A Supreme Court-appointed advisory committee on Wednesday wrote to Union Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar, requesting that the 2026 Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Amendment Bill be withdrawn, The Indian Express reported.

The chairperson of the committee, former Delhi High Court judge Justice Asha Menon, confirmed this to the newspaper.

The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. It will now be forwarded to the President Droupadi Murmu for her assent.

Transgender, intersex and gender-diverse organisations have been protesting against the bill, stating that the proposed changes remove the protections guaranteed under the 2019 Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act.

The proposed amendments centre on redefining who qualifies as a transgender person.

The bill removes transgender persons’ right to a self-perceived gender identity and limits the law’s scope to those with certain biological or physiological characteristics, intersex variations, or specific socio-cultural identities such as kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta.

If it receives the presidential assent, transgender men, transgender women and genderqueer persons, who were recognised under the 2019 law, will be excluded from the definition of “transgender person”.

The bill was cleared in Parliament amid protests by the Opposition MPs who argued that it violates constitutional rights.

The advisory committee was constituted by the Supreme Court in October 2025 while hearing a matter involving a transgender woman who was terminated from employment as a teacher by private schools in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat because of her gender identity, The Indian Express reported.

The court had noted the inaction by the administration in implementing the 2019 Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act and formed the expert panel to identify statutory gaps, draft a comprehensive equal opportunity policy and recommend measures for the “reasonable accommodation” of transgender persons so that they can participate equally in society, the newspaper reported.

Also read: It took me decades to find myself. The trans bill erases me in one sweep

With Islamabad mediating peace talks between the United States and Iran, the Congress on Thursday said that the “colossal failure” in India’s diplomacy, outreach and narrative management have made a “broken country” like Pakistan a “broker country”.

The statement came a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was quoted as saying that India does not view itself as a “dalaal”, or broker, like Pakistan. Jaishankar made the comments at an all-party meeting convened by the government on the West Asia conflict.

During the meeting, the Union government said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it clear to US President Donald Trump that India “wants to see the war coming to an end” and that it is “affecting everyone”, the Deccan Herald reported.

Responding to Jaishankar’s comments, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on social media that the external affairs minister is “doing his best to cover up India’s extreme embarrassment and the setback to its regional diplomacy”.

For Pakistan to “even be…considered for a mediating role is a most damning indictment of both the substance and style of…Modi’s diplomacy”, said the MP.

“Even after the communally incendiary and poisonous statements of the Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir provided the oxygen for the terror attacks in Pahalgam…we have been unable to isolate Pakistan on the international stage,” Ramesh further said.

He added: “It has only emerged as a more relevant actor and after May 10, 2025, itself it has become clear that…Munir had become a favourite of President Trump and his team.”

Ramesh was referring to Trump hosting Munir at the White House amid heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.

The tensions between India and Pakistan escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22.

The Pakistan Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 22 Indian civilians and eight defence personnel were killed.

On May 10, India and Pakistan reached an “understanding” to halt firing following the four-day conflict.

‘Domestic LPG production increased’

The Union government also said at the all-party meeting on Wednesday that the domestic production of liquified petroleum gas has increased to 60%, which is up from 28% when the war started, the Deccan Herald reported.

Jaishankar said that till now, four India-bound ships had passed through the Strait of Hormuz and more are on the way.

Energy supplies to India have faced disruptions since the conflict in West Asia broke out on February 28. Iran has effectively blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz for most international commercial vessels. About 20% of the global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

This has also affected LPG supplies in India. The country imports about 60% of its LPG demand, most of it from Gulf countries.

Also read: Qatar’s gas terminal could take years to repair and India will suffer the cost

The Supreme Court on Wednesday verbally expressed concerns about the government’s decision to grant environmental clearances to development projects after they had already begun, holding that it may allow harmful projects to continue until the state intervenes, Live Law reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi was hearing a batch of writ petitions challenging its November decision to approve the policy. The judgement had reversed the court’s May ruling that disallowed such clearances.

During the hearing on Wednesday, the court verbally observed that if environmental sanctions were to be considered non-negotiable, it would hold the authorities duty-bound to stop projects that had not been cleared.

“If we say prior consent is not negotiable then anything done without prior consent, you are duty bound to stop,” Bagchi said.

Bagchi said that in contrast, the policy that allows for retrospective environmental clearances would allow projects to continue until the state identifies and closes them.

He highlighted that laws are made uniformly but “they are not applied uniformly” and questioned whether the intended “cleansing effect” would be achieved with uneven implementation.

However, he also highlighted that recalling retrospective approvals wholly would mean a “complete road block to anything without prior consent”.

The court will hear the matter further next week, Live Law reported.

In a 2:1 decision in November, the court recalled its May judgement that had declared post-facto approvals illegal. The majority of the bench said that the earlier judgement would have required the demolition of several buildings and public projects that had been approved through post-facto clearances over the years.

BR Gavai, the chief justice at the time, had said that several of the projects were worth more than Rs 20,000 crore and that destroying them now would cause more environmental harm than good.

The May judgement had restrained the Union government from granting post-facto clearances in any form to regularise illegal constructions.

The court had struck down a 2017 notification and a 2021 Office Memorandum that allowed the government to grant post-facto environmental clearances, calling these and related circulars and orders illegal and arbitrary.

However, the bench had clarified at the time that environmental clearances already granted under the 2017 notification and the 2021 Office Memorandum would remain valid.

During the hearing on Wednesday, one of the petitioner’s argued that mandating prior environmental clearance was not just a formality but a substantive safeguard, Live Law reported.

“The principle of ‘polluter pays’ must not be diluted into a regime of ‘pollute and pay’,” the petitioner’s lawyer contented. “That would be a dangerous path.”

On the other hand, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati defended the office memorandum arguing that it does not provide for post-facto environmental clearance or regularisation of past violations.

Instead, the purpose was to bring projects that are operating outside environmental assessment norms under the scrutiny of experts, Live Law quoted Bhati as saying.

The police in Kerala have registered a case against social media platform X and a user on the platform for sharing an artificial intelligence-generated video that allegedly depicts Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission in a “misleading and defamatory manner”, PTI reported.

The Kerala Police is currently operating under the Election Commission since the Model Code of Conduct is in force in the state ahead of the Assembly elections.

The police said that the allegedly defamatory content was brought to its notice through official channels, including the Election Commission, PTI reported.

“Upon verification, it was assessed that the material had the potential to mislead the public, undermine the credibility of constitutional bodies and adversely impact the conduct of free and fair elections,” the news agency quoted the police as saying.

It added that a case was registered against the X account “Laxmi N Raju (@valiant_Raju)” and others, which includes X Corp, at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Thiruvananthapuram, on Wednesday.

Bengal: EC acts against 7 CAPF personnel for attending iftar party

The Election Commission has removed seven Central Armed Police Forces personnel from election duty in West Bengal for allegedly attending an iftar gathering in Murshidabad district in violation of guidelines for deployment during polls, Hindustan Times quoted unidentified officials from the poll body as saying on Wednesday.

The alleged incident reportedly took place a week ago in the Samserganj constituency. Two of the personnel have been placed under the custody of the central forces, while the remaining five have been transferred out of the state, Hindustan Times quoted the officials as saying.

“Forces deployed on election duty are required to maintain strict operational neutrality,” the newspaper quoted a poll official as saying. “Any form of engagement, including accepting invitations or hospitality, creates both real and perceived bias, which is unacceptable in an active election environment.”

The Assembly elections in the state will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The results will be announced on May 4.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has claimed that the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Alireza Tangsiri was killed in a strike, The Times of Israel reported.

Katz was quoted as having described Tangsiri as “the person directly responsible for the terror operation of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic”.

Iran has not yet commented on the claim.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the Iranian negotiators “are very different and ‘strange’”. Tehran was “begging” Washington to make a deal, Trump claimed on social media. “...they should be doing [that] since they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback, and yet they publicly state that they are only ‘looking at our proposal’”, he said.
• “Wrong!” He added. “They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is no turning back, and it won’t be pretty!”
• Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that “indirect talks” are taking place between the United States and Iran, and that the messages were being relayed by Islamabad. “Brotherly countries of Turkiye and Egypt, among others, are also extending their support to this initiative,” Dar said on social media.
• Dar’s comment came amid speculation about the nature of Pakistan's role in the talks to end the conflict. He also confirmed that the US has shared a 15-point plan to end the fighting, which is “being deliberated upon” by Tehran.
• Reports said on Wednesday that Iran had dismissed the 15-point ceasefire plan proposed by the US and instead countered it with a proposal of its own.
• Iranian state TV quoted an unidentified official as saying Tehran had rejected the plan it had received via Pakistan, saying it would “end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met”, The Guardian reported.
• Later on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that his government had not engaged in talks to end the war, “and we do not plan on any negotiations,” AP reported. The statement came even as US President Donald Trump claimed that Tehran desperately wanted to arrive at a deal, but was not willing to admit it.
• The 15-point plan proposed by Washington broadly focused on sanctions relief, civilian nuclear cooperation, rollback of Iran’s nuclear programme, monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, missile limits and access for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, AP quoted unidentified Pakistani officials as saying.
• On the other hand, the conditions laid out by Iran to end the war included guaranteed payment for war damage and reparations, end to aggression and assassinations, concrete guarantees preventing the reoccurrence of war against Tehran, end of the war on Iran and against all resistance groups across the region and international recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, The Indian Express reported.
• Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, said that the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran is a “crossing of a red line” and will be catastrophic in the long run. “What is being done to the energy facilities in GCC countries...is a brutal aggression on world economy,” he said on Thursday. Iran is not a member of the GCC.
• Al-Budaiwi said at a press briefing in Riyadh on Thursday that the GCC members, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, want a diplomatic solution to the conflict. “Our aim is not to destroy Iran at all,” he said.
• Since the beginning of the conflict, Iran had effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels since the start of the conflict. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.
• Araghchi has said that Tehran will permit passage through the Strait of Hormuz for “friendly nations”, including India, China, Russia, Iraq and Pakistan, the Consulate General of Iran in Mumbai stated on Thursday.
• Following a marginal drop in global oil prices on Wednesday, the benchmark Brent crude was again trading above the $100 per barrel-mark on Thursday. The price was $78 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict started.
• Major Asian stock indices fell on Thursday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.8%, South Korea’s Kospi had fallen 3.2%, Japan’s Nikkei 0.2% and China’s Shanghai Composite 1%. The Indian stock market was closed on account of Ram Navami.
• Trump on Wednesday said that Iran wants to make a deal “so badly” but “they’re afraid to say it” for fear of being killed, CNN reported. “Nobody’s ever seen anything like we’re doing in the Middle East with Iran, and they are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly, but they’re afraid to say it because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,” the channel quoted Trump as saying at an event. “They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us.”
• Amid the conflict, 1,043 Indians, including 717 students, have crossed out of Iran with the assistance of the mission in Tehran, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday. At an inter-ministerial briefing, Aseem R Mahajan, who is additional secretary (gulf) in the external affairs ministry, also said the overall flight situation continues to improve, adding that around 4.2 lakh passengers have returned from the region to India since February 28, PTI reported.

The conflict

The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran’s action posed an existential threat to Israel. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Iran has retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in Gulf countries and some ships.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a writ petition filed by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh against the government’s decision to grant environmental clearances to development projects after they had already begun, Live Law reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned how a writ petition could be filed, considering the court had already approved the policy in November after it reversed a May ruling that had disallowed such clearances.

In a 2:1 decision in November, the court recalled its May judgement that had declared such post-facto approvals illegal. The majority said that the earlier judgment would have required the demolition of many buildings and public projects that had been approved through ex post facto clearances over the years.

BR Gavai, the chief justice at the time, had said that several of these projects were worth more than Rs 20,000 crore and that destroying them now would cause more environmental harm than good.

On Thursday, the court questioned the purpose of the petition before it by saying it amounted to indirectly filing a review petition of its judgement, Live Law reported.

“If you are aggrieved by the judgement, then you know your remedy,” PTI quoted the bench as saying. “How can you seek a review of a judgement in a writ petition?”

“Have you filed this for media publicity,” the chief justice asked while warning that the court would impose high costs on such petitions.

Following this, Ramesh’s counsel chose to withdraw the writ petition with liberty to avail remedy in accordance with law, Live Law reported.

The May judgement had restrained the Union government from granting ex post facto clearances in any form to regularise illegal constructions.

The court had struck down a 2017 notification and a 2021 Office Memorandum that allowed the government to grant post-facto environmental clearances, calling these and related circulars and orders illegal and arbitrary.

However, the bench had clarified at the time that environmental clearances already granted under the 2017 notification and the 2021 Office Memorandum would continue to remain valid.

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday issued notice on an activist’s plea challenging a trial court’s decision to accept a report clearing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his family in an alleged land scam involving the Mysuru Urban Development Authority, Bar and Bench reported.

Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav sought responses from Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi, brother-in-law Mallikarjun Swamy, former land owner J Devaraju, the Lokayukta Police and the Enforcement Directorate, Live Law reported.

The activist had approached the High Court challenging the special court’s January 28 decision and sought that the probe in the matter be transferred to an independent investigating agency, the legal news outlet reported.

The alleged scam pertains to the allotment of 14 high-value housing sites in Mysuru’s Vijaynagar area to Parvathi in 2021 by the Mysore Urban Development Authority under a state government scheme.

This was allegedly done in exchange for 3.1 acres of land that Parvathi owned in another part of the city. The land was alleged to have been illegally acquired from Dalit families.

The Karnataka governor had approved prosecution against Siddaramaiah in September 2024. A special court had subsequently directed the Lokayukta Police to file a first information report against Siddaramaiah, Parvathi, Swamy and Devaraj.

In February 2025, the Lokayukta police filed a closure report claiming that there was not enough evidence to establish corruption charges against Siddaramaiah, his family and the former land owner.

However, the report had been kept in abeyance to allow the Lokayukta Police to complete investigations into the larger allegations of corruption.

On January 28, a special court in Bengaluru accepted the closure report filed by the Lokayukta Police.

The court, however, clarified that the investigation against other persons accused in the case would continue, Bar and Bench reported.

The ruling has now been challenged by the activist before the High Court.

The activist contended that the special court did not consider the fact that “the allegations in the present case are not in the nature of a private dispute but involve abuse of constitutional office, and therefore required a deeper and independent scrutiny rather than mechanical reliance on the opinion of the investigating agency”, Bar and Bench reported.

He alleged that the trial court had selectively accepted the closure reports against some persons named in the matter, while directing the investigation to continue against others, the legal news portal reported.

This was a sign of “jurisdictional error and a fundamental inconsistency”, the petitioner was quoted as having alleged.

At least 13 persons were killed after a bus collided with a truck near Rayavaram in Andhra Pradesh’s Markapuram district on Thursday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said.

District Collector P Raja Babu said that 25 of the 41 passengers on the bus were injured, The Hindu reported. They were admitted to a government hospital in Markapuram.

Ten of them suffered severe injuries and five were in critical condition, he added.

The accident occurred at a turn at about 6 am when the private bus collided with the tipper truck loaded with gravel coming from Kanigiri, the newspaper quoted unidentified police officers as saying.

The bus was travelling from Nirmal in Telangana to Vinjamuru in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district.

The collision led to a massive fire that engulfed both the vehicles, The Hindu reported.

In a statement on social media, the chief minister expressed his condolences to the families of those who had died in the accident. Naidu added that he had spoken to officials about the medical assistance being provided to the injured.

He further expressed concern over reports that the toll was likely to increase.

Naidu also ordered an investigation into the accident, The Hindu reported.

మార్కాపురం జిల్లా, రాయవరం సమీపంలో జరిగిన రోడ్డు ప్రమాదంలో 13 మంది ప్రయాణికులు సజీవ దహనమై ప్రాణాలు కోల్పోవడం తీవ్ర దిగ్భ్రాంతి కలిగించింది. తెలంగాణ రాష్ట్రంలోని జగిత్యాల నుంచి నెల్లూరు జిల్లాకు వస్తున్న హరికృష్ణ ట్రావెల్స్ బస్సు - టిప్పర్ ఢీ కొనడంతో ఈ ప్రమాదం జరిగింది. ఘటనపై…

— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) March 26, 2026

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his condolences and described the accident as tragic.

He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed in the accident. The injured will receive Rs 50,000.

Since October, there have been at least five major bus accidents in Andhra Pradesh in which at least 35 persons have been killed, according to The Hindu.

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday extended the interim stay on the Sambhal chief judicial magistrate’s order that directed the registration of a first information report against several police officers in connection with the violence in the town in November 2024, Live Law reported.

