;. India&#39;s Supreme Court ordered on April 17 that voters cleared by appellate tribunals before April 21 must be allowed to vote. Only 139 people were cleared in time for Phase I, as reported by local news outlets. Officials removed, forces deployed After the election was announced, the Election Commission transferred West Bengal&#39;s Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General of Police, and Kolkata&#39;s top police officer along with 19 senior district police officers. This effectively removed the four most powerful state administrators from their positions. While the ECI has legal authority to transfer officials during elections, Banerjee called the moves &quot;political interference of the highest order&quot; and &quot;an assault on the Constitution,&quot; as reported by local media outlets, The West Bank CM stated the commission was &quot;campaigning for the BJP.&quot; Senior constitutional lawyer Kapil Sibal also said the commissioner&#39;s &quot;vocation&quot; appeared to be ensuring a BJP victory, as reported by The Hindu. On April 21, the TMC stated that federal paramilitary troops (deployed under ECI orders and operating outside state government control) used &quot;disproportionate criminal force&quot; against residents in Nandigram, the home constituency of BJP&#39;s state opposition leader. The ECI denied the claim. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, 23% of West Bengal&#39;s candidates had declared criminal cases, and constituencies where multiple candidates carry criminal records rose 17% from the previous election. Tamil Nadu voted April 23. West Bengal&#39;s second phase is April 29. Results are due May 4.

Voters queue up to cast their votes outside a polling station during the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections in Berhampore, Murshidabad district, on April 23, 2026. (AFP)

India’s elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal face allegations of interference, voter deletions and campaign violations, with government, parties and election officials trading accusations.

Modi broadcast, purged voter rolls shadow India's state elections

ISLAMABAD: India&rsquo;s main opposition party, Congress, while raising the issue of several deaths due to the consumption of contaminated water in the states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, has criticized the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. &nbsp; Congress in a post on X shared the speech of Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha, Pramod Tiwari, <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/delay-in-pipeline-tender-under-scanner-after-multiple-contamination-deaths-in-indian-city" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">on the issue</a> on Monday.&nbsp;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 720px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2018228080138145799&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=ba324b59a8e7e0620abcbfdbbac589621ad36140&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px"></iframe></div></div>In his speech, Tiwari raised the issue that in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and Indore, Madhya Pradesh, several people have died due to drinking contaminated water. &ldquo;I would like to draw your attention to a serious issue, which is related to humanity and every person in India. Gandhinagar is in Gujarat. The minister is also from Gujarat.&rdquo; He said that he wanted to ask the minister what steps the government is taking to improve the quality of groundwater.&nbsp; &ldquo;Please inform the House about this&rdquo;, he said. &ldquo;Water is extremely essential for the life of all of us, but the government is feeding people poisonous water,&rdquo; Tiwari said. &ldquo;Corruption in this department is at its peak; the government should seriously consider this,&rdquo; he said&nbsp;32 dead in Indore&nbsp;Meanwhile, Indian media reported Indore&#39;s contaminated water tragedy has claimed yet another life quietly, painfully, and after weeks of suffering. Anita Kushwah, 65, who had been battling for survival for over a month, died on Sunday night, taking the official death count to 32, the report said.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari criticizes the BJP government over contaminated water in Gandhinagar and Indore, blaming corruption; the Indore tragedy has claimed 32 lives, highlighting urgent concerns about groundwater safety and government accountability.

