Making sense of breaking stories

Leave aside BJP, AMU can celebrate Raja Mahendra Pratap on its own

The Aligarh Muslim University administration is being overly touchy by scrapping the celebrations for the birth anniversary of Raja Mahendra Pratap. Granted that the BJP's motives behind organising the event are political, especially given the manner the party has tried to create a Jat vs Muslim polarisation in Western Uttar Pradesh. But Raja Mahendra Pratap is an icon that the AMU must celebrate on its own. A freedom fighter and an alumni of the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental college, which later became AMU, he even donated land for the university. 

MEA laxity to blame for confusion on abducted Indians in Iraq

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj might have issued a clarification that the 39 Indians abducted by the ISIS in Iraq are safe, doubts still continue to remain especially after the version told by Harjeet Bassi who managed to escape from captivity.  These 39 Indians and Bassi had been abducted over five months ago and in the absence of any information, their loved ones are bound to fear the worst.

BJP and Sena set to reunite

With Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressing his desire that the Shiv Sena join his government, the two allies appear set to bury the hatchet. As the BJP government would no longer be dependent on the NCP for a majority, it can now pursue the corruption cases against the party without any obstacles. The unintended beneficiary of the BJP-Sena rapprochement will be the Congress, as it would get to nominate one of its MLAs as Leader of the Opposition position in the state. The NCP will be the net loser in this realignment as it will neither be the kingmaker, nor the main opposition party in the state and to top it all, the corruption cases against its leaders might gather steam.

Supreme Court tries to set right yet another government error

Under the UPA as well as the NDA, the Supreme Court had time and again stepped in to set right certain ill-conceived government policies. The apex court did that yet again on Friday as it asked the government to allow German as a third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas this session. This would provide a temporary relief to the 70,000 students and 700 teachers affected by the HRD ministry's move to scrap the language.