On January 9, Sambhal Chief Judicial Magistrate Vibhanshu Sudheer ordered that a case be registered against Additional Superintendent of Police Anuj Chaudhary, Inspector Anuj Tomar and 15 to 20 unidentified police officers in connection with allegations that a man, Alam, had been shot and injured during the 2024 unrest in the town.

Violence broke out on that day after a group of Muslims objected to a trial court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Chandausi town.

The trial court had ordered the survey in a suit claiming that the mosque had been built in 1526 by Mughal ruler Babar on the site of the “centuries-old Shri Hari Har Temple dedicated to Lord Kalki”.

Five persons were killed in the violence.

Chaudhary was the circle officer of Sambhal at the time.

Yameen, the father of the man who was allegedly shot, said that his son, Alam, had left home that day to sell rusks. He alleged that Alam had been shot by the police near the mosque.

The chief judicial magistrate had said that while it was clear that Alam had been hit by gunshots, the identity of the shooter needed to be investigated. He had remarked that since the offence of attempted murder is serious, it was unlikely that the victim would spare the actual attacker by falsely accusing someone else.

Sudheer had also said that for criminal acts, the police could not invoke the defence that they were merely discharging their official duties.

Weeks after his order, Sudheer was among 14 judicial officers transferred by the High Court. He was transferred on Tuesday to Sultanpur as a civil judge (senior division) on January 20.

Aditya Singh, who was the civil judge (senior division) at Sambhal’s Chandausi town, has replaced him. Singh was the judge who passed the order directing a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Chandausi town.

On Tuesday, Justice Samit Gopal was hearing a petition filed by Chaudhary and Tomar against the order. Gopal extended the interim order granted earlier and fixed April 21 as the date for next hearing.

The High Court had earlier stayed Sudheer’s order after hearing the petition challenging it.

At the time, the counsel for the state government told the High Court that the chief judicial magistrate had exceeded the boundaries of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita by ignoring mandatory safeguards under the law, Live Law reported. The police officers were not given any opportunity to explain the allegations against them before the magistrate, the counsel had added.

Also read: This Instagram-influencer cop is Adityanath’s key to Sambhal

India has pledged that 60% of its installed electricity capacity by 2035 will come from non-fossil sources, the Union government said on Wednesday.

The government said that it also aims to cut by 47% the intensity of carbon emissions per unit of the gross domestic product from the 2005 level.

India aims to further increase its carbon sink to 3.5 billion tonnes to 4 billion tonnes through forest and tree cover by 2035 from the 2005 level. A carbon sink comprises elements such as forests, plants and soil that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The aims were announced as part of the Nationally Determined Contributions for the 2031-’35 period cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. The targets will be communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The declarations are national climate action plans of each country under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Under the 2015 agreement, countries had agreed to keep the long-term global average surface temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the 21st century.

A warming of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius can lead to severe climate change impacts and extreme weather. Pre-industrial levels refer to global atmospheric conditions before the widespread impact of industrialisation, which included burning coal, oil and gas and other such activities.

When the targets were last revised in August 2022, India had pledged that 50% of its installed electricity capacity would come from non-fossil sources by 2030. India had also committed to cut by 45% the intensity of carbon emissions per unit of the gross domestic product from the 2005 levels.

In October, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the commitments made by countries had proved inadequate despite growing scientific alarm at the speed of global temperature increases caused by the burning of fossil fuels – oil, coal and gas.

The lack of NDC ambition means the Paris goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius will be breached, at least temporarily, Guterres had warned.

The Union government said on Wednesday that the aims were in line with the target of attaining net zero carbon emissions by 2070, which was announced in 2021.

The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, one of the most politically significant events in the history of the subcontinent, generated an extraordinary volume of documentation – official records, journalistic reports, memoirs, novels, plays and songs.

It also inspired political cartoons, which recorded and interpreted events, often with a sharpness that conventional reportage could not match. Political cartoons are, in a sense, journalism distilled – compressed arguments rendered in ink and wit. In moments of crisis or upheaval, their capacity to condense irony and moral clarity becomes even more pronounced.

Indian newspapers such as Anandabazar Patrika, Jugantar, Desh, Darpan, Amritabazar Patrika, The Statesman and Hindustan Standard published cartoons about the situation across the border with remarkable regularity throughout 1971, creating a parallel narrative alongside the headlines.

The artists behind these images – Amal Chakraborty, Chandi Lahiri, Sufi (Naren Roy), Kutty (PKS Kutty), Sudhir Dar, Rebati Bhushan, Abu, Lakshan, and others – formed a loose but formidable fraternity. Their works appeared not only in Bengali-language newspapers but also in English dailies, extending their reach across India and, in some cases, beyond.

This sustained visual discourse tracked the evolution of the war with remarkable sensitivity.

Changing tones of cartoons

Cartoons, by their nature, do not simply describe events: they select, exaggerate and reframe, producing a version of reality that is at once subjective and revealing. In the case of 1971, at least four overlapping narrative frameworks can be discerned.

For Bangladesh, the year signified liberation, genocide, and the birth of a nation. For India, it was a humanitarian crisis that demanded moral and logistical responses – sheltering millions of refugees, training freedom fighters, building international support and ultimately intervening militarily.

For Pakistan, the narrative was one of dismemberment, often explained through the language of conspiracy involving India, local Hindu populations and nationalist politicians.

Meanwhile, much of the international media, particularly in the United States, framed the conflict first as a civil war between East and West Pakistan and later as a conventional war between India and Pakistan.

These competing narratives found visual expression in the cartoons in India, sometimes clashing, sometimes converging, but always illuminating the ideological terrain.

The progression of the war from March to December is mirrored in the changing tone and content of the cartoons. In the early months – March and April – the focus was on the non-cooperation movement in East Pakistan, the mass uprising, the brutality of the Pakistani military under President Yahya Khan and the conspiratorial maneuvers of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the chairman of the Pakistan People's Party.

Cartoonists also turned their attention to the silence – or complicity – of the global community, particularly criticising the policies of the United States and China. These early cartoons are marked by a sense of foreboding, an awareness that the political deadlock was sliding toward violence.

By May and June, the lens shifted inward slightly. Indian policies came under scrutiny, especially the hesitancy to formally recognise Bangladesh. Cartoonists questioned the government’s caution, portraying it as indecision in the face of mounting atrocities.

At the same time, Pakistan’s provocations continued to be depicted with increasing ferocity. The months of July, August, and September saw a growing emphasis on the refugee crisis, which had by then reached staggering proportions.

Millions of people had crossed into India, particularly into West Bengal, straining resources and altering the social fabric. Cartoons from this period often juxtapose human suffering with bureaucratic inertia, highlighting the enormity of the crisis.

As the year moved into its final quarter – October, November, and December – the tone of the cartoons sharpened further. There was a palpable anticipation of Pakistan’s defeat, accompanied by intensified criticism of the United States and China for their geopolitical alignments.

By December, with the war’s outcome becoming clear, cartoons began to celebrate victory, often with a mix of triumph and sardonic humor. The arc from despair to vindication is rendered through a series of visual snapshots, each capturing a moment of emotional and political intensity.

Resonating with public sentiment

Recurring characters populated these cartoons, serving as visual shorthand for larger political entities. Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman often appeared as the embodiment of the Bangladeshi people – tall, resolute, and dignified.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and, occasionally, other Indian leaders represented the Indian state, sometimes as a burdened yet determined figure. Pakistan’s president, General Yahya Khan, was frequently depicted as a monstrous or grotesque figure, emphasising the brutality of the Pakistani military regime, while Bhutto appeared as a scheming conspirator.

International figures such as US President Richard Nixon and China’s Mao Zedong were caricatured to critique the policies of their governments, often shown as distant, calculating, or indifferent to human suffering.

The effectiveness of these cartoons, however, cannot be understood in isolation from the political culture in which they were produced. As prominent Indian journalist and cartoonist Chandi Lahiri once observed, very few cartoons actually create public opinion; rather, they resonate when they align with existing sentiments.

A cartoon that captures the mood of the moment can become instantly popular because it articulates what people already feel but cannot easily express. In this sense, the cartoons of 1971 offer a valuable window into public perception, particularly in Calcutta, where the proximity to the conflict made it impossible to remain detached.

The broader context of global civil society also played a role. Across the world, ordinary people, activists, writers, and artists mobilised in support of Bangladesh. Marches, rallies, and cultural interventions sought to draw attention to the genocide and the refugee crisis.

Cartoonists were part of this larger ecosystem of resistance, contributing through satire and symbolism.

Cartoonists who stood out

Among the prominent figures, Amal Chakraborty stands out for his sustained engagement with the war. Working primarily with Jugantar, he produced a series of cartoons that were later republished in English-language newspapers as well.

His March 3 cartoon in Jugantar, for instance, captures the political tension surrounding the postponed session of Pakistan’s National Assembly. Sheikh Mujib’s Awami League had won a majority but Bhutto refused to accept it. Mujib is depicted as a calm yet towering figure, embodying resolve, while Yahya Khan represents the looming threat of military power.

Bhutto appears as an instigator, warning against reconciliation. The composition is simple, but the implications are profound: a political stalemate on the brink of collapse.

Chandi Lahiri contributed extensively through the “Tirjak” section of Anandabazar and Desh. His April 10 cartoon critiques the voyeuristic curiosity of some West Bengalis who flocked to border areas as if witnessing a spectacle.

By asking whether genocide could be treated as entertainment, Lahiri turned the gaze back on his own society, exposing its moral ambiguities. A day later, on April 11, he depicted Yahya Khan celebrating Easter with a shopping bag full of human skulls – a chilling image that encapsulates the grotesque normalization of violence.

Cartoonist Kutty’s work, meanwhile, is notable for its stylistic variation and conceptual breadth. His March 6 cartoon in the Desh weekly titled “Challenge” presents Mujib as a towering, almost mythic figure, contrasted with a diminished Bhutto.

In May 22, in Desh, he depicted India as a camel burdened with multiple crises – economic, political, and social – while the refugee problem threatened to destabilise everything. His later cartoons, especially those from September and December, adopt a more overtly theatrical tone, portraying global leaders in staged scenarios that underscore their detachment or hypocrisy.

Sufi, or Naren Roy, though less celebrated, produced a remarkable body of work under the title “Obartho” in Jugantar. His early identification on March 21 of Bhutto as a genocidal figure, even before the official onset of mass killings on March 25, demonstrates a keen political intuition.

His “Refugee” cartoon juxtaposes violence in East Pakistan with instability in West Bengal, creating a dual narrative of suffering. Another cartoon, titled “Who Will Save Us,” situates Bangladesh within a broader landscape of Cold War conflicts, linking it to crises in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. The question it poses is both rhetorical and urgent, reflecting a sense of abandonment by the international community.

These diverse works remind us that the history of 1971 was also drawn in lines and shadows, where incisive cartoons captured the weight of a nation’s struggle.

All these cartoons are from the book Cartoon e Muktijuddho by Muntasir Mamoon and Chowdhury Shahid Kader.

March 26 is Bangladesh Independence Day.

Faisal Mahmud is a Dhaka-based journalist.

The Union government has mandated that households using liquefied petroleum gas must shift to piped natural gas in areas where infrastructure and supplies for it are available.

The mandate comes amid disruptions in energy supplies to India since the conflict in West Asia broke out on February 28. Iran has effectively blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz for most international commercial vessels. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

This has also affected LPG supplies in India. The country imports about 60% of its LPG demand, most of it from Gulf countries.

Due to the disruptions, the Union government has been appealing to consumers to switch to PNG if it is available, so as to take some pressure off LPG supplies. It has also offered additional commercial LPG allocation to states if they undertake measures to ease the expansion of the PNG network.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas notified the 2026 Natural Gas and Petroleum Products Distribution Through Laying, Building, Operation and Expansion of Pipelines and Other Facilities Order under the Essential Commodities Act.

The order is aimed at accelerating pipeline infrastructure, easing approvals and promoting a shift from LPG to PNG to strengthen energy security. It states that LPG supply will cease after three months if a household does not opt for PNG despite availability.

The order, however, allows LPG supply to continue where it is technically unfeasible to provide a piped connection. This is subject to a no-objection certificate.

It further states that public authorities must grant right of way or permissions within prescribed timelines to facilitate rapid rollout, failing which approvals will be deemed granted. It also bars authorities from imposing charges beyond those specified.

Entities controlling access in residential areas must grant permissions within three working days, the order states, adding that last-mile PNG connectivity will have to be provided within 48 hours. It added that applications for pipeline connectivity in such areas cannot be rejected.

Addressing a press briefing, Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said that entities authorised or holding licenses to retail PNG in a geographical area will send notices to LPG users about its availability, PTI reported.

The 2026 Natural Gas and Petroleum Products Distribution Order provides a “streamlined and time-bound framework” to speed up pipeline laying and expand gas infrastructure, particularly in residential areas, to enhance last-mile connectivity and support a transition to cleaner fuels, she said.

The joint secretary further noted that there are around 60 lakh households in India that have PNG infrastructure available in their vicinity but continue to use LPG, The Indian Express reported.

So far in March, around 2.5 lakh new PNG connections, both domestic and well as commercial, have been provided and 2.2 lakh LPG uses have shifted to PNG, she added.

Also read: Why the LPG crisis is reviving pandemic fears among migrant workers

N Gowreeshwaran arrived on Indian soil with just two sets of clothes in 2006. It was all that could fit on the tiny boat that he and 10 members of his family travelled in from war-torn Sri Lanka. Since the age of 16, he has lived at a rehabilitation camp for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Chennai.

He yearns to see how his hometown Trincomalee, a coastal city in Sri Lanka, has changed in 20 years – but only as a tourist. “I would never consider moving there,” said Gowreeshwaran. “There is nothing there for us anymore.”

As ethnic violence and civil war ravaged the island nation for nearly three decades, lakhs of Sri Lankan Tamils fled their homes and landed up in India, mainly in Tamil Nadu. Many, like Gowreeshwaran, are refugees who have built new lives in India – but without gaining Indian citizenship.

A Sri Lankan minister’s comments, earlier in March, welcoming refugees back to the island nation brought to fore the longstanding issue of citizenship, which has resonance in both countries. But refugees Scroll spoke to said they would not return to Sri Lanka, even if offered the option. India is now their home.

Gowreeshwaran completed his education, started working, got married and now has children. “My life is here now,” he said.

Refugees said that getting Indian citizenship would allow them to access formal employment, better jobs and help the community move past the trauma of war and displacement.

“We have Aadhaar cards but they mention that we are refugees,” said Gowreeshwaran. “We still don’t have a proper address to put on documents.”

For decades, Gowreeshwaran’s family and refugees like him have lived in 10x10 rooms in the Puzhal camp in Chennai. Getting citizenship would improve life drastically, he said.

Nothing to return to in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan minister Bimal Rathnayake told The Hindu in an interview on March 18 that the island nation was ready to receive refugees who had fled during the civil war and were living in India. He also said the Indian and Tamil Nadu governments must not use refugees as “a tool for political propaganda around elections”.

Rathnayake was responding to a query on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s letter to the Indian government on citizenship for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. Stalin, in his letter in February, had asked the Centre to revoke administrative instructions that barred Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from applying for Indian citizenship. Elections will be held in Tamil Nadu on April 23.

Parivelan KM, a member of the advisory committee for the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, said Rathnayake’s comments must be appreciated, but there was nothing new about this stand. “Nobody has said that the refugees cannot return, but asking them to return without a policy of rehabilitation and reconstruction is just empty words,” said Parivelan, who is also a professor at Woxsen University, Hyderabad.

In a survey Parivelan conducted of 520 families in 2014, he found that 68% would prefer to stay in India. Even so, it is not a simple matter of citizenship and belonging.

“Refugee is a blanket term used to refer to people who fled during the civil war,” Parivelan said. But the residents of the refugee camps include those with Indian roots, who were taken to Sri Lanka by the British to work on tea estates.

The two governments signed pacts, one in 1964 and the next in 1974, allowing some of these tea workers Indian citizenship and others Sri Lankan citizenship. Some fell through the cracks. “These people became stateless,” said Parivelan.

“Those who got stranded there, tried to flee after the civil war escalated post the 1980s,” he said. “They also ended up in the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camp with the refugee tag.” Given that such refugees don’t belong to Sri Lanka or India, the issue needs to be mapped carefully and addressed with sensitivity, he said.

Rathnayake told The Hindu that 18,542 refugees from Tamil Nadu had returned to Sri Lanka since the civil war ended in January 2009. But refugees Scroll spoke to said that only those with land or money could consider moving back to Sri Lanka. Gowreeshwaran said that his family has relatives in Sri Lanka, but not land.

“Everything was lost during the war, so what would we do for work?” he said

Similarly, Priyamani*, a refugee, said that some people may have help from relatives who sought asylum in Western countries and have money. “But people like us came here with nothing,” Priyamani said.