Indian opposition accuses BJP government of 'poisonous water' crisis

ISLAMABAD: India&rsquo;s western state of Maharashtra is developing an artificial intelligence (AI) system to identify what authorities describe as <a href="http://UN%20watchdog%20questions%20India%20on%20discrimination%20of%20Bengali%20Muslims%20in%20Assam" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">&ldquo;illegal&rdquo; Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants</a>, a move that has raised questions over accuracy, profiling and civil liberties, according to Indian media reports.&nbsp;Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the tool is being developed in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and will be used by law enforcement agencies across the state.&nbsp;The chief minister publicly linked the project to a political pledge earlier this month while unveiling the ruling Mahayuti alliance&rsquo;s manifesto. &ldquo;We will free Mumbai of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas,&rdquo; Fadnavis said at the event, as reported by local media.&nbsp;According to Indian media, the proposed AI system is language-based and is designed to analyze speech patterns, tone and word usage to identify undocumented migrants. The approach has drawn scrutiny because people in India&rsquo;s West Bengal and neighboring Bangladesh share closely related languages, dialects and accents.&nbsp;The state government has not explained how the AI system will distinguish between Indian citizens and migrants from the Bengal region, nor has it outlined safeguards to prevent misidentification.&nbsp;The project, being developed by Maharashtra&rsquo;s information technology department, is estimated to cost ₹3 crore ($327,535) and remains in an experimental phase.&nbsp;Fadnavis said the system has been tested for about three months and currently has an accuracy rate of around 60 percent, a figure that suggests a high margin of error.&nbsp;Despite this, the government has indicated plans to expand its use, with Fadnavis stating that accuracy would improve over time.&nbsp;Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya has separately claimed that the Maharashtra government has &ldquo;cancelled&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/bjp-leader-threatens-special-mission-to-deport-224000-bangladeshi-nationals" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">224,000 allegedly fake birth certificates</a>&nbsp;issued to Bangladeshi nationals.&rdquo;&nbsp;He also announced plans for a &ldquo;special campaign&rdquo; to identify and deport undocumented migrants after local body elections.&nbsp;Authorities have not publicly detailed how speech data for the AI system will be collected, or whether it will rely on mobile applications, direct interviews or other audio inputs. It also remains unclear whether the technology will analyze real-time conversations, recorded samples or passive listening.&nbsp;Fadnavis has further said that detention centers are being established to hold suspected undocumented migrants ahead of deportation, adding that land has already been allotted for the facilities.&nbsp;The lack of transparency surrounding the AI tool&rsquo;s methodology, combined with its limited accuracy rate and the government&rsquo;s hardline rhetoric, has intensified concerns over profiling and the potential targeting of linguistic and ethnic communities, though officials have not addressed these issues publicly.

Bangladesh

Maharashtra, in partnership with IIT Bombay, is developing a language-based AI tool to help police identify suspected "illegal" Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants.

India plans AI tool to target ‘illegal’ Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in Maharashtra

ISLAMABAD: Authorities in eastern India arrested two men in connection with a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/mob-targets-mosque-in-indian-capital-police-silence-draws-criticism" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">mob killing</a> while disputing family allegations that the attack was religiously motivated, a case that reflects broader tensions over religious identity and vigilante violence in the world&#39;s most populous &lsquo;democracy&rsquo;. Police in Jharkhand state arrested Munnilal Marandi and Anant Marandi on Jan. 10, three days after a mob of 20 to 25 people beat 45-year-old Pappu Ansari to death near the state&#39;s border with Bihar. Both suspects confessed and named additional accomplices, according to Godda district police. The arrests came as investigators maintain the attack stemmed from cattle theft suspicions, while Ansari&#39;s family and legal representatives insist it was a hate crime targeting Muslims. The divergent narratives reflect a pattern documented by the Centro for the Study of Organized Hate, a US rights monitoring group tracking mob violence cases. The organization&#39;s report shows authorities frequently attribute cattle-related killings to theft disputes while victims&#39; families cite religious targeting. Cattle trade and religious tensions Ansari, a Muslim cattle trader and transporter, was returning from a cattle market in Bihar when his vehicle was intercepted in Matihani village on the night of Jan. 7. His associates escaped, but Ansari was cornered and attacked with axes and sticks, local police said. Cows are considered sacred in Hinduism, practiced by roughly 80% of India&#39;s 1.4 billion people. Several states have enacted laws restricting cattle slaughter and trade in recent years. Critics say the legislation has emboldened vigilante groups that target&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/bihar-mob-lynching-shows-growing-hatred-toward-muslims-indias-civil-rights-body" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Muslims</a>, who constitute about 14% of India&#39;s population and are traditionally involved in cattle trading and meat industries. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 768px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2009906778327396794&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F3472%2F&sessionId=f500681ce23a07d0e2264fe9ef4f428d622f34cb&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px"></iframe></div></div>Godda Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar told reporters the mob acted on theft suspicions. The local Indian police claimed the victim had a criminal record and had been jailed previously. Ansari&#39;s family rejected the theft allegations. In statements to local journalists, they said attackers identified his religious identity before assaulting him. &quot;They took off his pants and tried to determine his religion,&quot; independent journalist Ashraf Hussain wrote on social media, citing family allegations. &quot;He was murdered because of his religious identity.&quot; <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 648px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2009916358281318862&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F3472%2F&sessionId=f500681ce23a07d0e2264fe9ef4f428d622f34cb&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px"></iframe></div></div>Political context The killing occurred in Jharkhand, a state of 38 million people governed by a coalition led by the regional Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party with the Indian National Congress. The coalition took power in 2024, opposing the hardliner Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s Bharatiya Janata Party, which governs nationally and in most northern states. Modi&#39;s BJP, which draws support from Hindu nationalist groups, has faced criticism from rights groups over rising communal tensions and insufficient response to mob violence targeting Muslims. Party leaders reject such claims. Representatives from the governing JMM condemned Ansari&#39;s killing. Party leader Rizwan Krantikari said those responsible would not be spared, according to Indian media reports. Kumar formed a Special Investigation Team led by Deputy Superintendent JPN Chaudhary to track remaining suspects. Police have not announced additional arrests. Documented pattern The Centre for the Study of Organised Hate documented a pattern of mob violence linked to cattle-related accusations in Jharkhand and northern India dating to 2015. The group cited Mohammad Akhlaq&#39;s 2015 killing in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, over beef storage rumors and Alimuddin Ansari&#39;s 2017 death in Ramgarh, Jharkhand, on cow smuggling suspicions. The organization documented three similar incidents in early 2025 before Ansari&#39;s death, including Mohammad Sharif, who died in March after being assaulted during Hindu Holi celebrations in Uttar Pradesh while observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The center said victims are predominantly Muslim men and that most attacks are carried out by Hindu vigilante groups. The report cited&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/taj-mahal-hindu-nationalist-revisionism-reshapes-indias-monuments-and-memory" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">inflammatory rhetoric from officials</a>, including remarks by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at a January youth event where he urged young Indians to carry &quot;the fire of revenge&quot; over historical grievances. Social media users questioned the limited attention to Ansari&#39;s case. &quot;Why is everyone silent on the mob lynching and subsequent death of Pappu Ansari in Jharkhand?&quot; one user wrote on Jan. 10. Ansari is survived by his wife, four daughters and a son. The Special Investigation Team has not announced a timeline for completing its investigation.

