At least 23 workers were killed and six others injured in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Virudhunagar on Sunday, reported The Hindu.

Searches were being held at the spot amid concerns that additional workers could be trapped as parts of the building collapsed due to the blast, reported The Indian Express.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. It was also not clear if the fireworks unit had obtained permission to work on Sunday, which is usually a holiday, according to The Hindu.

In a social media post, Chief Minister MK Stalin extended condolences to the families of those who died.

“I have requested the esteemed Ministers KKSSR Ramachandran and Thangam Thennarasu to rush to the scene immediately to expedite and monitor the rescue operations and to offer solace to the affected families,” wrote Stalin.

With one more worker dying during treatment on Sunday, the toll in the blast at a power plant owned by Vedanta Limited in Chhattisgarh’s Sakti district rose to 24, PTI reported, quoting officials.

Eleven other persons are undergoing treatment. Two of them are in critical condition, according to the officials.

The blast took place on Tuesday at Singhitarai village in the Sakti district, when a steel tube carrying superheated steam from a boiler to a turbine at the power plant burst. The superheated steam engulfed workers who were eating their lunch.

Citing a preliminary technical report submitted by the chief inspector of boilers at the site, the Sakti police had earlier stated that an excessive accumulation of fuel inside the boiler furnace caused extreme pressure, leading to the explosion.

The police said that during the investigation, it had come to light that the Vedanta Group and its contractor NTPC GE Power Services Limited “did not properly adhere to the standards regarding the maintenance and operation of machinery and equipment”.

“Negligence in equipment upkeep and lapses in operation caused sudden fluctuations in the boiler’s pressure, leading to the accident,” it said. “Based on available evidence and technical reports, clear negligence has been observed in the incident.”

While four of the workers had died on the spot after the explosion, nine others succumbed to injuries soon after, reported PTI. Seven more injured workers died in hospitals on April 15, while another worker died on April 16 at a hospital in Raipur. Two more workers died in hospitals on Saturday, according to the news agency.

Seven of the workers who died were from West Bengal, five from Chhattisgarh, four from Jharkhand, four from Uttar Pradesh, and two each from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

On Thursday, the Chhattisgarh Police filed a first information report against Vedanta Group chairperson Anil Agarwal and several others.

The case had been registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to causing death by negligence, negligent conduct with respect to machinery and common intention.

“Eight to ten individuals, including Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal, have been named in the FIR,” said Sakti Superintendent of Police Prafull Thakur. “If more persons are found responsible during the investigation, their names will be added.”

In Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district, Narayan Rabari, 42, walks with his sheep and camels, looking for fields with fodder. He has travelled on foot for over two days, covering 17 kilometres, but his journey is far from over.

Since leaving his village in Rajasthan’s Pali district, Narayan has already covered nearly 300 kilometres, moving across highways, fenced farms and settlements where open grazing once existed. He belongs to the Raika community, a nomadic agropastoralist community from Rajasthan, which followed seasonal routes across western India.

Today, shrinking grazing lands, disappearing migration routes and declining access to commons are pushing the Raika pastoralists to the brink.

As younger generations leave herding for waged labour, older Raikas continue to migrate on foot, trying to sustain their traditional agropastoral system, now struggling to survive amid rapid land-use change.

Walking farther, resting less

“When I was young, I remember there was grazing land around, not enough for all the cattle in the village, but still there. But over the years, the grazing open lands were converted into private farmlands; some were diverted for road construction,” Narayan said. “What remained hardly had any grass. It was all deserted,” he added. “There is no grazing land near our home.”

He began herding livestock at 10-years-old, joining his father on seasonal migrations. “Earlier, we had more camels, sheep and goats. But over the years, as their food became limited in areas around us and we walked longer distances looking for pasture land, it increasingly became difficult to manage a big herd. Diseases also became common in them. To sustain the cattle better, we had to sell of a few,” he said.

The traditional barter system that has long sustained pastoral communities still exists, but it is increasingly under strain. Along their migration routes, herders stay on farmers’ fields for a few days, exchanging manure from their livestock for grains, but access to such farms is now limited.

“Earlier, farms were close to each other, and we didn’t have to walk long distances to reach the next one,” a pastoralist explains. “Now, these routes are becoming restricted. Farmers are turning to chemical fertilisers and need us less. Our access is shrinking, and instead of moving through fields, we sometimes have to walk along highways. Today I do not have as many. We also walk longer distances to look for land to graze.”

The nomadic agropastoralist community from Rajasthan migrate annually from their native village to districts in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in search of grazing land. They live temporarily on farms, grazing livestock on crop residue. In exchange, the farm owners provide them with wheat for consumption, while the herd dung acts as natural manure for the fields. The community returns home only during the monsoon.

For generations, their herds of sheep, goats, and camels formed the basis of an agropastoral system that once depended on a wide mosaic of grazing commons, forest edges, fallows, and open migration routes, that are accessible to anyone. Today, these landscapes and pathways are rapidly shrinking, threatening their way of life.

While there is no official data on the pastoral population in India, a report by non-governmental organisations League for Pastoral Peoples and LIFE Network, suggests that India is home to 46 pastoral communities. In Rajasthan, these include the Raikas, Raths, Gujjars, and Sindhi Muslims.

Traditional migration routes

“Our long-distance migration began around 100 years ago,” says Hanwant Singh Rathore, founder of Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan (LPPS), an organisation working with pastoral communities in western Rajasthan. “The traditional routes of the Raikas have completely disappeared,” he says, reflecting a common experience the Raikas narrate about how infrastructure development such as highways, roads, schools and more coming up on their traditional walking routes and conversion of common pasture lands into private farm lands with restricted access have changed their nomadic journeys.

Rathore adds that the earlier routes from Udaipur to Sadri are now highways where accidents are rampant. “At times, 50-60 sheep die in truck accidents,” Rathore says. “On those routes, there are now schools and government buildings. In other parts of the world, there are systems with dedicated corridors for pastoral communities. But here, there aren’t any. Because these routes have disappeared, many people have stopped migrating.”

The Raikas traditionally migrate in dholris, groups of 40 to 50 families travelling together. A dholri, meaning “bed”, represents a family unit, each led by a Patel (leader) who negotiates routes, camp sites and grazing arrangements.

“In the past, 50 dholris would move together,” says Rathore. “The Patel inspected and finalised the route, which changed every year.” Global studies also suggest that these leadership systems allow pastoralists to adapt routes annually, responding to rainfall patterns, fodder availability and informal agreements with farmers.

“At times, they walked extremely long distances. Now, because routes cutting through farms are blocked, they have started travelling by trucks,” he says about the patterns of their journey changing.

Bholaram Rabari, Narayan’s troupe leader, says, “Every time there is development, a few farms are given up and we have to travel to extreme interiors in search of farms.”

“When the farms were close by and we could walk from one farm to another, the time we spent on foot was lesser. A decade and a half ago we would walk 5 to 6 kms a day and camp at the next destination. Today we walk not less than 15 kms a day to get to the next farm, because all the farms are not accessible for us,” he said.

These longer distances have become especially difficult during peak summers and with the changing climate. “There are unseasonal rains now and summers are warmer than before,” Narayan says. “Walking on the roads is very difficult during peak summers. The heat makes us feel nauseous and weak, but we have to keep walking.”

Fragmented landscape, grazing access

The landscape changes impacting the Raikas extend beyond routes. Rajasthan’s grazing ecosystems, gochar lands, orans (sacred groves), revenue wastelands and forest-edge pastures, are themselves under unprecedented pressure.

Commons in western Rajasthan account for around 34.75% of the geographical area. About half of this comprises cultivable waste lands, 21% fallow lands (other than current fallow), 14% uncultivable waste lands, 11% permanent pastures and 7% is village forests.

While there is no official data documenting the declining pasture lands, the 2019 livestock census recorded a 1.61% decrease in Rajasthan’s total livestock population.

“Availability of grazing land is directly linked to livestock,” says Rathore. “If there is not enough pasture land or there is not sufficient fodder to feed the livestock, how can the community sustain them?”

Mularam Rabari, 48, from Rajasthan’s Rani village says that the land they used to graze on close to their villages did not belong to any individual. “They belonged to all of us,” he says. “But now, the villages have expanded too and these lands have reduced. Some of these lands also fall under the purview of the forest department. So there is not enough access.”

The decline of on-farm hosting arrangements has further intensified pressures. Vikram Rabari, 34 from Dadai village says they stay on farms during their journey, grazing on crop residue and offering manure in return, a mutually dependent system. “But today, farmers increasingly rely on chemical fertilisers instead of livestock manure, and mechanised harvesting leaves less stubble for grazing,” he adds. “Many farmers have also started fencing their farms.”

Forest access has also tightened over time. After the Forest Rights Act (FRA) was implemented in 2006, many pastoral routes skirting forest patches became difficult to use as forest boundaries and rules were more strictly enforced. FRA recognizes vital traditional rights for pastoralists, including seasonal grazing, access to water bodies, and biodiversity in forest areas, but access to pastoral communities remains a challenge.

“The FRA recognises rights for forest-dwelling communities, but pastoralists who do not permanently reside inside forests often find themselves excluded,” says Vagtaram Dewasi, Founder, Adivasi Vikas Sangatha.

Researchers studying mobile pastoralism under the FRA framework, note that nomadic and semi-nomadic groups face greater restrictions because their traditional use patterns do not align neatly with the Act’s documentation requirements.

“There are several hurdles. One of the main challenges in their absence from gram sabha meetings as they are a nomadic community. Secondly, as they keep moving across multiple jurisdictions as these routes are also dynamic now, mapping these traditional routes becomes difficult to apply for claims. In such access their grazing rights are restricted,” Dewasi added. A Raika himself, Dewasi has been working for the grazing rights of the community.

For the Raikas, this has meant losing access to forest-edge shading points, water sources and resting sites that once formed essential components of their migration cycles.

Younger generations step away

As landscapes close in, the younger generation of Raikas is increasingly choosing to step away from herding. Many now take up wage labour in Gujarat’s industrial belts or seasonal construction work near cities.

“Almost 10 years ago, I decided to not migrate with my family, as there was hardly any return or income to sustain ourselves,” says Vikram. “I went to Gujarat, worked at construction sites and later returned to join my cousin in setting up a medicine shop.”

He adds that their families have a deep emotional connection with their herd. “It’s not easy to give up on pastoralism altogether,” he says. “This year, I have joined my uncles again on their migration.”

Parents are also prioritising education for their children. “We were very young when we started herding, but now we want our children to go to school,” he says. “They join us during holidays so they do not lose connection with the animals. But we are unsure of what the future holds for us and for our traditional livelihood system.”

Ecological value under threat

Pastoralism remains ecologically significant, especially in semi-arid regions. Several studies, both global and local, show that migratory herds play a key role in maintaining biodiversity by dispersing seeds across long distances, and enhancing soil fertility through manure. Pastoral mobility also allows landscapes to recover after grazing.

For the Raikas, the stakes are both environmental and cultural. Their seasonal migration routes have been shaped over generations, tied to rainfall cycles, fodder availability and relationships with farmers across states.

“The decline of pastoral mobility in Rajasthan has implications far beyond the community itself,” he says. “As India pushes for climate mitigation, biodiversity restoration and sustainable land management on global platforms, the erasure of pastoral systems contradicts several of these goals. Without sustained attention to land rights, access to commons and the protection of migration corridors, the Raikas’ centuries-old agropastoral system may become increasingly unviable, taking with it a landscape-level ecological function that cannot be easily replaced.”

The United Nations has declared 2026 as the year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, “reflecting the important role healthy rangelands play in creating a sustainable environment, economic growth and resilient livelihoods for communities across the world.”

This article was first published on Mongabay.

The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday conducted searches at premises linked to Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Sinha Biswas and a businessman in connection with a money laundering investigation in West Bengal, PTI quoted unidentified officials as saying.

Searches were carried out at two premises of Biswas, including his home in Ballygunge, South Kolkata, and at one location linked to businessman Joy Kamdar, managing director of Sun Enterprise, in the Behala area.

The action comes at a time when the state is scheduled to hold Assembly polls in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 4.

The raids were part of an investigation into a case involving an alleged criminal syndicate linked to Biswajit Podder, also known as Sona Pappu.

Podder, an alleged criminal, is accused in multiple cases, including attempted murder, extortion, rioting, criminal conspiracy and violations of the Arms Act, PTI reported.

He is also wanted in connection with a violent clash near the city’s Golpark area in February. Despite being issued summons by the agency, he has yet to join the investigation, The Indian Express reported.

At least two persons were injured during the clashes in February. Ten persons have been arrested in connection with the case so far.

Residents have alleged that Podder led more than 100 young persons in an attack to establish control over the area.

Investigators are examining a possible money trail between Podder and Biswas, with unidentified officials claiming that scrutiny of bank accounts revealed “suspicious financial transactions”, the newspaper reported.

The agency had also conducted searches in the case on April 1, during which it seized cash amounting to about Rs 1.47 crore, along with gold and silver valued at over Rs 67 lakh, and a firearm from various premises, PTI reported.

The self-enumeration portal for the ongoing Census had been showing Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh as a Chinese town named Medog, a retired Indian Air Force officer pointed out on Saturday. Hours later, census officials said the error had been resolved.

In a social media post, Mohonto Panging Pao, who is a resident of Pasighat, had shared coordinates showing the label “Medog, Pasighat” and said the matter required “urgent intervention”.

Pasighat is the oldest town in Arunachal Pradesh. Medog is a county across the Line of Actual Control in China.

#Census2027 During Self-Enumeration attempt on https://t.co/ermD21skK0 maps showing Pasighat, East Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh as 'Medog'! Medog is a town in China! CEO of Google @sundarpichai is Indian! Even official Govt portals are virtually ceding our territory! Needs… pic.twitter.com/EuqdnpqcLp

— Mohonto Panging Pao (@MontyPanging) April 18, 2026

Later on Saturday, the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner said the matter had been “raised with the map services provider, and it has been resolved”.

Pao told The Hindu that he noticed the discrepancy during an attempt to complete the self-enumeration process. He was unable to proceed after seeing the incorrect name, he added.

The Census 2027 is taking place in two phases, with house-listing having begun on April 1 and set to continue until September, followed by population enumeration in February 2027.

Residents opting for self-enumeration are required to mark the location of their household on a digital map provided on the portal.

China has long sought to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh. Beijing lays territorial claims over a large portion of Arunachal Pradesh, claiming that it is “South Tibet”. China refers to Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnan. India has rejected China’s claims.

On April 12, the Ministry of External Affairs rejected “mischievous attempts” by China to assign “fictitious names” to places that form part of Indian territory.

Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that attempts by Beijing to introduce “false claims and manufacturing baseless narratives cannot alter the undeniable reality” that the places and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, “were, are and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India”.

The reaction came in response to Beijing announcing Chinese names for several places in Arunachal Pradesh.

Two men from the Tangkhul Naga community were killed and others were injured after suspected militants opened fire on civilian vehicles in Manipur’s Ukhrul district on Saturday, Deccan Herald reported.

The attack took place in the afternoon along NH202 near the Litan area when unidentified gunmen fired at a convoy travelling from Imphal towards Ukhrul, The Hindu reported.

The police said that six vehicles were hit and the two men died at the spot. The persons were identified as Chinaoshang Shokwungnao, a retired soldier of the Naga Regiment from Tashar village, and Yaruingam Vashum from Kharasom.

Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh condemned the killings and said that the state government would hand over the probe to the National Investigation Agency.

“Security forces have launched an operation to apprehend those responsible for the attack,” he said on social media on Saturday.

The incident occurred a day after the chief minister visited Ukhrul as part of a peace outreach. During the visit, he had asked officials to strengthen security along the highway amid tensions between communities in the district.

Tensions in the Litan area date back to February 7, when an alleged assault involving members of the Tangkhul Naga and the Kuki-Zo communities escalated into clashes.

The incident, in which a Tangkhul Naga man was injured following an altercation, triggered days of arson and firing in Litan and nearby villages. More than 50 houses were reportedly burnt, prompting the imposition of prohibitory orders and an internet shutdown at the time.

Subsequent efforts by civil society groups from both communities to resolve the dispute failed and intermittent violence continued.

On March 11, two Kuki men who had gone to repair a water pipeline were allegedly abducted, leading to further escalation.

Manipur’s Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam had said that the abduction triggered exchanges of gunfire in Thawai and the brief abduction of about 20 Tangkhul civilians along the Imphal-Ukhrul road.

While the Tangkhul civilians were later released, the two abducted Kuki men were subsequently found dead in a village in neighbouring Kamjong district.

Following the ambush on Saturday, the Tangkhul Naga Long, an apex body of the community, alleged that Kuki armed groups were responsible for the attack and called for a crackdown in the area, The Hindu reported.

“Ever since the conflict between Tangkhul Nagas and Kukis started in early February, Kuki militants have been openly attacking civilians in Litan, Laho, Sinakeithei, Sikibung and Thawai,” the newspaper quoted the organisation as having said in a statement.

Sword Vashum, the chief of the Tangkhul Naga Long, said that the organisation would take “necessary action” in the days to come.

The Kuki Zo Council denied involvement of the community, adding that the incident appeared linked to factional tensions among the Naga groups rather than the actions of Kuki-Zo organisations, The Hindu reported.

“It is deeply regrettable that, without proper verification or credible evidence, blame is hastily attributed to the Kuki-Zo community,” the Kuki organisation was quoted as having said in a statement.

In a letter to Malka Jan in 1886, the poet Dagh Dehlvi had many things to say about Na’ala e Malka (Malka’s Lament), her composition in the masnavi form.

“The attribute of your community is ink, and your principle, freedom,” Dehlvi wrote. “You have amazing talent and your writing is as magnificent as your fate. Your masnavi is unique in aspect – brimming with flirtation, conceived in English and worded in Hindustani…”

Dehlvi’s words are evidence of Malka Jan’s renown as a woman of letters of the time. But this composition is now lost.

It isn’t the only one. The 19th century saw the emergence of several women Urdu poets, most of them tawaifs, but the works of these highly skilled courtesans were not preserved the way the verses of their male peers were. Writing spaces in North India were dominated by male poets like Ghalib, Zauq and Dagh while women’s voices went silent over time.

Moreover, women poets were often accused of having their lines ghostwritten by male admirers.

All that survives of their brilliant braiding of words is in tazkiras, or short biographies, which chronicled these women poets and published some of their lines.

Malka Jan’s first volume of poetry, Makhazana e Ulfat e Malka (Treasures of Malka’s Love), published in 1886 with notes of acclaim from prominent poets and tawaifs of the time – Hilal, Muhammad Jan tawaif, Abdul Ghafur Nassakh, among others – is preserved at the British Library and the Khuda Baksh Library, Patna.

Recently, the volume containing ghazals, thumris, holis and nazam compositions was republished by Shahid Saaz.

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The early years of Adeline

Malka was born to Eliza and Hardy Hemmings in 1857 and christened as Adeline Victoria Hemmings. No records of Hardy Hemmings, a British gentleman who lived and worked in India, have been found. Eliza was a Hindu woman, Rukmini, who converted to Christianity and became Hardy’s mistress or bibi. Hardy’s untimely death left Eliza and Adeline destitute. Eliza took up work in the dry ice factory in Azamgarh.

At the age of 16, Adeline met Robert William Yeoward, an engineer at the factory. They were married at the Holy Trinity Church in Allahabad. The marriage certificate mentions only Adeline’s mother, which confirms that she was born out of wedlock.

In 1873 a daughter, Eileen Angelina Yeoward, was born to the couple. She would later become Gauhar Jan, India’s first gramophone star.

Though most accounts state that Robert William Yeoward was Armenian, Liz Chater, an Armenian family researcher, asserts that he was actually of British descent. She traces his lineage to a British man, William Henry Yeoward, who came to India in 1809.

Chater writes that the Armenian descent theory comes from Malka Jan’s puzzling deposition in a case in 1890 where she said in English, “I was a Christian first and now I’m Armenian and when I was Christian, my name was Adeline Victoria Hemmings.”

As Armenians are generally Christians, one can speculate that she wanted to say that she lived in the Armenian quarters. The Armenian context also came up in another case involving Gauhar Jan.

Malka Jan Tawaif

Adeline’s marriage to Robert ended in 1879. Though there are no records of divorce proceedings, Vikram Sampath writes in his book, My Name is Gauhar Jan, that Robert suspected that Adeline was in a relationship with a neighbor with whom she shared a love of music and poetry. Adeline was possibly suffering from depression after the death of her second daughter, Lily.

According to burial records, the 20-day-old infant was buried at Azamgarh in 1876. Music and poetry were Adeline’s only solace in those days of grief.

Once again Adeline was cast adrift with the added responsibility of a young daughter and her mother. At this point in her life Khursheed, a cloth trader, came into her life and supported them. Adeline and her family relocated to Benaras. She converted to Islam and became Malka. Little Angelina was named Gauhar.

Recognising her talent and sensing the opportunity, Khursheed had Malka trained in music and dance under Ali Baksh, Zeenat Bibi and Kallu Ustad. He set her up on a kotha as Malka Jan tawaif. She came to be known as Badi Malka Jan to distinguish her from another, possibly younger, Malka Jan in Benaras.

Malka’s voice and poetry found recognition in the bustling town of Benaras. She started writing Urdu poetry and became a pupil of a famous poet, Hazrat Hakeem Sheikh “Hilal”. Malka’s almost seamless entry and acceptance into the staunchly guarded world of the tawaif lends credence to the assertion of researchers like Sampath that her mother was a courtesan or tawaif who gave up her profession to become a white man’s bibi.

It is also said that the young Adeline was educated at home, known for her singing, and showed an inclination towards the arts and literature. Tawaifs were the only women equipped to educate a child in dance, singing and literature.

The Calcutta Years

In 1883, Nawab Mir Mehboob Ali Khan Asaf Jah Wali Dakkan invited Malka Jan to Calcutta. This was her chance to make a name for herself in the Fakhr e Hindustan, the shining capital of British India with its glittering salons and literary spaces. Initially, the family took up residence in a small house Colootola – the hub of kothas of tawaifs from Awadh, Benaras and Allahabad. But within three years, Malka Jan was able to buy a house next to the Nakhuda mosque for the exorbitant Rs 40,000.

The address, 49, Chitpur Road, became the measure of her success – it was the haunt of music aficionados, elites, princes and zamindars. She performed at Metiaburj, the palace of exiled Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh, at mehfils hosted by the elite of Calcutta and the bhadralok – the newly emerging educated middle class – as well as at the courts of princely states.

The publication of Makhazan Ulfat e Malka was a literary event and the pinnacle of Malka’s poetic success. She lived a luxurious life. She bought a phaeton and went on long drives with little Gauhar, who was training to step into a glamorous world and take the legacy forward. Khursheed’s murder was a setback for Malka and young Gauhar who believed him to be her loving father.

Fame and money gave Malka comfort and security but very often she would slip into a depressive state and seek solace in alcohol. Her ghazals plumbed the depth of her despair and loneliness. Her writing was appreciated by her contemporaries as well as modern scholars like Ram Babu Saxena for its intricacy of meter and “poetic power and skill”.

Malka’s great joy was Gauhar who was trained under the most illustrious ustads of Calcutta and often sang with her mother. Gauhar’s coming-of-age nath-utrai ceremony, when she would enter the world of tawaifs, ended in the disaster of her rape by an old raja. She became pregnant but the child was still-born – traumatic experiences that shattered the teenager.

Malka stood steadfast with Gauhar. She supported her through her recovery and inevitable rise to fame. But this took a toll on Malka. She sank deeper into depression and alcoholism. Gauhar was a devoted daughter and became Malka’s strength.

Once, while singing at mehfil, Malka started vomiting blood. Gauhar, who was performing in another city, rushed back and nursed Malka back to health. Recognising the precarious state of her health, Gauhar never left Malka’s side, taking her along on all performances outside of Calcutta.