In S Anitha’s case, her father has been trying for more than a decade to reclaim the land he owned. Anitha’s family hails from Kilinochchi, which witnessed some of the worst war crimes. At the height of the civil war in 1990, Anitha’s family fled leaving behind their possessions, including land documents.

Anitha’s father returned to Sri Lanka but has been running from pillar to post to reclaim their land. “He was supposed to show proof that he had lived there,” she said. “He had to prove that neighbours recognised him, which he did and then he followed through with the process but things haven’t progressed.”

Anitha, who lives in a camp in Madurai, said that most refugees don’t have pattas for their land in Sri Lanka or that their land was grabbed during the war. In many areas, people have also resettled since the war. “Even if people do have pattas, who knows who lives there now?” she said.

Livelihood, trauma of war

More than themselves, the refugees said they hoped that at least their children would be granted Indian citizenship.

Priyamani said her children, who were born in India and are completing their higher education, would prefer to live here but have few employment prospects. “MBBS, law and government exams are still not open to our children even though they were born here,” said Priyamani.

Anitha said job options are restricted to the private sector where growth is limited. “At the most, young people earn about Rs 30,000 even in good jobs,” said Anitha. “If someone has a job that requires travel to other countries, they need a passport and other documents, which they don’t have,” she said. “So nobody is able to move beyond a certain position.”

Kanni*, a 24-year-old woman living in a camp in Cuddalore, is moving to Sri Lanka soon but only because she is marrying a man from that country. “It just so happened that we got an alliance from there,” she said. Her parents have no intention of moving back. “Like my parents, I would [have] stayed here,” she said. “I was born here, studied here and work here.”

For some, like Priyamani, memories of the civil war linger painfully. “I remember the bodies and the bombs and continue to suffer the impact of that on my mental health,” she said. Having witnessed the war at such close quarters, she feels scared about returning.

Saravanan, a refugee who is stateless, feels that returning to Sri Lanka is unfeasible. “We have Indian origins, [but] our ancestors moved there and we were also born there [in Sri Lanka],” he said.

Since escaping from the war, Saravanan lived in a camp in Thirupathur where there are others like him who are stateless. “The government has built us our homes here,” he said. “So we live here legally, but we are not given citizenship.”

Better policies

Returning to Sri Lanka, the refugees said, offered nothing unless it was backed by policies and concrete promises. “They can say they will welcome us back but are they saying anything about how they will support us?” asked Saravanan. “How will they provide rehabilitation and jobs?”

Parivelan, of the advisory committee for the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, echoed Saravanan’s concerns. Referring to Rathnayake’s offer, he said, “They must tell people what their rehabilitation measures are – what about housing or livelihoods?”

“I don’t think they have planned or drafted anything yet on those lines,” he said.

Priyamani and Anitha agreed. “Somebody from the Sri Lankan government should come and meet us and ask us how we are, what our problems and needs are,” said Anitha. “It’s not right to just make such comments for political reasons.”

Parivelan said that the Sri Lankan minister’s remark about not making refugees an election issue was unnecessary. “This is election time and these issues should be raised,” he said. “It is already a political issue.”

Anitha also said that Rathnayake’s comment about Tamil refugees being used for election propaganda was misplaced. In Tamil Nadu, past governments have all tried to help the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, she said. Besides, Anitha said, refugees in the camp support various political parties.

“Some vote for AIADMK, some DMK,” she said, referring to the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

“There are also people who support Vijaykanth’s party and Vijay’s party,” said Anitha – the regional party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam was founded by actor Vijaykanth while actor Vijay launched the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in 2024.

Parivelan said the priority now is to best meet the needs of the refugees. “The Indian government and the Sri Lankan government should both come together to figure out how to help these groups and how to grant them citizenship or repatriation as per their informed choices.”

*Name changed to preserve anonymity.

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed by voice vote the 2026 Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Amendment Bill.

It was cleared by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, a motion to refer the bill to a select Parliamentary committee was rejected. The legislation will now be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent.

Introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 13, the bill proposes amendments to the 2019 Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act by redefining who qualifies as a transgender person.

It removes transgender persons’ right to a self-perceived gender identity and limits the law’s scope to those with certain biological or physiological characteristics, intersex variations, or specific socio-cultural identities such as kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta.

If it receives the presidential assent, transgender men, transgender women and genderqueer persons, who were recognised under the 2019 law, will be excluded from the definition of “transgender person”.

Provisions of bill

The new bill proposes to make medical evaluation and certification mandatory for legal gender recognition. It underlines that the authority to permit such transitions is vested in medical professionals operating under a medical board.

The bill also introduces graded punishments based on the severity of offences, increasing the maximum penalty from two years under the 2019 law to up to 14 years.

It also specifies that those who have been “compelled” assume, adopt or outwardly present a transgender identity under “undue influence” will not be covered under the law.

It emphasises that the law is intended to protect a defined class of persons facing “extreme and oppressive” discrimination and not all “persons with various gender identities, self-perceived sex/gender identities or gender fluidities”.

During the discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Opposition members raised concerns that the bill undermines the right to self-identification recognised by the Supreme Court in the 2014 National Legal Services Authority v Union of India matter, or NALSA case.

The judgement had formally created the “third gender” category for transgender persons that recognised them as a socially and economically backward class.

It had issued directions to the government to ensure transgender community gets job quotas, admission in educational institutions, health benefits, separate public toilets and a host of other safeguards against discrimination.

Opposition criticises amendments

Renuka Chowdhury of the Congress questioned why medical boards, rather than self-identification, would determine gender, arguing that transgender persons have the same constitutional rights as others.

“[The] Constitution is with the people who identify as transgenders today,” she added. “The prime minister himself has called himself non-biological.”

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Tiruchi Siva told the Rajya Sabha that even if the bill is passed by Parliament with a government majority, it is likely to be struck down by the Supreme Court.

“It violates Article 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution which deprives the community of the right to freedom, dignity and self determination,” he said.

Article 14 guarantees equality before the law, Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, Article 19 guarantees fundamental freedoms and Article 21 protects the right to life and personal liberty.

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale criticised the government for not consulting the community and accused it of relying on foreign examples, claiming the legislation undermines historical recognition of gender diversity in India.

“This bill is nothing but trashy colonial legislation,” he asserted.

Shiv Sena (Uddhab Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi questioned the lack of consulting the transgender community, while Manoj Kumar Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal criticised the absence of a rights-based approach.

Also read: It took me decades to find myself. The trans bill erases me in one sweep

The Union government on Wednesday introduced the 2026 Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking in Parliament, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the amendments would enable the government to act against organisations using foreign funds for activities such as forced religious conversions or actions “against the spirit of the Constitution, the law and the interest of the country”.

Three Opposition MPs opposed the proposed law, describing it as “dangerous” and “draconian”.

Registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act is mandatory for a non-profit organisation to receive foreign funds.

The amendment bill seeks to address “operational and legal gaps” in the 2010 Act, particularly in cases where an organisation’s registration is cancelled or expires, Bar and Bench reported.

Among its key provisions is one that allows the government to take control of an NGO’s foreign funds and assets if its FCRA registration lapses. Under the proposed framework, such funds and assets will provisionally vest in a government-appointed “designated authority”. If the organisation fails to regain registration, this control would become permanent. The authority would then be empowered to use, transfer or dispose of these assets for “public purposes”.

The bill also imposes stricter restrictions during the suspension of registration. NGOs will not be allowed to transfer, sell or otherwise deal with assets created out of foreign funds without prior approval from the central government.

Between 2016-’17 and 2021-’22, over 6,600 NGOs lost their FCRA licences, the government had told Parliament in December 2022. In 2023, it informed Parliament that 13,520 registered non-profit organisations had received Rs 55,741.5 crore in foreign contributions between 2019-’20 and 2021-’22.

On Wednesday, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the amendment bill grants “sweeping and disproportionate powers” to the executive without adequate constitutional safeguards.

His party colleague GK Padavi argued that it would further shrink democratic space, leaving civil society operating under “regulatory uncertainty and fear of punitive action”.

Trinamool Congress MP Pratima Mandal claimed that the bill concentrates excessive power in the hands of the Union government.

Also read: How India’s crackdown on NGO funds has crushed key grassroots services and ended livelihoods

Talks between Iran and the United States to end the conflict in West Asia might be held in Pakistan later this week, The Guardian quoted the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency as saying on Wednesday.

The talks will focus on “missiles, militias allied with the Islamic Republic and security guarantees for Iran”, Rafael Grossi told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, according to The Guardian.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump claimed that his country has won the war in Iran, and that it was only “fake news” portals that were claiming otherwise. There was no immediate response from Iran to the US’ claims.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• Grossi said “there are alternative diplomatic plans that would allow both a solution that says that at the moment there will be no more enrichment because the political, military and trust situation does not allow it; and, in principle, to reassess the issue in five or ten years’ time”.
• Trump, while claiming that the US has won the war in Iran, also said: “There won’t be any nuclear weapons. Iran has agreed to that.” He made the statement two days after directing the Department of War to postpone military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days following “good and productive conversations” between Washington and Tehran. Iran, however, had claimed that it was the US president who “backed down” after learning that it would target all power plants in West Asia.
• On Wednesday, the Iranian military rejected Trump’s claims about the negotiations, state-owned Fars news agency reported. “Has the level of your internal conflicts reached the state of negotiating with yourselves?” military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari was quoted as having asked in a video. He added that Washington should not describe its failure as an agreement.
• The Iranian news agency quoted Zolfaghari as saying that there will be no return to the oil prices as were before the conflict, or to the previous order, “until our will is done”.
• Washington has offered a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran, AP quoted an unidentified official as saying on Tuesday. The plan was submitted to Iran by intermediaries from Pakistan, which has offered to host renewed negotiations between Washington and Tehran, the official said. Israeli officials, who have been advocating for Trump to continue the conflict, were surprised by the submission of the plan, the official was quoted as saying. This came as the US military is preparing to send at least 1,000 more soldiers to supplement some 50,000 troops already in West Asia.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: The war in Iran has been won.

The only one that likes to keep it going is the fake news. pic.twitter.com/pAYfeglpzJ

— Department of State (@StateDept) March 24, 2026

• Iran has said that at least 12 persons were killed and 28 others injured in an “enemy attack” on the residential areas of Varamin in southern Tehran, Al Jazeera quoted the Iranian state-owned Fars news agency as saying on Tuesday. In Iran, at least 1,500 persons have been killed and more than 18,550 injured in the conflict that started after the United States and Israel launched an attack on the country on February 28.
• Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations said that non-hostile vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the the Iranian government, provided that “they neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran and fully comply with the declared safety and security regulations”.
• The United Arab Emirates’ defence ministry said that a Moroccan citizen working as a civilian contractor with the armed forces was killed during a routine mission in an Iranian missile attack in Bahrain, Gulf News reported on Tuesday. The attack also injured five personnel from the ministry, it added.
• Drones targeted a ​fuel tank ‌at Kuwait International Airport, ​causing a ​fire but no ⁠casualties, ​Reuters quoted the country’s Civil Aviation ​Authority as saying on Wednesday. The authority said that emergency procedures ​had been ​activated immediately, with firefighting ‌teams ⁠responding to the blaze. Initial reports ​indicated only ​material ⁠damage, it added.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that he had received a call from United States Donald Trump, adding that he had a “useful exchange of views” on the situation in West Asia. “India supports de-escalation and restoration of peace at the earliest,” Modi said on social media. “Ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains open, secure and accessible is essential for the whole world. We agreed to stay in touch regarding efforts towards peace and stability.”
• Iran had effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels since the start of the conflict. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint. The International Energy Agency has said that the fighting has caused the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”.

The conflict

The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran’s action posed an existential threat to Israel. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Iran has retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in Gulf countries and some ships.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

The Uttar Pradesh Police has booked All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s state unit chief Haji Shaukat Ali for making allegedly provocative remarks during an Eid event in Meerut, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.

Three of the party’s office-bearers have also been arrested for organising the gathering without permission.

The event was held at a farmhouse on Monday, The Indian Express quoted the police as saying.

Action against the AIMIM members came after a video of the programme was widely shared on social media, in which Ali is heard making remarks purportedly about the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

“Give me just 11 MLAs, and I promise that if a Muslim is killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh, those who are responsible for the encounter will also face an encounter,” Ali could be heard purportedly saying.

He also reportedly criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government for the closure of madrasas and punitive demolition of homes.

Meerut Superintendent of Police Antriksh Jain said a case had been registered at Lohiya Nagar police station.

The first information report includes charges related to promoting enmity between groups and making statements conducive to public mischief, The Indian Express reported.

“The speeches were intended to create enmity between different religions and communities and affect law and order,” PTI quoted Jain as saying.

The AIMIM leaders arrested have been identified as the party’s western Uttar Pradesh president Mehtab Chauhan, metropolitan president Imran Ansari and metropolitan secretary Razi Siddiqui, according to the news agency.

The noise around English and its role in India’s cultural disintegration has not subsided after 78 years of independence. Whenever someone discusses language extinction, English is invariably the villain of the story.

This characterisation of English is incongruent with lived reality. But the language serves the purpose of a common enemy.

The harrowing, brutal way in which it came to Indians and its role in the construction of the postcolonial Indian elite makes English a sore spot. It is also the language of a great many institutions with a pronounced British heritage. Understandably, the popular narrative renders English as the prime culprit driving the shrinking footprint of India’s native languages.

But if one looks closely at how local languages actually recede in everyday life, the story appears far more intricate. English is certainly the mighty queen in a globalised world-order, but Hindi is the local feudal lord that subdues a plethora of mother tongues.

Standardised Hindi, as it is taught in school and in which students are expected to speak and write, is the language that is learnt to sound respectable, educated and urban. In India’s hierarchical society, language dictates one’s place in the pecking order. Languages also arrange themselves on a ladder, depending on the status of their users.

Hindi is at the top in most parts of North India where users of other languages find themselves in a state of constant shame. To command respect, at least in the North, one may or may speak English but must speak polished Hindi. With Hindi, one can argue in most courts, read official documents and participate in higher education.

But one cannot be “just Bhojpuri” and claim the same benefits and status. A Bhojpuri speaker appears as much a dehati, or a country hick, to a Hindi speaker as they are to an anglophone elite. So, what does the Bhojpuri speaker do?

In the North, the desire for the provincials is to be recognised by Hindi counterparts as their equal. English remains the domain of a small and now exceedingly powerless elite. One needs English at the airport or at a fine-dining restaurant. But Hindi is the language one uses to communicate with their landlord, friends, teachers, the security guard – that is, the everyday world.

Hindi is certainly a factor in the decline of a host of languages such as Bhojpuri, Maithili, Braj and Awadhi. Hindi may be syntactically similar to these languages, but similarity does not ensure survival. The unnoticed shift away from these languages – at home, in the market, in school corridors – does not announce itself as the death of a language but assumes the face of “better manners”, “appropriate speech” and “dignity”.

Linguistic aspirations

Growing up in a migrant Kumaoni community in Agra, none of us learnt to speak in Kumaoni – and it is not because we were immersed in learning English or French. Our parents’ desire for us to speak in Hindi led to a distancing from our roots. We also saw our fellow Braj speakers in poor light. English was desirable but far too distant and perhaps even unattainable. It was only heard on a few channels on cable television.

Parents everywhere are aspirational, yes. But all linguistic aspirations in India do not culminate in English. There are local and immediate absorbers of desires.

Often the arguments made by the proponents of Hindi appeal to abstract notions of honour and nationalism, but their desire for supremacy stems, ultimately, from an envy of the anglophone elite who are seen as deracinated, their allegiance to India questionable and their access to power and status illegitimate.

It is said India should follow Japan or Germany in instituting one language that unites the country, making it a stable entity. But the comparison is inappropriate. Many countries in the world are strictly monoethnic and monolingual. Only other countries in South Asia can be compared with India, with caveats.

Recent history shows that language battles have caused civil wars in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, India’s closest neighbours. Urdu has failed to unite Pakistan’s varied ethnic and linguistic groups while in Sri Lanka, Sinhala nationalism often discriminates against Tamil-speakers.

A neutral language

India needs a language for administration and interstate and interregional communication that is equidistant from all native languages and which a vast majority of Indians are open to learning. Here, India can learn from Singapore, which found English a neutral language, in a multilingual country, that facilitates social cohesion.

This is not to say that English can perform the function of cultural transmission. For that, training in other Indian languages is an important feature of academic studies, but at least the Centre will not be seen promoting one regional language to the neglect and detriment of others.

If one leaves aside a tiny segment of Hindi political elites who eagerly await the triumph of Hindi for their vested interests, most Indians would prefer a two or three-language model in which English holds importance for managing domestic and global affairs.