Indian mob lynching of Muslim man. (Social activists staging protest against mob lynching, in Bhopal on July 07, 2017.)

Two men arrested in the Indian state of Jharkhand for mob lynching of Pappu Ansari, amid conflicting claims of theft and religious hate crime.

Mob lynching exposes India’s crisis amid denial of anti-Muslim violence

ISLAMABAD: The opposition in India has criticized the country&#39;s Election Commission for serving notices to prominent citizens, including Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and international cricketer Mohammed Shami, and termed it &ldquo;a deliberate BJP [ruling Bharatiya Janata Party] tactic.&rdquo; Indian National Congress (INC) national spokesperson Dr Shama Mohamed, in a post on X on Tuesday, wrote: &ldquo;We have already seen that even prominent citizens like Amartya Sen, former Navy Admiral Arun Prakash, and cricketer Mohammed Shami are missing from the lists.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2011104016911266281&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=8ed77d2d00081bb47726d566733c5b6575426bfd&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 672px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>She said, &ldquo;If such well-known individuals can be excluded, imagine what will happen to ordinary citizens.&rdquo; &lsquo;Deliberate BJP tactic&rsquo;&ldquo;This is happening across Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, everywhere,&rdquo; the INC spokesperson asserted.&nbsp;&nbsp;She said, &ldquo;People who are away from home or unable to fill forms in time are being disenfranchised.&rdquo; &ldquo;This is a deliberate BJP tactic to exclude voters who do not support them.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;The Election Commission and ED have become two arms of the BJP,&rdquo; she said. &lsquo;Columns left blank&rsquo;&nbsp;As per the Election Commission&rsquo;s notification, such cases automatically call for a hearing, and the individuals were summoned along with several other similarly placed electors, Indian media had earlier reported &ldquo;The Enumeration Form clearly shows that the linkage columns have been left blank by the elector,&rdquo; the state CEO&rsquo;s office had said in a post on X.

Indian National Congress spokesperson says, ‘This is a deliberate BJP tactic to exclude voters who do not support them; the Election Commission and ED have become two arms of the BJP.’