Gauhar was a diva, a star who recorded 600 songs in several languages for the Gramophone Company from 1902 to 1920. Malka’s songs were also recorded. Malka delighted in Gauhar’s fame, laughing at her daugther’s audacity when she drove her phaeton on the British-only side of the road and at her cheeky salute to the “Laat sahab”, the Governor General, who mistook her for a queen and bowed.

Malka died in 1906 at the age of 50. Her legacy was her poetry, her songs and Gauhar Jan.

In Makhazana e Ulfat e Malka, she muses on the transience of existence and uncertainty of life

Ek haal mein insan ki barsar ho nahi sakti,
Ab rang tabiyat ka badal jaye to accha.

To exist in an unchanging state is an impossibility
It is prudent now to change the colours of self.

Tarana Husain Khan is a writer and culinary revivalist based in Rampur. Her latest novel, The Courtesan, Her Lover and I, was longlisted for the AutHer Awards.

When workers in Noida took to the streets earlier this week, they did more than just focus attention on the unsustainably low wages that many Indian workers are paid. The spontaneous demonstrations across the Uttar Pradesh city also provided the opportunity for the country’s elite to blare out, yet again, their callous – and counterproductive – opinions about working-class Indians.

The fact that 40,000 workers had blockaded roads and torched vehicles to press their demand for a living wage should not have come as a surprise. Experts had been warning about the frustration building in India’s factories for months.

In December, commentator Anand Teltumbde wrote in Scroll about how the four new labour codes passed by the Bharatiya Janata Party government the previous month “legalised the exploitation of workers, formalised their precarity and celebrated their subordination as liberation”.

On April 1, only two weeks before the protests in Noida, trade unions had called a national strike to demand that these new labour codes be repealed. This action, as Nandita Haksar noted, was being organised when “workers are bearing the brunt of the economic fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran”. As a consequence of the conflict, cooking gas has become scarce and prices of essential commodities have started to creep up.

The immediate trigger for the Noida workers to spill out of their factories was the decision of the government of neighbouring Haryana to increase monthly minimum wage by 35%.

The Noida protest forced the Uttar Pradesh government to raise the minimum wage for skilled workers in Noida to Rs 16,868 from Rs 13,940 and for unskilled workers to Rs 13,690 from Rs 11,313. But many workers maintained that this was inadequate to feed, clothe, house and educate their families. They say Rs 20,000 per month is fair.

This entirely reasonable demand so offended the authorities, they set out to teach the protestors a lesson. More than 350 workers were arrested and seven FIRs were registered. The day after the protests, the police carried out flag marches to reiterate why workers should avoid the temptation of aspiring for dignity.

Politicians and the corporate media soon began to provide justifications for why the workers should not be taken seriously. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath speculated that the industrial action was an attempt to revive the Naxalite movement. Representatives of the corporate media parroted the police claim that “handlers operating from Pakistan” had used social media to instigate the protests. One television channel reported that protestors had been communicating through WhatsApp groups, painting their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of association as a seditious conspiracy.

As Nandita Haksar pointed out, the government is enjoined by Article 39 of the Constitution to ensure adequate means of livelihood for all citizens. It may be too much to expect India’s elite to appreciate this directive. After all, they seem to believe that constitutional morality is quaint anachronism. But, if nothing else, self-interest should drive them to support the campaign for fair wages.

Not only are adequately paid workers more productive, their increased spending on goods and services keeps the economy healthy – benefitting their employers. As the German business magnate Robert Bosch is claimed to have said, “I don’t pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages.”

India’s elite seem to believe that the rising tide of the economy (projected to grow at 6.5% in 2027) will lift all boats. It is essential for them to recognise that millions of Indians do not possess even a rudimentary raft. That is the message emerging from the shopfloors of Noida and beyond.

Here is a summary of last week’s top stories.

Centre’s delimitation attempt defeated. The Union government’s bill to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act and redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies was defeated in the Lok Sabha. The 2026 Constitution 131st Amendment Bill, one of three draft legislations, required a two-thirds majority of votes in Parliament to pass.

The consideration of the bill was rejected on Friday after only 298 MPs voted in its favour and 230 against it. The bill required the approval of a two-thirds majority. With 528 MPs present, that would have meant 352 votes. The government withdrew the two other bills, saying that they were linked to the proposed amendment that had been defeated and so could not be taken up for consideration separately.

Safwat Zargar and Rokibuz Zaman writes explain why delimitation in Assam and Kashmir had led to charges of gerrymandering.

Voting rights. The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to publish a supplementary electoral roll in West Bengal to include voters whose appeals against deletions have been accepted by the appellate tribunals. The first phase of polling will be held on April 23 and the second on April 29, with the votes to be counted on May 4.

The bench said that persons whose appeals have been cleared by the tribunals before April 21 should be included for voting in the first phase of the Assembly elections. Those who are cleared by April 27 should be included in the final electoral rolls for the second phase of the polls, it added.

The court also clarified that filing an appeal against exclusion from the voter list in itself would not entitle a person to vote.

Millions of Bengalis may lose their vote. Not over citizenship but due to clerical errors, writes Shoaib Daniyal.

No exemptions for New Delhi. The United States said that it will not renew waivers that had allowed countries, including India, to purchase Iranian and Russian oil without triggering sanctions. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the waivers pertained to oil “on water prior” to March 11.

The US had on March 5 granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver allowing them to buy Russian oil stranded at sea amid the war in West Asia. The relaxation allowed India to secure additional Russian oil supplies amid global disruptions, with refiners reportedly ordering about 30 million barrels during the period.

Congress leader in trouble? The Supreme Court stayed the transit anticipatory bail granted to Congress leader Pawan Khera by the Telangana High Court in a case registered by the Assam Police. The bench said it was “surprised” by the High Court’s April 10 order.

Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, had filed a first information report against Khera after he claimed on April 5 that she holds passports in several countries.

Appearing for the Assam Police in the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that Khera filing his plea in Telangana was a “complete abuse of process”.

A change of guard. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Samrat Choudhary became the chief minister of Bihar, a day after Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar resigned from the post. He is the first BJP chief minister of the state.

JD(U) leaders Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Kumar Choudhary were sworn-in as the deputy chief ministers. Nitish Kumar has become a Rajya Sabha member.

Also on Scroll last week

• ‘Live or die, we have to vote TMC’: How SIR has left Bengali Muslims with no political choices
• More children from Bihar, headed to a madrasa, ‘rescued’ in Odisha despite parents’ consent
• Can Vijay’s electoral debut shake up Tamil Nadu’s politics?
• Watch: ‘Calling Pakistan a dalal made India look churlish and jealous’: Christine Fair
• Watch: Called ‘Naxal’, thrashed by Noida Police for asking for wage hikes
• In 2000, Kashmir family lost son to militants. 26 years later, another son to Army ‘encounter’
• Western disturbances are causing rain damage even in eastern India
• How a father from Jammu fought to bring back deported son from Pakistan
• ‘Toaster’ review: Saga of a chronic miser is generous with the laughs
• Asha Bhosle changed what a woman’s feelings were allowed to sound like

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On the afternoon of April 13, as factory workers staged protests across Noida, Uttar Pradesh, to demand better wages, two young professionals saw a striking sight on the street opposite the firm where they work.

“It was lunch time and I was on the balcony of my firm’s office,” one of them said. “The police officials arrived here and started beating up people.”

Most of those being beaten up were women workers, said the second eyewitness. “When the officials charged them, one of them shouted at them that assaulting them was a violation of their rights,” the eyewitness said, referring to one of the women who was assaulted. “She demanded to deal with women police officials. But those officials did not relent.”

As the police continued to hit her with lathis, the woman shouted, “Keep beating me. Let’s see how much you can manage”, the eyewitness recalled. The police left soon after – they did not detain the women workers. Since then, it has arrested 396 persons citing rioting and criminal use of force.

Two days later, a video surfaced online showing police officials assaulting women. The video was shared on social media platforms like Instagram and X by several users, including the Uttar Pradesh Congress, who alleged that it showed police officials in Noida lathi-charging and manhandling women workers on the day of wage hike protests.

The police commissionerate in Gautam Budh Nagar district denied this. It said that “prima facie, the video appears to be morphed or AI-generated and does not seem to be from Noida, but rather from some other location.”

But the eyewitnesses, who requested anonymity fearing backlash from the authorities, told Scroll that the video accurately captured the scene they had witnessed.

However, it isn’t just eyewitness accounts that punch holes in the police’s claim. Scroll used geolocation analysis and matched the video against a press photo to establish that the location was indeed Noida – block A and B of Sector 6. We also visited the spot and spoke to several people who had seen the police assault.

Questions sent to Laxmi Singh, Noida commissioner of police, did not elicit a response.

Geolocating the video

We watched the video closely to look for clues pointing to its location. We spotted four things.

First, a signboard that says “Simplex” while the camera is panning at the 25 seconds mark.

Second, across the road from this sign, there is a building with a saffron shed. The angle suggests the video was likely shot from this building.

Third, as the video opens, a building with a bluish-green exterior comes into sight. It has two air conditioners jutting out of what looks like a glass facade.

Fourth, as it zooms in, there is a pole with a white cutout on which hangs a garland.

A Google search throws up more than a few firms called Simplex in Noida. But a satellite image on Google Maps shows that only one of them has a building with a saffron shed across the road. This is Simplex Packaging Limited in Sector 6, Noida.

The building across the road is the office of Kohinoor International Private Limited.

Since this image cannot confirm the presence of a building with a bluish-green facade and the pole, we visited the spot for further corroboration.

On the ground

In Noida’s Sector 6, we found there is indeed a bluish-green building opposite Kohinoor International office. Twenty metres down the road is the office of Simplex Packaging Limited.

The pole with the garlanded white cutout stands right in front of Kohinoor International.

Thus, we were able to confirm that the place seen in the video is Sector 6, Noida.

PTI photograph

Days before the video surfaced, the Press Trust of India had released a photograph that showed police officials approaching a group of women and raising their lathis in the air.

The PTI photograph was carried by Vartha Bharati on April 13, and by The Week and National Herald on April 14 with the following caption: “Police personnel resort to a lathi charge on protesters demanding a salary hike in Noida.”

Given their attire, the women in the PTI photo seem to be the same women seen in the video.

Through our spot reporting, we were able to confirm that the photograph was taken in Sector 6, Noida – just steps away from the location seen in the video.

The photo was taken in front of the factory of Samvardhana Motherson International Limited, an automobile manufacturing firm whose workers were part of the wage hike protests. This factory is right beside Kohinoor International.

According to the two eyewitnesses who saw the women being beaten, the women work at the Samvardhana Motherson factory. We were not able to independently verify this.

The police officials

Other people who live and work in this area told Scroll that some of the police officials lathi-charging and manhandling the women came from a police chowki located about a kilometre away.

At the police chowki, Shailendra Kumar, the official heading the post, said he had not seen the video. He claimed there was a lot of violence by factory workers on April 13. “Some women threw rocks at the police. One of the officials was injured and a police bike was burnt,” he said.

Asked if the women seen in the video were responsible for the violence – in the video, they can be seen peacefully standing on the side of the road – Kumar declined comment.

Local residents could only identify one of the police officials in the video – the official seen lathi-charging and pushing a woman as the video opens. They alleged that he is sub-inspector Prabhat Kumar, who patrols Sector 6.

Scroll met the sub-inspector at the chowki and sought his comment on the allegation. He declined to comment.

His colleague Shailendra Kumar said, “Prabhat [Kumar] does not have a personal enmity with anyone.”

An Indian crude oil tanker carrying about two million barrels of oil from Iraq was fired upon by Iranian forces on Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz, the Hindustan Times reported.

The development came after reports that two Indian vessels were forced to turn back from the Strait of Hormuz. The two Indian ships involved were Jag Arnav and Sanmar Herald, according to the Hindustan Times.

Jag Arnav was reportedly fired upon by the Iranian Navy while Sanmar Herald, which was in the vicinity, was not harmed.

The Indian government on Saturday lodged a protest against the firing with the Iranian Ambassador to India Mohammad Fathali, ANI reported.

During the meeting with the Iranian ambassador, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri “conveyed India’s deep concern at the shooting incident”, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

“He [Misri] noted the importance that India attached to the safety of merchant shipping and mariners and recalled that Iran had earlier facilitated the safe passage of several ships bound for India,” the ministry stated.

The foreign secretary urged Iran to “resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait”, the government said.

India lodged a protest with the Ambassador of Iran to India, Dr. Mohammad Fathali over the incident of firing on an Indian vessel at Strait of Hormuz. https://t.co/berBzGAtk4

— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2026

Earlier in the day, Iran had said it was reimposing strict military controls on the Strait of Hormuz, alleging “repeated breaches of trust” by the United States.

On Friday, Tehran had fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Since the conflict in West Asia broke out on February 28, Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels, triggering a global energy crisis. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

Washington and Tehran had on April 8 agreed to a two-week ceasefire to allow further negotiations to end the conflict. While Israel, which was not involved in the talks, has not struck Iran since the ceasefire took effect, it had continued to attack Lebanon until Friday’s deal.

Peace talks between Iran and the US that were held in Islamabad collapsed on April 12. A fresh round of negotiations is reportedly expected to take place in the Pakistani capital on April 20.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday alleged that Opposition parties stood against the women’s reservation bill for their “selfish political interests”, and that they insulted the framers of the Constitution by doing so.

Modi made the statement a day after the Union government’s bill to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act and redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies was defeated in the Lok Sabha. Opposition parties, including the Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Trinamool Congress, had maintained that they supported the amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act, but were opposed to the proposed delimitation of electoral constituencies.

The prime minister said on Saturday that he had hoped that the Congress would “rectify its decades-old mistake” of obstructing women’s reservation when it was in power. “But the Congress lost the opportunity to script history and stand in support of women,” he remarked.

Modi claimed that those who opposed the Centre’s legislations on Friday were “taking women’s power for granted”.

My address to the nation. https://t.co/2Vyx15A4rx

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 18, 2026

“But they are forgetting that the women of the 21st century are monitoring every event in the country,” the prime minister asserted. “They sense their intentions and are fully aware of the truth. Therefore, the opposition will surely be punished for the sin they have committed by opposing women's reservation.”

Modi made the statement amid Assembly elections taking place in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Elections in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry took place on April 9. Voting in Tamil Nadu will take place on April 23, while polling in West Bengal will take place in two phases on April 23 and April 29.

‘Misinformation was spread on delimitation’: Modi

Modi accused the Congress of “spreading misinformation” that the delimitation exercise, which involves redrawing the boundaries of electoral constituencies, would lead to some states losing influence.

“But the government has made it clear from the first day itself that neither the proportion of a state's representation will change nor will anyone's representation be lower,” the prime minister asserted. “Seats of all states will be increased in an equal proportion. Still, Congress, DMK, TMC, SP and other parties are not ready to accept this.”

The current composition of the Lok Sabha is based on the 1971 Census. According to the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, constituency boundaries were frozen until the first census after 2026.

The census, which began on April 1, is expected to conclude in 2027.

The bill that was introduced in Parliament earlier this week proposed to amend Article 82 of the Constitution to remove the entire proviso. This would have paved the way for delimitation to take place based on the latest census, which was held in 2011.

Opposition parties had argued that population-based delimitation would give an undue advantage to northern and central states in the Lok Sabha, as the southern states had been more successful in controlling population growth. They also noted that the ruling BJP has greater support in northern states than in the South.

However, on Saturday, Modi said that if the bill had been passed in the Lok Sabha, seats in all states, including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala, would have increased.

“But due to their selfish politics, these parties betrayed the people of their own states,” the prime minister claimed.

“The DMK had the opportunity to make even more Tamils MPs and MLAs,” Modi said. “It could have further strengthened the voice of Tamil Nadu. But it lost that opportunity. The Trinamool Congress too had the opportunity to push forward the people of Bengal. But TMC too lost the opportunity.”

Over two billion years old, the Aravalli mountain range in north-western India feels like an oasis running through Rajasthan’s hot, arid landscape.

Its rolling hills, biodiverse forests and water bodies form a massive green wall protecting the rest of the country from the heat and dust that rises from the Thar Desert on the western edge of the state.

Yet despite its ecological significance, commercial mining has been degrading the Aravallis. At least 29,209 instances of illegal mining were reported between 2018 and 2023 in Aravalli districts.

Mining pressure linked to urban expansion continues to reshape the landscape. At least 65 minerals are mined across the Aravalli range, including lead, zinc and copper, as are industrial minerals used in urban infrastructure, like marble, quartz, limestone and granite.

Environmental activist Kailash Meena has felt the impact of this mining in his hometown of Neem Ka Thana, a village in northern Rajasthan. His father was a shepherd, whose livelihood was his livestock and subsistence agriculture. But marble mining in his village has made it hard to sustain these.

Mining and blasting are causing groundwater levels to fall in the area, and risk fracturing the ancient rock formations that allow rainwater to percolate underground. This is according to a submission Meena made to the Supreme Court in February about the environmental degradation caused by mining and stone crushing along the Aravalli range.

Dust generated by crushers and heavy transport vehicles settles on crops, degrading soil quality and contaminating water and air, notes Meena’s submission. Grazing lands and forest produce on which many rural households depend have gradually disappeared.

These changes have pushed some families to abandon traditional occupations such as farming, fishing and livestock rearing, the filing says. Those who continue to farm have seen their earnings take a hit.

“Villages like ours are aggrieved by the mining mafia,” Meena tells Dialogue Earth. “A lot of construction that takes place in regions like Delhi … get their materials through mining in our small eco-sensitive villages.”

Further alarming native communities and environmentalists is the central government’s proposed redefinition of what comprises the Aravalli Hills and range. “Any landform located in the Aravalli districts, having an elevation of 100 metres or more from the local relief, shall be termed as Aravalli Hills,” stated a government press release. The Aravali range, meanwhile, has been defined as all landforms existing within 500 metres of two adjoining hills of over 100 metres in height.

Environmentalists and experts say these definitions are narrow and endanger a substantial chunk of the Aravalli landscape, especially vast stretches of low-lying scrub hills, grasslands and ridges. Locals worry they might open up the Aravallis for more mining, this time legally.

The definitions had been accepted by the Supreme Court in November, but sustained criticism and protest led the court to suspend that decision just weeks later, shortly after the central government halted new mining leases in the region. With the court’s suspension still in place, activists like Meena have been submitting evidence to the court demonstrating the ill effects of mining on their communities.

“People sitting in air-conditioned rooms cannot understand the complexities of the ground realities of the Aravallis. Our voices should become a part of decision-making,” says Kusum Rawat, a 30-year-old researcher from Banswara district in southern Rajasthan that lies within the Aravallis. Further worrying her is a new gold mine discovered in the district, which is expected to result in more mining on the hills.

Communities come together

Rawat was among activists, researchers and community leaders who recently completed a 700-km, 38-day Aravalli sanrakshan yatra (protection procession). It passed through all the states and territories the mountain range stretches across – Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi.

Along the route, members of the procession met at least 1,000 people who shared the challenges they face living along the Aravallis. While mining-induced air pollution came up often, many also reported suffering from silicosis, an incurable lung disease caused by inhaling large amounts of crystalline silica dust, which gets released into the air during mining.

Meena’s court filings cited a study stating that more than 23,000 cases of silicosis have been identified in Rajasthan, with nearly 7,000 deaths recorded up until May 2022. It noted how the prevalence of silicosis in stone carving and sandstone mining is much higher than generally believed.

The Rajasthan state government was approached for comment on these figures but did not respond.

Kanchi Kohli, an independent forest analyst, says one of the biggest mining pressures typically comes from urban expansion, with the Aravallis being a source of raw materials for real estate and road expansions around the ecoregion. She urged governments to keep in mind the social and ecological impacts of urbanisation on important ecoregions like the Aravallis in their planning.

Across the Aravalli range, individuals and collectives are fighting the threat of even more mining arising from the government’s definitions of the ancient mountain system.

In January, the citizen-led collective People for Aravallis, who played a key role in the yatra, submitted a 638-page intervention to the Supreme Court challenging the definition of the Aravallis. It included GIS maps, field documentation, community surveys and reports on mining impacts across the Aravalli landscape. “The whole range is bleeding,” says founder of the collective, Neelam Ahluwalia.

Referring to communities like Meena’s village, Ahluwalia adds: “These are communities with almost no carbon footprint. Yet they are the ones facing the impacts of environmental destruction.”

This long-suffering part of India hardly gets any attention, Meena notes. “In the last few years, pollution and heatwaves in north India have made headlines. But our areas have been facing these issues for 30 years now,” he says, adding that without the Aravallis, the northern areas will, like Neem Ka Thana, “have a difficult time surviving”.

With the Aravalli yatra, Ahluwalia notes, activists set out to bring local voices into the conversation through meetings and public consultations across the region. “People who depend on the Aravallis for their sustenance and live in its lap need to be consulted as to what they want before taking any decision which will directly impact their lives, health and livelihoods,” she says.

The interventions of communities and environmentalists are bearing fruit.

A Supreme Court petition filed in January by a group from Neem Ka Thana, separate from Meena’s, resulted in action from the Rajasthan state government. Authorities recognised that land designated to a private company for mining was within the Aravalli range, and ordered a stop to all activity. Mining operations had begun despite an earlier Supreme Court ruling that no mining can be allowed without the court’s approval, leading to the villagers’ petition.

In March, the Supreme Court assembled a committee of experts from fields including forestry and geology to come up with a new uniform definition for the Aravallis.

Impact on the environment

The ecological importance of the Aravalli range is undisputed, experts say.

The 100-metre definition for the range risks excluding from protection ecologically connected areas such as forests, wildlife corridors and groundwater recharge zones, Ahluwalia notes. “The idea is to open up everything for mining and make it legal.”

A report from the Forest Survey of India submitted to the Supreme Court in September 2025 observed that smaller hills in the Aravallis, located at the edge of the Thar Desert, serve as natural barriers against desertification by stopping heavier sand particles. They act as windbreaks, protecting Delhi and neighbouring plains from sandstorms.

This report was suppressed by the Ministry of Environment, K Parameshwar, the amicus curiae (who provides specialised expertise in cases) said in his report to the Supreme Court. Parameshwar noted that the 100-metre definition was not supported by several key parties involved, including the Forest Survey of India. The proposed definition was also never put up for public consultation.

The reduction of the Aravalli Hills would also jeopardise the role they play in rainwater harvesting. “There could be clear impacts on the groundwater recharge in the area which is likely to affect agriculture and access to water,” disrupting cropping patterns, says Kohli.

Government figures have found these concerns alarmist. In December 2025, environment minister Bhupender Yadav said that nearly 90% of the Aravalli landscape will be protected and that only 0.19% of the range could ever be eligible for mining under existing rules. An analysis by Down To Earth, however, notes that nearly 49% of the Aravallis would be exposed once the definition is applied.

The environment ministry was approached for comment but did not respond. However, its press release noted that because its definition of the Aravalli range protects the 500 metres of land between two adjoining hills, “it is, therefore… wrong to conclude that mining is permitted in all landforms below 100 metre height”.

In his report, Parameshwar noted that land would not be protected if it lies between hills above 100 metres but farther than 500 metres from each other.

The fight goes on

The need to define the Aravalli range is being questioned by some citizen-led conservation groups. Jyoti Raghavan, from the conservationist group Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement, notes that the landscape is already widely understood and recognised. “When it is already accepted that this is what Aravallis are, why do we need to narrow down its definition?”

Despite the ban on the new mining leases, the lack of resolution remains a cause for worry to those directly impacted by it.

“Clean air and pure water are the necessities of life. What will happen to our future generations if we do not conserve our ecology?” says Rawat. “It is our duty.”

Raghavan, who lives near the Aravallis in Gurugram, near Delhi, notes the biodiversity loss she has observed over her years of working in the region. “The birds, the jackals and the neelgai that I used to see are vanishing right in front of my eyes,” she says.

“I am in this fight for the ones who cannot speak for themselves… the animals, the wildlife that do not have a voice.”

For communities like Meena’s, their whole lives are at stake. “We are trying to protect our livelihoods. We are trying to protect our existence. Our farms, livestock, and water have been threatened. At what cost are we mining the hills?”