It is said that Hindi is inclusionary while English excludes the vast majority. But, leaving aside non-Hindi speakers, even most Hindi speakers – here, speakers of “dialects” – find it difficult to make sense of official documents replete with Sanskritised phraseology. The idea that Hindi will be inclusionary is yet to be studied with rigour.

The statements made by powerful ministers in favour of Hindi and the government’s sly way of imposing the language do not do much except upsetting non-Hindi speakers. We need less government in the business of language.

A language becomes popular or obsolete despite politics in a market economy. Hindi has gained more popularity and speakers post liberalisation. This development should not be disturbed by announcing Hindi’s takeover. The battle for language is ultimately a battle for power, but it could snowball into major strife and destabilise all that we hold close to our hearts.

Suraj Gunwant is Assistant Professor, Department of English, Ewing Christian College, University of Allahabad.

This is the first part of a debate on whether Hindi or English are weakening other Indian languages and constricting linguistic diversity.

The Indian rupee fell to a record low, breaching the 94-mark against the United States dollar. The currency slumped 29 paise to close at a record low of 94.05 as the outflow of foreign funds continued amid the conflict in West Asia.

A drop in global crude oil prices and positive sentiments in the domestic equity markets also did not provide any respite to the local unit.

In the domestic equity market, the benchmark Sensex surged by 1.63% while Nifty was up 1.72%. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 4.33% lower at $99.97 per barrel in futures trade. Read on.

How the Iran war is ratcheting up cost of medical supplies, writes Tabassum Barnagarwala

The Union government introduced the 2026 Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha. The amendments would enable the government to act against organisations using foreign funds for activities such as forced religious conversions or actions “against the spirit of the Constitution, the law and the interest of the country”, said Union minister Nityanand Rai.

Among other key provisions of the bill is one that allows the government to take control of an NGO’s foreign funds and assets if its FCRA registration lapses.

Opposition MPs opposed the proposed law, describing it as “dangerous” and “draconian”. Congress MP Manish Tewari said the amendment bill grants “sweeping and disproportionate powers” to the executive. Read on.

How India’s crackdown on NGO funds has crushed key grassroots services and ended livelihoods, reports Kunal Purohit

A Singapore coroner’s inquiry into the death of singer Zubeen Garg has ruled that he died of accidental drowning. There was no reason to disagree with the Police Coast Guard’s conclusion that Garg was “severely intoxicated” and had refused to wear a life jacket, said State Coroner Adam Nakhoda.

The death certificate issued by the authorities in Singapore on September 20 stated the cause of Garg’s death as drowning. The authorities reiterated the findings in October and December. However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has repeatedly claimed that the singer’s death was not accidental but was a murder. Read on.

The Supreme Court criticised the Haryana Police for allegedly derailing the investigation into the rape of a four-year-old girl in Gurugram. The bench stated that “all-out attempts” were made to “protect the accused” and that the police tried to dilute the gravity of the offence.

It also noted that there was prima facie evidence to indicate that the offence of “aggravated penetrative sexual assault” under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act section 6 was committed. However, the police only registered a first information report for “aggravated sexual assault” under Section 10 of the Act, which is a lesser offence, the court added. Read on.

The National Democratic Alliance formally announced its seat-sharing agreement for the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. The Bharatiya Janata Party will contest 27 of the state’s 234 Assembly seats, seven more than it had in the 2021 polls.

The Edappadi K Palaniswami-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is likely to contest about 169 seats – all that have not been allocated to its partners. Read on.

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a petition challenging the Union government’s advisory on the playing and singing of all six stanzas of the patriotic song Vande Mataram at government and public functions, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi was hearing a writ petition filed by Muhammed Sayeed Noori, who runs an academic institution.

Noori had challenged the January 28 Ministry of Home Affairs circular, which directed that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram be sung first when it is played together with the national anthem Jana Gana Mana.

Only the first two stanzas of the song had been played at official functions earlier. The remaining stanzas, which invoke Hindu goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati, had been omitted.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that even without formal penalties, the advisory could lead to social pressure and compel individuals to participate.

The persons who do not follow it will be “singled out and discriminated against”, the counsel argued.

The petitioner submitted that persons of all religious backgrounds, including atheists, would eventually be forced to sing the song as a “social demonstration of loyalty”, adding that “patriotism cannot be compelled”.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court held that the plea was “premature” and based on “vague apprehensions”, Live Law reported.

The bench observed that the advisory neither makes singing the song mandatory nor prescribes penal consequences for non-compliance, Bar and Bench reported.

“We will hear all this when there are penal consequences or [it is] made mandatory,” Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying.

Vande Mataram was written in Sanskrit by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875 and is a popular patriotic song from India’s freedom movement.

A Press Information Bureau note issued on November 6 to mark 150 years of the song stated that the Constituent Assembly had adopted Jana Gana Mana as the national anthem and Vande Mataram as the national song.

The note quoted Rajendra Prasad, the first president, as having told the Assembly in January 1950 that Vande Mataram, because of its role in the freedom movement, “shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it”.

However, the Constitution mentions only the national anthem, not Vande Mataram.

Also read: Vande Mataram debate: The novel in which the poem appears is a cry for freedom – but from whom?

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday rejected petitions filed by nine persons seeking to quash criminal proceedings related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Kanpur, Live Law reported.

Large-scale riots had broken out in early November 1984, following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, who was the prime minister at the time, by her Sikh bodyguards.

The High Court on Tuesday described the violence as amounting to a genocide and crimes against humanity.

The bench of Justice Anish Kumar Gupta held that delays in recording witness statements and the absence of original police records are not sufficient grounds to terminate proceedings.

Gupta dismissed the seven connected applications challenging the chargesheets and the cases pending before the chief judicial magistrate in Kanpur Nagar.

In all the cases, first information reports had been lodged soon after the incidents, but the final reports were later submitted exonerating the persons accused in those matters, Live Law reported.

Subsequently, the Union government set up the Justice Nanavati Commission to inquire into the riots. The Supreme Court had later constituted a Special Investigation Team and directed that cases where FIRs had been extracted by forensic laboratories should be investigated and tried.

Following the directions, fresh investigations were conducted, witnesses were examined and chargesheets were filed, after which cognisance was taken by the chief metropolitan magistrate.

The applicants argued that the absence of original records, including FIRs and post-mortem reports, made a fair trial impossible. They also contended that the identity of the persons accused in the matter itself is doubtful, as the incident had taken place in 1984 but the witness statements were recorded between 2020 and 2022.

One of the applicants also raised a plea of alibi, claiming he was not present at the scene of the violence.

The state opposed the petitions, submitting that the Supreme Court had been aware of the missing records when it ordered the reinvestigation.

Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal, representing the state, argued that the authorities are bound to act in aid of the Supreme Court and that the delay alone cannot justify closing the cases.

Goyal further submitted that the heinous nature of the crimes left a lasting impression on witnesses, enabling them to give clear accounts.

The High Court agreed with the state, observing that final reports had been filed hastily in the past to protect those involved.

It noted that it was an admitted fact that the records had either been weeded out or destroyed over time. The court said the incidents formed part of a wider pattern of violence against the Sikh community across the country, involving killings, arson and looting on a large scale.

The judge held that a prima facie case is made out against the applicants, as there is sufficient material to indicate their involvement and establish their identity.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday criticised the Haryana Police for allegedly derailing the investigation into the rape of a four-year-old girl in Gurugram, reported Live Law.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi stated that “all-out attempts” were made to “protect the accused” and that the police tried to dilute the gravity of the offence.

The court noted that there was prima facie evidence to indicate that the offence of “aggravated penetrative sexual assault” under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act section 6 was committed.

However, the police only registered a first information report for “aggravated sexual assault” under Section 10 of the Act, which is a lesser offence, the court added.

While section 6 provides for at least 20 years in jail, section 10 mandates only 10 years.

The bench said that the “entire police force, from the commissioner to the sub inspector, made all attempts to prove that the child had no proof or that the parents did not make any sense”.

“Child went through more horrifying experience after what happened with her,” the legal news outlet quoted Kant as saying. “Repeated victimisation.”

He added: “You are disbelieving a four year child…Shame on them.”

The court constituted a Special Investigation Team led by Indian Police Service officer Nazneen Bhasin to probe the case, Live Law reported. It also directed that Gurugram’s commissioner of police and the investigating officer be removed from the probe.

The police officers were issued a show-cause notice seeking an explanation on why no disciplinary action should be taken against them.

The court also criticised the judicial magistrate for not ensuring that the matter was investigated under Section 6 of the POCSO Act.

It further pulled up the members of the Child Welfare Committee for handling the case in an allegedly insensitive manner.

“Who appointed these [Child Welfare Committee] members?,” Live Law quoted Kant as saying. “Acted as if the victim was a table or chair.”

The court said that it has doubts about the academic and professional qualifications of the committee members and asked the Haryana government’s Department of Women and Child Development to file an affidavit on why the current members were appointed to the panel, NDTV reported.

The court was hearing a writ petition filed by the parents of the child seeking a probe by either the Central Bureau of Investigation or the Special Investigation Team in the case.

The National Democratic Alliance on Wednesday formally announced its seat-sharing agreement for the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, ANI reported.

The Bharatiya Janata Party will contest 27 of the state’s 234 Assembly seats, seven more than what it had in the 2021 polls. The seats include Chennai’s Mylapore, Coimbatore North, Madurai, Tiruppur, Avadi, Thanjavur, Tiruvannamalai, Nagercoil and Radhapuram.

The Edappadi K Palaniswami-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will contest all seats that have not been allocated to its partners. It is likely to contest about 169 seats.

The Anbumani Ramadoss-led faction of the Pattali Makkal Katchi will contest 18 seats, including Dharmapuri, Pennagaram, Vikravandi, Sholingur, Tiruporur, Uthiramerur, Polur, Gingee and Vriddhachalam.

The TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam was allocated 11 seats. The constituencies include Mannargudi, Tiruvaiyaru and Nanguneri.

While the Tamil Maanila Congress will contest five seats, the Indhiya Jananayaka Katchi will fight on two. The Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam and the Puthiya Bharatham Party will contest one seat each.

The voting will be held in a single phase on April 23. The counting of votes will take place on May 4.

In the 2021 polls, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led alliance, which includes the Congress and the Left, won the polls.

The alliance clinched 159 seats in the 234-member Assembly. The NDA, mainly comprising the AIADMK and the BJP, had won 75. DMK leader MK Stalin had become the chief minister.

The Election Commission website incorrectly showed that all voters in West Bengal are under adjudication in the claims process of the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls, the Trinamool Congress alleged on Wednesday.

This has caused panic among the voters, the party claimed.

While the problem was later resolved, it highlighted the “serious technical glitches and faulty software” used by the poll panel, party MP Mahua Moitra said.

“How can a software maintained with taxpayers’ money be so error-prone and unreliable?” Moitra asked on social media. “What concrete steps has the Election Commission taken to fix these recurring issues? Instead of addressing matters of such grave importance that affect millions of voters, the Vanish Commission is busy enabling [the Bharatiya Janata Party].”

West Bengal is among the 12 states and Union Territories where the special intensive revision of the electoral roll was undertaken.

On February 28, the Election Commission published the final electoral roll for West Bengal, showing that more than 61 lakh voters had been excluded.

However, the process continued with about 60 lakh “doubtful and pending” cases remaining “under adjudication” based on their objections to their exclusions from the draft rolls published in December.

On Monday, a batch of names approved by judicial officers was added to the rolls through the first supplementary list published. Of the 60 lakh pending cases, 29 lakh had been adjudicated.

However, the poll panel has not specified how many voters have been added to or dropped off the list.

The Economic Times reported that when the supplementary list was made available online on Monday, there were technical glitches, server problems, downloads were slow and the PDF files could not be downloaded.

On February 20, the Supreme Court ordered that judicial officers of the rank of district judge or additional district judge be appointed to help complete the revision exercise in the state amid a tussle between the Trinamool Congress government and the Election Commission.

West Bengal Chief Minister had moved the Supreme Court against the exercise, raising concerns that voter roll revision poses an immediate and irreversible risk of mass disenfranchisement of eligible electors in the Assembly elections. She sought the court’s direction that the elections be conducted on the basis of the existing electoral rolls prepared last year.

The Assembly elections in the state will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The results in all states will be announced on May 4.

Problem rectified, says poll panel

The Economic Times quoted West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal as saying on Tuesday that “in the initial stages, there are technical glitches”. He added that the problems will be “resolved after a few hours”.

On Wednesday, PTI quoted a polling official as saying that the Election Commission was examining what had caused the technical glitch that briefly showed all voters in the state being “under adjudication”.

“At one point, the system erroneously reflected that all electors in the state were under adjudication,” the newspaper quoted an unidentified official as saying. “This was not the case, and it was purely a display error.”

The problem has been rectified, the official said.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday verbally observed that the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls had been conducted smoothly in all states except in West Bengal.

Also read: As polls knock, why is Bengal’s SIR in a state of chaos with no end in sight?

On Wednesday, Moitra alleged that the Election Commission had appointed the husband of a BJP leader from Bihar as the police observer in Bengal’s Malda.

“At the same time, central forces are being misused as extra hands for BJP, with personnel carrying campaign materials for the party’s prachar [publicity] in Bankura,” she alleged.

This is a “dangerous assault” on electoral integrity, the Trinamool Congress leader said.

The Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The votes will be counted on May 4.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday verbally observed that the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls had been conducted smoothly in all states except in West Bengal, Live Law reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a batch of petitions against the special intensive revision in the state. During the hearing, the chief justice said that he had read an article about the exercise across the country.

“Apart from West Bengal, everywhere it happened smoothly,” Bar and Bench quoted Kant as saying.

In response, advocate Kalyan Banerjee, representing the West Bengal government, said that certain developments in the state were unusual. He said that the Election Commission had not published a “logical discrepancy” list or issued administrative notifications at unusual hours during the process in other states.

“Logical discrepancies” flagged by the poll panel during the voter list revision included mismatches in parents’ names, low age gap with parents and the number of children of the parents being above six.

However, the chief justice noted that there had been equally complicated problems in other states, but the revision “by and large” went on smoothly there, Live Law reported.

The bench also noted the pressure on judicial officers tasked with adjudicating claims in the state. “Do you realise we have put so much pressure on the judicial officers to complete 60 lakh cases within 45 days?” the legal news portal quoted Bagchi as saying.

In response, Banerjee said that the pace of the exercise was “inhuman”, reiterating that such an exercise could realistically take two to three years.

The bench also acknowledged that the exercise had thrown up “unique challenges” in West Bengal.

West Bengal is among the 12 states and Union Territories where the special intensive revision of electoral roll was undertaken.

On February 28, the Election Commission published the final electoral roll for West Bengal, indicating the exclusion of more than 61 lakh voters. However, the process continued with about 60 lakh “doubtful and pending” cases remaining “under adjudication” based on their objections to their exclusions from the draft rolls published in December.

A batch of names approved by judicial officers were added to the rolls through the first supplementary list published on Monday. Of the 60 lakh pending cases, 29 lakh had been adjudicated. However, the poll panel did not specify how many voters had been dropped and or included in the list.

On February 20, the Supreme Court ordered that judicial officers of the rank of district judge or additional district judge be appointed to help complete the revision exercise in the state amid a tussle between the Trinamool Congress government and the Election Commission.

Four days later, it allowed judges from Odisha and Jharkhand to also be deployed to decide on the claims and objections raised during the process.

At the hearing on Tuesday, Banerjee told the bench that the entire supplementary list had not yet been made available to stakeholders and requested that soft copies be provided to all political parties, Live Law reported.

Advocate DS Naidu, representing the Election Commission, told the Supreme Court that the poll panel was willing to publish supplementary lists on a daily basis and had placed a proposal before the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court.

Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, raised concerns about the impact of pending voter claims on the Assembly elections, Bar and Bench reported.

The elections will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The votes will be counted on May 4.

Divan told the bench that about 14 candidates for the polls were on the adjudication list. This could affect their ability to file nominations before the deadline, he added.

The deadline for filing nominations for the first phase is April 6 and April 9 for the second.

The advocate added that the electoral roll in the state must be frozen seven days before polling.

In response, the chief justice said that these concerns appeared to be administrative in nature and should be taken up before the High Court.

The Supreme Court is tentatively scheduled to take up the matter again on April 1, Live Law reported.

Punjab MLA Harmit Singh Pathanmajra, who has been absconding since September after being booked in a rape and cheating case, has been arrested in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported.

Pathanmajra, an Aam Aadmi Party legislator representing the Sanour constituency, was arrested at about 10 pm, the newspaper quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

The MLA had been booked on charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation on September 1 after a woman from Zirakpur, Punjab, accused him of sexually exploiting her on the pretext of marriage. She also alleged that he had concealed his first marriage.