India’s Congress terms voter registration notices to Amartya Sen, Shami ‘deliberate’ 

ISLAMABAD: India&rsquo;s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has once again blurred the line between politics and sport by branding Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan &ldquo;anti-national&rdquo; over his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise&rsquo;s decision to sign a Bangladeshi cricketer.&nbsp;The controversy erupted after the IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi, where Khan&rsquo;s franchise secured Bangladeshi left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman for $1.02 million.&nbsp;BJP leaders and affiliates responded with public accusations and threats, drawing widespread criticism for injecting hyper-nationalist politics into a professional sporting league.&nbsp;Former BJP MLA Sangeet Som accused Khan of betraying India, declaring, &ldquo;If you earn money, it comes from this country. But you have betrayed the nation&hellip; there should not be any place for such traitors.&rdquo;&nbsp;Religious figure Jagadguru Rambhadracharya also joined the campaign, calling Shah Rukh Khan &ldquo;anti-national&rdquo; and questioning his character, alleging that his views had consistently been against the country.&nbsp;The rhetoric escalated further when BJP-affiliated figures issued direct threats. Abhishek Thakur, speaking in a video circulated on social media, said, &ldquo;We will beat Mustafizur Rahman and Shah Rukh Khan if they allow the former to play in IPL.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=e30%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2007093215787471269&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard&sessionId=bddc91dad91e30354161280cbf0fd80065d61fab&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 648px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="2007093215787471269"></iframe></div></div>&nbsp;The incident exposed an increasingly hostile environment for foreign players, particularly from neighboring countries, amid India&rsquo;s domestic political discourse.&nbsp;Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla echoed the hardline position, stating, &ldquo;I completely agree that no player from Bangladesh should play in the IPL.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=e30%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2006740198017871968&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard&sessionId=bddc91dad91e30354161280cbf0fd80065d61fab&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 648px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="2006740198017871968"></iframe></div></div>&nbsp;In contrast, opposition leaders criticized the BJP&rsquo;s approach, warning that politicizing cricket undermines both sport and regional stability. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said cricket should not be used as a proxy for political disputes.&nbsp;&ldquo;Cricket should not be made to bear the burden for attacks on minorities in Bangladesh,&rdquo; Tharoor said.&nbsp;Congress leader Priyank Kharge also criticized the ruling party&rsquo;s campaign, cautioning that dragging sport into political hostility risks damaging India&rsquo;s relations with neighboring countries.&nbsp;The episode has revived broader criticism of India&rsquo;s repeated politicization of cricket, with observers noting that sporting bodies and tournaments have frequently been affected by political considerations, particularly in matters involving regional rivals and neighboring states.

Cricket

India’s BJP sparks controversy by branding Shah Rukh Khan anti-national for signing Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman, drawing criticism over politicizing cricket and issuing threats.

India’s BJP politicizes IPL, targets Shah Rukh Khan over Bangladeshi player

ISLAMABAD: Senior Indian Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has admitted that India was &quot;completely defeated&quot; by Pakistan during the May conflict between the two neighboring countries, leading to the grounding of the &quot;entire Indian Air Force.&quot;&nbsp; &ldquo;On the very first day, we faced a complete defeat,&quot;&nbsp;Chavan said while addressing a meeting of his party workers on Tuesday in Pune.&nbsp; &quot;On the 7th (May), during an aerial battle that lasted only half an hour, we were completely defeated, whether one accepts it or not. On that day, Indian aircraft were shot down, and the entire Indian Air Force was grounded. After that, not a single aircraft flew, because wherever a plane took off, whether from Gwalior, Bathinda, or Sirsa, there was a high risk of it being shot down by Pakistan. For this reason, our entire Air Force was grounded&hellip;&rdquo; <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2000928800410837083&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=10c89db9e0c826dff6ae4ba2de6d82a467037389&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 624px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> India&rsquo;s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), responding to the statement, expressed anger at the Congress leader, saying that the Congress party &ldquo;hates Indian armed forces.&rdquo; BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla criticized Chavan&rsquo;s &ldquo;shocking controversial statements&rdquo; and said, &ldquo;Congress hates Indian Armed Forces. Sena ka apman is Congress ki pehchan [Insulting the army is Congress&rsquo;s identity],&rdquo; he posted on X.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2000917025733111969&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=10c89db9e0c826dff6ae4ba2de6d82a467037389&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 744px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>Further criticizing the Congress leader in his post, he said: &ldquo;From Sadak ka gunda [street thug] to doubting Sindoor/Surgical Strike/Balakote and even Op Mahadev.&rdquo;

Prithviraj Chavan has admitted that India was 'completely defeated' by Pakistan during the May conflict between the two neighboring countries, leading to the grounding of the 'entire Indian Air Force.'