Shalinee Kumari is Dialogue Earth’s South Asia editorial assistant, based in New Delhi.

This article was originally published on Dialogue Earth under the Creative Commons BY NC ND licence.

The Allahabad High Court has withheld its order directing a case to be filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in response to a petition alleging that he is a British citizen.

Justice Subhash Vidyarthi said that the court will need to hear Gandhi first before passing such a direction.

On Friday, the judge had dictated an order in open court directing that a first information report should be registered against the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha in response to a petition by S Vignesh Shishir, who claims to be a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Karnataka unit.

The judge said in the written order that during the hearing, the court had asked the petitioner and the lawyer appearing for other parties whether a notice was required to be issued to Gandhi. The lawyers contended “that there is no requirement of issuance of a notice to the proposed accused”, the court said.

The judge, however, said that before the judgment ordering an FIR could be typed and signed, the court came across a judgment by a full bench of the Allahabad High Court from 2014.

The full bench verdict had held that a magistrate’s order rejecting an application under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the registration of a case is not an interlocutory order, or a temporary directive that only addresses a specific aspect of a litigation.

“Such an order is amenable to the remedy of a criminal revision under Section 397,” Vidyarthi said on Friday. Section 397 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows a High Court or sessions court to exercise powers of revision.

“In proceedings in revision under Section 397, the prospective accused or, as the case may be, the person who is suspected of having committed the crime, is entitled to an opportunity of being heard before a decision is taken in the criminal revision,” the judge said.

The court noted that the application could not be decided without issuing a notice to Gandhi, and posted the matter for hearing on April 20.

The petition

Shishir, in his petition, had submitted the details of Backops Limited, a company incorporated in 2003 in the United Kingdom, where Gandhi had purportedly declared his nationality as British.

The petition claimed that Shishir had filed a complaint with the Raebareli Police in July 2024 seeking registration of an FIR against Gandhi under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under the Passports Act.

Shishir said he moved a trial court after the police failed to act on his complaint. After the trial court also rejected his petition seeking an FIR, he approached the High Court.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday accused the Union government of conspiring to weaken democracy and alter the federal structure of the country by attempting to bring in a bill to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act and redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies.

Speaking to reporters, the Wayanad MP added that the defeat of the 2026 Constitution 131st Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha on Friday was a victory for the Constitution as well as the unity of the Opposition.

Vadra demanded that the Union government implement the women’s quota using the current strength of the Lok Sabha.

“The women’s reservation bill, which was passed unanimously in 2023, should be implemented by the [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi government now, and women should be given their rights,” she said. “The entire Opposition is ready for women’s reservation.”

The Congress MP added that the draft legislations were not about women’s reservation in Parliament and state Assemblies.

“This was related to the delimitation,” she said. “The Modi government had to carry out the delimitation on this basis, in which it would not need to look at the data of the caste census and would have complete freedom to act arbitrarily.”

The Constitution 131st Amendment Bill, one of three draft legislations, required a two-thirds majority of votes in Parliament to pass. The ruling National Democratic Alliance does not have a two-thirds majority of MPs in any House.

The consideration of the bill was rejected by the Lok Sabha with 298 MPs voting in its favour and 230 against. With 528 MPs present in the Lower House, the bill would have required the support of 352 of them.

The Union government then decided to withdraw the two other bills, saying that they were linked to the Constitution 131st Amendment Bill and could not be taken up for consideration separately.

The bills had been introduced by the Union government on Thursday, when a special three-day session of Parliament began. The draft legislations sought to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 815 from 543 and to operationalise the 33% quota for women in the Lower House and Assemblies under the Women’s Reservation Act.

Vadra said on Saturday that the “entire country has seen how the Modi government is defeated when the Opposition unites”.

Referring to speeches made by Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the discussion of the bills, the Congress MP said that both of them had claimed that if the Opposition did not agree on the matter, it would never be able to win elections or come to power.

“These statements alone make it clear what the government’s intention was,” Vadra said. “I believe that the conspiracy hatched by the government had the objective of gaining power. For this, the government used women.”

She added: “The Modi government believed that if the bill passes, it would be their victory, and if the bill does not pass, they would label the Opposition as anti-women. BJP wanted to do this to prove itself as the messiah of women.”

Vadra also said that the Union government had lost the trust of the public. “It’s a Black Day for them because they’ve felt a shock for the first time, which they deserved,” she said.

The draft legislations

The Opposition INDIA bloc had earlier said that while it supported women’s reservation, it would oppose the bill for delimitation of Lok Sabha seats.

Opposition parties had said that population-based delimitation would give an undue advantage to northern and central states in the Lok Sabha, as the proportion of seats in the North would be higher. They had also noted that the ruling BJP had greater support in northern states than in the South.

Although speculation about the amendment to the law had been rife in political circles for the past two weeks, copies of the draft legislation were shared with MPs for the first time on Tuesday.

Article 82 of the Constitution states that after every census is completed, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to each state must be adjusted based on changes in its population.

The current composition of the Lok Sabha is based on the 1971 Census. According to the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, constituency boundaries were frozen until the first census after 2026.

The census, which began on April 1, is expected to conclude in 2027.

The bill that was introduced in Parliament proposed to amend Article 82 of the Constitution to remove the entire proviso. This would have paved the way for delimitation to take place based on the latest census, which was held in 2011.

The 2023 Women’s Reservation Act was brought into force on Thursday through a notification issued by the Union government. This came while Parliament was debating the amendments related to the same law, including proposals to modify its implementation timeline.

The Rajasthan government on Friday rolled back a campaign to give school students “more meaningful” names after it faced opposition from parents and social activists, The Hindu reported.

The campaign, titled “Sarthak Naam Abhiyan”, was launched by the state education department on April 13 with the objective of suggesting meaningful names for students whose names had “embarrassing” or derogatory connotations.

Such names could lead to low self-esteem among students, the education department said.

It released a list of of 2,950 alternative names for boys and girls to be shared with parents, The Times of India reported.

However, several names on the list were repetitive and incorrect. It also contained entries such as Bhiksha (alms), Bhayankar (terrifying), Kalyugi (age of darkness), Lajja (shame) and Makkhi (fly).

The move led to a controversy, with parents, teachers and experts describing it as an “interference” with personal matters, The Hindu reported. Critics also noted that that the campaign could demean certain identities instead of empowering the students.

Noting inconsistencies, gender mix-ups, incorrect classifications and the duplication of names with minor variations, experts criticised the order as an attempt to “impose a cultural framework” on Dalit, trial and other backward communities, according to the newspaper.

Sanyukt Abhibhavak Sangh, an association for parents, also said that the campaign was a way of diverting attention from pressing issues, The Times of India reported.

“The state is grappling with increasing dropouts, shortage of teachers in schools and arbitrary behaviour of private schools, but the department is focused on suggesting names,” the newspaper quoted Abhishek Jain, a spokesperson for the association, as saying.

In light of the controversy, unidentified officials from the education department earlier clarified that the list of names was only a draft, adding that a revised list would be issued shortly, The Hindu reported.

It added that the names of students from Class 1 to 9 were to be updated in the school records on a voluntary basis and with the consent of their parents.

However, state Education Minister Madan Dilawar on Friday announced that the campaign would be withdrawn for “unavoidable reasons”, The Hindu reported. “No action will be taken pursuant to the directive,” he said.

Earlier, the Opposition Congress also criticised the April 13 order and asked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state to focus on the dilapidated condition of government school buildings that need repair.

Ignoring the doves and passerines sharing the habitat, the duck, amused to see a potential mate, bobs his head and lets out a series of shrill cries – resembling the honk of an ice-cream truck.

The female moves away just enough to signal indifference, but not rejection. That hint of interest is enough for him to continue the courtship ritual. Soon, she responds with head-bobbing and calls of her own.

These are not ordinary ducks. The elusive white-winged duck (Asarcornis scutulata) is the state bird of Assam. Originating from the forested swamps of South and South East Asia, with a historic range as far as Bhutan and parts of Indonesia, they only reveal their large wingspan – up to 153 cm (5 feet) – and white underwings when in flight.

Typically calm during the day, their calls echo through forests at dusk, earning them the name “deo hans” – Assamese for “spirit ducks”.

“We don’t know their feeding and mating patterns and the ducklings’ survival rates [in the wild],” said Aftab Ahmed, a biologist at the Wildlife Trust of India, a non-profit wildlife conservation organisation. “We don’t know much about their basic ecology, and most information is anecdotal. It is challenging to do systematic studies as they are very difficult to locate and track.”

What little we do know about white-winged ducks reveals that they are intensely territorial. “But as a pair, they are often tight and very strong,” said Harriet Whitford, the curator of birds at Jersey Zoo in the Channel Islands. “It’s not that easy to break them up. They take time to grieve and move on if one of them dies.”

This particular pair of lovers we see, honking, nodding, and dancing between streams and ponds, however, are in fact residents of the Branféré Animal and Botanical Park in western France. What began as a courtship in November bore fruit in March, when she laid two eggs.

Such intimate and almost theatrical sights are rare to savour in the wild because white-winged ducks are now on the critically endangered list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Their numbers have plummeted this century, with only 150-450 mature individuals remaining.

“[White-winged ducks] are habitat-specific species that flourish in water pools inside forested areas,” explained Ahmed. “They nest only in old trees with hollows.” As old trees are the first ones to meet the axe, these nonmigratory ducks have lost their nesting grounds. They are further threatened by human disturbances – fishing, draining of bodies of water, and pesticide pollution, to name a few.

White-winged ducks risk disappearing before their story is ever fully told. Conservation experts warn that their extinction will have a profound impact on biodiversity.

“Resident ducks have more value in ecology than migratory species [as] they feed on molluscs and control vector-borne diseases,” said Rathin Barman, director f the WTI. “By conserving the duck species, you are also saving their habitats, the lowland tropical forests.”

Conservation breeding

At Branféré, once the eggs hatch, the chicks will be raised within the same park. Efforts to conserve these ducks span over five decades. In the 1970s, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge sourced ducks from eastern Assam for captive breeding, and their progeny were later distributed to zoos worldwide.

A conservation breeding programme raises a viable population in a safe environment, to be released later into the species’ natural habitat to reinforce the declining wild population. It proved successful for many species, including the crested ibis of eastern Asia. Presumed extinct in the 1960s, the bird was rediscovered in 1981 when the world population stood at just seven.

The successful breeding programme resulted in the reintroduction of this rare bird to its historical range, per the results of a study. As of 2014, there were more than 1,000 captive-bred individuals across 12 conservation breeding centres or zoos in China, Japan, and Korea.

“Release of captive-bred birds should only be done in areas where there are no existing individuals,” said Glyn Young, who chairs the IUCN Threatened Waterfowl Specialist Group. “It is hoped that at some point, released and native birds will meet, but this should happen naturally after the released birds have acclimatised and established.”

Much of this work today is sustained by institutions that operate far from the species’ natural range. “In modern zoos, it is quite easy to support in situ projects because it's one of our goals,” saidAlexandre Petry, the zoological & scientific director at Branféré. “In Europe, in zoos, with the money that we gain from the visitors, we give some of it to protect the animals in the wild.” He is also the European Endangered Species Programme coordinator who oversees the conservation breeding of white-winged ducks across participating zoos in Europe.

Despite such cross-border efforts, the ducks are not released back into their range for ecological and economic reasons. Moving birds back to their country of origin is costly, time-consuming and often involves extensive legal paperwork. The ducks in Europe have limited genetic diversity, have spent many years acclimatising to captivity, and would need to be screened very carefully for diseases or illnesses.

"When you move birds back in range, you have to be incredibly careful that you are not bringing back something potentially dangerous to the in-range birds,” noted Harriet Whitford.

However, the captive population can be useful in other ways. “One idea [that we are mulling over] would be to collect the eggs from the wild in the range countries and let the female duck [from Branféré ] raise them in captivity so that the ducklings are close to their natural species,” Petry said.

The ducks’ adaptability in captivity can be taken to advantage. Whitford notes that captive females can still perform natural behaviours such as incubating eggs, without the stress that a wild-caught female might experience in a captive setting.

“European birds could be moved to captive facilities to rear offspring that could be released into the wild, either from eggs taken from the wild or from captive European birds paired with partners carrying wild genes,” she said. “These partners could either be wild-caught adults or birds captively reared from eggs taken from the wild. The resulting offspring would be better suited for release into the wild.”

The money problem

With the highest number of white-winged ducks in their natural habitat, India holds a vital chance to secure the species’ future. Yet, there are no conservation breeding programmes.

Through awareness programmes, surveys, and collaborations with the Assam government, WTI has been working since 2019 on reviving the ducks. “Sometimes, some donors want to see the species in the wild to get convinced about funding the project,” said Aftab Ahmed. “But that is difficult because they are extremely rare and cryptic in nature,”

When they started in 2019, WTI received funds from corporate donors and global conservation organisations, but over the years, many backed out. “Conservation breeding takes at least 10-15 years to show the results.” said Ahmed. “It requires big recurring funds and more time. A few batches could turn out unsuccessful in the beginning. Finding donors who are willing to take that risk and support for a long time is always difficult.”

While their European counterparts have no funding difficulties, it is an uphill battle for Indian conservationists to secure funds, especially for lesser-known species such as white-winged ducks. “Maybe it's more difficult to collect money for duck species than for monkey species or big cats, or a more popular bird species,” said Petry. “But because this species is very threatened, we succeed to have some money.”

“Targeted fundraising will work. It is true that rhinos and tigers will receive a higher profile, but projects for less spectacular animals are not hard to establish if correctly managed,” said Gyln Young, adding that Durrell’s ongoing programme for another world’s rarest duck, the Madagascar pochard has resulted in their increased numbers.

In India, Assam’s conservation plans include four goals: habitat protection, population strengthening, awareness, and research. Indian organisations are currently conducting campaigns and surveys, which they hope will lead to media exposure and funding.

“We need to increase the population in India to save this species,” said Petry. “If not, we will be able to see them only in zoos or in museums.”

If these ducks are not conserved, their dance of love will be a sight confined to the aviaries.

This story was produced by The Xylom, a nonprofit news outlet covering global health and environmental disparities, and co-published by Scroll.in,

Tensions erupted in Assam’s Chirang district along the India-Bhutan border after an eviction drive aimed at clearing alleged encroachment on reserved forest land led to clashes between forest personnel and Adivasi protesters, The Assam Tribune reported.

This came after a late-night confrontation on Thursday, when forest officials detained 25 Adivasis for allegedly encroaching on land in the Ripu-Chirang Reserve Forest, The Hindu reported. Several locals, including women, subsequently gathered at the Runikhata Forest Range Office demanding their release.

The forest personnel dispersed the crowd. Some protesters alleged that the forest officials assaulted them, including women.

On Friday morning, a larger crowd gathered at the office and allegedly vandalised it. Unidentified officials told The Assam Tribune that the protesters allegedly set fire to at least four forest department vehicles and also attempted to torch the office.

The situation intensified after the police reached the spot and baton-charged the protesters. The forest personnel also allegedly opened fire to control the crowd, The Assam Tribune reported.

More than 30 persons, mostly police personnel, were injured, The Hindu reported. Four protesters were also detained.

Following the violence, the state government ordered the suspension of internet and data services in Chirang and Kokrajhar districts, ANI reported. Both districts are part of the Bodoland Territorial Region.

The All Adivasi Students’ Association and the All Santal Students’ Union, which organised the protests, alleged that the eviction drive selectively targeted Adivasi communities, The Assam Tribune reported.

The organisations alleged that while several communities reside on the same forest land, the action disproportionately affected Adivasis. Both groups have also announced protests across the Bodoland Territorial Region to demand action against those involved.

The Delhi High Court has held that candidates belonging to the Economically Weaker Section cannot claim parity with those from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in matters such as age relaxation and the number of permissible attempts in central government recruitment examination, The Hindu reported on Saturday.

The disadvantages faced by socially backward classes and economically weaker sections are not comparable, the newspaper quoted the court as saying in its judgement on Thursday.

A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan was hearing a petition filed by Economically Weaker Section candidates, who argued that despite the 10% quota introduced for the category through the 103rd Constitutional Amendment, the absence of ancillary benefits such as age relaxation placed them at a disadvantage, Bar and Bench reported.

Under the rules of the Union Public Service Commission, candidates from SC and ST categories are eligible for age relaxation of up to five years, while OBC candidates are allowed age relaxation of up to a maximum of three years. Certain relaxation in the maximum number of attempts to such candidates is also provided.

On Thursday, the bench said that the distinction between the economically weaker section and the socially backward classes is “highlighted by the very nature of the disadvantage they seek to address”.

“EWS is concerned only with economic deprivation,” The Hindu quoted the bench as saying. “The hardship faced by individuals in this category arises from lack of financial resources. It does not stem from social stigma or historical exclusion”.

It added: “SC, ST, and OBC categories are rooted in deep and long-standing social and educational backwardness.”

“These groups have suffered discrimination and ostracism for generations, solely on account of their caste,” The Hindu quoted the bench as saying. “Such a disadvantage is structural and enduring.”

The court also observed that “caste, unlike economic status, is not variable”.

“It is fixed by birth and cannot be changed,” the newspaper quoted the bench as saying. “A person born into a disadvantaged caste continues to face its consequences throughout life.”

In 2006, as the challenge to the criminalisation of homosexuality under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code returned to the Delhi High Court, a civil society coalition, Voices Against 377, was trying to gather testimonial affidavits from those directly affected by the law.

An earlier dismissal of the public interest litigation in 2004 had turned, in part, on a familiar judicial move: the petition was considered too academic and insufficiently grounded in lived experience.

By the time the case was revived, there was a clear understanding among the petitioners that this should not happen again. The law would have to be shown in the lives it governed rather than as an abstraction.

That was easier said than done. This was still a time of criminalisation. To sign an affidavit was to risk being exposed and made vulnerable to law and society alike. We put out calls. Few responded.

I found it difficult to ask of others what I was unwilling to do myself. So I agreed to file my own affidavit. A few others did too.

Gradually, we had a small set – eight in all – drawn from different lived locations: gay men, individuals identifying within the hijra and kothi communities, and others whose experiences spoke to same-sex desire under criminalisation.

One affidavit, in particular, troubled the process. It spoke in a language that unsettled the categories through which the legal argument had begun to take shape. Its account of self was marked by fluidity of gender, desire and identification, refusing to stabilise into terms such as gay or transgender, moving between and beyond them.

Within the spaces we inhabited, this was entirely understandable – consistent with a strong conviction that identities are fluid and shifting. Yet that conviction gave way quickly to a different calculation when the question became what the court would understand. There, legibility mattered. Categories had to hold. Claims had to be framed in terms the law could recognise and process.

This affidavit would be difficult to translate into a form the court could process. The limits of legal recognition were anticipated in advance and internalised within the process of representation itself.

This was a difficult choice. It sat uneasily with the very premise of the exercise, which was to bring lived experience into the courtroom. Here was a life, articulated with clarity and courage, that did not fit the available frames. It was precisely for that reason that it was put aside.

In the end, we filed the seven affidavits that could speak in a language the law would recognise.

What followed is often told as a story of progress. In 2009, the Delhi High Court read down Section 377. In 2013, that judgement was reversed. In 2018, the Supreme Court in the Navtej Singh Johar case finally decriminalised adult consensual sex in private. Each of these moments marks a shift in how the law approaches sexuality.

But this trajectory was never linear. The Supreme Court restored criminalisation in 2013, but within months, in the landmark NALSA case in 2014, it recognised the self determination of gender including forms of gender variance that exceeded fixed categories.

It points to a legal system moving unevenly – at times acknowledging fluidity, at others requiring stability. Despite these developments, the problem endures: that the law depends on forms that can be stabilised.

The affidavits we filed were, in many cases, acts of considerable courage. But they were also selective. They presented lives that could be organised into recognisable categories. They made possible a certain kind of legal claim that could be translated into rights, dignity and equality.

They left out lives that exceeded those categories.

The costs of that exclusion persist. Contemporary debates on gender recognition remain deeply invested in questions of identification, certification and classification. Fluidity sits uneasily within these frameworks because it resists the forms through which law operates.

The affidavit we left out was an early instance of a more enduring legal pattern. The law fails to recognise certain lives, and at times, it requires that they be put aside for recognition to proceed at all.

This failure also lies in the ways its limits are anticipated and accommodated – how representation is shaped by what the law is presumed able to hear.

The task, now as then, is to test these limits by presenting lives in their full complexity and to demand that the law reckon with what it cannot easily contain.

Sumit Baudh is a member of the civil society coalition, Voices Against 377, and has worked on its legal intervention in the Delhi High Court. Views are personal.

United States President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday issued a waiver allowing countries, including India, to purchase sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products, that were loaded onto ships as of Friday. The US Treasury Department said that the waiver allows these purchases till May 16. An earlier 30-day waiver had expired on April 11.

The move is aimed at easing global energy prices, which have increased amid the conflict in West Asia.

The extension came two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington would not renew the waiver permitting countries to buy Russian oil without facing US sanctions.

On Wednesday, Bessent said that the waivers had pertained to oil “on water prior to March 11”. “So all that has been used,” he had told reporters.

On March 5, the US had granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver allowing them to buy Russian oil stranded at sea amid the conflict in West Asia. The US treasury secretary had at the time described the move as a short-term measure aimed at keeping global oil supplies, and maintained that it would not “provide significant financial benefit” to Russia.

The relaxation allowed India to secure additional Russian oil supplies amid global disruptions, with refiners reportedly ordering around 30 million barrels during the period.

India is a net importer of oil and gas, with around 80% to 85% of its energy requirements met through imports.

A week after granting the waiver to India, Washington extended a similar 30-day licence to other countries for Russian crude loaded before March 11.

Global oil prices have spiked due to the conflict in West Asia, with Iran having blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz for most commercial shipping. The narrow waterbody connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. About 20% of the global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

The developments came against the backdrop of earlier tensions between Washington and New Delhi over India’s continued purchases of Russian crude.

The Trump administration had in August imposed a punitive levy on India for buying oil from Russia amid the Ukraine war. This had taken the combined US tariff rate to 50%.

On February 7, Trump issued an executive order to remove the additional 25% punitive tariff on imports from India over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. This brought the effective US tariff rate on Indian imports to 18% after the interim trade deal was agreed to.

Almost a year has passed since the terrorist massacre of tourists in Kashmir on April 22 and India’s retaliation 16 days later with a military operation against Pakistan, which Delhi blamed for the attack.

Operation Sindoor escalated into a war fought almost entirely in the skies. From the intervening night of May 7 and 8 when India bombed alleged terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and Pakistan, until the afternoon of May 11 when both sides called a ceasefire, the hostilities lasted four days.

All wars tend to leave lasting changes on the ground for the sides involved, and this one was no exception. Previous India-Pakistan encounters led to talks when the hostilities ended, and a long-term dialogue between the two countries. His four-day war has had the opposite effect. It has pushed the two nations further apart.

This article looks at the post-Sindoor dynamics in both countries, and what this means for India-Pakistan relations.

In India, post-Operation Sindoor, relations with Pakistan are defined in terms of a “new normal” of “unending war”. Strategic affairs thinkers close to the establishment hailed the operation as establishing a “new doctrine of response” to cross-border terrorism.

In an address to the nation on the evening of May 12, two days after the ceasefire of May 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the agreement as a “pause” in Operation Sindoor. After this, the government’s media managers sent word that the word “ceasefire” was not to be used.

“Pause” was a response to the political backlash that greeted the ceasefire announcement, from the opposition and from Modi’s own Hindutva constituencies. This was particularly due to the claim by United States President Donald Trump that the US had “mediated” the truce.

At a time when many Indians had come to believe that India was winning the war, this suggested that the Modi government had capitulated to US pressure. That India and Pakistan should resolve their issues bilaterally flows from the 1972 Shimla Agreement, and is something of a sacred cow in India’s Pakistan policy. It was meant to override the multiple United Nations resolutions on Kashmir that followed the first India-Pakistan war over Kashmir, fought from October 1947 to December 1948. Over the last five decades, Delhi has routinely pushed back any offers by outside parties to help resolve the Kashmir issue.