After the first information report was registered, the police had sent a team to arrest him from his relative’s home in Haryana’s Karnal district. However, Pathanmajra escaped as his supporters allegedly thew stones and fired gun shots at the police.

In November, Pathanmajra appeared in a video interview with a web portal and claimed that he was in Australia, adding that he would “return home only after securing bail”. The MLA claimed that he had been framed.

However, a court in Patiala rejected his petition for anticipatory bail and issued a proclamation notice against him.

Issued under the Criminal Procedure Code section 82, a proclamation requires an absconding person to appear at a specified place and time not less than thirty days from the date of publishing such a notice.

Punjab’s Anti-Gangster Task Force had been on his trail since then, The Indian Express reported.

Denying the allegations against him in his interview in November, Pathanmajra had described the case as a “political conspiracy” that was aimed at silencing voices that speak for the residents of Punjab.

“In Punjab, ministers and MLAs are not consulted on key matters,” the MLA had said. “Freedom of speech is being curtailed. After losing in Delhi, those [AAP] leaders have now taken over Punjab, and they are ruining it the same way.”

In February 2025, the Bharatiya Janata Party defeated the AAP in the Delhi Assembly polls.

Earlier, Pathanmajra had also accused the AAP’s Delhi unit of “controlling Punjab ministers like puppets”.

“I spoke about mismanagement during the floods, and soon after that, cases started coming up against me,” the MLA had said in a statement after being booked.

A Singapore coroner’s inquiry into the death of singer Zubeen Garg has ruled that he died of accidental drowning, The Straits Times reported on Wednesday.

A coroner’s inquiry is a fact-finding process to establish the causes and circumstances of a person’s death.

Garg, a renowned Assamese singer, died on September 19 during a yacht trip in Singapore, a day before he was scheduled to perform at the North East India Festival there.

The death certificate issued by the authorities in Singapore on September 20 stated the cause of Garg’s death as drowning. The authorities reiterated the findings in October and December.

However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has repeatedly claimed that the singer’s death was not accidental but was a murder.

Seven persons in India have been arrested in connection with the singer’s death. A Special Investigation Team filed a chargesheet on December 12, accusing four of the seven persons of murder.

On January 14, the authorities in the southeast Asian country said that Garg was “severely intoxicated” and had refused to wear a life jacket when he drowned while swimming in September.

On Wednesday, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said that there was no reason to disagree with the Police Coast Guard’s conclusion after analysing the evidence before him, The Straits Times reported.

The four persons charged for murder are Shyamkanu Mahanta, who was the organiser of the North East India Festival, Zubeen Garg’s manager Siddharatha Sharma and two musicians – Shekharjyoti Goswami and Amritprava Mahanta – who were with the singer on the yacht.

Besides, Zubeen Garg’s cousin, Deputy Superintendent of Police Sandipan Garg, was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He had also travelled with the singer to Singapore. Two of Zubeen Garg’s personal security officers, Borah and Baishya, were accused of criminal breach of trust.

Harish Rana, the first person in India to be granted permission for passive euthanasia by the Supreme Court, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported.

Rana died at 4.10 pm on Tuesday, the hospital stated. He had been in a permanent vegetative state since 2013.

The court had, on March 11, allowed life support to be withdrawn for the 31-year-old. The order had been passed on a plea filed by the family of Rana, who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in August 2013 after falling from the fourth floor of a building in Chandigarh.

This was the first instance in which the court’s directions on passive euthanasia, laid down in a 2018 judgement, had been applied.

Three days after the court’s ruling, Rana had been moved from his home in Ghaziabad to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Also read: From Aruna Shanbaug to Harish Rana, India’s long reckoning with the right to die with dignity

In 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had recognised and given sanction for passive euthanasia, and allowed living wills or advance directives.

In that judgement, the court had ruled that the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to live with dignity. The court had held that the constitutional right includes the smoothening of the process of dying in case of a terminally ill patient or a person in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.

Rana’s family had approached the court seeking permission to withdraw life-sustaining treatment in the form of clinically assisted nutrition and hydration administered through a PEG tube.

A Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastronomy tube is a device inserted through the abdominal wall directly into the stomach to deliver nutrition, fluids and medication.

On March 11, the court had noted that continuing the treatment was only prolonging Rana’s biological existence without any therapeutic improvement. It also observed that the primary and secondary medical boards, along with Rana’s parents, had reached the opinion that the clinically assisted nutrition and hydration should be discontinued as it was not in the best interest of the patient.

The court stated that when the medical boards have certified withdrawal of life support, there was no need for the court to intervene.

However, it added that since this was the first case to reach the court, it was appropriate to examine the matter.

It also recommended that the Union government bring in a comprehensive legislation on passive euthanasia.

Candidates contesting elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council will now be required to possess a Scheduled Tribe certificate. The development comes weeks after the polls were postponed following violence in connection with the nomination process, which left two dead.

The violence had erupted after non-tribal candidates filed nominations for the polls. Two persons were killed in suspected police firing on March 10.

On Tuesday, the Meghalaya governor gave assent to an amendment to the Assam and Meghalaya Autonomous Districts Constitution of District Councils Rules.

The amendment was approved by the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council on Monday.

After the approval, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said that the decision “will strengthen true representation of our Garo people, ensuring leadership by those who understand the aspirations, traditions and future of our community”.

Elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council were earlier slated to be held on April 10. However, the elections were postponed and the council’s term was extended till October 18 following the violence.

History has been made today with the landmark decision of the GHADC to amend its rules, now mandating ST Certification to contest Council elections.

The Garo Hills District Council, established in 1952, has taken 74 long years to arrive at this historic moment. This decision… pic.twitter.com/nXU6Fu1LLm

— Conrad K Sangma (@SangmaConrad) March 23, 2026

The Meghalaya High Court had on March 10 set aside a notification issued by the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council that had made Scheduled Tribes certificates mandatory for candidates to file nomination papers. The High Court had held that the notification was issued without following procedures under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

The Sixth Schedule provides for autonomous decentralised self-governance in certain tribal areas of Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram and Tripura.

The Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill amid protests by the Opposition.

The legislation will need to be given assent by the governor to become a law. Once the law is enacted, Gujarat will become the second state after Uttarakhand to implement the uniform civil code.

Congress MLAs walked out of the House before the bill was passed, The Indian Express reported.

The Uniform Civil Code refers to a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all citizens. Currently, such personal affairs of different religious and tribal groups are based on community-specific laws, largely derived from religious scripture.

The bill passed by the Gujarat Assembly also introduces a common legal framework governing related matters such as live-in relationships. The legislation will not apply to all members of Scheduled Tribes or groups whose customary rights are protected under the Constitution.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said that the code will “reject any policy or custom of division or discrimination among citizens” based on their religion or caste. The code has adopted the principles of equality, he was quoted as saying, adding that it reflects “the expectations, aspirations and desires of the citizens of Gujarat for equal justice”.

Patel said that “saving girls from cases such as Shradhha Walkar is part of our duty”. The regulations pertaining to live-in relationships are “not for taking away anybody’s freedom, but for legal security of daughters”, he said.

“For those who do marriages while concealing their identity or do fraud, there is no place in Gujarat,” he added.

Walkar was murdered allegedly by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala in Delhi in November 2022. Her body was chopped into pieces and thrown at different places in the city over several months. The case had led to outrage at the time.

The Gujarat legislation makes registration of live-in relationships mandatory for couples in the state, while keeping it optional for residents living outside the state. Failure to register a live-in relationship within a month could attract up to three months’ imprisonment or a fine of Rs 10,000.

In cases where the persons are between 18 and 21 years of age, their parents will be informed by the administration, The Hindu reported.

The Congress’ Gujarat chief Amit Chavda was quoted by The Indian Express as having alleged that the government had introduced the bill “in a hurry, with political intentions while keeping in mind coming elections in the state”.

Gujarat is expected to hold local body elections in April or May.

The lone Muslim MLA Imran Khedawala of the Congress opposed the legislation, arguing that it would distance Muslims from the Shariat law and make them “atheists”, the newspaper reported.

The bill in Gujarat is based on recommendations of a committee chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.

Article 44 of the Constitution says that the state should “endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India”. However, the provision is part of Directive Principles of State Policy and is thus not legally binding.

Introducing a common personal law has long been on the BJP’s agenda and several states governed by the Hindutva party have been taking steps towards implementing it.

In January 2025, BJP-ruled Uttarakhand became the first state to implement the Uniform Civil Code after independence. A common civil code has been in place in Goa since the Portuguese Civil Code was adopted in 1867.

At his factory in Visakhapatnam, Sanjeev Relhan produces surgical gowns and protective gear that doctors and nurses routinely use in hospitals while handling an infectious patient or for a surgery.

Usually, Relhan sells gowns to hospitals for Rs 80 a piece. In the last few days, he has raised the price by 50% to Rs 120.

The manufacturer said he had no other option, as the cost of non-woven fabric has shot up because of the Iran war.

The synthetic fabric, made out of a petroleum-based polymer called polypropylene, is in short supply as petrochemical plants have slashed production because their gas supplies are dwindling.

In Faridabad, a company that sells disposable syringes, catheters, IV cannula and dialysis products to hospitals has also increased prices from 5% to 25%.

A Punjab firm that manufactures dental implants has raised prices as the cost of titanium surges because of the war.

The war on Iran by Israel and the United States of America has already rattled the global supply of crude oil and liquified petroleum gas. Iran’s shutdown of the key shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz, has increased freight costs and made imports costlier.

The cascading effects of the conflict are now rippling out across sectors in India – and might raise costs for hospitals and patients.

Several manufacturers of medical devices have flagged an unprecedented rise in the cost of raw materials, packaging and freight due to the international shipping disruption. The result is a sharp rise in prices of disposable medical devices such as personal protective gear, syringes, cannula, catheters, dialysis kits, IV bags, and products made of medical-grade plastics.

In the coming weeks, if the bottlenecks continue, the price escalation is going to trickle down, bumping up hospital fees and cost of treatment for patients, industry experts told Scroll. And if the war drags on for a year, even MRI machines might struggle to work.

A polymer crunch

In early March, days after US-Israel’s attack on Iran, the central government curtailed the supply of gas to petrochemical industries as it prioritised the domestic market and cooking fuel availability.

Within weeks, the effects were felt by Relhan’s firm, Shalex Meditech, in Visakhapatnam.

The petrochemical companies from which he sourced synthetic fabric cut down on production.

“Last week, all my big suppliers told me that they have stopped full-fledged production of non-woven fabric,” Relhan said. The cost of the fabric, he added, has risen from Rs 150 to Rs 215 per kg due to the high demand and limited supply. As a result, Relhan is selling gowns at a higher price to hospitals.

India produces approximately 50 lakh pieces of surgical gowns and protective gear per month, Relhan said. The cost of these disposables is set to rise if the conflict continues for a few more months.

Like Relhan, Faridabad-based Bio-Med HealthCare is struggling to continue production of syringes and other disposable devices.

The firm uses a medical grade of polypropylene, which is biocompatible, inexpensive, and can be sterilized using heat. It is used in a wide range of products like syringes, IV bags, catheters, surgical trays, test tubes, inhalers, nebulisers, surgical sutures, and orthopaedic implants.

“The raw material cost has risen by 40% to 60%,” said Deepak Arora, the owner of Biomed. The refineries and petrochemical units he sourced the polymer from have redirected gas to produce cooking fuels and compressed natural gas or CNG, he said. “There has been a drastic reduction in our production in the last 20 days.”

He said that the cost of the finished goods has gone up by 25 % to 28%. “Since this is an essential commodity, we have raised prices only by 5%,” Arora said.

Himanshu Baid, managing director at Poly Medicure, which makes a wide range of medical devices, said the rise in cost of plastic raw material has begun to pinch manufacturers. “Many companies in the small and medium sector may shut down soon as they cannot pass on these increased costs to consumers,” he said.

Experts said hospitals may also look at curtailing cost and may switch to reusable syringes made out of borosilicate glass and stainless steel to contain costs.

Grit your teeth

India also relies on titanium imports to manufacture implants or directly imports ready-made implants. Titanium implants are used in dentistry and orthopedics to replace teeth or bones since they are biocompatible and bond well with human bone.

India imports titanium from Germany, United States, Switzerland, Korea and Israel but the blockade of Strait of Hormuz has affected supplies. The fall in the Indian rupee has also led to a surge in titanium prices.

The impact is already visible.

Jagmeet Bahri, the vice president of Pivot Implants, the Punjab firm that manufactures dental implants, imports titanium from Switzerland. While he has a stock of three months, he said he was forced to increase prices due to the fall in Indian currency. So, he is selling implants to dental clinics at Rs 12,500, up from Rs 10,000, three weeks ago.

“If the shipping blockade continues, I will have to import from Korea, but its titanium quality is not as good,” he said. “Doctors will also have to increase their costs.”

On Monday, the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry, or AIMED, wrote to the ministries of finance and commerce to take urgent remedial steps to help the medical device sector.

Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator for the association, told Scroll that they have requested for a three-month custom duty rebate on raw materials and component imports.

“The medical device input costs have risen by nearly 50% for critical plastics and over 20% for packaging,” Nath said. “Manufacturers operating on thin margins on products like nitrile gloves, syringes, catheters, disposable plastic medical devices have to either operate at loss or increase their cost,” his letter added.

Nath told Scroll that manufacturers can deal with shipment delays of one to three weeks through their buffer stock but “prolonged disruption may lead to production halts, hospital shortages, and inflated costs”.

Nath is also the managing director at Hindustan Syringes and Medical devices Ltd. a firm in Delhi that manufactures single-use syringes. In the last few days, his phone has been flooded with messages from suppliers who have increased the cost of high-density polyethylene and low density polyethylene – the raw material used to make syringes.

The prices are rising each day. On March 1, the prices of high-density polyethylene rose by Rs 2,500 per metric ton. By March 3, it was up by Rs 6,000 per metric ton. In the last fortnight alone, the prices have risen by Rs 24,000 per metric ton.

For MRIs, a helium question

Another possible disruption, if the conflict extends beyond a year, is of MRI machines.

The magnets in several MRI machines are regularly bathed in liquid helium to sustain their superconductivity and to cool them down.

India imports a large quantity of liquid helium, a byproduct of natural gas, from Qatar and the USA. In early March, Qatar announced a halt in production facilities of energy supplies, including helium, due to the ongoing conflict.

The shortage of helium that followed has led to soaring prices, from Rs 1,200 a litre to Rs 1,800-Rs 2,200 a litre, said Raju Kumar Sitaram Jaiswal, a supplier of the gas from Maharashtra’s Tarapur.

Jaiswal imported 60% of helium from Qatar and 40% from Russia. He has now completely moved to Russian suppliers. “Like me, several Indian importers have been put on a waitlist. Helium prices have shot up and the waiting period is 40 days.”

To deal with the shortage, he said, he has restricted supply. “If a hospital demands 1,000 litres, we are able to supply 500 litres.”

But the shortage is not widespread. Suppliers who rely on domestic producers of liquid helium have not been affected.

Vishal Shah, a vendor in Mumbai who supplies liquid helium to many MRI centres, said he has not been affected as his suppliers are from India.

For now, the prices of MRI scans have not increased. MRI machines, too, are at no risk of running out of helium.

An MRI machine can store 1,200 to 2,000 litres of helium, which can last for two to four years. Many diagnostics centres have enough buffer stock to tide them through the conflict before they feel the pinch, industry insiders said.

While the impact of price rise will be immediate for hospitals and clinics, diagnostic laboratories may face this later.

Veena Kohli, the chief executive officer of New Delhi-based Vanguard Diagnostics, said the war has not affected the cost of laboratory diagnostic equipment, reagents and devices to test human blood, undertake cancer tests, and urine diagnosis. Manufacturers have inventories, she said, and will be able to cushion the impact of price rise temporarily on the diagnostic industry.

“But if it goes on for longer, six months or more, then the real impact will be seen,” she said.

Papa Rao, believed to be the last active Maoist commander in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, surrendered along with 17 other cadres in the Bijapur district on Tuesday, the Hindustan Times quoted the state police as saying.

Rao, who was a member of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee and in charge of the South Sub Zonal Bureau of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), carried a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head.

His surrender comes a week before the March 31 deadline set by the Union government to end the Maoist conflict.

Apart from Rao, the other Maoists who surrendered included divisional committee members Prakash Madvi and Anil Tati, the Hindustan Times reported.

The police in Bastar said that the 18 Maoists had agreed to shun violence and join the mainstream in a “decisive breakthrough” in the ongoing efforts to end Maoism in the region.

The statement added that the development was evidence that the goal of a Maoist-free Bastar was steadily becoming a reality, the newspaper reported. It added that this is the first time in the history of the Maoist movement in the Dandakaranya region that the organisation is left without an effective leadership.