India was 'completely defeated' by Pakistan: former Maharashtra chief minister

ISLAMABAD: In India, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan received a disproportionately high share of central tax devolution between 2020-21 and 2024-25, even though they contribute far less to the nation&rsquo;s total tax collections, according to an Indian media report. The data shared by the Ministry of Finance with the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) shows that Uttar Pradesh accounted for 4.6% of the total tax collected in the country between 2020-21 and 2024-25, but received 15.8% of the taxes shared by the center during this period. Bihar&rsquo;s share in devolution exceeded its contribution to total taxes by 8 percentage points, Madhya Pradesh&rsquo;s by 5.5 pp, and Rajasthan&#39;s by 3.55 pp. &lsquo;Fiscal discrimination&rsquo;&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, where the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party is in government, has in the past blamed the central government for discrimination. In September, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu accused the center, or Union, government of practicing &ldquo;fiscal discrimination against opposition-ruled states,&rdquo; warning that such bias was undermining the spirit of cooperative federalism. According to Indian media, he argued that partisan policies were depriving states such as Tamil Nadu of their legitimate financial allocations and turning cooperative federalism into coercive federalism. Thennarasu alleged that the ruling BJP discriminated against states governed by opposition parties. &ldquo;Just because we belong to the opposition, we are not treated on par with BJP-ruled states. When it comes to the matters of fiscal issues, there must be cooperative federalism, it must be in true spirit.&quot; Six criteria&nbsp;Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry of Finance has clarified that States&rsquo; contributions to central taxes are not a criterion considered by the 15th Finance Commission when it formulated its devolution formula for the period 2020-21 to 2025-26. &ldquo;Devolution to States during the last five financial years was based on the inter-se percentage worked out by the 15th Finance Commission on the basis of six criteria &mdash; population, area, income distance, demographic performance, forest &amp; ecology and tax &amp; fiscal efforts. Contribution to the Central Exchequer was not adopted by the 15th FC as a criterion,&rdquo; Minister of State for Finance Panka Chaudhary said in his reply.

Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan received disproportionately high central tax devolution between 2020-21 and 2024-25, while contributing less to national taxes; opposition-ruled Tamil Nadu has in the past alleged ‘fiscal discrimination.’

Multiple BJP-ruled Indian states receive higher tax devolution despite lower contributions

NEW DELHI: India is trialling mobile software systems as it prepares to conduct the world&#39;s largest &mdash; and first fully digital &mdash; population census in 2027. The upcoming census will be the country&#39;s first since 2011 and will, for the first time since independence, register people&#39;s castes -- a politically sensitive exercise last undertaken in 1931 under British rule. A 20-day trial begins Nov. 10 in selected areas of the southern state of Karnataka. It will test a mobile app&ndash;based data collection system and self-enumeration options designed to replace traditional paper-based methods. &quot;The objective is to assess the functioning and efficiency of the digital application across diverse areas -- from urban regions to those with limited mobile network connectivity,&quot; the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement. &quot;This trial marks a significant step toward India&#39;s first-ever fully digital census, replacing traditional paper-based schedules.&quot; The exercise presents an immense logistical challenge -- voting in the 2024 general elections was electronic, and polling took place in seven phases over six weeks. But a census must be conducted at a single point in time to capture a single snapshot of the population -- and avoid double-counting. The main count is scheduled for March 1, 2027. But in high-altitude Himalayan regions -- including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, and the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir -- the census will begin earlier on Oct. 1, 2026, before snowfall begins. Caste remains a powerful determinant of social status in India, shaping access to resources, education, and opportunity. More than two-thirds of India&#39;s 1.4 billion people are believed to belong to historically disadvantaged communities, long subject to systemic discrimination. The millennia-old social hierarchy divides Hindus by function and social standing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s Bharatiya Janata Party has in the past opposed the idea of enumerating people by caste, arguing it would deepen social divisions, but backed the new survey in May. Proponents say detailed demographic information is crucial for targeted social justice programmes, including earmarking university seats and government jobs for socially disadvantaged communities. Successive governments have avoided updating caste data, citing administrative complexity and fears of social unrest. A caste survey conducted alongside the 2011 census was never released after officials said the results were inaccurate.

The upcoming census will be the country's first since 2011 and will, for the first time since independence, register people's castes -- a politically sensitive exercise last undertaken in 1931 under British rule.

Articles tagged with "Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)"