But it was also inevitable that the world would get involved in India-Pakistan crises from the time both countries went nuclear in 1998. Since then, whenever India and Pakistan have clashed, the world has taken notice.

On several occasions, US presidents have stepped in to defuse India-Pakistan crises. The Bill Clinton administration prevailed on Pakistan to call a ceasefire and withdraw unconditionally from the Kargil heights in 1999. The George W Bush administration prevailed on India not to mount a military retaliation against Pakistan after the 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament, and after the Kaluchak terrorist strike in June 2002.

President Trump claimed, in a tweet at the time, that his administration had been involved in resolving the crisis in the aftermath of India's 2019 cross-border military strike at Balakot. India had also sought the help of the US and other global powers, including China, to get Pakistan to rein in terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed under the sanctions architecture that came up in the UN after 9/11.

When Modi was first elected as prime minister, he attempted a personalised style of diplomacy with Pakistan, hoping to make a mark in this way. Rajiv Gandhi had done that, towards the end of his only term in office, when Benazir Bhutto was the prime minister. He was the first prime minister to visit Pakistan after Jawaharlal Nehru in 1960, when the Indus Waters Treaty was signed.

Rajiv Gandhi’s visit led to another enduring achievement, the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities. From 1992, without a break, the two countries have exchanged a list of each other’s nuclear installations every year on January 1. Rajiv’s visit almost led to another agreement, on the demilitarisation of Siachen, but political opposition and military advice made Delhi rethink the plan.

In December 2015, when Modi made a surprise stopover at Lahore on his return home from Kabul to visit the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, India was still smarting from the 2008 Mumbai attack. When Rajiv visited, the country had just emerged from a decade of martial law under General Zia ul Haq. Benazir had just been elected, and the Army was still regrouping after the shock of Zia’s death in a plane crash. The democratically elected civilian government had a voice. Benazir’s Interior minister Aitzaz Ahsan is even said to have handed over a list of Khalistani militants to India, an “allegation” he has contested ever since.

In 2015, the civil-military dynamic was different, under the veneer of the first proper democratic transition in 2013, when Sharif was elected, the army was quietly reconsolidating its hold under a new chief. Days after Modi’s Christmas day visit to see his “friend”, the Pathankot airbase was attacked by the Jaish-e-Mohammed. Modi was still confident enough in his cross-border diplomacy to allow a team of Pakistani investigators to tour the airbase some weeks later.

The turning point came with the September 2016 attack at the Uri brigade headquarters, and the retaliatory surgical strike. Since then, Modi’s cultivated “strongman” image has been one of non-compromise with Pakistan. In this narrative, Modi, unlike his predecessors, has never let Pakistan off the hook when terrorists have struck India. In this narrative, a ceasefire has no place, let alone one claimed to have been mediated by a third party.

After Operation Sindoor, Indian diplomacy could not find a credible way to handle Trump’s claim in a manner that would satisfy all sides, and so resorted to denying it. Timelines were also painstakingly created and disseminated of who called whom, who did not take whose call, and who asked for the “stoppage” first. India was also unable to come clean about reported Indian Air Force aircraft losses, despite hints dropped publicly by senior officers of the armed forces that losses had been incurred during combat.

Large sections of Indians, including within the armed forces, continue to believe that India came close to “finishing the job” or “finishing Pakistan”. What this means in practice is not articulated, even by those who make these demands.

Consider one scenario: a Syria-like fragmentation of Pakistan. The now frequently made promise of “we will bring back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir” represents another. Neither would be in India’s interests. A Pakistan splintered along political, sectarian, and social lines, and in possession of nuclear weapons, should be an Indian nightmare.

As for PoK, even if “bringing it back” were achievable, it would not be like retrieving a suitcase from lost and found. It would mean the physical military occupation of a large region. Even presuming that China remained uninterested, such a move would create a Russia-Ukraine-like situation in South Asia, destabilising the entire region.

It would place an enormous economic burden on India, and shatter forever the aspirations of its 1.5 billion people for homes, quality healthcare, education, and jobs – in short, a better life than the one they have now.

India’s leaders can never tell these truths to the people. The only realistic solution on Kashmir is for both sides to accept the Line of Control as an international boundary. In February 1994, against the backdrop of a rising and expanding Kashmiri insurgency, India’s Parliament adopted a landmark unanimous resolution affirming that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and demanding that Pakistan vacate PoK. India’s communally divisive politics, more sharply evident over a decade of Bharatiya Janata Party rule, and the government’s Pakistan policy are now two sides of the same coin.

The international isolation of Delhi as Operation Sindoor escalated into a drone war should not have come as a surprise. Global powers had stood in solidarity with India to condemn the terror strike at Pahalgam, and the US had said India had the right to defend itself. But the world baulked when Operation Sindoor began and Pakistan responded.

As the exchanges continued, India quickly went from being a victim to being one side of a war between two nuclear-armed nations. After the ceasefire, the government had to send out teams of politicians and diplomats to convince the world of Pakistan’s perfidy and long history of cross-border terrorism. The world offered tea and sympathy, but remained unconvinced, asking for evidence of a Pakistani hand in the Pahalgam attack.

The main shock for India, however, was yet to come, and it was a double blow. The first was how swiftly the most important pillar of its foreign policy for over two decades – its ties with the US –unravelled. This was possibly triggered by India’s rejection of Trump’s claim of having mediated the ceasefire. The second was the apparent failure of another foreign policy objective: the isolation of Pakistan.

Despite the initial confidence in Delhi in the months leading up to Trump’s inauguration that Modi’s “personal chemistry” with him would see the relationship through, India-US ties are in rough waters. During Modi’s visit to the US in February 2025, the government remained optimistic and appeared not to have anticipated that the US president would single out India for special punishment, eventually imposing a 50% tariff on Indian exports to the US, including a “secondary sanction” of 25% tariff for purchasing oil from Russia.

These sudden tariffs set the stage for negotiations towards a trade deal aimed at doubling total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, as agreed during Modi’s visit. After many hiccups, a framework trade treaty was agreed in January 2026, but it drew criticism in India as one-sided, since it opened the door to US sectors that had previously been shut out.

The Modi government said the final agreement would come in March, but this has been put off in the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran, which has upended much of what was earlier taken for granted about global trade. Delhi’s helplessness in the face of Trump’s whimsical and vindictive treatment, and its inability or unwillingness to stand up to him, was starkly evident when, at the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, the US announced that it had permitted India to buy Russian oil for just one month.

The second shock was the unanticipated rise of Pakistan on the world stage. Delhi had spent much diplomatic energy over a good part of the last decade trying to isolate and stigmatise its western neighbour as a sponsor of terrorism. Pakistan had indeed appeared to lose much of its strategic relevance when the US military and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces exited Afghanistan after a hasty deal with the Taliban.

Within five years, however, Pakistan’s stock has risen. It is now one of three countries, along with Turkey and Egypt, trying to end the US-Israel war on Asia. This may come to nothing. The US continues to prepare for a ground invasion of Iran, which has demonstrated it can retaliate in a manner that Trump and his advisers seem unable to anticipate.

At this stage, Trump sounds more eager for an off-ramp than Iran, which has conveyed that it has no trust in the US, after being bombed during two earlier rounds of negotiations, in June 2025, and February 2026. Still, Pakistan’s shuttle diplomacy is something that many in India are having trouble coming to terms with, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who called it dalaali, brokerage. Had Modi assumed a similar role, Jaishankar might have chosen a different word – given that “Vishwaguru” and “Vishwamitra” were the terms used merely for assuming the rotating presidency of the Group of Twenty.

Instead, Modi signalled that Delhi had chosen a side through his visit to Israel on February 25 and 26, just two days before his host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump attacked Iran and eliminated the country’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. India did not condemn the assassination – the first time the leader of a sovereign state has been eliminated by another country or countries.

Pakistan’s new global stature, distinct from the notoriety that long dogged it for its “terrorist factories”, did not develop overnight. It goes back to Operation Sindoor, and the perception within Pakistan that it won that bout with India. Pakistanis believe that their air force gave India a bloody nose by bringing down several of its fighter aircraft. Delhi’s silence on independent international reports of these losses made has added to Pakistan’s sense of victory.

There is clearly more than one view on who won and who lost Operation Sindoor. What is uncontested, however, is that it was decisive in one respect: it changed the political dynamic within Pakistan in favour of Army Chief Asim Munir.

Until May 7, 2025, Munir was perhaps the most hated army chief since Zia ul-Haq. His control over Pakistan faced a strong pushback from the supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, whom Munir had jailed on corruption charges. Operation Sindoor, however, tightened Munir’s grip on Pakistan and all but pushed the Imran Khan problem out of view.

Munir’s fortunes changed on May 8, hours after unconfirmed reports emerged of Indian jets being shot down. Speaking in parliament that day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared victory. That should have been the opening for an off-ramp, but the war continued. Both sides deployed drones, and on the morning of May 10, India hit several Pakistani air bases. The ceasefire followed a few hours later.

Celebrations in Pakistan began almost immediately. The government declared May 11 as Yom-e-Tashakkur, or the Day of Thanks, to the Pakistan armed forces, and victory parades followed. Pakistan, which has always found it advantageous to internationalise the Kashmir issue, publicly thanked Trump for his claimed mediation in bringing about the ceasefire. Prime Minister Sharif later handed Trump’s team a copy of his government’s letter to the Nobel committee nominating Trump for the Peace Prize.

Days later, the Sharif government conferred the rank of Field Marshal on Munir. Murmurs within the Pakistan Air Force that the army chief had little or no role to play in the four-day war were quickly drowned out in an outpouring of government praise. Munir is now expected to remain in office until 2030, making him the most powerful army chief Pakistan has ever had without seizing political power in the manner of Zia or Pervez Musharraf.

Much to India’s dismay, Trump has warmed to Pakistan – a country he had described in his first term as one to which the US had “foolishly” given “more than $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years”, adding that “they have given us nothing but lies and deceit”. That tweet now forgotten, Field Marshal Munir has become Trump’s “favourite field marshal”, whom he invited to lunch at the White House, to much consternation in India.

Pakistan’s present role as facilitator of an indirect diplomatic effort for peace in West Asia is partly due to the trust Trump appears to repose in Munir, and partly a consequence of compulsions arising from the Strategic Mutual Defence Pact it signed with Saudi Arabia last year, and the fear of what an endless war could mean for Pakistan itself.

For Pakistan, this war is not being fought in a faraway place. It shares a 1,000-kilometre border with Iran to its southwest, and what happens in Iran has an immediate echo in Pakistan, where Shia Muslims make up 20% of the population and constitute a significant minority.

Khamenei’s assassination triggered widespread protests and violence in Pakistan, in which more than 30 people were killed. Munir and the civilian government led by Shehbaz Sharif have walked a tightrope between Iran and the Gulf monarchies, with many of whom it has close relations. The oil shock from the war has already delivered its first blows to an already precarious economy.

As the US prepares to put boots on the ground in Iran, Pakistan could find itself drawn into yet another war against yet another neighbour. The Saudis would want Pakistan to make good on the mutual defence pact. The Sharifs also owe the Saudis in other ways, including for saving them from Musharraf in 2000. The US may want to use Pakistani territory.

The military-bureaucratic establishment, or “militablishment”, may extract rent for assisting the US as it did after 9/11, but the costs for the country would be far greater. Iran is not Afghanistan. Any Pakistani cooperation with the US in this war risks its cautious balancing act, alienating Iran, and opening the door to Israel, all of which could in turn unleash a backlash fiercer than anything the country experienced over two decades of serving as a back office for the US invasion of Afghanistan.

What are the chances of India and Pakistan returning to the negotiating table at this time, or even in the near to mid-term future – which is another way of saying “in our lifetime”?

India-Pakistan peace-making has been a Sisyphean project for seven decades: a task that risks failing the moment it begins, or even before it begins. The short period between 2003 and 2008, when India and Pakistan engaged in a full-spectrum dialogue, with people to people contact at its peak, is now referred to as the “golden era” of bilateral ties.

The Mumbai attacks of 2008 put paid to that. And since then, engagement has been sporadic and short-lived. At this time, the two countries have set their own course and have had no public engagement beyond their downgraded diplomatic missions in each other’s capitals. The Pahalgam atrocity remains a fresh wound in an already long history of bad blood.

Past opportunities – such as the Pakistani military’s pitch for trade with India in 2021 and the recommitment to the 2003 unwritten ceasefire – did not lead to any further positive developments. The reluctance of both sides to appear “weak” to their own domestic audiences by pushing for engagement is not unique to India and Pakistan.

This is precisely why the aftermath of Operation Sindoor should have opened a door. Both sides claim victory, bolstered by unshakeably strong domestic narratives. This should make it easier to say, “Let’s talk”. South Asia’s tragedy is that with India and Pakistan, it is never the right time to talk. The only contact between the two is the institutionalised mechanism of the hotline between the Directors-General of Military Operations, a direct line between the two militaries, essentially to manage tensions on the Line of Control.

Even a backchannel, which both sides used to good effect in the 1990s and through the 2000s, has not been activated. The absence of meaningful contact between two hostile neighbours is risky, especially if these neighbours have sworn never to make peace.

In Pakistan, public opinion is on a sugar high, basking in a new and heady global spotlight. Pakistan’s “open war” on Afghanistan (now in “pause” mode) is virtually being waged as a war against an “Indian proxy”. Pakistan has always alleged that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is a creation of India, and dots are now being joined between Delhi’s engagement with the Afghan Taliban and the latter’s support for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

On the Indian side, meanwhile, the narrative of a forever war is being entrenched in public opinion. Even the small openings that used to exist – such as Bollywood and cricket – are having the oxygen sucked out of them. Both have been successfully weaponised, or “Hinduised” as evident from the success of the film Dhurandhar and the widespread approval for the deliberate, state-orchestrated unsportsmanlike conduct during cricket matches.

India’s policy that good neighbourliness will be conditional – “blood and water cannot flow together” – and Munir’s controversial speech urging Pakistani parents to tell their children stories so that they “don’t forget they are different from Hindus”, together reinforce the message that both sides are content to live side by side in hostility.

Those four days in May 2025 were scary enough for civilians in the line of fire on both sides. If that was not enough, what is happening in West Asia now should have brought home the consequences of modern warfare. How long can India and Pakistan continue under the shadow of an ever present risk is a question the citizens of these two countries will ask, if not now, then at some point in the future. The penny has to drop some day. One can only hope it does before the leadership on both sides sleepwalks their countries into another war.

While we wait, can Delhi play a different sort of Dhurandhar, and muster the courage to break the narrative? Dhurandhar the film has appealed to a large section of Indians who need assurance from fiction, if not fact, that its current leadership is the only one capable of defeating India’s enemies. The films do not confuse viewers with contrary information such as loss of aircraft. Outside the packed cinemas, in real life, dhurandhar means the Atlas-like ability to carry a burden of great weight, with strength, resolve and intelligence.

As Trump is now realising, making peace is more difficult than fighting a war. Both India and Pakistan need a dhurandhar today to shoulder this weight, leaders who can break this dangerous impasse, who know the risks of conflict and the cost of war, and would not be afraid to talk about it. In India, a real dhurandhar would have had the clarity and intelligence to back Pakistan’s efforts to bring the war in West Asia to an end. A real dhurandhar would have certainly not sneered at those efforts.

Nirupama Subramanian is an independent journalist.

This article was first published on The India Forum.

The Union government’s bill to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act and redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies was defeated in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

The 2026 Constitution 131st Amendment Bill, one of three draft legislations, required a two-thirds majority of votes in Parliament to pass. The ruling National Democratic Alliance does not have a two-thirds majority of MPs in any House. Therefore, it required the support of Opposition parties to pass the amendment.

The consideration of the bill was rejected by the House with 298 MPs voting in its favour and 230 against. With 528 MPs present in the Lower House, the bill would have required the support of 352 of them.

The government decided to withdraw the two other bills, saying that they were linked to the Constitution Amendment Bill and therefore could not be taken up for consideration separately.

The bills had been introduced by the government on Thursday, when a special three-day session of Parliament began.

Here are more top updates from the special session of Parliament:

• After the Lok Sabha proceedings, the Congress stated that the bill was defeated as the Union government “used an unconstitutional trick in the name of women” to bring it forward. Party leader Rahul Gandhi said the Opposition INDIA bloc had “stopped it”. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said “it was impossible for this bill to be passed” because of the way the BJP-led Centre had presented it, reported ANI. “The bill was defeated because of the way the government linked women’s reservation to delimitation and the earlier census,” she said.
• The debate: Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi reiterated the Opposition parties’ stance that while they support the amendment to the Women’s Reservation Act, they will vote against the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies.
• During the debate, Rahul Gandhi said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was introducing the bills “because [they] are scared of what is happening in the politics of the country...scared of the erosion of [their] strength, and you are trying to rejig the Indian political map”.
• The Congress leader said that the BJP “did it in Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and now imagining you can do it in India”.
• PM Modi’s appeal for consensus: Gandhi’s statement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the Opposition to vote in favour of bills that propose to amend the Women’s Reservation Act and delimitation. Modi’s appeal had come hours before the bills were expected to be taken up for voting in the Lower House.
• Modi said on social media that the government addressed all apprehensions and “misconceptions relating to the legislation with facts and logic”.
• “I urge and appeal to all political parties to reflect carefully and take a sensitive decision by voting in favour of women’s reservation,” the prime minister said on social media. “On behalf of our Nari Shakti, I also request all members not to do anything that may hurt the sentiments of women across India. Crores of women are watching us…our intent and our decisions.”
• Minutes later, Modi repeated his appeal in another post.
• Earlier in the debate: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Kanimozhi demanded that the Women’s Reservation Act be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections within the current 543 seats. She called for the removal of the delimitation exercise as a pre-condition for implementing the women’s quota and alleged that the ruling BJP was using women as a “human shied” for electoral benefits.
• “These three bills disguised as if they are in support of women’s reservation constitute the single greatest assault on Indian federal structure,” The Hindu quoted her as saying. The DMK is opposing the bills.
• Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that Parliament needs to be “candid about the implications” of delimitation. “Delimitation requires deliberation,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying. “There are three major fault lines: the balance between small and big states. Then, the balance between states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which have implemented the national population control goals. And states in the North which have not.”

The draft legislations

The Union government is seeking to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 815 from 543 and to operationalise the 33% quota for women in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies under the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act. A three-day special session of Parliament to discuss these bills began on Thursday.

The Opposition INDIA bloc has said that while it supports women’s reservation, it will oppose the bill for delimitation of Lok Sabha seats.

Opposition parties have said that population-based delimitation would give an undue advantage to northern and central states in the Lok Sabha, as the proportion of seats in the North would be higher. They also noted that the ruling BJP has greater support in northern states than in the South.

Although speculation about the amendment to the law had been rife in political circles for the past two weeks, copies of the draft legislation were shared with MPs for the first time on Tuesday.

Article 82 of the Constitution states that after every census is completed, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to each state must be adjusted based on changes in its population.

The current composition of the Lok Sabha is based on the 1971 Census. According to the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, constituency boundaries were frozen until the first census after 2026.

The census, which began on April 1, is expected to conclude in 2027.

The bill that will be introduced in Parliament proposes to amend Article 82 of the Constitution to remove the entire proviso. This will pave the way for delimitation to take place based on the latest census, which was held in 2011.

The 2023 Women’s Reservation Act was brought into force on Thursday through a notification issued by the Union government. This came while Parliament was debating the amendments related to the same law, including proposals to modify its implementation timeline.

Also read:

• How Modi government aims to use women’s representation to expand Lok Sabha using 2011 census numbers
• Why delimitation in Assam and Kashmir led to charges of gerrymandering
• The delimitation trap: Is India moving towards the Chinese model of domesticating debate?

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The Union government’s bill to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act and redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies was defeated in the Lok Sabha. The 2026 Constitution 131st Amendment Bill, one of three draft legislations, required a two-thirds majority of votes in Parliament to pass.

With 528 MPs present in the Lower House, it would have required 352 votes to pass. However, the consideration of the bill was rejected after only 298 MPs voted in its favour and 230 against it.

The government decided to withdraw the two other bills, saying that they were linked to the bill that had been defeated and could not be taken up for consideration separately. Read on.

The Supreme Court declined Congress leader Pawan Khera’s petition to lift the stay on a Telangana High Court order granting him transit anticipatory bail in a case registered by the Assam Police. The bench also declined to extend Khera’s transit bail till Tuesday, so that he could approach an Assam court.

Neither the High Court’s observations nor the Supreme Court’s stay order should influence the Assam court that decides on the Congress leader’s petition for anticipatory bail, the bench held.

Khera has been accused of defamation, forgery and criminal conspiracy by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Read on.

The Allahabad High Court directed that a first information report be registered against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a petition alleging that he is a British citizen. The state can refer the investigation to the Union government or the Central Bureau of Investigation, said the bench.

The petition was filed by S Vignesh Shishir, who claims to be a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Karnataka unit. He had submitted the details of a company incorporated in 2003 in the United Kingdom, where Gandhi had purportedly declared his nationality as British. Read on.

Adani Group’s Gautam Adani has overtaken Mukesh Ambani, the chairperson and managing director of Reliance Industries, to become Asia’s richest person. Ambani lost $16.9 billion in 2026, taking his net worth to $90.8 billion.

This marked the biggest drop in the wealth of the richest Asians. On the other hand, Gautam Adani saw his fortune rise by $8.1 billion to $92.6 billion. Read on.

India’s richest men get protection against uncomfortable questions, writes Naresh Fernandes

The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at premises linked to Aam Aadmi Party MLA and Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in connection with alleged foreign exchange violations. This came two days after the agency searched the home of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal on similar charges.

Pointing out that this was the second ED raid at the residence of a leader of his party within three days, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he would tell the public how much “black money” had been recovered. Read on.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz “is declared completely open”. The passage of vessels will be allowed for the 10-day period of the ceasefire agreement, which began earlier in the day.

The vessels can travel on the coordinated route published by Iran’s ports and maritime organisation.

United States President Donald Trump said that the US’ naval blockade of Iran will remain in force till it reaches a deal with Tehran. Read on.

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More than 1.5 million women hold elected positions in Panchayati Raj Institutions across the country. Various states provide for reservation of between one-third and half of all Panchayati Raj Institutions seats for women.

In contrast, women account for 13.8% of members in the 18th Lok Sabha, according to data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, but implementation was deferred until after a delimitation exercise scheduled to be conducted after 2026, as IndiaSpend reported in December 2024.

“On the 16th of April, Parliament will be convened to discuss and pass an important bill that advances women’s reservation,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on April 9, 2026. “It is imperative that the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly elections to the various states in the coming times are conducted with women’s reservation in place.”

In five charts, we examine women’s representation and participation across various levels of governance.

Reservation at grassroots

In 1992, India enacted the 73rd Amendment to its Constitution, reserving a third of seats for women in rural and urban local bodies to ensure greater representation for women in general and other excluded groups in particular, such as scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, as IndiaSpend explained in 2017. Some states, such as Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, have extended the reservation of seats for women to 50%.

In 18 states, women now occupy more than half of all panchayati raj seats. Only the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Ladakh have less than 33% representation of women in these grassroots institutions.

A 2026 report on women in local governance found that while reservations expand women’s entry into office, their authority does not follow automatically. It noted that authority is shaped by household mediation, bureaucratic discretion, and social norms.

Women in Tamil Nadu’s panchayats have transformed local governance while battling gender prejudice, financial constraints, casteism and physical threat, as IndiaSpend reported in 2018.

There is evidence of significantly higher growth in economic activity in constituencies that elect women, noted a 2018 study by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research.

It examined data for 4,265 state assembly constituencies – over two decades to 2012 – where the “share of state legislative assembly seats won by women increased from about 4.5% to close to 8%” and focussed on the increase of luminosity, or night light, in these constituencies as a proxy for economic activity.