Rao, who is believed to be between 55 and 60 years of age, is a school dropout who joined the Maoist movement in 1997, The Indian Express reported. He is believed to have been involved in several conspiracies to carry out several attacks.

The Maoist commander had 45 cases against him, including in connection with the biggest Maoist attack in Tadmetla in 2010, when 76 jawans were killed in an ambush, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jeetendra Kumar Yadav told The Indian Express.

He was also allegedly involved in a Moaist attack in Bijapur’s Ambeli in January 2025. Eight security personnel and a civilian driver were killed then.

Vivekanand Sinha, additional director general (naxal operations) was also quoted as saying by The Indian Express that Rao was “the last important Naxal leader left in the outfit in Chhattisgarh”.

Since 2014, over 10,000 cadres have surrendered across the country, PTI reported. While 2,300 laid down arms in 2025, more than 630 have surrendered in the first three months of 2026, according to the news agency.

In February, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said that the number of districts affected by “Left-wing extremism” has come down to eight from 11 in October.

These districts include Bijapur, Dantewada, Gariyaband, Kanker, Narayanpur and Sukma in Chhattisgarh, West Singhbhum in Jharkhand, and Kandhamal in Odisha.

In the course of the Union government’s anti-Maoist offensive in 2025, key Maoist leaders like Ganesh Uike and Madvi Hidma have been killed, while others like Vikas Nagpure, alias Anant, and Mallojula Venugopal Rao, alias Bhupathi, have surrendered.

Civil liberties groups and Opposition parties have also questioned some of the killings of reward-carrying Maoists, alleging that they constitute “fake encounters”.

Another key Maoist leader surrenders in Odisha

In Odisha, Maoist leader Sukru, who carried a reward of Rs 55 lakh on his head, along with four other cadres, surrendered before the police in Kandhamal district on Tuesday, PTI quoted Director General of Police YB Khurania as saying.

Khurania said that Sukru, who was a state committee member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), surrendered with an AK-47 rifle. Sukru, who hailed from Malkangiri district, was considered one of the last remaining Maoist leaders active in the state, he added.

Also read: As Maoists retreat, why many fear security forces in Chhattisgarh villages

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed by voice vote the 2026 Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Amendment Bill.

The bill will now be moved to the Rajya Sabha. If cleared by the Upper House of Parliament, it will be sent for presidential assent.

Introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 13, the bill proposes amendments to the 2019 Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act by redefining who qualifies as a transgender person.

It removes transgender persons’ right to a self-perceived gender identity and limits the law’s scope to those with certain biological or physiological characteristics, intersex variations, or specific socio-cultural identities such as kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta.

The bill was passed in the Lower House amid criticism from Opposition parties. While some described it as “draconian”, others said that its passing showed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government’s “callous” approach.

The parties also argued that the bill undermines the right to self-identification recognised by the Supreme Court in the 2014 National Legal Services Authority v Union of India matter, or NALSA case.

The judgement had formally created the “third gender” category for transgender persons that recognised them as a socially and economically backward class.

It had issued directions to the government to ensure transgender community gets job quotas, admission in educational institutions, health benefits, separate public toilets and a host of other safeguards against discrimination.

Provisions of bill

The new bill proposes to make medical evaluation and certification mandatory for legal gender recognition. It underlines that the authority to permit such transitions is vested in medical professionals operating under a medical board.

The bill also introduces graded punishments based on the severity of offences, increasing the maximum penalty from two years under the 2019 law to up to 14 years.

It emphasises that the law is intended to protect a defined class of persons facing “extreme and oppressive” discrimination and not all “persons with various gender identities, self-perceived sex/gender identities or gender fluidities”.

Opposition criticises amendments

On Tuesday, Congress MP S Jyothimani said the amendment bill was introduced without consulting the transgender community, asserting that it was not a reform and should be sent to a standing committee.

“This is not democracy but a monologue of power, which is the trademark of the [Narendra] Modi government,” Jyothimani alleged.

Samajwadi Party MP Anand Bhadauria questioned the government’s claims that the bill was aimed towards welfare, stating that it imposes restrictive definitions and unfairly excludes sections of the community.

DMK MP T Sumathy accused the Union government of interfering with the right to self-determination of identity.

“This government treats the transgender community as subjects to be corrected, which is highly condemnable,” she said.

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule also opposed the bill, stating that it had been brought in “an extremely hasty manner”.

“If we take the basis of fundamental science, it is impossible to identify anyone as transgender with 100% certainty,” she said, adding that it was “technically difficult” to show someone was transgender in the birth certificate.

Also read: It took me decades to find myself. The trans bill erases me in one sweep

A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced Kashmiri separatist leader Asiya Andrabi to life imprisonment, PTI reported.

Andrabi, alleged to be the founder and chief of the banned all-women separatist group Dukhtaraan-e-Millat, and two of her associates had been convicted under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act on January 14.

Her associates, Nahida Nasreen and Fahmeeda Sofi, have been sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment, reported Bar and Bench.

Andrabi had been arrested in April 2018 by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for allegedly planning a large-scale demonstration in Anantnag. She had been sent to jail in Srinagar.

While Andrabi was allegedly the head of the banned outfit, Fehmeeda served as its press secretary and Nasreen as the general secretary, Bar and Bench reported.

In addition to the anti-terror law, the three women were convicted under sections of the Indian Penal Code related to promoting enmity between groups, imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration, conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India, criminal conspiracy and statements conducing to public mischief.

After the conviction, the National Investigation Agency had sought life imprisonment for Andrabi, Hindustan Times reported.

The agency accused the three women of spreading “insurrectionary imputations and hateful messages and speeches against India” through social media, the newspaper reported.

“The convicts are well-educated women, and their acts were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India,” the agency told the court in written arguments. “They were not just part of the conspiracy but were the main perpetrators.”

The court observed that while there was no direct evidence that the convicts used violence, their actions eulogised militants and indirectly promoted violence, Bar and Bench reported.

The court held that they were “infusing the minds of Kashmiris, especially the youngsters” with the idea that “Kashmir is not part of India and [that] India has occupied the Kashmir illegally and in a hostile manner”, which could evoke public sentiments and potentially lead to violence.

It was February 27. A herd of around 20 cows drank from the Biprasar pond, while a flock of sheep grazed nearby. Around 13 camels straddled in.

“Every day, thousands of animals, birds, and humans come to quench their thirst here. And this water is two years old because there was not much rain last year. Even when the seasonal rainfall is low, the vast aagor [catchment] helps us collect it here,” said Lal Singh, spreading his arm to indicate the extent of the land before growing sombre. “There is a proposal to set up a 400 MW solar energy park in the catchment. Where will all these animals go? How will we survive without water?”

Growing up in Ramgarh village of Jaisalmer district, Singh has imbibed the language of the desert ecosystem where people thrive on an average annual rainfall of around 100 mm spread over just eight days. This region has some of the lowest intensity of rainfall. For comparison, the average annual rainfall in India is around 1,200 mm.

People here use traditional wisdom to harvest this little water from ponds, shallow and deep wells, and khadeens, and to rear animals on desert grasses and shrubs in orans (sacred groves) and gochars (pastures).

But a growing number of large solar power and mining projects in the region are now taking over these traditional community lands, threatening the traditional way of life and sparking conflicts that have grown into a broader movement in the last five years.

Walking for the sacred and sustaining

Orans are sacred groves dedicated to local deities or martyrs, conserved by local communities under strict rules governing extraction. While livestock are allowed to graze, tree cutting is not allowed, turning these into oases in the desert, harbouring a large number of indigenous trees like khejri (Prosopis cineraria) and rohida (Tecomella undulata), as well as the critically endangered great Indian bustard, caracal, and desert fox.

On January 21, around 100 villagers started a protest march from Tanot Mata temple near the India-Pakistan border in Jaisalmer, planning to reach the state capital Jaipur, a distance of around 700 km, by the end of March to press upon the state government for protection of orans, pastures, and catchment areas of water sources.

Along the way, several thousand others are joining them in cities like Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, while villages en route offer a warm welcome with shelter and food. Several political leaders, cutting across party lines, have supported the campaign and raised the issue in the state assembly as well.

“The march is raising public awareness on the issue. We are expecting thousands of supporters from all over Rajasthan to enter Jaipur,” said Sumer Singh Bhati, a conservationist and activist who is leading the protest under the banner of “Save Oran”. “We are not against development, but the focus on large-scale solar energy projects, requiring thousands of hectares, is taking away our sources of survival and livelihood.”

At Bandha village, for instance, the state government allotted 2,397 hectares for a 1 GW solar power project, forcing livestock owners to look for alternatives to the grassland that is now enclosed.

“Earlier, the animals could graze freely, but now there is limited land. This has forced people to reduce their herd size,” said Swaroop Ram, a resident of Bandha village. “In records, our pasture was classified as wasteland, thus making it easier for the government to allot it to the companies.”

The Rajasthan Tenancy Act 1955 and the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act 1956 restrict the use of pastures and catchment of water resources for industrial and infrastructural purposes, and subsequent judgments have reinforced the rule. But wastelands can be easily allocated, which is why the locals are pressing for accurate classification of their community lands.

“Our estimate suggests that around 5.8 lakh hectares of orans in Jaisalmer district are classified as wasteland in government records,” said Bhati. “We did not know about this wrong classification and had no reason to worry because there were negligible industrial projects in the desert, and they usually required just a few acres. Solar parks, however, are different. They are being set up in thousands of hectares, and so many of them are coming up now.”

Mongabay-India reached out via email to the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited, and the Jaisalmer district collector to inquire about the safeguards employed when allocating land for solar energy parks. No response was received at the time of publishing.

The solar surge

With over 325 sunny days a year, Rajasthan has emerged as India’s renewable energy hub. The state ranks first in solar power, boasting an installed capacity of 22,860.73 MW. The Rajasthan Clean Energy Integrated Policy aims to achieve a target of 125 GW Renewable Power Projects by 2029-30, including 90 GW solar. Some 44,247 hectares of land were allotted for solar parks with a capacity of 23 GW between 2023 and 2025.

The conflicts arising out of such expansion have also reached court. Residents of Nedan village, for instance, filed a case in 2018 arguing that a 600-MW hybrid solar-wind project by the Adani group had restricted access to orans, leading the Rajasthan High Court to cancel the allotment of land to the group.

In another case, the Adani group had to return 205.3 hectares of oran land it had acquired for a solar power project at Baiya village, following vehement opposition from the locals last year.

“Solar parks don’t generate jobs for the locals, except a few who are hired as security guards or cleaners of solar panels. If the government is really serious about the welfare of people, they should promote small, decentralised solar plants owned by communities,” said Bhopal Singh, a leader of the Save Oran group. “Large solar parks and mining projects only benefit a few businessmen while villagers are forced to either migrate to cities or resort to poorly paid labour work. In contrast, livestock rearing has helped people survive in this harsh region for generations.”

According to the 20th Livestock Census 2019, Jaisalmer district had around 24 lakh cows, goats, sheep, and camels, but activists say the recorded pasture area is not enough for their survival.

A tehsildar can earmark pasture land in consultation with the village panchayat by roughly allocating 0.12 hectare for each cattle head, says the Rajasthan Tenancy (Government) Rules 1955.

“Our assessment of 45 villages based on livestock census shows that the pasture land in records is invariably short of the requisite area. We have written to the Jaisalmer district collector to do similar assessments for all villages of the district and allocate the pasture area accordingly,” said activist Balwant Singh Jodha. “A cow consumes 5 kg of dry fodder daily. If we buy from the market, it will cost Rs 2,800 every week. This is why it’s essential to have orans and gochar for every village.”

Orans as forest

In 2005, the Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee recommended detailed mapping of orans and their classification as forests. The recommendations, however, remained unimplemented, and after several follow-up interlocutory applications, the court directed the Rajasthan government in December 2024 to enforce the recommendations and to form an expert committee to identify various forms of desert ecosystems, such as grassland, rocky outcrops, and stony desert, and to consider them as forest land.

In December 2025, the state government-formed committee proposed 11,313 bigha (2,977 hectares) of land in three villages of Jaisalmer district for classification as oran. Many other villages, however, are yet to be surveyed.

“No orders have yet been issued to the local revenue officers to carry out this exercise, and hence most villages are not able to take up new proposals in their panchayats,” said Parth Jagani, a Jaisalmer-based environmentalist and farmer. “Until this mapping is done, no land should be allotted or leased out for any commercial activity.”

Mongabay-India reached out to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and the Jaisalmer district collector to inquire about ground mapping of the orans and pasture lands. Their responses are awaited.

This article was first published on Mongabay.

The Kerala Police ordered social media platforms to remove posts about a letter issued by the Election Commission bearing the seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit. A row had erupted in the state on Monday, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) alleging that “seals are being casually swapped”.

The Election Commission attributed this to a clerical error.

The police are reporting to the Election Commission as the Model Code of Conduct is in force in the state ahead of the Assembly polls. In their order, the police alleged that the posts ordered to be taken down “blatantly insult” the poll panel and “propagate content that undermines communal harmony”.

Social media platform X informed several users, including journalists and leaders of Opposition parties, that it had been directed by the police to remove posts based on claims that the content violated Indian law. An Instagram post by Scroll about the controversy was also blocked. Read on.

Only persons belonging to the Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths can claim the Scheduled Caste status, said the Supreme Court. It added that a Dalit person converting to any religion other than the three loses his or her Scheduled Caste status, regardless of the status at birth.

The order came on an appeal filed by a pastor against an Andhra Pradesh High Court ruling from April. The pastor alleged that he had faced caste discrimination and abuse. The High Court had quashed the case, observing that the complaint no longer had the Scheduled Caste status after converting to Christianity. Read on.

Why proposed reservations for Dalit Muslims, Christians have sharply divided Ambedkarites, explains Nachiket Deuskar

The White House said that it did not have concrete comments to make on reports that the United States will hold talks with Iran in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad later this week. The comments came after the Financial Times reported that Pakistan was pitching Islamabad as a possible venue for negotiations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that he had spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, but did not mention whether they had discussed the proposed talks.

Meanwhile, global oil prices remained high amid supply concerns, although there was a marginal drop in the rates. The Indian stock market improved marginally on Tuesday after Trump indicated that US, Israel and Iran could negotiate an end to the conflict. Read on.

Ramachandra Guha: Of the three leaders at the heart of West Asia conflict, who is the most evil?

If reports suggesting that Pakistan may be acting as an intermediary in communications between the US, Israel and Iran are true, it would mark a “severe setback” for India, said the Congress. Party leader Jairam Ramesh said that “it is all attributable to the self-styled Vishwaguru”, in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress leader also criticised Modi’s recent visit to Israel on February 25 and February 26, just two days before the US-Israel attacks on Iran began. Read on.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has moved the Supreme Court against the bail granted to two men accused of sexually assaulting and parading two Kuki women naked during the 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur. In September, the Gauhati High Court granted bail to the two men, noting that there was a significant delay in the trial, largely because of the lapses by the CBI.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh issued notice to the two men and sought their response. Read on.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation has moved the Supreme Court against the bail granted to two men accused of sexually assaulting and parading two Kuki women naked during the 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur, Bar and Bench reported on Tuesday.

The incident had taken place a day after ethnic clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities on May 3, 2023.

On July 19, 2023, a video showing two women being paraded naked by a mob in the Kangpokpi district was widely shared on social media. One of the women in the video was gangraped, according to a police complaint.

In September, the Gauhati High Court granted bail to two men who were allegedly part of the group that had paraded the women naked. The High Court had noted that there was a significant delay in the trial, largely because of the lapses by the CBI, the legal news agency reported.

The trial in the cases has begun. In January, a special court in Assam’s Guwahati framed criminal charges against six persons, including the two out on bail, The Times of India reported.

On Tuesday, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh issued notice to the two men and sought their response.

The CBI had told the court that the case involved extremely serious allegations. “The accused had paraded women naked,” Bar and Bench quoted the agency as submitting before the court. “This is a gross case. The women were gangraped and then paraded.”

The assault took place near the B Phainom village in the Kangpokpi village.

The Supreme Court had taken suo moto cognisance of the violence in the state. Following the court’s intervention, the CBI took over the probe in several cases linked to the violence.

Also read: ‘If you don’t take off your clothes, we will kill you’: Kuki women paraded naked in Manipur

Supreme Court flags delay in legal aid

In a separate hearing, the Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction about delays in appointing legal aid counsel for complainants in sexual violence cases related to the ethnic conflict in Manipur, Live Law.

The bench comprising Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that its earlier directions had not been complied with for over a month and directed that legal aid representation be ensured without further delay.

“Why are they making false promises,” Kant asked the lawyer for the Manipur rehabilitation committee.

On February 26, the Supreme Court directed that complainants in 20 cases linked to the ethnic violence be provided copies of chargesheets and free legal aid for proceedings in Guwahati.

In August 2023, the court issued an order directing that trials in the violence cases be conducted in Assam, while permitting the parties to appear via video conference from Manipur.

In its February order, the bench noted that complainants in Manipur were unaware of chargesheet filings in Assam and directed the Manipur and Assam State Legal Services Authorities to appoint one lawyer who understands the local language per complainant or family.

Twenty-five leopards from Maharashtra have been relocated to Vantara, the wildlife rescue centre run by Reliance Foundation in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, PTI quoted state minister Ganesh Naik as saying in the state legislative council on Monday.

Naik added that the state government has signed an agreement with the Reliance Foundation to translocate 50 leopards to Vantara.

“We made a demand [to take the leopards] because 150 leopards were trapped in Pune district,” PTI quoted Naik as saying while speaking on the amendment of the Wildlife Protection Act as applied to Maharashtra.

On March 18, the Maharashtra Assembly approved the 2026 Wildlife Protection Maharashtra Amendment Bill seeking to introduce changes to the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act, the Hindustan Times reported.

The proposed amendment will empower the state government to capture and relocate leopards from one area to another, which otherwise requires approval from the Union government.

The bill was cleared by the council on Monday, PTI reported. It will only come into effect after receiving the president’s assent, as it proposes changes to a central law.

This came against the backdrop of repeated instances of man-animal conflict in Maharashtra amid a surge in the population of leopards. The minister said on Tuesday that the leopard population has gone up to 444 from 101 in the past seven to eight years, PTI reported.

In Pune district, a mass capture drive began in October after a five-year-old girl was killed in a leopard attack in Shirur taluka. In December, the Hindustan Times reported that the Junnar forest division had captured around 110 leopards, most of which were housed at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre. The centre was originally designed to accommodate only 45 leopards.

On Monday, Naik said that the Wildlife Protection Act amendment has been brought because the chief wildlife warden, in cases of human-leopard conflict, cannot take steps for population management or translocation of big cats under section 12 without permission from the Union government.

This highly regulated, cumbersome process is time-consuming and delays effective scientific management and translocation of leopards, as well as efforts to deal with human-leopard conflict in the state, PTI quoted Naik as saying.

The bill will enable the chief wildlife warden to take necessary steps for the scientific management of leopards, including translocation and population management, with the permission of the state government, he added.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition moved by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav seeking to quash the corruption case against him linked to an alleged land-for-jobs scam, Live Law reported.

The case centres on allegations that between 2004 and 2009, when Yadav was the Union railway minister, land was illegally acquired at reduced prices in exchange for appointments to Group D positions in the Indian Railways.

The Central Bureau of Investigation filed its chargesheet in the matter on October 10, 2022, naming Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi, among several others.

Yadav had filed a petition claiming that the investigations in the case were initiated without obtaining a sanction mandated under the 1988 Prevention of Corruption Act. He alleged that this illegality was also ignored by the special judge.

The former chief minister of Bihar alleged in his plea that he was being made to suffer through an “illegal, motivated investigation” in violation of his fundamental right to fair investigation.

On Tuesday, Justice Ravinder Dudeja refused to quash the first information report filed by the CBI, three chargesheets and the trial court orders taking cognisance of the chargesheets.

Dudeja held that Yadav’s plea was devoid of any merit and dismissed it.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has alleged that land parcels were transferred to Yadav’s family members, including his wife and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema, at prices significantly below the market value. Those who transferred the land parcels to Yadav’s family were allegedly given jobs in return.

The transfers to Yadav’s family led to them acquiring more than one lakh square feet of land for just Rs 26 lakh, compared to a circle rate of more than Rs 4.39 crore, the probe agency has alleged.

The Delhi High Court has held that universities cannot restrict peaceful protest merely because the views of the students do not align with the management’s ideology, Bar and Bench reported on Tuesday.

The court made the observation while setting aside the expulsion of a student from Dr BR Ambedkar University. The punishment was “highly disproportionate” and unsustainable in law, it added.

In the March 13 order, Justice Jasmeet Singh allowed the student’s petition challenging allegedly disciplinary orders issued against her in June and August.

“A university that accepts only obedience and discourages protests and criticism would fail in its broader educational role,” the judge said. “The role of the university is not to suppress every form of dissent, but to ensure that such expression is answered and catered to.”

Singh said that a university is not only a place for attending classes, but also a space where students “are expected to learn and inculcate independent thought processes, ability to ask questions and engage in critical thinking”.

The court observed that peaceful protest and non-violent dissent form a natural part of such an environment, Live Law reported. Protests when carried out without violence or serious disruption, cannot be treated as misconduct, it added.

“On the contrary, it reflects the very spirit of freedom to engage in discourse and discussions that a university is expected to encourage,” the judge said.

The petitioner, a global studies student at the university, alleged that she faced severe ragging, bullying and gender-insensitive remarks that led to self-harm. She later took part in complaints and protests over the incident, after which the university suspended her, Bar and Bench reported.

In April 2025, the High Court had allowed her to attend classes but barred her from participating in protests while the matter was under inquiry.

The university later claimed that the petitioner had breached the direction by joining a campus-wide boycott, and issued a show-cause notice to her in May before expelling her for taking part in a sit-down protest.

The student denied participating in the protest, stating she was only near the site to meet a friend when her photograph was taken by campus security.

While examining the matter, the court noted there was no allegation that the protest disrupted the functioning of the university or interfered with other students’ academic pursuits.

It also clarified that any punishment for violation of a court order lies with the court and not the university.

The court set aside the disciplinary orders, holding that the loss of a year was sufficient punishment, and allowed her to resume her studies from the third semester in July, Live Law reported.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that only persons belonging to the Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths can claim the Scheduled Caste status, Bar and Bench reported.

A Dalit person converting to any religion other than the three loses his or her Scheduled Caste status, regardless of the status at birth, the court observed, citing Clause 3 of the 1950 Constitution Scheduled Caste Order.

Upholding an order passed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in April 2025, a bench of Justices PK Mishra and Manmohan said that a Dalit person who converts to Christianity cannot claim the violation of the Scheduled Caste Act.

The order came on an appeal against the High Court ruling filed by a pastor, who alleged that he had faced caste discrimination and abuse.

He had filed a complaint under the 1989 Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act and a first information report had been registered in the matter.

The person accused in the matter had challenged the case against him, arguing that the complainant had converted and was actively professing Christianity, Live Law reported.

The High Court had quashed the case, observing that the complaint no longer had the Scheduled Caste status after converting to Christianity.

Also read: Why proposed reservations for Dalit Muslims, Christians have sharply divided Ambedkarites

A row erupted in Madhya Pradesh on Monday after Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Ambrish Sharma criticised his own government, accusing state officials of inaction, bias and of ignoring him and his constituency, The Indian Express reported.

Sharma, a first-time MLA representing the Lahar Assembly seat in Bhind district, organised a protest against the state government but later called it off.

Speaking at a public gathering and during the protest about the alleged neglect of Lahar, Sharma said he and residents of the region “feel helpless and neglected”, the newspaper reported.

Sharma claimed that “the people and the MLA are now orphans”.

“Both of them are before god and the party,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying. “To our own chief minister [Mohan Yadav] and our party…I request that the Lahar constituency not be subjected to injustice.”

The MLA accused officials of failing to act against illegal encroachments and irregularities despite repeated complaints, the newspaper reported. He also alleged that influential persons were being protected while action was delayed or avoided.

“The officials should not mistake our patience for weakness,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “I am a cultured MLA of a cultured party… You people aren’t even worth a single puff – if I blow, you’ll end up flying all the way to Pakistan.”

After Sharma’s comments triggered a row, the BJP’s state unit spokesperson Ajay Singh Yadav told The Times of India that the protest was “about a Congress leader who is protecting the illegal mafia and our MLA is fighting against him”.

He added that Sharma’s allegations were directed only at a section of officials. “We know how the Congress shields and patronises leaders linked with the mafia,” the newspaper quoted Yadav as saying.

The BJP has also claimed that members of the Scheduled Caste community in Lahar have been protesting against Govind Singh, a close ally of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, for allegedly encroaching on land used as a pathway to several habitations and villages in the region, the newspaper reported.

The Congress, however, dismissed the allegations.

Mithun Ahirwar, a spokesperson for the party’s state unit, said that Govind Singh is “considered a senior and respected leader not just by the Congress but in the political arena”, The Times of India reported.

“The charges levelled by the BJP MLA [Sharma] are not being taken seriously even by his government and party,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “The officials he is making the allegations against were posted by the BJP government.”

The Kerala Police on Tuesday ordered social media platforms to remove posts, including those by journalists and members of Opposition parties, about a letter the Election Commission had issued.

A row had erupted in the state on Monday when an Election Commission letter bearing the seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kerala unit was widely shared online. The seal was on a letter dated March 19, 2019, sent to political parties across the country detailing norms about criminal antecedents of candidates.

The letter had been sent along with an email on March 21.

After the matter came to light on Monday, the poll panel said that the letter carried the BJP seal due to a “purely clerical error”. The panel added that it had withdrawn the erroneous document.​

On Tuesday, journalists Arvind Gunasekar, Piyush Rai and the Congress’ Aditya Goswami posted on social media that the Kerala police had in its order cited sections of the 2000 Information Technology Act and the 2021 IT rules that allow the authorities to order intermediaries such as social media platforms to take down content.

The Kerala Police is reporting to the Election Commission as the Model Code of Conduct is in force in the state ahead of the Assembly polls.

Social media platform X informed several users that it had been directed by the police to remove the posts based on claims that the content violated Indian law.

It was unclear how many of the posts listed for removal had been taken down.

An Instagram post by Scroll about the controversy was also blocked. Scroll received a notice from the platform saying that the content was blocked based on a “legal request”.

Have received notice from Kerala police for the tweet below. Kerala Police in the notice said the tweet insults the election commission of India and propagate content that undermines communal harmony. https://t.co/r1pFeSlYPq pic.twitter.com/dijkinMfvy

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) March 24, 2026

In their order, the police alleged that the posts “blatantly insult” the Election Commission and “propagate content that undermines communal harmony”.

“The post in question is not only a direct affront to a respected national institution, but also poses a serious threat to public order by inciting division and hostility,” said the notice by the police.

The continued circulation of the retracted letter “is being used to spread false allegations, thereby undermining the integrity and transparency” of the poll panel, the police stated.

It told the social media platforms that they would be liable for abetment if they failed to remove the content.

The 2019 letter detailed norms about criminal antecedents of candidates, bore a seal of the BJP’s Kerala unit and was signed by an official of the Election Commission.

The CPI(M) alleged that “seals are being casually swapped” and questioned whether “all pretences” have been dropped by the BJP and the Kerala Chief Electoral Officer. The Congress and the Trinamool Congress also raised the matter on social media.

Election Commission’s explanation

The poll body stated that the error occurred because the BJP’s Kerala unit had approached the Election Commission seeking clarification on 2019 guidelines regarding the publication of criminal antecedents of candidates.

Along with the request, the Hindutva party had submitted a photocopy of the original 2019 directive, which carried its seal, the poll body explained.

“Due to an oversight, the office failed to notice the party symbol on the submitted document and inadvertently redistributed it to other political parties as part of the requested clarification,” stated the poll body.

It added that once the error was noted, all political parties, district election officers and returning officers were informed that the “erroneous document” had been withdrawn and should be disregarded.

“​The public and media are requested to refrain from spreading misleading messages based on this clerical error,” the Election Commission said. “The Election Commission maintains a rigorous and foolproof system to ensure that the electoral process remains free from any external interference or influence.”

On Tuesday, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer said that an assistant section officer who dealt with the file in question had been suspended pending inquiry.

The Congress on Tuesday said that reports suggesting Pakistan may be acting as an intermediary in communications between the United States, Israel and Iran, if true, would mark a “severe setback” for India.

On Monday, the Financial Times reported that Pakistan was positioning itself as a mediator to help broker an end to the conflict in West Asia and pitching Islamabad as a possible venue for negotiations.

The Donald Trump administration in the US declined to make any concrete comments on the report, but said that “speculations…should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced” by the White House.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: “If these reports are true, they represent a severe setback and rebuff to India.”

He added that “it is all attributable to the self-styled Vishwaguru”, in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Rajya Sabha MP said that despite India’s “undoubted military successes” in Operation Sindoor, Pakistan’s diplomatic engagement and narrative management, since then, had been “markedly superior to that of the Modi government”.

He added: “Pakistan, which was in a hugely precarious situation – politically, socially, economically and globally – has received a fresh lease of life.”

Ramesh said that the Pakistani establishment has developed a “cosy relationship” with US President Donald Trump’s immediate circle.

The Congress leader also criticised Modi’s recent visit to Israel on February 25 and February 26, just two days before the US-Israel attacks on Iran began.

“Modi’s ill-advised visit to Israel…will go down in our political history as a singularly disastrous choice – one that has made us retreat from a position where we could and should have mediated,” he said. “The Prime Minister’s huglomacy stands brutally exposed. The country is being forced to pay a price for this.”

Multiple reports in leading international media outlets have identified Pakistan as one of the intermediaries being used between the US and Israel on the one side and Iran on the other.

If these reports are true, they represent a severe setback and rebuff to India - and it is…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 24, 2026

The conflict

The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran’s action posed an existential threat to Israel. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Iran has retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in Gulf countries and some ships.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Former Punjab Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar was arrested on Monday in connection with the death by suicide of a Punjab Warehousing Corporation official who had accused the Aam Aadmi Party legislator of harassment, ANI quoted the chief minister’s office as saying.

Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, a district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation in Amritsar, died by suicide at his home on Friday, leaving behind a video in which he purportedly said he was acting out of fear of Bhullar.

In the 12-second recording, the official had stated: “Your friend has consumed poison due to fear of minister Laljit Bhullar; I won’t survive now.”

Bhullar had resigned from his post on Saturday and a first information report was filed in the matter the same night, naming the legislator, his father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar and personal assistant Dilbag Singh, PTI reported.

The three men face Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita charges pertaining to abetment of suicide, criminal intimidation and common intention.

According to the complaint filed by Randhawa’s wife, the three men had pressured her husband to approve tenders for warehouses in the name of the former minister’s father, warning of dire consequences against her family, The Tribune reported.

The complaint further alleged that Randhawa was on March 13 called to Bhullar's home, where he was allegedly humiliated, assaulted and forced to record a confession stating that he had accepted a Rs 10 lakh bribe.

The video was meant to blackmail the official into complying with the tendering process, other relatives had previously alleged.

Earlier on Monday, Randhawa’s family had issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the state government to arrest the former minister, PTI reported.

The family had also refused to allow a post-mortem examination and cremation until Bhullar was arrested.

Ahead of being taken into custody, Bhullar claimed on social media that he was surrendering voluntarily.

“I have full faith in the law of the country, and also have unshakable faith in the justice system,” he said. “Believing in truth and justice, I myself am surrendering at Mandi Gobindgarh.”

Following the arrest, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that anyone who violates the law in the state will face “strict action”, irrespective of “what position they hold or whether they are my relative or someone influential”.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday asked all MPs from Punjab to formally write to him about Randhawa’s death, stating that he is willing to transfer the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation, The Indian Express reported.

Shah was responding to Congress MP Gurjit Singh Aujla, who raised the matter in Lok Sabha.

Karnataka minister Madhu Bangarappa on Monday said that a framework will be introduced to regulate mobile phone and social media usage by children under the age of 16, PTI reported.

Speaking in the Legislative Council, the primary and secondary education minister said that while restrictions already exist, the enforcement has been weak. He added that the Congress government in the state is working on stronger guidelines in consultation with stakeholders.

Bangarappa was replying to legislators’ questions in the Council, urging the government to take stringent measures against mobile addiction among children.

The minister noted that “for the first time in India, our government has proposed in the Budget that mobile use should be banned for children below 16 years”.

On March 6, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that the state government will ban the use of social media for children under the age of 16. The decision had been taken “to protect children from the harmful effects of excessive mobile and social media use”, he had said while presenting the state Budget for the financial year 2026-’27.

Siddaramaiah did not mention when the ban would take effect.

Once implemented, Karnataka will become the first state to impose such a ban.

On Monday, Bangarappa said that although there are laws prohibiting the use of mobile phones in schools, they are not being followed, PTI reported.

He said that some students use mobile phones outside schools, adding that there is no proper system in place. Mobile phones, while useful for learning, have increasingly become a source of harmful content, the minister added.

The minister said that the state government is coordinating with the information technology department, which has formed a committee to examine social media practices. Detailed guidelines are being prepared, he added.