Women legislators in India raised economic performance in their constituencies by about 1.8 percentage points per year more than male legislators, according to the study. “We estimate that women legislators in India raise luminosity growth in their constituencies by about 15 percentage points per annum more than male legislators,” the study noted.

Yet, women account for under one in seven members in the Lok Sabha.

“Reservation has brought women into grassroots politics and created a large number of elected representatives, but has not created pathways to higher levels due to party structures and social barriers,” said Bhim Raskar, director at Resource and Support Centre for Development. “In many cases, women who are elected do not function independently. Decisions are often taken or influenced by male family members, so their authority remains limited even though they hold the position,” he added.

A 2024 overview of challenges facing women sarpanches found that many elected women are treated as figureheads, with husbands or other community members often performing panchayat functions on their behalf. The study noted that structural factors such as patriarchy, caste dynamics, social expectations and family influence continue to shape women’s participation even after they are elected.

More women in village councils than Parliament

States with higher representation of women in Panchayati Raj Institutions show lower representation at higher levels of government. In Himachal Pradesh, women account for 50.13% of panchayati raj representatives, but only one of 68 members of the state’s legislative assembly is a woman.

Similarly, Karnataka has nearly 53% women in panchayati raj institutions, but only 4.5% of its MLAs and under 11% of its 28 members of parliament (MPs) are women.

“There is very little vertical mobility for women in politics. Many women enter through reservations at the local level, but very few are able to move ahead to become MLAs or MPs, so most of them remain at the local level,” Raskar said.

The 2026 report on women in local governance found that rotational reservation produces a one-term trap, where women consolidate political experience only to find re-contestation blocked, undermining continuity in office.

In the 32 women-led panchayats IndiaSpend surveyed in 2018 across six districts of Tamil Nadu for a five-part series, 30% women said they would like to contest the upcoming panchayat elections even when their seat was an unreserved one. Also, 15% women said they would like to enter mainstream electoral party politics if given a chance. Across districts, women complained of patriarchal hostility and caste bias.

IndiaSpend reported in 2018 that that legacy played a key role in elections, with many women MLAs coming from political families or networks. It also found that there is no easy correlation between women’s empowerment indicators and female representation.

IndiaSpend reached out to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj seeking responses on the independent functioning of elected women representatives in panchayati raj institutions and barriers to women contesting a second term. We will update this story when we receive a response.

Women’s representation in the Lok Sabha has increased from 22 of 489 members (5.5%) in 1957, to 75 of 544 members (13.79%) in 2024.

“In many cases, women take a ‘U-turn’ after one term. They enter politics through reservation, but after one term they do not continue because of family responsibilities and lack of support, which makes it difficult for them to continue in politics,” Raskar said.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union’s 2026 data show that women hold 27.5% of parliamentary seats globally, while India ranks 149th.

Under 10% Union ministers are women

Women’s representation in the Council of Ministers increased from 2.6% in 1996 to 17.8% in 2015, before declining to 9.7% in 2024, data for the last three decades show.

“The main constraint is not only political but also social. Family is still the main power structure, and in many cases women are expected to prioritise household responsibilities. Unless that changes, women’s participation will remain limited even if their numbers increase,” Raskar said.

In 2019, IndiaSpend reported that political parties play a key role in determining candidate selection, limiting women’s entry into elections despite their higher success rates. It also noted that the absence of women in party leadership positions reduces the likelihood of more women being nominated.

A 2026 paper on women’s political participation found that the odds of success for women candidates with assets below Rs 1 crore are extremely low, and that independent women candidates are almost never elected without party backing. The study identified party ticket allocation as a critical bottleneck, with most parties hesitant to nominate women in winnable constituencies.

Women vote as much as men

Women’s participation in the 2024 general election is comparable to overall turnout at the national level. State-level data show that in several regions, women’s participation exceeds overall turnout.

In several states and Union territories, women’s turnout exceeded 70% but no women were elected. These include Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep.

Higher turnout among women is linked to factors such as increased literacy, voter enrolment efforts and welfare outreach, an IndiaSpend 2024 analysis found. It also pointed to migration patterns and the expansion of self-help groups as contributing to greater political participation.

Vijay Jadhav is a journalist at IndiaSpend. He holds a postgraduate degree in journalism from the Department of Communication and Journalism, Savitribai Phule Pune University.

This article first appeared on IndiaSpend, a data-driven and public-interest journalism non-profit.

The Allahabad High Court on Friday directed that a first information report be registered against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a petition alleging that he is a British citizen, reported Bar and Bench.

Justice Subhash Vidyarthi said that the state can refer the investigation to the Union government or the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The petition against Gandhi was filed by S Vignesh Shishir, who claims to be a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Karnataka unit.

Shishir had submitted the details of Backops Limited, a company incorporated in 2003 in the United Kingdom, where Gandhi had purportedly declared his nationality as British, reported Live Law.

The petition also claimed that Shishir had filed a complaint with the Raebareli Police in July 2024 seeking registration of an FIR against Gandhi under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 12 of the Passports Act.

Gandhi is the MP from Rae Bareli.

Section 12 outlines the offences and penalties related to passport misuse, including making false applications, holding forged documents, or failing to produce a passport when required.

After the police failed to register a case on the complaint, Shishir moved the trial court, reported Bar and Bench.

In January, the court in Lucknow rejected his plea seeking an FIR against Gandhi.

He challenged this order in the High Court.

In August, the High Court directed the Union government to provide a personal security officer from the Central Armed Police Forces to Shishir after he claimed that he received threats for having filed multiple cases against Gandhi.

A Bengaluru court on Friday sentenced Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni to life imprisonment for the 2016 murder of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yogeshgouda Goudar, Bar and Bench reported.

Kulkarni and 15 others had been convicted on Wednesday by a special court. He was also fined Rs 30,000 as part of the sentence delivered on Friday. Kulkarni is the MLA from Dharwad.

Goudar was killed in June 2016. The case had been investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The central agency had filed a chargesheet for murder, criminal conspiracy, public servant disobeying the law to shield a person accused in a matter, destruction of evidence, rioting and illegal possession of weapons, Bar and Bench reported.

Kulkarni had been arrested in November 2020, but was granted bail by the Supreme Court in August 2011.

The top court cancelled his bail in June 2025, observing that there was credible evidence of him having tried to influence witnesses during the trial.

On Wednesday, the special court ruled that Kulkarni and several others accused in the matter had entered into a criminal conspiracy to murder the BJP leader, Bar and Bench reported.

However, Kulkarni was acquitted of charges under the Arms Act.

Kulkarni was the Dharwad MLA between 2013 and 2018, when he lost the polls. He again became the MLA in 2023.

Adani Group’s Gautam Adani has overtaken Mukesh Ambani, the chairperson and managing director of Reliance Industries, to become Asia’s richest person, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed on Thursday.

The index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest persons, for which the figures are updated at the close of every trading day in New York.

Ambani lost $16.9 billion in 2026, marking the biggest drop in the wealth of the richest Asians, the Financial Times reported. This took his net worth to $90.8 billion.

The businessperson operates the world’s largest refinery.

On the other hand, Gautam Adani, whose conglomerate focuses on infrastructure, energy, logistics and materials, saw his fortune rise by $8.1 billion to $92.6 billion.

Kranthi Bathini, director of equity strategy at WealthMills Securities in Mumbai, told Financial Times that the “impact of global crude oil prices and the geopolitical issues are clearly visible on Mukesh Ambani’s businesses”.

Global oil prices have spiked due to the conflict in West Asia, with Iran having blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz for most commercial shipping. The narrow waterbody connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. About 20% of the global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

India’s wealthiest persons have collectively lost $28.1 billion so far this year due to the crisis, the newspaper reported.

However, Gautam Adani’s companies are “quite resilient and resurgent” after a “volatile period” marked by allegations of fraud made by a short seller and United States criminal charges against him, Bathini said.

Bathini was referring to American short seller Hindenburg Research alleging in January 2023 that the Adani Group’s companies were on a “precarious financial footing” and had amassed substantial debt by pledging overvalued shares. It accused the conglomerate of accounting fraud and money laundering using offshore tax havens.

India’s Securities and Exchange Board of India had in September cleared the Adani Group in connection with an allegation.

In November 2024, the US Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York also indicted Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani in a $265 million bribery and fraud case.

The US Department of Justice alleged that executives of the conglomerate participated in a scheme to bribe officials in India for solar energy contracts, then misrepresented the company’s anti-bribery practices to investors in the US. The details of the alleged bribes were concealed to secure financing, the US Department of Justice claimed.

The Adani Group has denied the allegations. It said in a stock exchange filing in November 2024 that Gautam Adani and his nephew had been charged in the US for securities fraud, not bribery.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Friday listed Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX, as the richest person in the world. His net worth of $656 billion was more than double that of Larry Page, who is the co-founder of Alphabet and is worth $268 billion.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is ranked third with a net worth of $269 billion.

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday refused to quash a criminal case against two Class 12 students under Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law for allegedly attempting to convert a Hindu classmate, reported The Indian Express.

Such a trend among young persons is “all the more disturbing”, said the bench of Justices JJ Munir and Tarun Saxena.

It added that the 2021 Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act was enacted to curtail such situations in society, where certain persons “thrust their religion” upon others.

The case is based on a complaint filed by the Hindu student’s brother, who alleged that his sister had been compelled to wear a burqa by the accused and was also being forced to accept Islam.

In a statement submitted to the police, the Hindu student claimed that the alleged events had taken place in December, reported Bar and Bench.

She alleged that the Muslim students forced her to wear a burqa during an outing and also tried to get her to eat non-vegetarian food. She also told the court that the Muslim students had allegedly tried to get her to accept Islam.

Three Muslim students had moved the High Court challenging the first information report.

They alleged that their Hindu classmate’s brother had been harassing one of the Muslim students. When she complained against him, he filed a complaint in retaliation, they added.

One of the students later withdrew her petition.

In its order on Thursday, the High Court dismissed the remaining two petitions.

“If this kind of a trend comes to be seen amongst young people, it is all the more disturbing,” Bar and Bench quoted the High Court as saying. “This is time in their lives when they should be thinking more towards developing their skills in different fields of education and dedicate themselves in the service of the society and the nation.”

Citing the case diary, the bench said that footage from a security camera located in an alley purportedly showed that the Hindu student was forced to wear a burqa by the petitioners.

Though the investigation was still ongoing into the matter, the material collected so far prima facie disclosed a case that required a thorough probe, it added.

The bench also said that if the state’s anti-conversion law is stopped at the very early stages of its enforcement, it would “bog down the statute and frustrate its purpose”.

However, the High Court said that “this does not mean that false implications under a new statute are to be encouraged”, the legal news portal reported.

The order came days after the High Court expressed concern about a “disturbing trend” of false FIRs being registered by third parties under Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law.

In February, the Supreme Court also sought responses from the Centre and 12 state governments on a petition contending that anti-conversion laws in these states criminalise voluntary and conscience-based change of faith.

The petition had also argued that requiring government approval for conversion violated citizens’ right to privacy.

The Supreme Court had issued notice to the Union law ministry, and to the governments of Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches at premises linked to Aam Aadmi Party MLA and Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in connection with alleged foreign exchange violations, PTI quoted unidentified officials as saying.

Raids were carried out at 13 locations in Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, The New Indian Express reported, quoting unidentified officials.

The action came two days after the enforcement agency carried out raids at the home of Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, as well as several other premises linked to him in Punjab and Haryana.

The searches were conducted about two weeks after Mittal replaced AAP leader Raghav Chadha as the party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha.

The agency’s raids at Arora’s residence as well as properties linked to his family members, including his son and business associates, began at around 6.30 am on Friday, reported PTI.

This was done while Arora was travelling to Europe as part of the Punjab government’s “Invest Punjab” initiative to attract foreign investment, according to The New Indian Express.

The newspaper reported that the action is linked to Hampton Sky Realty Limited, a company which has business interests in real estate and infrastructure. The firm is promoted by Arora and his son serves as its managing director.

On Friday morning, Arora said on social media that he would cooperate with the investigation

“I am confident that the truth will prevail,” he added.

Good Morning! An action by the Enforcement Directorate took place at my premises. As a responsible citizen, I will fully cooperate with the agencies and I am confident that the truth will prevail.

— Sanjeev Arora (@SanjeevArora_PB) April 17, 2026

Pointing out that this was the second ED raid at the residence of a leader of his party within three days, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he would tell the public how much “black money” had been recovered.

“The entire country is watching how petty politics you are indulging in just for the sake of power,” Kejriwal said.

आम आदमी पार्टी के नेता के यहाँ तीन दिन में ये दूसरी ED की रेड है।

क्या प्रधान मंत्री जी बतायेंगे कि अभी तक “आप” नेताओं के यहाँ जो इतनी सारी अनगिनत रेड की हैं, उनमे कितना काला पैसा मिला? एक रुपया भी मिला?

पूरा देश देख रहा है कि आप केवल सत्ता के लिए कितनी ओछी राजनीति कर रहे हैं। https://t.co/qUcfn9Bq53

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 17, 2026

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government was “murdering” democracy and that only “non-BJP governments are being harassed”, The New Indian Express reported.

“Government agencies are targeting the AAP because it is growing very fast and has become a national party in a short span of 10 years,” Hindustan Times quoted the chief minister as saying.

The agency had also raided Arora in 2024, reported PTI.

Back then, the Enforcement Directorate had alleged that companies linked to him and other entities caused losses to the state exchequer and generated “huge” proceeds of crime by misusing industrial land for residential projects.

Clashes erupted between police personnel and protesters in Manipur’s Imphal West district after thousands defied orders prohibiting public gatherings to take out a torch rally against a recent attack that killed two children, India Today NE reported.

The two children were killed in Bishnupur’s Tronglaobi on April 7 after a suspected projectile strike hit their home. The incident, which occurred while the family was asleep, left a five-year-old boy and five-month-old girl dead.

Residents had alleged that the projectile was fired from nearby hill slopes, India Today NE reported.

It was also alleged that the projectile had been fired by suspected Kuki militants.

The village where the incident took place is located near the hill areas of Churachandpur and has witnessed tensions since the ethnic clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities in May 2023.

At least 260 persons have been killed and more than 59,000 persons displaced since the conflict began. There were periodic upticks in violence in 2024 and 2025.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a Kuki organisation, had rejected the claims that members of the community were connected to the strike on April 7. It had added that “any untoward incident” affecting the Meitei community “should not be automatically attributed to the Kuki-Zo people without proper investigation”.

On Thursday, the protest against the incident began from Lilong and moved towards Singjamei, drawing thousands of participants who demanded action against the suspected militants linked to it, India Today NE reported.

The demonstration was organised under the banner of the All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation, with support from other groups.

As the rally moved to areas near government installations, including the chief minister’s residence, the police headquarters and the Lok Bhavan, police personnel asked the protesters to turn back as prohibitory orders were in force.

However, the situation turned violent during the confrontation. Subsequently, security forces fired tear gas shells and resorted to lathi charge to disperse the crowd, PTI reported.

Several persons were injured in the clashes.

An unidentified official told the news agency that “there are elements trying to take advantage of the prevailing situation in the state for their respective anti-government and anti-security forces agendas”.

Following the strike on April 7, two protesters had also been shot dead after a mob allegedly stormed a Central Reserve Police Force camp in Bishnupur.

In response to the violence, the Manipur administration had suspended internet services, including mobile data, in five districts – Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Kakching and Bishnupur.

Talks were also held earlier between the state government and a joint action committee formed after the incident, which ended without a final agreement, India Today NE reported.

The meeting at the residence of Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh was attended by ministers, MLAs, members of the committee and the family of those who were killed.

In a statement after the meeting, Singh expressed “profound grief” over the incident and said that the investigation was being carried out with “utmost seriousness”.

The Supreme Court on Friday declined Congress leader Pawan Khera’s petition to vacate a stay on a Telangana High Court order granting him transit anticipatory bail in a case registered by the Assam Police, Live Law reported.

A bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar also declined to extend Khera’s transit bail till April 21, so that he could approach an Assam court on April 20. The bench said that neither the High Court’s observations nor the Supreme Court’s stay order should influence the Assam court that decides on the Congress leader’s petition for anticipatory bail.

The case against Khera on charges of defamation, forgery and criminal conspiracy has been filed by Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The first information report was filed after the Congress leader claimed on April 5 that he had documentary evidence that showed that Riniki Bhuyan Sarma holds passports of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Antigua and Barbuda. Both the chief minister and his wife denied the allegations, and alleged that they were based on forged documents.

The High Court had on April 10 granted Khera transit anticipatory bail for a week. Transit anticipatory bail is a temporary protection from arrest granted in one state to enable persons to approach the courts where the case has been filed.

The Supreme Court, however, stayed the High Court order on April 15.

Khera then filed an application seeking that the stay order be vacated. However, on Friday, the Supreme Court refused to do so.

Lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Congress leader, contended that the Supreme Court had issued the stay solely on the basis of the arguments of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, according to Live Law.

Mehta had claimed that Khera had relied on a fabricated document to seek anticipatory bail, having produced the front of his Aadhaar card and the back of his wife’s Aadhaar card to claim that he has a residence in Telangana.

Singhvi questioned whether the bench could not even grant him protection till Tuesday so that he could approach the court in Assam. “Am I a hardened criminal?” he asked, according to Bar and Bench. “Your lordships were misled. I made a small error of filing a wrong document.”

Maheshwari, however, asked how Singhvi could call the mix-up a “small error”. In response, the lawyer contended that this was a genuine mistake and not forgery, as the error had been clarified before the High Court itself, according to Live Law.

Himanta Biswa Sarma alleged on April 6 that the documents cited by the Congress had been supplied by a Pakistani social media group.

The chief minister had also claimed that the Congress had used details from a passport that had been allegedly lost. This document, he claimed, had been uploaded to the Pakistani social media group.

The Chhattisgarh Police on Thursday filed a first information report against Vedanta Group chairperson Anil Agarwal and several others in connection with an explosion at a power plant owned by the firm that killed 20 persons and injured 15, The Indian Express reported.

The blast took place on Tuesday at Singhitarai village in the Sakti district, when a steel tube carrying superheated steam from a boiler to a turbine at the power plant burst. The superheated steam from the tube blast engulfed workers who were eating their lunch.

Sakti Superintendent of Police Prafull Thakur said on Thursday that a case had been registered at the Dabhra police station under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to causing death by negligence, negligent conduct with respect to machinery and common intention.

“Eight to ten individuals, including Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal, have been named in the FIR,” PTI quoted Thakur as saying. “If more persons are found responsible during the investigation, their names will be added.”

The police officer added that an investigation into the blast is underway and several reports are awaited, including post-mortem reports of those who died. A technical team has also been formed to investigate the cause of the blast.

In a statement, the Sakti Police said that the explosion occurred in Boiler-01 at the power plant, The Indian Express reported.

It added that the preliminary technical report submitted by the chief inspector of boilers at the site clarified that an excessive accumulation of fuel inside the boiler furnace caused extreme pressure, leading to the explosion.

“Due to this pressure, the lower pipe of the boiler shifted from its designated position, resulting in this severe accident,” the newspaper quoted the statement as saying. “Similarly, the report provided by FSL [Forensic Science Laboratory] Sakti confirmed that the excessive accumulation of fuel and the subsequent additional pressure were the primary causes of the explosion.”

The police said that during the investigation, it had come to light that the Vedanta Group and its contractor NTPC GE Power Services Limited “did not properly adhere to the standards regarding the maintenance and operation of machinery and equipment”, the newspaper reported.

“Negligence in equipment upkeep and lapses in operation caused sudden fluctuations in the boiler’s pressure, leading to the accident,” it said. “Based on available evidence and technical reports, clear negligence has been observed in the incident.”

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, state Minister of Commerce and Industry (Labour) Lakhan Lal Dewangan said that the Union government has formed a committee to look into the matter.

Describing the accident as “very big”, he said that those responsible will not be spared. The minister also said Rs 42 lakh compensation has been announced for the families of the deceased and Rs 17 lakh for those injured.

District Collector Amrit Vikas Topno had earlier said that the sub-divisional magistrate of Dabhra has been asked to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within 30 days.

Vedanta had also said that it will provide Rs 35 lakh compensation and employment to the families of the persons who died. The company said it will give Rs 15 lakh to those injured, continue paying their salaries until they recover, and provide counselling support.

Ramjan Sheikh was among the hundreds from Ahiran village who showed up for a public meeting organised by the Trinamool Congress in Murshidabad’s Jangipur on April 10. The main attraction: Bengali film actor Srabanti Chatterjee, who had flown down from Kolkata to campaign for Jakir Hossain, the local MLA.

But Sheikh was not impressed.

“I came here hoping that they would talk about SIR [special intensive revision],” complained the 28-year-old whose name was deleted from the voter rolls last month. “But nobody from Trinamool is saying that the rights of voters like us should be ensured before elections.”

Sheikh is not alone. The names of 91 lakh voters have been removed from the state’s electoral rolls as part of the special intensive revision. In stark contrast to other states, many voters in West Bengal had to attend hearings and produced documents to establish their bona fides in this SIR.

Analysts who studied the deletions found that the state’s Muslim voters have been hit the worst. A disproportionately large number of Bengali Muslims will not be allowed to vote in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Travelling through the Muslim-majority districts of Malda and Murshidabad, which elect 34 of West Bengal’s 294 MLAs, Scroll found Muslim voters seething with anger. Their disenfranchisement has become the main election issue even for those who made it to the final list.

Anger against the Trinamool Congress-led administration for governance failures has taken a backseat as the SIR has triggered fears of detention centres and foreigners’ tribunals, similar to those faced by Muslims in neighbouring Assam. This benefits Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has pitched herself as the sole protector of Bengali Muslims against efforts to question their citizenship.

“I believe that only Didi [Banerjee] can get our names included in the voter list again,” said Ramjan. However, in the same breath, he complained that the Trinamool had backtracked on its promises of not allowing the election to proceed if legitimate voters were left out.

Other Bengali Muslim voters also shared grievances with the ruling party, but added that they would vote for Banerjee because she was their best bet to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power. Activists and researchers argued that this shows how the citizenship politics unleashed by SIR has restricted the community’s political choices.

‘We have no choice’

Muslims make up nearly a third of West Bengal’s population, according to the 2011 census. While some members of the community, especially in and around Kolkata, are Urdu speakers who trace their roots back to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the vast majority of them are Bengalis.

Bengali Muslims are among the most backward communities in India, faring poorly on crucial human development indicators. A sizeable chunk of their population is clustered in the backward districts of Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur, which have historically seen large-scale outmigration of labour to other states.

Over the past year, it is these Bengali Muslims that have repeatedly been mislabelled Bangladeshi as the BJP made a poll plank out of so-called illegal immigration. In some cases, migrant workers from the community have even been wrongly deported from BJP-ruled states on the mere suspicion that they were undocumented migrants from Bangladesh.

Mehebub Sheikh is one such Bengali Muslim who was picked up from a Mumbai suburb in June and pushed across the Bangladesh border, allegedly at gunpoint. Border Security Force officials subsequently brought him back after the government of West Bengal confirmed his Indian nationality.

“I thought I was done with NRC [National Register of Citizens],” Mehebub said at his home in Balia Hasennagar village of Murshidabad, likening his ordeal to Assam’s citizenship verification exercise in 2019. “When SIR began, the village pradhan [chief] had told me that my family would be ok because we had already been through NRC.”

As things turned out, the Sheikhs were put in the dock once again. Though some of their names were present in the 2002 voter list, Mehebub and his family were summoned for hearings because of so-called logical discrepancies in their documents.

When the final voter list came out on February 28, Mehebub’s father and his sister-in-law had been placed “under adjudication” along with half his village. His sister-in-law was eventually cleared to vote, but his father’s name was deleted. For this, he blames not only the Election Commission but also the state government.

“Trinamool has failed to protect its own voters,” Mehebub lamented, adding that most of the deleted voters in his village were Bengali Muslims who supported the ruling party. However, when asked who he would vote for, he named the chief minister. His wife liked Banerjee for her welfare schemes, he explained.

His brother Majibur, though, was more candid about why the family continued to support Banerjee. He had heard that if Trinamool lost the election and BJP came to power, deleted voters like his father would be placed in detention camps.

“We have no choice,” he said. “Whether we live or die, we have to keep voting for them [Trinamool]. No other party can win the whole state. Why waste our vote on somebody else?”

Spoilt for choice?

Contrary to this feeling of having no viable options, the political field in Murshidabad and Malda suggests that Bengali Muslims are spoilt for choice. Besides Trinamool and BJP, the Congress party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are in the fray. Both parties have previously enjoyed considerable support from the community.

Then there are the smaller but more assertive Muslim parties such as MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and Humayun Kabir’s Aam Janata Unnayan Party, which is rallying support for the construction of a Babri Masjid replica in Murshidabad. But even voters sympathetic to their politics don’t see them as having a real shot at power in these elections.

Ajijul Sheikh, a 63-year-old resident of Alinagar village in Malda who worked as a labourer in Delhi and Mumbai before retirement, claimed that seven members from his family would not be able to vote this time because of the SIR. He saw Owaisi as the only leader who would take up the issue in Parliament. Still, he said he could not vote for his party.

“The AIMIM has just started building its organisation here,” he added. “It will take time to grow. I will vote for it when the time is right.”

As far as the Congress party is concerned, it is busy fighting battles of its own while voters feel disconnected from it. Two of its candidates from the region also found their names on the deleted list, which rendered them ineligible to contest elections.

Eventually, they moved the Supreme Court and managed to get the appellate tribunals set up for deleted voters to hear their appeals on an urgent basis. The tribunal found their documents to be legitimate and their deletions were reversed in the nick of time. But this, too, left a bad taste in the mouth of ordinary voters, given that no such hurry was shown in entertaining their appeals.

Asadul Hoque, an e-rickshaw driver, was loading sacks of watermelons into his vehicle when Congress candidate Motakkin Alam’s cavalcade went past him in Baharal village of Malda. He did not even stop to take a look at the leader.

“He got his name included, but I cannot,” the 30-year-old deleted voter told Scroll. “I don’t have a big party behind me. All I have is my two hands and legs.”

An SIR election

This kind of resentment is fast gaining ground among Bengali Muslims, explained Saifulla Samim, a professor of the Bengali language at the state-run Aliah University in Kolkata.

For the last month and a half, activists and intellectuals like Samim have been protesting against the SIR in Kolkata’s Park Circus Maidan. Their protest has received little attention from the media and political parties. Fellow Muslims have also largely stayed away from it, Samim complained.

“Urdu-speaking Muslims and non-Bengali Hindus have not stood up for us,” he added. “Only some Bengali Hindus have.”

Part of the reason for the resentment among Bengali Muslims was the state government’s decision last year to remove several Muslim castes from Bengal’s list of Other Backward Classes. According to Samim, the access to reservations had “opened a big door” for the community, which did not sit well with many Bengali Hindus.

“Bengali Muslims were acceptable only as long as they sold vegetables and drove rickshaws,” he said. “That we started using reservations to get government jobs and live with dignity angered reactionary forces.”

Samim blamed the Trinamool government for succumbing to the pressure from Hindutva groups and withdrawing reservation benefits from many Bengali Muslim castes. It was able to do so, researcher Sabir Ahamed argued, because it can afford to take their support for granted. The SIR has reinforced this dynamic, forcing Bengali Muslims to set aside their grievances with the Trinamool and vote for it to keep the BJP out.

“Elections should be fought based on developmental indicators, not who is able to vote,” Ahamed said. “Unfortunately, this election is solely about the SIR.”

The Commission for Air Quality Management on Thursday imposed Stage I measures under the Graded Response Action Plan in the National Capital Region after air quality slipped into the “poor” category.

GRAP is a set of incremental anti-pollution measures that are triggered to prevent further worsening of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold in the Delhi-NCR region.

The first stage involves measures such as mechanical sweeping of roads and sprinkling water on them to keep dust from rising. It also bans some kinds of construction and demolition activities.

As of 9.05 am on Friday, the average Air Quality Index in Delhi was 241, which is in the “poor” category, according to data from the Sameer application.

In Uttar Pradesh, Noida reported an AQI of 275, Greater Noida 322 and Ghaziabad 329, showed the application, which provides hourly updates from the Central Pollution Control Board.

In Haryana, Gurugram logged an AQI of 243, placing it in the “poor” category, while Faridabad recorded a figure of 178.

On Thursday, the average AQI in Delhi stood at 226, which is also in the “poor” category.

An index value between 0 and 50 indicates “good” air quality, between 51 and 100 indicates “satisfactory” air quality and between 101 and 200 indicates “moderate” air quality. As the index value increases further, air quality deteriorates. A value of 201 and 300 means “poor” air quality, while between 301 and 400 indicates “very poor” air.

Between 401 and 450 indicates “severe” air pollution, while anything above the 450 threshold is termed “severe plus”.

Stage 1 of GRAP is activated when the AQI is in the “poor” category. The second, third and fourth stages are activated when the AQI crosses the “very poor”, “severe” category and “severe plus” category.

Also read:

• Delhi’s failure to act against the biggest source of its air pollution – vehicles

• India’s car-first cities should prioritise walking to help tackle smog

• Air pollution can increase risk of motor neurone diseases, worsen outcomes

The 2023 Women’s Reservation Act, which provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, was brought into force on Thursday through a notification issued by the Union Law Ministry.

A gazette notification states that the provisions of the 2023 Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act came into effect from April 16.

The move comes while Parliament is debating fresh constitutional amendments related to the same law, including proposals to modify its implementation timeline.

The constitutional amendments will need to be cleared in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha by a special majority, or two-thirds of the members present and voting. The ruling National Democratic Alliance does not have a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, and will depend on the support of other parties to get the amendments passed.

Although the 2023 Act received presidential assent that year, it had not been operational because its commencement was contingent on a date to be notified by the Union Government.

Despite the law now being in force, its provisions cannot be implemented immediately.

According to the law, seats for women will be reserved after the completion of the delimitation exercise, which will be based on the first Census conducted after the passage of the bill. Under the original framework, this would likely delay implementation until well after 2027.

However, the timing of the notification has drawn attention, as Parliament is currently considering constitutional amendment bills aimed at enabling earlier implementation of the quota, potentially by 2029.

These proposals include changes linked to delimitation, or redrawing the boundaries of electoral constituencies, and an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats.

A three-day special session of Parliament to discuss these bills began on Thursday.

The Opposition has questioned the decision to notify the 2023 law during an ongoing Parliamentary debate on its amendment.

Congress described the move as “absolutely bizarre”, with Jairam Ramesh highlighting that the law had been brought into force even as amendments to it were under discussion and due for a vote.

Congress MP Manish Tewari told The Indian Express that the notification could be an attempt to preserve the existing law in case the proposed amendments fail to secure the required parliamentary majority.

Delimitation bill

The Union government is seeking to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 815 from 543 and to operationalise the 33% quota for women in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies under the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act.

The Opposition INDIA bloc has said that while it supports women’s reservation, it will oppose the bill for delimitation of Lok Sabha seats.

Opposition parties have said that population-based delimitation would give an undue advantage to northern and central states in the Lok Sabha, as the proportion of seats in the North would be higher. They also noted that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has greater support in northern states than in the South.

Although speculation about the amendment to the law had been rife in political circles for the past two weeks, copies of the draft legislation were shared with MPs for the first time on Tuesday.

Article 82 of the Constitution states that after every census is completed, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to each state must be adjusted based on changes in its population.

The current composition of the Lok Sabha is based on the 1971 Census. According to the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, constituency boundaries were frozen until the first census after 2026.

The census, which began on April 1, is expected to conclude in 2027.

The bill that will be introduced in Parliament proposes to amend Article 82 of the Constitution to remove the entire proviso. This will pave the way for delimitation to take place based on the latest census, which was held in 2011.

Also read:

• How Modi government aims to use women’s representation to expand Lok Sabha using 2011 census numbers

• ‘Unconstitutional’: Opposition says delimitation must not weaken voice of southern states

Before the sun shines on the Arabian Sea, fisherman Mariyani Miyelpillai, 73, is already turning his kattamaram raft homeward. He must escape another summer morning turning too hot and dense to bear.

Fishing solo off the seam where Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari districts meet, his work days have turned into a test of endurance. His raft must be propelled by sheer muscle power, adding to the already challenging heat. “I go for fishing at 5 am, but come back by 8 am, whether I get enough fish or not,” he told Mongabay-India. “I cannot manage this heat.”

As the sun moves past the Tropic of Cancer, ushering in summer, a certain heaviness settles on skin and breath for veteran fishers like Miyelpillai. So does Tarsila Thresya, 54, a fisherwoman. “I go early to sell fish by the roadside. I’m back by 5.30 pm or 6 pm. Earlier it was okay, but now the heat is increasing a lot. Sometimes I put a towel on my head, but it does not help.”

Humid heat intensifies

Amidst more frequent and intense heatwaves, the southwestern coast is facing another quieter, insidious shift – rising humid heat. Air so soaked with moisture that sweat no longer cools. On tropical coasts, especially before the monsoon, this is getting closer to dangerous levels as studies show – the human body struggles to cool itself, touching the limits of adaptation.

Closer to home, heat stress along India’s coasts has intensified significantly since 1981, driven by the combined rise in temperature and humidity, a new long-term study led by scientists at the India Meteorological Department shows.

Analysing data from 1981 to 2020, IMD Pune scientist P Rohini and colleagues show that wet-bulb temperatures – a measure of temperature with humidity – have increased across all seasons. The risks are spreading unevenly and largely under-recognised across the country’s humid shorelines.

The trend is clear – a steady shift toward warmer, more moisture-laden air. Extreme heat and humidity events have intensified, particularly since the early 2000s, the IMD study shows. As the climate warms, the atmosphere holds more moisture, amplifying heat stress. This effect is especially pronounced along the east coast, where humidity is rising faster with each degree of warming than on the west coast, as the IMD study shows.

As Rajeevan Madhavan Nair, Vice Chancellor of Atria University, Bengaluru, and former secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, who co-authored and supervised the IMD study, told Mongabay-India, there is a “clear and concerning intensification” of heat stress over recent decades.

He explained that the IMD study shows a significant rise in frequency and duration of heat stress events. It also shows strong warming across both maximum and minimum temperatures, as well as increased thermal discomfort affecting crowded coastal areas. “It has implications for public health, labour productivity, and urban planning,” he noted.

“The findings highlight the urgent need for: heat action plans tailored to coastal microclimates; climate-resilient urban design; early warning systems and adaptive labour policies,” he added.

Measuring humid heat

Scientists measure humid heat using wet-bulb temperature – a metric that combines heat and humidity, unlike the more familiar dry-bulb temperature, which records air temperature alone.

“Housed within a white wooden enclosure, co-located thermometers measure WBT and DBT. The wet-bulb thermometer features a damp wick; as water evaporates, it draws latent heat from the bulb, lowering the reading,” explained P Vijaykumar, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science, University of Kerala. “Because the ambient humidity dictates the evaporation rate, higher humidity levels result in less cooling.”

“According to theory, every 1 degrees celsius rise in global temperature results in an approximate 7% increase in atmospheric moisture capacity,” Vijaykumar added. That translates into a double burden of increased humidity and heat.

“While the uneven station distribution and geographical differences between the two coasts limit the robustness of a direct inter-coastal comparison, the IMD study identifies key trends. By integrating reanalysis data – such as sea surface temperature and moisture flux – the study traces decadal shifts in WBT,” he commented.

“The rarity of studies employing four decades – across two periods, 1981-2000 and 2001-2020 – of daily observations underscores the novelty of these findings, which are essential for understanding future coastal heatwave scenarios.”

Health impacts

Scientists note that humid heat has significant health, socio-economic, and environmental implications. “WBT levels are critical determinants of heat exhaustion and heatstroke; these findings have significant implications for human health and safety,” Vijaykumar pointed out.

Extreme heat is not just uncomfortable – it is dangerous. Research shows that heat becomes far more dangerous when combined with high humidity. In such conditions, the human body struggles to regulate its temperature. Normally, sweating helps cool the body – but when the air is already saturated with moisture, this mechanism begins to fail.

It affects human health across a spectrum, from mild heat stress to life-threatening heatstroke. As heatwaves become more frequent, the risks are rising, especially for those with limited access to shelter, healthcare, or cooling, scientists note.

Humidity plays a critical role. As moisture in the air increases, the body’s ability to cool itself through evaporation declines, making even moderate temperatures feel oppressive and, at times, dangerous, even lethal.

Heat stress is a major contributor to weather-related deaths worldwide. It can worsen existing health conditions, including cardiovascular disease and mental health disorders, and place severe strain on vulnerable individuals – particularly the elderly, those with underlying illnesses, and people engaged in outdoor labour.

Physiological studies warn that rising temperatures, coupled with increasing humidity, are pushing human tolerance toward critical limits. As Simon Surinju, 60, a fisherman who launches his kattamaram at 4 am from Vizhinjam harbour in Thiruvananthapuram and heads south toward

Thengapattinam in Kanyakumari on good days, says it tests his limits: “Sometimes it feels like my skin is burning. My body is always sweating. I pour water on myself and paddle fast. Often, my head starts spinning. I feel dizzy.” He now makes a point of returning before 10 am. “I pour water over my head and body. It helps for a while. Then I paddle faster.”

Recent research shows that even the widely cited survivability threshold of 35 degrees celsius wet-bulb temperature may overestimate what the body can endure, especially for older adults and those exposed to the sun or sustained activity. But the impacts are not uniform – age, health, physical fitness, and behaviour all shape how individuals experience and survive heat.

Climatic shift

Underneath these trends lies a broader climatic shift. The Indian Ocean is warming, feeding more moisture into the atmosphere and sustaining hot, humid conditions along the coast. As temperatures rise, the air holds more water vapour. The result is not just warmer days, but a different kind of heat altogether — one that lingers, saturates, and presses inward.

Studies now show that extreme humid heat is rising rapidly worldwide, in some places nearing or even exceeding the limits of human survivability. For those who work outdoors — fishers, labourers, vendors — and for the elderly, the risks are immediate and physical.

Lancet Countdown research shows that heat exposure limits labour productivity and adversely affects health. In 2022, India lost an estimated 191 billion potential labour hours due to heat exposure, marking an increase of 54% compared to the 1991-2000 baseline. That means the country potentially lost an estimated $219 billion, equivalent to 6.3% of GDP.

By century’s end, rising heat stress could cut work performance in India by as much as 30%-40%, forcing a rethink of how to protect those who labour under relentless heat, as another study shows.

The IMD study calls for a region-specific heat stress index based on wet-bulb temperature for India. “To achieve this, the operational forecasting system will require the assimilation of high-resolution humidity observations across space and time,” its authors noted. “The forecast must include real-time WBT products and impact-based alerts that convey the hazardous WBT levels into actionable advisories to the public.”

This article was first published on Mongabay.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “willing to guarantee” that no injustice will be meted out to any state through the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies. No state’s proportion of representation in the Lower House of Parliament would be altered, he added.

When voting took place on whether to introduce the bills earlier in the day, 251 MPs voted in favour and 185 opposed it. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that there will be an “equal, 50% increase” in the strength of the Lower House of Parliament through the legislation.

The Congress alleged that the intention of the government was to introduce delimitation “through the back door”. Read on.

How Modi government aims to use women’s representation to expand Lok Sabha using 2011 census numbers

The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to publish a supplementary electoral roll in West Bengal to include voters whose appeals against deletions have been accepted by the appellate tribunals. The first phase of polling will be held on April 23 and the second on April 29, with the votes to be counted on May 4.

The bench said that persons whose appeals have been cleared by the tribunals before April 21 should be included for voting in the first phase of the Assembly elections. Those who are cleared by April 27 should be included in the final electoral rolls for the second phase of the polls, it added.

The court also clarified that filing an appeal against exclusion from the voter list in itself would not entitle a person to vote. Read on.

Millions of Bengalis may lose their vote. Not over citizenship but due to clerical errors, writes Shoaib Daniyal

The United States said that it will not renew waivers that had allowed countries, including India, to purchase Iranian and Russian oil without triggering sanctions. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the waivers pertained to oil “on water prior” to March 11.

The US had on March 5 granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver allowing them to buy Russian oil stranded at sea amid the war in West Asia. The relaxation allowed India to secure additional Russian oil supplies amid global disruptions, with refiners reportedly ordering around 30 million barrels during the period. Read on.

The Congress suspended five of its MLAs in Haryana for allegedly voting against the party’s candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections in March. The suspended members are Shalley Chaudhary, Renu Bala, Jarnail Singh, Mohammad Illyas and Mohammad Israil.

They were suspended for allegedly violating organisational discipline, state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh said. The Congress has 37 MLAs in a 90-member Assembly. Read on.

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The Bombay High Court on Thursday verbally told Republic TV and its editor Arnab Goswami not to add any “embellishments” while reporting about the financial transactions and the ongoing investigations against businessperson Anil Ambani, Live Law reported.

Justice Arif Doctor did not pass a gag order against the news channel but asked Goswami to tone down the tenor of his reporting against Ambani.

While no one can be stopped from reporting on legal proceedings, it must be confined to facts emerging from court orders and records, the judge said.

Ambani had in March filed a defamation suit against Republic TV and Goswami claiming that the reports on the news channel about his financial transactions caused irreparable damage to his reputation.

His petition sought a temporary injunction against ARG Outlier, the parent company of Republic TV, Goswami and other unknown entities.

At an earlier hearing, the judge had asked Republic TV and Goswami to reduce the rhetoric in his reporting, Bar and Bench reported. The court had also refused to curb the news channel from reporting Ambani, but said that it should not publish “below-the-belt” news.

On Thursday, advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing Republic TV, said that the news channel’s reporting fell within the confines of “fair comment”.

If the businessperson provides a list of comments made by Republic TV to which he has objections, they could be reconsidered if the news channel feels that such remarks were truly offensive, the advocate added.

During the proceedings, the judge also drew a line between factual reportage and commentary that rouses interest in a case, Bar and Bench reported.

“Public interest in knowing is one thing,” the legal news portal quoted the judge as saying. “Can you evoke and rouse their interest by adding embellishments is another.”

The judge also noted that the dispute could be settled and was “imminently resolvable”.

Declining to pass a restraint order, the judge listed the matter for further hearing on April 29.

The suit

In his suit, Ambani claimed that he is aggrieved by articles authored and published by the defendants, and circulated through their news channels and social media platforms, Live Law reported.

The allegedly “offending publications and offending statements” claim to report on the regulatory proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with Reliance Communications Limited, Reliance Home Finance Limited and Reliance Commercial Finance Limited, the suit was quoted as saying.

The suit added that Republic TV and Goswami were aware that Ambani had ceased to be the non-executive director of Reliance Communications Limited in November 2019 and never held any managerial or operational position in either of the companies, Live Law reported.

“The companies were distinct entities, and the applicant was not involved in the day-to-day management and decision-making operations of the companies,” the legal news portal quoted the suit as saying.

It added: “Despite knowing these facts, the defendants have chosen to maliciously, falsely and irresponsibly impute a libelous/slanderous/damaging personal connection between the allegations under investigation with respect to the companies and the applicant.”

Ambani stated in his suit that the defendants had repeatedly, through their publications, falsely portrayed him as being personally responsible for the alleged financial misconduct, including by using sensationalised headlines, allegedly defamatory commentary and allegedly derogatory insinuations, Live Law reported.

The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to publish a supplementary electoral roll in West Bengal to include voters whose appeals against deletions have been accepted by the appellate tribunals, Live Law reported on Thursday.

Persons whose appeals have been cleared by the tribunals before April 21 should be included for voting in the first phase of Assembly elections, said a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. Those who are cleared by April 27 should be included in the final electoral rolls for the second phase of the polls.

All decisions made by the tribunals on the addition and deletion of voters by those dates must be reflected in the final voter lists.

The first phase of polling will be held on April 23 and the second on April 29. The votes will be counted on May 4.

The order was passed on Monday but was made public on Thursday.

The court said that filing an appeal against exclusion from the voter list in itself would not entitle a person to vote, Live Law reported.

The bench was hearing a plea urging it to ensure that the persons whose appeals were pending before the tribunals are allowed to vote.

The Election Commission had frozen the electoral rolls for the first phase of polling on April 9.

The bench had on Monday dismissed a petition by persons whose appeals against exclusions from the voter rolls are pending before appellate tribunals, but allowed the petitioners to pursue their appeals before the tribunals.

The court had at the time also said that it cannot allow persons to vote if their appeals challenging their exclusion from the voter list are pending before the appellate tribunals. More than 34 lakh such appeals have been filed before the appellate tribunals, the bench had noted.

However, the court had indicated that it might consider the plea to allow the publishing of supplementary electoral rolls to include the persons whose appeals are accepted before polling.

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

Several supplementary lists were released, in which the names of more voters have been included.

The process had concluded on April 6 after judicial officers adjudicated the 60 lakh claims and objections. However, voters who were removed during the adjudication process can appeal in 19 tribunals set up for the purpose.

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.

On March 10, the top court ordered the formation of appellate tribunals composed of former High Court chief justices and judges to hear appeals against exclusions. A person whose claim for inclusion in the electoral rolls has been rejected by a judicial officer can approach the tribunal.

Nearly 91 lakh voters have been removed from West Bengal’s voter lists as part of the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls. The deletions represent nearly 11.9% of the state’s electorate of 7.6 crore that existed before the revision process began.

Also read: Millions of Bengalis may lose their vote. Not over citizenship but due to clerical errors

Welcome to The India Fix by Shoaib Daniyal. A newsletter on Indian politics.

As always, if you’ve been sent this newsletter and like it, to get it in your inbox every week, sign up here (click on “follow”).

Has Pakistan pulled off a diplomatic coup of sorts?

The past week, Islamabad has emerged as a key mediator, getting Washington and Tehran to declare a ceasefire and also getting them to talk for the first time since the Iranian revolution.

While the talks have now been called off with the United States saying it will naively blockade Iran, does the Islamabad summit mean a shot in the arm for Pakistan’s global image?

To break it down, Scroll speaks to US political scientist and Pakistan expert, Christine Fair. This is a slightly edited version of our conversation.

So is this a diplomatic win for Pakistan or is too much being read into this?

No, I think it’s without doubt a huge diplomatic win. Over the past 14-15 months, Pakistan has really been able to insert itself back into the US policy agenda. It began with Pakistan handing over this so-called mastermind of the Abbey Gate attack in Kabul. [Indian journalist] Praveen Swamy describes this man as anything but a mastermind. He describes him as a low-level operative and a chicken farmer [laughs]. But nonetheless, the US and Pakistan went ahead with this drama, and the US accoladed Pakistan back.

Pakistan also was an early donator to Trump’s son’s crypto scam, which was basically a pay and play. During Operation Sindoor, Pakistan also snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

I call this the politics of Pakistan’s chaploosi [sucking up].

It played to Trump’s ego, nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, backed Trump when he claimed that Trump had averted a nuclear crisis. And the Indians, in contrast, didn’t play along at all – to India’s disadvantage. This is just the apotheosis of what has been a trajectory that’s been building well over the past more than a year.

So you raise a couple of two key points there. One is Trump and the other is Operation Sindoor. Do you think Pakistan wouldn’t have been where it is now if there wasn’t Trump, if the US had a more “normal” president?

If we had a sane president instead of an egotistical maniac, I don’t think Pakistan would be where it is. Personally, I think what happened at Operation Sindoor was a path-dependent event. I also think that had Operation Sindoor not happened, this [Islamabad] summit may not have happened.

Take us back to Operation Sindoor. Why do you think that was a moment which led to the Islamabad summit?

Trump was saying that he personally was involved in the de-escalation of the crisis, that he averted nuclear war, that he averted the death of millions. Every Indian official, top to bottom, pushed back on this, saying it absolutely wasn’t true, which precipitated for India this 50% tariff nonsense.