However, Bangarappa added that use of mobile phones by children cannot be completely eliminated. “We will bring a law on how to impose restrictions,” PTI quoted him as saying.

The minister added that the proposal would be placed before the House in the next session after wider consultations.

He also said that inputs would be sought from parents, experts and international organisations relating to children before the policy is finalised, the news agency reported.

In December, Australia became the first country to block social media for those under 16.

In India, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act requires a data fiduciary to obtain verifiable consent from a parent or lawful guardian before processing the personal data of a child.

After Siddaramaiah announced the social media ban for children under the age of 16 on March 6, the advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation said that child safety online “demands serious, evidence-based policy not headline-driven prohibitions”.

It added that the announcement raises questions about whether its implementation will require state legislation, or if it will mandate age-verification systems that “create fresh privacy risks for all users, including adults”.

The group asked if the ban would also apply to educational and informational uses of the internet.

Also read:

• Social media bans won’t keep teenagers safe – Finland shows a better approach

• Australia’s social media ban for underage teens, children kicks in. Will other countries follow?

The Election Commission late on Monday published the first supplementary voter list after adjudications as part of the special intensive revision exercise in poll-bound West Bengal.

Of the more than 60 lakh pending cases in the state, 29 lakh cases have been adjudicated so far by judicial officers deputed by the Supreme Court, The Indian Express reported. The poll panel, however, did not specify how many voters were dropped and how many were included in the list.

Speaking to reporters earlier on Monday ahead of the list’s publication, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal said that he did not know how many names had been approved or rejected at this moment, The Times of India reported.

Agarwal said that those left out of the supplementary list can challenge the decision in the appellate tribunals to be set up by the Calcutta High Court.

However, the date for voters to challenge the decision or when the tribunals will be formed is yet to be announced.

“The state government will provide space for the tribunals and the High Court will give the go ahead on the arrangements,” The Indian Express quoted the chief electoral officer as saying. “Only then the tribunals will be formed in all the 23 districts.”

Agarwal said that all names have been adjudicated from districts that had a lower number of pending cases such as Kalimpong, Jhargram, Purulia and Bankura, The Indian Express reported. He added that the judicial officers who were engaged in those districts have now been transferred to other areas that have a larger number of adjudication cases.

West Bengal is among the 12 states and Union Territories where the special intensive revision of electoral roll is underway.

On February 28, the Election Commission published the final electoral roll for West Bengal. At the time, the names of 5.46 lakh persons were deleted from the voter list, while 60,06,675 “doubtful and pending” cases were marked as “under adjudication” in the electoral rolls.

On February 20, the Supreme Court ordered that judicial officers of the rank of district judge or additional district judge be appointed to help complete the revision exercise in the state amid a tussle between the Trinamool Congress government and the Election Commission.

Four days later, the court allowed judges from Odisha and Jharkhand to also be deployed to decide on the claims and objections raised during the process.

On March 10, the Supreme Court directed the formation of an appellate tribunal composed of former High Court chief justices and judges to hear appeals against exclusions from the voter list in West Bengal.

A person whose claim for inclusion in the electoral roll had been rejected by a judicial officer can approach the appellate tribunal, it said. The Supreme Court passed the order after concerns were raised about the lack of an independent appellate mechanism to deal with appeals against the rejection of their claims by judicial officers.

The special intensive revision in West Bengal comes ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, which will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The results will be announced on May 4.

Two recent incidents are an indication of distress among India’s schoolchildren and a reflection of the increasingly turbulent contexts of their lives which continue to be neglected by the education system and society.

In 2025, after completing their final examination, some older students at a public school in Mumbai celebrated by destroying the classroom furniture, windowpanes and breaking CCTV cameras. Even after teachers and a school committee held several meetings with them, the students were unapologetic.

In another instance, some boys and girls carried drugs in their school bags and consumed it with their friends on the premises, according to teachers I spoke to. Despite strict warnings, attempts at persuasion, meetings with parents, and the gentle but firm intervention of the school counsellor and committee, the students did not reveal the name of their supplier.

Teachers from municipal and the so-called elite schools have expressed concern about the growing consumption of substances in and outside the schools, and their inability to control it. More empathetic teachers try to help, seeking the advice of in-house counsellors. Others threaten to report students to the principal or hold them back after class or issue minor punishment. Neither the municipal bodies nor the government seem able or willing to tackle this seriously.

Krishna Kumar, a scholar of education and former director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training, has articulated some of these concerns. In his article, “In India, why teachers are walking away from the classroom”, published on October 5, 2025, Kumar writes about the difficulties that are pushing teachers to quit at a time when lakhs of them face growing unemployment.

He elaborates on the reasons which include “bureaucratic aggression” and expectations, extensive record keeping, frequent testing, extra duties, and dealing with aggression, bullying and violence in the classroom and corridors. His description of the troubling behaviour of school children is especially indicative of the challenges teachers face.

“Discipline” problems are a key source of heightened stress among teachers. It includes a wide range of children’s behaviour ranging from minor mischief – like being noisy in class, pushing each other, being inattentive – to more serious issues such as destructive or extremely rude behaviour, vulgar gestures and comments, insulting teachers and commenting on the girls’ bodies. Around the world, teachers, social workers, counsellors, educationists, blame social media for the behaviour of children.

But there is a broader social context to this.

Violence, alcoholism, open aggression, growing frustration alongside rising aspiration, is the lived reality of the student and their surroundings, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds. Most children experience some trauma but receive little support from parents or other adults, who may themselves suffer from stress, frustration and social pressure.

Gabor Mate, a world-renowned authority on trauma and addiction, says that childhood trauma – such as violence, rejection, humiliation, physical and sexual abuse, the absence of love and understanding – often manifests as anger, rage and defiance in children. After decades of research and practice, Mate believes the turn to drugs or compulsive behaviour is to “alleviate emotional pain and to experience feelings of relief, connection or a sense of being normal”.

But the modern education system is such that at a time when children require the most attention and understanding, teachers are duty-bound to follow the timetable, syllabus, exam schedule, conduct regular evaluations and prepare detailed reports on students’ academic and other performances.

That the overload drives school teachers to give up their jobs is a sentiment shared by most teachers I have interacted with, even those who work in high-end, private schools. Counsellors are also burdened with additional duties, as one of them told me.

After decades of teaching in postgraduate institutions, I am convinced that an inflexible syllabus, a rigid timetable and the examination system that form the “iron cage” of India’s education system, leave little room for innovation, creativity, critical thinking and joyful learning.

The American philosopher Martha Nussbaum has sharply criticised the examination-oriented education system of India, which, she observed, promoted rote learning at the cost of critical thinking. This is a huge issue by itself.

Government and civic authorities, donors, school managements and, of course, parents are focused on academic excellence with little regard for the emotional, mental and physical development of a child. This is hardly surprising in today’s competitive society where a child, even an adult, must “achieve” and “succeed”, the way society defines it.

Better-off parents are under pressure to put in extended hours of work – India’s middle-class white-collar workers are said to be among the most overworked in the world – while the poor battle housing problems, health issues and financial constraints.

Often, teachers and parents have no time or energy, and the community and larger society care little for the wellbeing of children. How else does one explain the appropriation of open spaces for commercial purposes across towns and cities at the cost of what children need the most: playgrounds, open parks and closer contact with nature.

Mate has an illuminating explanation of addiction to anything, digital media or drugs, or any form of excessive harmful consumption and dependence. It is a response to pain, an attempt to cope with emotional emptiness, he explains: “don’t ask why the addiction, ask why the pain”.

He sees addiction as a response to today’s toxic culture characterised by stress, ruthless competition, loneliness and alienation – “at the core of every addiction is an emptiness based in abject fear”. Mate explains children’s anger as a reaction to constant exposure to anger and conflict in the home while lacking secure attachment with adults or a sense of safety and self-worth.

Frustrated, children seek validation from their peers instead of their parents or teachers. Peers lack the maturity to provide the guidance that caring and trusting adults can. In fact, most often a child’s peers may support or encourage bad and dangerous behaviour.

With the weakening of community support and the extended family, Mate points out that children rely on each other and feel like they must be “cool” to be accepted. But “cool” often means the absence or pretence of emotions, the denial of vulnerability, fear and insecurity. In a culture of aggression and violence, children develop an appetite for violence in music, games, art, language.

For Mate, the best solution is to restore children’s attachment to the adult world. The home as well as institutions ranging from day care and kindergarten and upwards at all levels of education – “must hold the emotional nurturance of children as the highest value”.

To this, I would add the natural world, which lights up the child’s mind and heart with curiosity, tenderness, wonderment and an appreciation of beauty. In my experience, an active community can become a revitalising force.

Despite the constraints of today’s society, conscious, energetic citizenry can make a difference: by transforming a neglected small patch of land, or a badly run local library, organising exhibitions, starting a mobile library, or pressurising municipal authorities to provide space, for example, for a small local museum, cultural or sports centre for everyone specially children.

Well-defined rules and boundaries should be communicated to children of all ages for their positive socialisation, guidance and development. But more necessary is to communicate feelings of care, love, trust and compassionate understanding by adults surrounding children, at home in school and in social spaces.

Trusting and empathic adults can play a crucial role in helping a child to identify, acknowledge and deal with hurt, pain, anger and other strong emotions. Over stressed, insensitive or irresponsible parents and teachers cannot do that. The education system, especially schools, need a major revamp placing academic as well as emotional development of the child as its core concern.

Indra Munshi is the executive editor of the Indian Journal of Secularism, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai, and retired professor and head of the department of sociology, University of Mumbai.

The Kerala chief electoral officer said on Tuesday that it has suspended an official in connection with a row surrounding an Election Commission letter bearing the seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit.

An assistant section officer who dealt with the file in question has been placed under suspension pending inquiry, the chief electoral officer said in a social media post. A link to the original communication that had been sent to political parties, which did not have the seal of the BJP’s Kerala unit, was also provided.

Further to the clarification issued in the matter, the Assistant Section Officer dealing with the file in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer has been placed under suspension pending enquiry. The original communication sent to all political parties is available at page 29… https://t.co/ZkPZPNNMo0

— Chief Electoral Officer Kerala (@Ceokerala) March 23, 2026

The seal was on a letter dated March 19, 2019 sent to political parties across the country detailing norms about criminal antecedents of candidates.

The letter was sent along with an email on March 21.

After the matter came to light, the poll panel said that the letter carried the BJP seal due to a “purely clerical error”.

“The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer acknowledged the lapse as soon as it was detected,” added the chief electoral officer in Kerala. “Consequently, on March 21, the deputy chief electoral officer issued a formal letter withdrawing the erroneous document.​”

The poll panel stated that the error occurred because the BJP’s Kerala unit had approached the Election Commission seeking clarification on the 2019 guidelines regarding the publication of criminal antecedents of candidates.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Kerala unit first flagged the matter on social media on Monday afternoon.

The ruling party in the state alleged that “seals are being casually swapped” and questioned whether “all pretences” have been dropped by the BJP and the Kerala chief electoral officer.

The Congress and the Trinamool Congress also backed the CPI(M)’s allegations.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra alleged that the poll panel “finally had the courage to issue official letters” with the BJP seal.

The Congress’ Kerala unit asked the poll panel whether it was operating out of the BJP’s office, questioning how electoral officials got access to the party’s seals.

Last week, Amazon India reported a surge in sales of ready-to-eat meals on its e-commerce platforms. A spokesperson attributed it to customers “relying on instant meals to navigate the current fuel uncertainty”.

Workers employed at the tech giant’s warehouse in Manesar, Haryana, however, are struggling to pay for meals. Hundreds of migrants from Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar work in the warehouse in the industrial town to the south of Delhi.

With cooking gas cylinders running out, many are unable to cook food in their rented homes and have instead turned to local dhabas. The eateries, facing the same shortage of gas, have raised their prices.

“In the dhabas near the warehouse, rotis that cost Rs 8 earlier are now being sold for Rs 12,” said Pawan Singh Sisodiya, general secretary of Amazon India Workers Union. “If prices keep increasing like this, workers will be forced to go back home.”

Already, there are news reports of an exodus of migrant workers from Gujarat’s textile and ceramics industries. The paucity of gas forced some industrial units, which depend on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas, to shut down. In other instances, workers decided to leave despite the availability of work because they had to go days without food.

In Delhi and surrounding areas, too, the shortage of LPG cylinders is fast snowballing into a cost-of-living crisis for migrant workers who typically don’t own gas connections and depend on the black market.

Labour supervisor Yash Dixit, who helps small-scale manufacturers in Noida source cheap manpower, said, “Half the workers I know have gone home for this reason. They say that at least they get food to eat when they are at home.”

Even those who have found cooking gas for now are using it sparsely. A 25-year-old worker at the Amazon warehouse in Manesar said he no longer makes rotis and curries every day as he used to before. “Sometimes I eat Maggi [instant noodles] because it is quicker to prepare,” he explained.

Although he had to pay three times the regular price for gas, he was still holding off from planning a return to Uttar Pradesh, his home state. “I have to get by somehow,” he said. “I have given four years to this job so I would rather wait for some more time.”

On March 17, Sisodiya, the union leader, put out a press release urging Amazon to review wages because the gas crisis was “pushing workers toward hunger and severe financial distress”. The company has not acted on the demand so far.

Social scientist Pushpendra Kumar, who has written extensively about the challenges faced by migrants, said the Covid-19 pandemic had clearly shown that migrants in India possessed the least “capacity to cope” with disasters, both manmade and natural.

“Any sincere government would have been thinking about rationing supplies and starting community kitchens at this time,” Kumar said. “But the government can’t be seen.”

Rising cost of living

The cost of cylinders, which used to be sold at Rs 1,200 till recently, has shot up to Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 in and around Delhi. “Even those queuing up to buy gas at that price don’t get it sometimes,” Dixit, the labour supervisor in Noida who is himself a migrant from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, complained.

Driven by the shortage in Noida, some workers Dixit knew had taken days off from work to go to their home towns and fetch gas cylinders. Others, he claimed, had resorted to burning firewood on the terrace of his building for preparing their meals.

But that was not an option for those toiling in Amazon’s warehouse in Manesar. Landlords in the area would not allow tenants to light fires, Sisodiya pointed out. Besides, firewood was hard to find in Manesar, he added.

Goutam Majhi, who works in a Mahindra showroom in South Delhi and lives in the working-class neighbourhood of Gautam Nagar, has switched to buying gas by the kilo. Earlier, the worker from West Bengal used to buy a 14.2 kg cylinder for Rs 1,100 from the black market. But now he is having to cough up Rs 300-Rs 400 for every kilo.

Majhi gets his cylinder refilled with a few kilos of gas every week or so, hoping that the price will come down eventually. “I will not be able to save any money this month,” he lamented.

Self-employed migrants running small businesses have also been hit by the crisis. Sahil Ahmad, a political science graduate from Munger University in Bihar, ran out of gas for his pizza cart in Gautam Nagar last week. He had to shut shop for a day as he went about looking for a cylinder.

When he did find a seller, the price of Rs 2,800 deterred him from buying the cylinder. Ultimately, he, too, decided to buy a few kilos of gas for the time being to resume his business. Could he not jack up the selling price of his pizzas to cover the increase in costs? “My customers will not accept that,” Ahmad said.

The 27-year-old blamed gas agencies and middlemen for profiteering from the gas shortage. “They think this is the share market and they are like Harshad Mehta,” he added, referring to the controversial stockbroker who wreaked havoc on Dalal Street in the 1990s. “They are changing gas prices at will.”

Ahmad’s own meals have become costlier as well, given that he eats outside most of the time. The dent in his profits as well as his savings is making the young man contemplate giving up on the business and sit for railway recruitment exams instead.

‘No political voice’

For social scientist Pushpendra Kumar, the impact of the gas crisis on migrant workers did not come as a surprise. He told Scroll that policymakers are no better prepared to tackle the problem than they were before the pandemic. This, he argued, is because migrants are not a political force to reckon with.

“Migrants have no political voice, especially poorer migrants,” Kumar explained. “There is no pressure on those in power to cater to this constituency or address its problems.”

Migrant workers, for their part, are drawing another parallel to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dixit, the labour supervisor in Noida, recalled how Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appeared on television in 2020 to abruptly announce the lockdown. This time, information has been even more scarce with the government maintaining silence for weeks.

On Monday, 24 days into the war, Modi addressed Parliament. He spoke about the measures the government had taken to diversify India’s energy sources. He warned that the impact of the conflict in West Asia would be severe, just like the situation India had faced during the pandemic. “We have faced such challenges with unity during the Covid period and now we have to be prepared again,” he said.

But workers say they are looking for more practical information they can use.

“The government should tell us how long it will take for things to get better,” Dixit said. “The news also does not tell us this. It just shows us the war. This is why we are unable to decide whether we should stay here or go home.”