Pakistan, by contrast, in a diplomatic jujutsu move, played into it. They said, yes, Trump, you did this. You saved millions. You averted nuclear disaster. And then they nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is something that Trump is maniacally obsessed over.

I think there’s a clip of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the US at the Board of Peace where he is rather embarrassingly trying to inveigle himself into Trump’s good books. It’s almost painful to watch. But you’re saying that’s actually got Pakistan some rewards.

I call it chaploosi for a reason. They’re really good at it. President Biden was very resistant to it. But Pakistan’s charms play right into Trump’s egotistical, maniacal nature.

It is quite a reversal because after the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, there were talks of no global role for Pakistan at all. And now they’re hosting the Islamabad summit. And a lot of this is being driven by, as you are very eloquently putting it, chaploosi. India has always had an aim of isolating Pakistan diplomatically. Do you see this as also a loss for India? Is it, to some extent, a zero-sum game in South Asia?

Indians views this as a zero-sum game. If there is something good for Pakistan, then it must be bad for India. I don’t view it this way at all. Because India has also had very good relations with Iran. And in a different world, you could have imagined India playing that role.

But look at the messaging that came out of the Modi government about India not being a broker country. The messaging that came out of the Indian government did not do itself any great favors.

So you’re saying in international circles, when reportedly S Jaishankar called Pakistan a “dalal” nation…

I was honestly astonished at the use of the word dalal. Every Hindi speaker knows, every Urdu speaker knows what dalal means. Even this white lady knows what dalal means [laughs]. I don’t think it served India at all to use that kind of language. It made India look churlish, jealous, and that it saw the world as a zero-sum game.

Now, in fact, this probably does reflect how India views the situation. But those are the things that are best kept unsaid.

You’re saying India should not have actually vocalised its displeasure. It should have just played this out.

It should have played it out. It certainly should not have used the word dalal. I mean, it means pimp. It’s really a word that’s beneath someone of his stature. When there are so many other synonyms that he could have used. Of course, it also means middleman or broker, but everyone knows on the street what dalal means.

Minister of State Shri Pabitra Margherita offered solemn respects on behalf of the Government of India at the 40th day (Chehelum) mourning ceremony organized by the Embassy of Iran in New Delhi.

India–Iran relations are anchored in deep rooted civilizational, cultural and… pic.twitter.com/atZle5aKk4

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) April 12, 2026

Pakistan’s got the limelight. There are world leaders flying to Islamabad. The world media is looking at it. But in a near to medium term, what does this mean for the country of Pakistan as well as its security establishment?

I think the Indians would have behooved themselves to just sit this one out, because it doesn’t change Pakistan’s economic precarity. It doesn’t change the fact that Pakistan is a supporter of terrorism.

What I thought was really fascinating, and I didn’t see too much commentary about it, even while the negotiations were going on, Pakistan sent a fleet of aircraft to Saudi Arabia as a part of its mutual defence pact. So Pakistan is also in a very precarious situation. How does it manage its relations with Saudi Arabia while it’s attempting to play this role of peace broker between the United States and Iran?

Riyadh wanted to activate the Pakistan-Saudi defence pact during the Iran war, and Pakistan resisted it. How do you see this pact going forward in the near to medium term given that West Asia is going to be a bit of a hot mess?

I’m not a Saudi Arabia expert so I don’t want to veer too far away from my wheelhouse, but I think it puts Pakistan in a pretty significant predicament. The very fact that it was sending aircraft to Saudi Arabia, even while the negotiations were going on in Islamabad is actually a pretty big deal that very few people have remarked upon.

And what’s in no one’s control is Israel. I think Israel is the biggest spoiler. Israel, more than any other country, wants the US to continue the conflict in Iran because basically Israel is a free rider. Israel is getting its primary foe depreciated at the American taxpayers expense, and it has no incentive to play along. So these are issues that are well beyond Pakistan’s control.

The Pakistani government also said that there was still the possibility of ongoing negotiations, which was at odds with what the Americans said. So the status of play is a little bit unclear.

Do you think Israel would be unhappy that Pakistan has this role, given that Israel and Pakistan don't really have the best of relations?

At different points in time, Pakistan has floated the balloon of normalising relations with Israel. Musharraf tried this. He floated this balloon and he was shot down.

Pakistanis realise that if they were to have this relationship with Israel, that it would really solidify their relationship with the Americans. So they understand that endpoint. But it’s how you get there that is the huge challenge, given that Pakistan has spent so much of its state effort proselytising to Pakistanis how terrible the Israelis are.

And to be fair, I think that Israelis are terrible. What they’re doing in Gaza is genocide. What they’re doing in the West Bank is ethnic cleansing. What they’re doing in Lebanon is unacceptable. But the kind of vitriolic propaganda that Pakistan has spent decades spreading about Israel will really make it difficult for Pakistan to to make a pragmatic approach towards normalising relations with Israel.

But at different points in time, as I said, the army has floated this balloon.

I think the Pakistan passport is not valid for Israel.

Right now, the talks, it seems, have failed, although, of course, you never know in politics what’s going to happen tomorrow. Do you think the talks failing will actually reflect badly on Pakistan or just the fact that it mediated it is good enough?

No, I don’t think it reflects poorly on Pakistan at all. I’ve been very critical of the negotiation team that the United States sent. It sent [United States Special Envoy to the Middle East] Witkoff and it sent [Trump’s son-in-law] Kushner. Neither of these gentlemen have a clue about nuclear proliferation, about Iran’s nuclear programme. Neither of these gentlemen have a clue about Iran. So we sent our junior varsity team, but the Iranians, in contrast, sent a highly sophisticated team.

Americans are just generally clueless about Iran. Just because Iran has been diplomatically isolated from the United States doesn’t mean that Iran is diplomatically isolated. I think Americans underestimate the sophistication of Iranian diplomats and Iranian policymakers. And the simple fact, as far as I can tell, is that the Americans were not there to negotiate. They were there to issue ultimatums. And if you don’t come with the mindset that we’re here to negotiate, which means not everyone gets what they want, these talks were doomed to fail.

You think the US just went to Islamabad prepared to torpedo talks? They knew that they wanted conflict to break out again?

I think there was a desire for an off ramp because the Americans are deeply opposed to this war. Gas prices are soaring.

But Trump is, there’s just no other way to put it, a clown. He is unknowledgeable. He is unsophisticated. Iran is playing chess, and he’s playing Hungry Hungry Hippos. He’s out of his depth. He doesn’t have a clue. And now he’s got this policy of issuing a naval blockade over the Strait of Hormuz when one of the policy objectives was having free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. And you can see that he’s flailing. He doesn’t really know how to put the toothpaste back into the tube. And I think he also really underestimated how much leverage the Iranians have.

Where do you see China in this? We just discussed the fact that Pakistan has managed to inveigle itself back into Washington’s good books. Would this worry Beijing? Does this lessen Beijing's control over Islamabad?

That’s a view that’s very popular in India. But if you actually look at the history of the relations that Pakistan has had with the United States and China, it’s never been a zero sum game. And it’s not at present. I think the more interesting role that China is playing is aiding the Iranians in targeting the Americans. And not just the Chinese, also the Russians are helping the Iranians to target the Americans. They’re providing intelligence, and they’re also providing ordinance. I think that’s a much more serious concern than the perceived zero-sum game that Pakistan-China relations exist at the expense of US-Pakistan relations.

In fact, from China’s point of view, because China basically views Pakistan instrumentally, it wants to prop up Pakistan so that it can be a problem for India. If the United States historically provides armaments and munitions to Pakistan, that actually advances China’s interest because it’s happening not on the Chinese exchequer. So neither the US nor China view relations with Pakistan as a zero sum game. Maybe in diplomatic talking points, but in all practicality, they don’t view it as a zero-sum game.

Pakistan’s position right now globally is almost really quite unique? To have such strong ties with both the US and China. Is there any other country like that today who could play this role?

I’m not a sinologist so I can’t speak to the panoply of China’s diplomatic relations but at first blush that sounds about right.

And this has been a long time strategic objective for Pakistan? If you go back to Nixon, it always saw itself as a bridge between the US and China?

I’m not sure that Pakistan currently views itself as a bridge. I think it has a relationship with China. It pursues that relationship. It’s a pretty comprehensive relationship.

In contrast, the relationship that Pakistan has with the United States at present is not really comprehensive. We’re not providing armaments to Pakistan. Economic assistance has been really low, going back to when Trump at one point basically cut off funding to Pakistan.

If you actually look at the real terms denominated in dollars, there’s nothing there in the US-Pakistan relationship.

You think it’s very precarious? Is there a scenario where when Trump leaves office, this relationship might actually be really downgrade or even collapse?

With the exception of tactical objectives, the US and Pakistan don’t share strategic objectives. The US still is worried about terrorism. Pakistan remains committed to terrorism. So the US and Pakistan have very few overlapping strategic interests.

So this is a huge win for Pakistan: that it was able to basically negotiate or host this incredibly profound breakthrough in US-Iran relations. There hadn’t been this level of negotiations since 1979. But it doesn’t change the fact that the substance of the US-Pakistan relations, when you look at the dollars, it’s really not there.

Which is why you’re saying New Delhi is possibly overreacting.

Yes, I think it’s beneath India to behave this way about this.

How does this play out internally within the Pakistani state? Does this strengthen the army’s hand? I think I remember a friend joking to me that the biggest loser from all of this possibly is Imran Khan.

The [US] president personally thanked Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir. So this is a huge boon for the Pakistan army. But the Pakistan army has completely consolidated control over the Pakistani state. So what was the marginal boon given the complete capture of the state that the Pakistani army has effectuated? I’m not so sure.

So in the near to medium term, it really doesn’t mean much even for the Pakistan army?

I don’t think so.

What is the view within Pakistan? Are Pakistanis happy with what’s happened? Or is the opposition of the army still big enough to paper over some of these wins?

I can’t go back to Pakistan because they were not happy with my book on the Pakistan Army. So I don’t really feel comfortable saying much on this. What I have heard is that after Operation Sindoor, the contempt that people had for the Pakistan Army diminished and it was replaced with support for the Pakistan Army.

What I have heard from friends, and I have no independent means of verifying it, is that the antipathy towards the army is slowly creeping in again and I don’t really see this changing. This diplomatic coup won’t change the way ordinary Pakistanis view the Pakistan army.

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a petition against orders issued by the Election Commission transferring several officers in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections, reported Bar and Bench.

“It happens everywhere,” the legal news portal quoted a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi as saying. “Not the first time.”

However, the bench added that the legal issue raised by the petitioner regarding the poll panel's failure to consult the state government on the decision was valid. “We are not intervening in it as of now,” the bench said. “Question of law is kept open.”

The reshuffles were ordered after the schedule for the Assembly elections was announced on March 15. Among those who were transferred were the chief secretary, the home secretary and the director general of police, along with several Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service officers.

A petition was subsequently filed in the Calcutta High Court, which argued that the large-scale reshuffles in West Bengal would disrupt the functioning of the state administration.

The petitioner added that the decision amounted to an arbitrary and punitive use of power under Article 324 of the Constitution.

Article 324 gives the superintendence, direction and control of elections to the Election Commission.

The petitioner also contended that the move undermined principles of federalism.

On March 31, the High Court dismissed the petition, saying that it found no evidence of mala fide intent in the poll panel’s orders. It said that there was no evidence of administrative paralysis, adding that the replacements had been appointed and that similar or larger reshuffles had taken place in other states where polls are being held.

The petitioner then moved the Supreme Court.

In the Supreme Court on Thursday, advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the petitioner, said that the process followed by the Election Commission was in contravention of the 1951 Representation of People Act. He also said that there was no consultation with the state government before the move.

Banerjee added that “1,100 officers were transferred overnight”.

“Under what authority?” he asked. “This happened for the first time in West Bengal…”

The chief justice noted that there was a “trust deficit” between the Election Commission and the West Bengal government.

Dismissing the petition, the bench kept the question of law open to be decided in another appropriate case.

In the transfer orders issued on March 16, the Election Commission had directed that those transferred out of their positions should not be posted in any election-related assignment till the completion of the polls.

The orders had triggered a row, with Trinamool Congress MPs walking out of the Rajya Sabha.

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

A caste and socio-economic survey conducted by the Telangana government has found that Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are three times more backward than General Castes, The Indian Express quoted Backward Classes Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar as saying.

The survey was conducted in 2024-’25 by the state’s Congress government. Its findings were released on Wednesday.

The survey found that Backward Classes are 2.7 times more backward than General Castes, The Indian Express reported.

The table presents the social category-wise population distribution from the SEEPC survey in Telangana.
•Scheduled Castes (SC):
61,84,319 people (17.43%)
•Scheduled Tribes (ST):
37,05,929 people (10.45%)
•Backward Classes (BC – excluding Muslim minority):
1,64,09,179 people… pic.twitter.com/uU75fyGTgE

— IPRDepartment (@IPRTelangana) April 15, 2026

According to the study, 135 of the 242 castes in Telangana are more backward than the Composite Backwardness Index, PTI quoted an Independent Expert Working Group set up by the government to analyse the survey as saying. The 135 castes account for close to 67% of the state’s population.

The index is used by the state government to scientifically quantify the backwardness of castes.

Sixty-nine of the 135 groups are Backward Classes, 41 are Scheduled Castes and 25 are Scheduled Tribes.

“Expectedly, all the 18 castes within the more privileged ‘General Caste’ category that account for 12% of the total population fall well below the state CBI [Comprehensive Backwardness Index] average,” PTI quoted the expert working group as saying.

The study found that “every backward caste is not equally backward”. It found 107 castes were less backward than the state average.

The 107 groups included all 18 castes in the general category, 64 from the Backward Classes, 18 from the Scheduled Castes and seven from the Scheduled Tribes, PTI reported. The 107 castes account for 29% of Telangana’s population.

The survey covered more than 3.5 crore households. It used 42 indicators, including income, employment, education levels, land and property ownership and access to medical and civic infrastructure, according to The Indian Express.

Those facing backwardness have been left behind in education and job opportunities, lack access to proper housing, clean drinking water, functional toilets and are economically unstable, the study said.

About 50% of the Scheduled Castes are daily wage workers, as compared to only one-tenth among General Castes, the report said, according to The Indian Express. Only 5% of the Scheduled Tribes had jobs in the private sector, while more than 30% of General Castes had well-paying private employment, it added.

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu said that based on the findings, specialised benefits, including financial support, will be extended to the 135 groups who face backwardness, The Indian Express reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he was “willing to guarantee” that no injustice will be meted out to any state through the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies.

Modi said he wanted to assure the House that no part of the country would be discriminated against during the process, and no state’s proportion of representation in the Lower House of Parliament would be altered.

When an Opposition MP asked if he could guarantee this in the bills, the prime minister said that he was willing to verbally use the words “guarantee” or “promise” if needed.

Earlier in the day, the Union government introduced in the Lok Sabha three bills on redrawing the boundaries of electoral constituencies and expediting the implementation of women’s reservations in Parliament and state Assemblies.

Here are more top updates from the special session of Parliament:

• Bills introduced: Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had earlier on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that through the bills introduced by the Centre, there will be an “equal, 50% increase” in the strength of the Lower House of Parliament, which will translate to 815 seats, ANI reported.
• Of these, 272 seats, or one-third, will be reserved for women, the minister said, and claimed that no state will face any reduction in its representation.
• While Meghwal introduced the 2026 Constitution One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment Bill and 2026 Delimitation Bill, Union Home Minister Amit Shah tabled the 2026 Union Territories Laws Amendment Bill.
• Division of votes: Voting took place in the Lok Sabha on Thursday on the introduction of the three bills. Of those present in the House, 251 voted in favour and 185 opposed introducing the bills, based on a count of vote slips.
• ‘Delink women’s bill and delimitation’: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi alleged that the intention of the government was not to implement women’s reservation, but to introduce delimitation “through the backdoor”. He remarked that Meghwal was merely repeating what Shah had said three years ago during the discussion on the Women’s Reservation Bill.
• Gogoi said: “At the time too, the Congress had supported women’s reservation, but had asked for the process to be simplified so that it would be implemented immediately. At that time too, we had demanded that the quota should not be linked to delimitation, and our stand is the same today.”
• Congress MP Venugopal alleged that the government’s intention behind introducing the delimitation bill was to take away protections introduced by former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Venugopal was referring to the freeze on delimitation that was put in place in 1976 and extended in 2001.
• Muslim quota demand: Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav asked whether the government considered Muslim women also to be part of “aadhi aabadi”, or half the population, The Indian Express reported. In response, Shah remarked that the Samajwadi Party could give all its election tickets to Muslim women if it wanted. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that speaking about Muslim women’s reservation is unconstitutional as a quota cannot be granted based on religion.
• Stalin protests: Earlier on Thursday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin burnt a copy of the delimitation bill in Namakkal as part of the statewide protest against the proposed amendments to the law, The Hindu reported. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief described it as a “conspiracy and a black law”. He urged people to hoist black flags in every home and public place on Thursday.

Delimitation bill

The Union government is seeking to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 815 from 543 and to operationalise the 33% quota for women in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies under the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act. A three-day special session of Parliament to discuss these bills began on Thursday.

The Opposition INDIA bloc has said that while it supports women’s reservation, it will oppose the bill for delimitation of Lok Sabha seats.

Opposition parties have said that population-based delimitation would give an undue advantage to northern and central states in the Lok Sabha, as the proportion of seats in the North would be higher. They also noted that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has greater support in northern states than in the South.

Although speculation about the amendment to the law had been rife in political circles for the past two weeks, copies of the draft legislation were shared with MPs for the first time on Tuesday.

Article 82 of the Constitution states that after every census is completed, the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to each state must be adjusted based on changes in its population.

The current composition of the Lok Sabha is based on the 1971 Census. According to the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, constituency boundaries were frozen until the first census after 2026.

The census, which began on April 1, is expected to conclude in 2027.

The bill that will be introduced in Parliament proposes to amend Article 82 of the Constitution to remove the entire proviso. This will pave the way for delimitation to take place based on the latest census, which was held in 2011.

Also read:

• How Modi government aims to use women’s representation to expand Lok Sabha using 2011 census numbers
• ‘Unconstitutional’: Opposition says delimitation must not weaken voice of southern states

The Allahabad High Court has expressed concern about a “disturbing trend” of false first information reports being registered by third parties under Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law, Bar and Bench reported on Thursday.

A division bench of Justices Abdul Moin and Pramod Kumar Srivastava was hearing a petition challenging an FIR registered against three Muslim men under the 2021 Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.

The FIR, filed by the father of an 18-year-old woman, alleged that one of the men had “enticed” his daughter. He claimed that there was a likelihood that the men would attempt to convert her religion and force her into marriage.

The three men also faced charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

However, the woman in a statement recorded before a magistrate denied claims made by her father, Bar and Bench reported. She added that she was in a consensual relationship with one of the accused men, adding that she had not been coerced into conversion or marriage.

The woman also expressed willingness to live with the man and further raised concerns about harassment from Hindutva groups, Live Law reported.

On Monday, the court said that the “statement of the victim vis-a-vis the allegations as levelled in the FIR gives rise to a disturbing trend which is being noticed time and again by the courts of law pertaining to FIRs being lodged by third parties” under the state’s anti-conversion law.

The bench noted that the statement submitted by the woman indicates that she is apprehensive of her safety and the safety of her relatives, adding that she is also “apprehensive of being harassed and troubled by the various organisations”.

The court noted that despite her statement, the investigating officer had dropped only allegations of rape against the petitioner and continued proceedings under the anti-conversion law, The Hindu reported.

It described this as a “peculiar turn” and said that further investigation appeared unwarranted given the woman’s clear account. The bench also indicated that the conduct of the investigating officer suggested that he may be acting under pressure or external influence.

In its order, the court directed the state’s additional chief secretary (home) to file a personal affidavit on the steps being taken to address such “false” cases.

It also summoned the woman’s father to explain why action should not be taken against him for filing what the court described as a “patently false, fake and frivolous FIR”.

The bench stayed the arrest of the petitioner and directed that security be provided to all parties involved.

The United States will not renew waivers that had allowed countries, including India, to purchase Iranian and Russian oil without triggering sanctions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday.

Bessent said that the waivers pertained to oil “on water prior to March 11”. “So all that has been used,” he told reporters.

The US had on March 5 granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver allowing them to buy Russian oil stranded at sea amid the conflict in West Asia. The US treasury secretary had at the time described the move a short-term measure aimed at keeping global oil supplies, and maintained that it would not “provide significant financial benefit” to Russia.

The relaxation allowed India to secure additional Russian oil supplies amid global disruptions, with refiners reportedly ordering around 30 million barrels during the period, NDTV reported.

A week after granting the waiver to India, Washington extended a similar 30-day licence to other countries for Russian crude loaded before March 11. That waiver expired on April 11.

A similar relaxation covering Iranian oil shipments loaded before March 20 is set to expire on Sunday.

The waivers were introduced as temporary measures to ease pressure on global markets amid disruptions linked to Iran, allowing the purchase of oil already loaded onto vessels before specified deadlines.

India is a net importer of oil and gas, with around 80% to 85% of its energy requirements met through imports.

Global oil prices have spiked due to the conflict in West Asia, with Iran having blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz for most commercial shipping. The narrow waterbody connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. About 20% of the global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

The developments on Wednesday came against the backdrop of earlier tensions between Washington and New Delhi over India’s continued purchases of Russian crude.

The Trump administration had in August imposed a punitive levy on India for buying oil from Russia amid the Ukraine war. This had taken the combined US tariff rate to 50%.

On February 7, Trump issued an executive order to remove the additional 25% punitive tariff on imports from India over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. This brought the effective US tariff rate on Indian imports to 18% after the interim trade deal was agreed to.

Track updates from the West Asia war here.

The Chhattisgarh Cabinet on Wednesday decided to set up a high-level committee to prepare a draft of a uniform civil code for the state.

It has become the third Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state to take steps towards implementing such a code. While Uttarakhand began implementing a common personal law framework in January 2025, the Gujarat Assembly passed a uniform civil code bill on March 25.

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

Chhattisgarh’s Uniform Civil Code panel will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. She had also headed the committees based on whose recommendations the Uttarakhand and Gujarat governments framed their Uniform Civil Code bills.

On Wednesday, the Chhattisgarh government said that in order to create a draft law that “simplifies and unifies” personal laws of diverse communities and to make such a code legally sound, the committee will invite suggestions from citizens and experts.

The draft law will later be presented before the state cabinet and Assembly, the government said.

“As envisaged under Article 44 of the Constitution of India, the move towards a Uniform Civil Code is aimed at ensuring legal uniformity, simplifying judicial processes, and promoting religious as well as gender equality,” The Hindu quoted an unidentified government official as saying.

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.

Commenting on the cabinet decision, the Congress said that a uniform civil code would harm Chhattisgarh’s Adivasi communities, which account for over 30% of the state’s population.

“The tribals are the only ones in the state who have special constitutional protections compared to other people living in the state,” The Hindu quoted state Congress president Deepak Baij as saying. “Apart from this, there is no other class in Chhattisgarh for which special civil rights are applicable.”

Baij alleged that the BJP was trying to “rob the interests of the tribals” by introducing a uniform civil code.

Introducing a common personal law has long been on the BJP’s agenda. Last year, 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.

In its campaign for the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand, the BJP had mainly targeted Muslim personal law, arguing that it discriminated against women as it allows Muslim men to practice polygamy, inherit a greater share of property, initiate divorce and deny alimony.

Legal experts have said that Uttarakhand’s Uniform Civil Code is drawn primarily from Hindu personal law and could lead to the erasure of the personal law practices of minority communities.

Two Muslim Congress councillors were booked in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore after they refused to sing the patriotic song Vande Mataram during the budget session of the municipal corporation last week, IANS reported on Wednesday.

The case was filed under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race and place of birth, and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony, following complaints from Bharatiya Janata Party councillors, The Indian Express reported.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Ram Snehi Mishra said that Rubina Iqbal Khan and Fauzia Sheikh Aleem allegedly disrespected the national anthem, IANS reported.

Mishra added: “During the inquiry, it was also observed that the incident led to tension affecting social and religious harmony, and created differences among the public.”

The incident took place on April 8 during the civic body’s budget session, when a dispute erupted over the singing of Vande Mataram.

Aleem questioned whether any rule or law required the singing of the song and later walked out of the House, while Khan said during the proceedings that her faith did not permit its recitation, The Times of India reported.

The exchange triggered protests from BJP members inside the House, who purportedly shouted: “If you have to live in India, you will have to say Vande Mataram!”

“भारत वर्ष में रहना होगा, तो वंदे मातरम कहना होगा!”…..: BJP पार्षद

वंदे मातरम को लेकर इंदौर नगर निगम में हंगामा।

कांग्रेस पार्षद फौजीया शेख अलीम ने कहा कि वंदे मातरम जबरदस्ती नहीं बुलवा सकते। ये कहते हुए सदन से हुई बाहर!

वैसे वंदे मातरम कहने में आपत्ति क्या है? pic.twitter.com/5MjEtCvHpF

— Shubham Shukla (@Shubhamshuklamp) April 8, 2026

Khan later apologised for her “provocative” choice of words, the newspaper reported.

Police officers said that both councillors were questioned for two days before the FIR was registered, The Indian Express reported.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Vinod Dixit told the newspaper that they “cited religious reasons” during the questioning. “We told them they were elected to a constitutional post and their religious compulsions should not have been part of the decision,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Saturday said that the incident “was unfortunate” and reflected “poorly on the character of Congress representatives”, ANI reported.

He said that senior Congress leaders, including state president Jitu Patwari and national leader Rahul Gandhi, should explain why such behaviour was being encouraged, which he described as “insulting the sacrifices of patriots”.

Yadav further said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “won the nation’s heart” by embracing all six verses of Vande Mataram, while alleging that Congress remained “trapped in its double standards”.

#WATCH | Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: On Congress councillor refuses to sing Vande Mataram in Indore, CM Mohan Yadav says, "... A Congress councillor refused to sing Vande Mataram in the municipal council was unfortunate, reflecting poorly on the character of Congress representatives.… pic.twitter.com/DWkf3FCHUj

— ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2026

On January 28, a Union Ministry of Home Affairs circular 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.

In October 1937, the Congress Working Committee had passed a resolution adopting the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram as the national song. The Bharatiya Janata Party has long alleged that the Congress had agreed to drop the four stanzas to “appease Muslims”.

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 notification chimed on my phone: “Order received – Rs 20 for 3.2 km delivery.” I looked at the address, started my bike, and began what would become a two-month journey into India’s platform economy.

By the time I delivered that first order – a 20-minute hunt through narrow lanes to find a customer’s house in the dark – I had earned my first Rs 20 as a gig worker. More importantly, I had begun to understand the vast gap between the gig economy’s promises and realities.

This wasn’t planned research. In September 2024, while studying rural employment programmes in Maharashtra, I kept encountering young migrants who moonlighted as delivery workers. As the thinktank NITI Aayog projected India’s gig workforce would triple to 23.5 million workers by 2029-’30, I realised that understanding this growth required more than interviews and surveys. It required experiencing the algorithm’s control first-hand.

Entering the algorithm

Becoming a delivery partner proved deceptively simple. After downloading the app and providing basic details (phone number, bank information, and Aadhaar card), I encountered the first revealing requirement – Rs 400 sign-up fee plus Rs 2,000 for branded clothing and delivery bag, deductible from future earnings. The platform extracted payment before I had earned a single rupee.

What the platform did not require was equally telling. No driving licence verification, no helmet confirmation and no safety training for work involving constant road navigation. I was registering not as an employee but as an “independent contractor” using “aggregator services” – legal language that shielded the company from employment obligations while maintaining operational control.

The training videos, available in multiple Indian languages, covered app navigation thoroughly but offered little about worker rights, transparency about earnings or dispute resolution. I could skip entire sections – a design prioritising quick onboarding over worker preparation. Within hours, I was approved to start deliveries, though insurance coverage would only activate after two successful orders.

Algorithms become bosses

Working for a platform means surrendering to digital management in ways traditional employment rarely demands. The app does not just facilitate work – it monitors, evaluates and controls every aspect of it. Location tracking runs continuously, monitoring speed, route efficiency and idle time. Push notifications arrive constantly, pressuring workers to stay online during peak hours or accept additional orders.

The incentive structure reveals sophisticated behavioural control. Daily and weekly bonuses appear achievable but require completing lengthy shifts – often six to 10 hours – and maintaining high acceptance rates. Rejecting more than three orders during a shift triggers penalties, forcing workers to accept unprofitable deliveries. When I set my maximum delivery distance to 4 kilometres, the system still assigned me an 8-km order I felt compelled to accept.

Earning calculations remain deliberately opaque. Workers cannot see customer locations before accepting orders, making informed decisions impossible. This control extends beyond work hours. The platform’s internal marketplace encourages workers to spend earnings on company-branded merchandise, phone accessories, and investment products. Frequent notifications about discounts pressure workers to convert labour into platform-specific consumption, tightening economic dependence.

True cost of every delivery

During my shifts, I met Vishal, a 34-year-old delivery partner who had moved to Nagpur from a small town in Vidarbha three years earlier seeking better employment opportunities. After struggling to find stable work, he turned to food delivery 18 months ago. Our conversation during restaurant waits revealed the hidden economics that platforms never discuss.

“My phone plan costs Rs 400 monthly for 2GB daily data,” Vishal explained. “But during peak hours, especially when I work 10-12 hour days, I need top-ups. The GPS and constant app usage drain data faster than you’d think.” His total monthly mobile expenses, including extra data packages, averaged Rs 600.

Six months earlier, he had replaced his smartphone after the old one developed lag issues that cost him orders. The Rs 14,000 replacement, bought on EMI, still consumed Rs. 1,200 monthly from his income.

Vehicle maintenance proved costlier than expected. Puncture repairs were necessary roughly once monthly due to Nagpur’s uneven roads and construction debris, costing Rs 50 each time. Regular bike servicing, chain adjustments, brake repairs, and minor fixes averaged Rs 800 monthly. “I carry a power bank that cost me Rs 1,500,” he said, patting his delivery bag. “My phone battery dies twice daily from constant GPS tracking and customer calls.”

The fuel mathematics was stark. With petrol at Rs 103 per litre in Nagpur, Vishal’s bike consumed approximately 1.8 litres daily, covering 60 km-70 km across lunch and dinner shifts. His monthly fuel bill reached Rs 5,100 – over a third of his gross earnings. “City traffic forces you to idle at signals and in jams, which kills mileage,” he observed.

Traffic violations represented an unpredictable expense. When delivery deadlines grew tight, the temptation to cut corners increased. “I’ve paid Rs 2,000 in signal-jumping fines this year,” Vishal admitted. “The app doesn’t consider real traffic conditions when setting delivery times.”

Despite racing through traffic, navigating confusing apartment complexes, and ensuring orders reached customers hot and fresh, Vishal rarely received additional compensation. “There’s no tip culture here like in other big cities,” he explained. “I make sure food reaches customers within the promised time, sometimes risking my safety to avoid delays, but customers just take their order and close the door. I don’t even remember when I last received a tip – maybe twice in the past 18 months, and both were just Rs 10-20.” The app’s tipping feature, while available, remained largely unused by Nagpur customers accustomed to fixed pricing.

The platform extracted additional costs through mandatory expenses. The branded delivery bag cost Rs 2,000 (deducted from earnings), and replacement after wear required personal expenditure. The company t-shirt, while provided, required constant maintenance.

“My wife washes my uniform twice a week because it gets dirty and sweaty from riding in traffic and heat,” Vishal said. “She spends extra time and money on detergent, but platforms never count this household labour.” The frequent washing meant buying replacement shirts every few months as the fabric wore out quickly.

When we calculated his monthly expenses – fuel (Rs 5,100), maintenance (Rs 800), mobile costs (Rs. 600), phone EMI (Rs 1,200), punctures (Rs 50), and fines (Rs 170 average) – they totalled Rs 7,920. From his gross monthly earnings of Rs 14,000, this left Rs 6,080 as actual income, or roughly Rs 200 per day for 10-hour shifts.

The long-term health costs remained uncounted. After 18 months of delivery work, Vishal experienced persistent back pain from prolonged riding and poor bike ergonomics. “My back hurts every evening, but I can’t afford to take breaks or see a doctor regularly,” he said. “This work is aging my body faster than it should.” The platform provided basic accident insurance but nothing for occupational health issues that develop gradually.

“People see the delivery charge and think we’re getting rich,” Vishal concluded with a wry smile. “They don’t see what it actually costs to keep this bike running, my phone charged, and myself healthy enough to work tomorrow.”

Encounters on the street

My interactions with customers, restaurant staff, and fellow workers revealed the social dynamics underlying platform capitalism’s facade of seamless service. Customers tracking their orders in real time often grew frustrated when deliveries were delayed due to traffic, unclear addresses, or slow restaurant preparation. The app’s promise of precision – “delivered in 30 minutes” – created unrealistic expectations that workers ultimately managed.

Restaurant experiences varied dramatically. Established outlets treated delivery workers professionally, maintaining separate pick-up counters, and providing wait-time estimates.

However, the growing ecosystem of “ghost kitchens” – unmarked food operations within residential buildings – presented unique challenges. These businesses, optimised for app-based ordering, often lacked proper signage, or dedicated pick-up areas. I spent considerable time navigating narrow residential lanes searching for kitchen operations hidden within apartment complexes, guided only by vague app directions.

Conversations with other delivery workers, typically during restaurant waits or traffic stops, revealed shared frustrations across platforms.

A 32-year-old partner working for a competing service captured a common sentiment: “There’s no respect in this job. My wife tells me to change into the company t-shirt midway, not wear it when leaving home. People don’t talk nicely and sometimes create issues about payment.”

Promise and reality

India’s policy response to gig work reveals the tension between recognising worker needs and maintaining platform flexibility. Rajasthan became the first state to pass comprehensive gig worker legislation in July 2023, establishing a welfare board and mandating 1-2% transaction fees from platforms to fund social security. The law requires platforms to register workers and provide transparent data about earnings and commissions – information companies have historically guarded closely.

Recent developments suggest broader policy momentum. In the budget for 2025, the union government announced health insurance coverage for gig workers through the PM-JAY scheme, with 10 million workers expected to benefit immediately.

A pilot programme launched in September 2024 registered four major platforms – Urban Company, Zomato, Blinkit, and Uncle Delivery – on the e-Shram portal, preparing the infrastructure for nationwide social security coverage.

However, implementation remains challenging. The central government’s Code on Social Security, 2020 recognises gig workers as a separate category but lacks finalised rules across most states.

While Rajasthan’s law is progressive, it does not classify gig workers as employees or integrate existing labour protections. Karnataka has introduced a similar draft bill in 2024, but enforcement mechanisms remain unclear across state boundaries.

The inconsistent regulations across states create confusion for mobile delivery platforms trying to follow the rules. They also make it difficult for workers to carry their benefits with them when working in different states. More fundamentally, these measures focus on social security while avoiding the core question of whether gig workers should have collective bargaining rights, minimum wage protections, and the ability to challenge algorithmic management decisions.

Broader economic logic

My two-month experience illuminated how the gig economy represents not disruption but acceleration of existing trends towards worker insecurity. Platforms have successfully created a workforce that assumes traditional employer responsibilities – equipment provision, risk management, and skill development – while discarding traditional worker protections around wages, working conditions and job security.

This model’s political economy becomes clearer when considering its timing and context. India’s gig economy emerged during formal job creation struggles and agricultural distress, providing platforms with workers seeking income opportunities.

The rural youth I originally interviewed often relied on family support to purchase the smartphones and motorcycles essential for platform work – sometimes from earnings in government welfare schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and PM Kisan Samman Nidhi.

Platforms benefit from what economist David Weil calls “fissured workplace” dynamics, where lead firms control value chains while avoiding direct employment relationships. This structure allows them to maintain market position and profit margins while regulatory and economic risks fall on individual workers.

NITI Aayog’s optimistic projections assume platform job creation will address India’s unemployment challenges. However, my experience suggests such work often represents economic desperation rather than genuine choice. The absence of social protection, health benefits, or retirement security makes gig work a survival strategy rather than a sustainable career path for most participants.

Towards dignity

Looking back over those two months, I delivered roughly 30 orders and earned approximately Rs 1,200 – an amount that barely covered fuel costs for my journeys. More significantly, I experienced how a platform transforms workers into algorithmic subjects, responsive to digital stimuli designed to maximise platform value rather than worker welfare.

The gig economy’s rapid expansion in India reflects broader failures in creating dignified employment opportunities for the country’s growing workforce. Rather than addressing structural economic problems, platforms exploit them, converting unemployment and underemployment into profit-generating mechanisms.

India needs more than the current patchwork of welfare measures. Essential reforms should include transparent algorithmic management, where workers understand how earnings are calculated and orders are assigned. Platforms should bear responsibility for equipment costs, health insurance, and accident coverage rather than externalising these to workers. Most importantly, gig workers need meaningful representation in decisions affecting their livelihoods, whether through recognised unions or platform governance structures.

The workers I met deserve more than algorithmic management disguised as entrepreneurial opportunity. They need recognition that their labour – delivering food in all weather conditions, navigating chaotic traffic, maintaining professionalism despite customer frustration – constitutes essential work that deserves basic dignity and security.

The Rs 20 I earned for my first delivery represents more than a wage. It symbolises the distance between the gig economy’s promises and its realities, between platform rhetoric about empowerment and workers’ lived experience of navigating an increasingly precarious economic landscape.

As India’s policymakers celebrate the gig economy’s growth potential, they should remember that behind every platform’s success story are millions of workers trying to make ends meet in an economic system that privatises their risks while socialising their benefits.

Until this gap closes, India’s gig economy will remain a source of survival rather than prosperity for those who power it. The true measure of success will not be transaction volumes or platform valuations, but whether these workers can build stable, secure lives for themselves and their families. That transformation requires acknowledging that flexibility without security is not freedom – it is precarity by design.

Kasim Saiyyad is a PhD candidate in applied economics and management at Cornell University, New York, and a Tata-Cornell Institute Scholar. His research focuses on agriculture, livelihood, and nutrition economics in low- and middle-income countries.

This article was first published in The India Forum.

A group of 59 children from Bihar’s Araria district travelling to Odisha to study at a madrasa were stopped at Cuttack station by the railway police, their parents told Scroll on Wednesday evening.

A local news report said the children were “rescued” by the Railway Protection Force and handed over to the Cuttack Child Welfare Committee. But their parents told Scroll that their children were headed for the Jamia Islamia Riyaztul Oloom madrasa in Jagatsinghpur, about 40 km from Cuttack.

Advocate MD Nawaz Hassan, who is representing the parents in Araria, told Scroll that a maulvi from the madrasa was not allowed to take the children, who are being kept at a government-run shelter home by the Child Welfare Committee, Cuttack. Scroll has a list of the 59 children and their names and addresses.

SK Shareef, the maulana who heads the Jamia Islamia Riyaztul Oloom madrasa, told Scroll that the teachers accompanying the children had Aadhaar cards and consent letters from their parents. “These two documents are adequate,” said Shareef. “But the police detained the children after producing this.” Shareef said he not travelled Cuttack so far.

Scroll contacted Manoj Vishwas, chairperson of the Cuttack Child Welfare Committee, but he did not respond to calls and messages. This report will be updated if he replies.

An inspector with the Railway Police Force, Cuttack, told Scroll that so far the police have not registered a first information report. “The case is under investigation,” he said.

Hassan, the advocate for the parents, said that four to five men were with the children, but the police inspector said there was only maulana with the group.

“Some children were seven to eight years old. That is very young,” said the police inspector. “This raises suspicion, especially if the person accompanying them has no concrete answers.”

The inspector said that the railway police asked for the admission forms of the madrassa and if the parents had visited the madrasa before. “The person said no. So we decided to hand over the children to the CWC for further inquiry,” he said.

It is the third case this month of children from Bihar headed to madrasas in other parts of India being “rescued” and the second such instance in Cuttack.

On Wednesday, Scroll had reported how the Madhya Pradesh railway police claimed to have rescued 163 children but their parents had said the children were headed to madrasas in Karnataka and Maharashtra to study.

On April 1, the Odisha railway police detained a maulana who was travelling with 14 boys from Bihar’s Kishanganj to Odisha’s Salepur. The children had gotten down at Cuttack railway station when the police found them, a policeman told a local news publication.

In this instance too, the 59 children were stopped at Cuttack railway station on April 14. This was part of Operation “Nanhe Faristey”, which the Railway Protection Force carries out to protect vulnerable children and prevent child trafficking.

The children’s parents are too poor to travel to Cuttack and have approached the Araria Child Welfare Committee for help, said Hassan, the advocate for the parents.

Rinku Verma, chairperson of the Araria Child Welfare Committee, confirmed that the children’s parents had reached out on Wednesday. “We have contacted the CWC in Cuttack,” said Verma.

He claimed the maulvi did not have paperwork or transit documents to show that the children had been transferred from a school to a madrasa. “Such a large group of children can attract suspicion and the police acted accordingly,” said Verma.

The Cuttack Child Welfare Committee has sought a letter from the Araria committee confirming the names and details of the 59 children and their purpose of travel. “That process is ongoing,” said Shareef. “Once the letter comes, hopefully the children will be released.”

Mohammed Tanvir Alam’s two sons and a nephew, are among the children who were travelling to Cuttack. Alam had sent his children with his cousin, Aabid, who was dropping his son to the madrassa.

Alam, who is a tractor driver in Raniganj in Araria district, told Scroll that his 14-year-old son Zulfikar had attended the madrasa last year. “This year I decided to send my younger son too,” Alam said.

Alam’s children used to attend a government school in Raniganj. “They would spend more time playing outside instead of studying,” said Alam. “I thought they would learn some discipline in the madrasa.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s decision to summon a special session of Parliament on Thursday to discuss bills to expand the size of Lok Sabha has ignited a debate that goes beyond mere seat arithmetic.

The increase in the number of seats is being framed as a constitutional necessity to ensure better representation for the growing number of voters. In effect, the move appears to be the latest brick in a structural wall being built to imprison Indian democracy.

We are witnessing a transition where the machinery of governance increasingly reflects the political management of the People’s Republic of China, moving away from the deliberative friction of Western democratic models – most notably the high-scrutiny system of the United States.

Perils of a mammoth parliament

The push for delimitation – redrawing the boundaries of electoral constituencies – threatens to create a mammoth Parliament of over 800 seats in Lok Sabha.

It would seem to mirror the model embodied in China’s National People’s Congress. When the nearly 3,000 deputies of the National People’s Congress meet in Beijing every year, all they do is provide a veneer of democratic legitimacy to decisions already finalised by the Party’s central leadership.

A legislature of such gargantuan proportions is inherently unwieldy. When hundreds of members are squeezed into a session, meaningful deliberation vanishes. Individual scrutiny of bills becomes impossible, and the executive’s grip tightens: the floor becomes a site of acclamation rather than accountability.

By expanding the House while simultaneously weakening its oversight committees, the state ensures that Parliament remains ornamental – architecturally grand but democratically hollow.

This stands in contrast to the United States Congress. Despite the population of the US tripling over the last century, the number of members of the House of Representatives has been capped at 435 since 1911. The American model is predicated on the belief that for a representative to be effective, they must have a distinct voice.

In a smaller, capped legislature, an individual member can influence a committee, hold up a partisan bill and command national attention. This “constructive friction” is the engine room of democracy. But by opting for a mammoth Parliament instead, the BJP-led government is choosing to drown individual MPs in a sea of numbers, effectively migrating all real power to a centralised executive office – the Indian version of China’s Politburo.

The meek opposition

Already, the structural dilution of the legislature is accompanied by a chilling transformation of the political landscape: the curated weakening of the opposition. In China, the “United Front” system allows for eight minor parties – but they exist on the condition of absolute subservience to the Communist Party. They are not competitors; they are consultants.

While these parties – such as the China Democratic League – hold seats in the National People’s Congress, they are constitutionally bound to accept the “leading role” of the Chinese Communist Party. Rather than offering adversarial dissent, they help strengthen the facade that the government is representative, while ensuring that legislative outcomes align with strategic goals.

India’s political ecosystem is tilting toward a similar controlled pluralism. Through the aggressive use of the investigative agencies against political rivals, the choking of their political funding and the engineering of defections, the ruling party is hollowing out the opposition. The goal appears to be an India where opposition parties still exist – to maintain the appearance of democracy for the world – but are too fractured and intimidated to pose a real challenge.

Like the minor parties in China’s National People’s Congress, they are being relegated to the role of a “meek opposition”, allowed to speak only within the boundaries set by the ruling party.

The unitary state

The most striking parallel between the two systems lies in the project of cultural homogenisation as a prerequisite for national power. China’s stability is built upon the bedrock of Han-centrism, where the state actively subordinates minority identities – Uighur, Tibetan, or Mongol – to a singular, state-defined “Chineseness”.

India is currently pursuing its own version of internal consolidation through the lens of Hindutva, seeking to redefine “Indianness” through a specific religious and linguistic identity.

By creating the narrative that India is a “civilisational state”, the ruling party has positioned itself as the “vanguard” of a cultural rejuvenation. Much like the Chinese Communist Party is indistinguishable from the Chinese state, the attempt here is to make the ruling ideology indistinguishable from national identity.

Those who dissent are not merely political opponents; they are framed as “anti-national,” echoing the Chinese Communist Party’s rhetoric against “splitists” and “subversives”.

This cultural shift finds its structural anchor in a long-standing war on federalism. Rooted in the ideology of “one nation, one people, one culture”, the ruling party has long viewed India’s diverse state identities as obstacles to a centralised core.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief MS Golwalkar’s 1961 memorandum to the National Integration Council provides the foundational blueprint for this shift, explicitly denouncing federalism as a “fundamental mistake” and advocating for a “One Country, One Legislature, One Executive” model.

Delimitation is the ultimate tool for this Golwalkarian consolidation. By basing representation purely on population, the system effectively penalises the Southern states for their success in controlling their populations.

This stands in stark contrast to the US Senate, which grants every state two seats regardless of size to prevent the “tyranny of the majority”. India, conversely, is mirroring China’s management of its provinces, where local identities are subordinated to a singular interest directed from the centre.

The ultimate justification for this shift is the promise of “authoritarian stability”. The argument is seductive: to compete with the Dragon, India must stop “quarreling” and start “building”. Proponents of this idea suggest that a single-minded focus on development, unencumbered by the “friction” of dissent, is the only path to greatness.

The Argumentative Indian

But India is not China. Our diversity is not a bug to be fixed; it is our primary resilience. China’s stability is brittle, maintained by a staggering security budget and total surveillance. If India swaps its democratic soul – and the effective, deliberative strength of a true legislature – for a Chinese-style “efficient” machine, it risks losing the safety valves that have kept this subcontinent together.

We must remember Amartya Sen’s descriptions of the “Argumentative Indian”. For millennia, India’s strength has been its tradition of public debate, intellectual pluralism and the ability to voice disagreement.

Sen contended that this “argumentative” nature is not a hindrance to development but a prerequisite for justice and social well-being. To swap the Argumentative Indian for the Leaping Dragon is to trade a robust, self-correcting democracy for a fragile, top-heavy monolith.

Development without dissent is not a “New India” – it is a borrowed model that has historically led to the stifling of the human spirit. As the new, massive Parliament prepares to seat its hundreds of members, we must ask: are we building a monument to the vocal, deliberative spirit of our citizens, or a fortress for a one-party state?

The author is the Deputy Law Secretary to the Government of Kerala and author of “The Supreme Codex: A Citizen’s Anxieties and Aspirations on the Indian Constitution”. Views expressed are personal.