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Journalism of Courage
India had a lot to celebrate this year – a new Parliament, two successful space missions and an effective rescue mission to drill out people stuck inside a collapsed tunnel. But the ethnic violence in the Northeast that led to hundreds of people losing their lives, multiple natural disasters and accidents killing scores and reputed women wrestlers of the country fighting against sexual harassment also dominated the headlines this year.
2023 kicked off on a rocky start as the country was hit by several Indian wrestlers levelling allegations of sexual misconduct against BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Led by Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia, several wrestlers staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, demanding that WFI be disbanded, its president be sacked, and a probe be conducted into the matter.
Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested after around eight hours of interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. The chain of events culminating in Sisodia’s arrest by the CBI began in July 2022, when Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar submitted a report to Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, accusing Sisodia of providing undue benefits to liquor vend licensees in lieu of “kickbacks” and “commissions”, which were allegedly used by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Punjab Assembly elections in February that year.
Elections in the Northeast and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha is what grabbed the headlines throughout March.
The BJP emphatically won the Tripura Assembly elections and returned to power in Meghalaya and Nagaland as a junior partner in ruling coalitions. The party overcame a Left-Congress alliance and the TIPRA Motha, which had emerged as a force to reckon with in tribal seats, to bag 32 seats in Tripura, one more than the majority mark. It retained power in Nagaland along with senior alliance partner Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party. In Meghalaya, the National People’s Party emerged as the single-largest party. The NPP and the BJP ruled the state together for five years but contested the elections separately. However, they decided to tie up again to form the government in the state.
Later in the month, the Congress party was dealt a severe setback as Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha, a day after he was convicted in a defamation case by a Surat court. A notice issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said he stood disqualified from the House from March 23, the day of his conviction.
India officially surpassed China to become the most populous country in the world, estimating to touch 142.86 crore by the middle of this year, marginally ahead of China at 142.57 crore. According to projections by the United Nations, India’s population is expected to grow for the next three decades after which it will begin declining.
In April, the country also saw the encounter of a gangster-turned-politician in Uttar Pradesh and the arrest of a Khalistani separatist. While Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in the presence of police personnel and media persons on April 15 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, a few days later, radical Sikh self-styled preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh was arrested by the Punjab police from the Moga district after a month-long chase.
The month started off with violent clashes breaking out at various places in Manipur during the course of a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ called on May 3 by the All Tribal Students’ Union. The development reopened an old ethnic faultline in the state between the plain-dwelling Meitei community and the hill tribes.
However, later in the month, India got a new Parliament building, ’embodying the culture, pride and spirit of the entire nation’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech, the centre-piece and concluding note of the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28, sought to place this moment in a longer and wider national imagination. Built at an estimated cost of Rs 971 crore, sitting adjacent to the existing Parliament House, the building can accommodate 888 parliamentarians in the Lok Sabha and 300 in the Rajya Sabha, up from the existing 543 and 250, respectively.
Over 280 people killed, more than 850 injured — India was mourning after a horrific collision involving the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express, the SMVT Bengaluru-Howrah Express and a goods train took place near Bahanaga Bazar station on June 2. The Coromandel, instead of going past the goods train on the main line, entered the loop and smashed into the goods train from the rear. Pictures from the spot show the Coromandel’s locomotive perched atop the goods train.
Tragedy continued into the next month for India as a video showing two women from the Kuki-Zomi community being paraded naked by a mob of men and being sexually assaulted began doing the rounds, bringing to light an incident which took place in Manipur more than two months ago, when violence first started. Barely two days before a police complaint was filed in connection with incident, another zero FIR in another case was registered at the same police station — in connection with the alleged abduction, rape and murder of two Kuki-Zomi women.
Added to this was Himachal Pradesh enduring a tumultuous period battling extreme weather situations leading to devastating landslides, widespread damage and collapse of several buildings. Three spells of excessive rain wreaked havoc in Himachal. Extreme events such as flash floods, cloudbursts, landslides, subsidence, and sinking of land devastated lives and property especially in Mandi, Kullu, Manali, Shimla and in some parts of Kangra. According to the government’s assessment, the state suffered a loss of Rs 12,000 crore.
However, a silver lining to the tumultuous month was the launch of India’s moon mission — Chandrayaan-3 — on July 14.
India was celebrating this month as its Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 scripted history by successfully landing on the lunar surface on August 23. With the Lander accomplishing a ‘soft landing’ on the Moon’s south pole, India became the only country to have ever done so.
On the political front, the Congress breathed a sigh of relief as their senior leader Rahul Gandhi returned to Parliament after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his remarks on the ‘Modi’ surname. The Lok Sabha Secretariat notified the restoration of Rahul’s membership, about four months after it was revoked.
This month was all about the G20 Summit in New Delhi as leaders from the most powerful nations in the world flocked to the capital. The culmination of India’s year-long presidency of the G20, the summit concluded with the adoption of a G20 Leaders’ Declaration. India’s presidency came at a time when the world was undergoing a geo-political churn. The Russia-Ukraine war had impacted the global economy after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. The economic shock of these twin events had a deep impact on developing and under-developed countries — the war came at a time when these countries were just trying to get back on their feet with the post-pandemic economic recovery.
It had been nearly five months since the first clashes broke out in Manipur during a tribal solidarity march but the situation continued to remain tense. Intermittent violence — emerging from an ethnic conflict between Meitei and Kuki communities — has continued to keep the state on the boil, claiming over 175 lives and injuring more than 1,000.
Over 70 people were killed, including Army personnel, in Sikkim after the South Lhonak Lake — a glacial lake situated in the state’s northwest at 17,000 ft — burst due to incessant rains, leading to the release of water in downstream areas. This caused the rise of water levels in Teesta river that flooded at least four districts, including Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong and Namchi on October 4.
Later in the month, the Supreme Court unanimously declined to recognise same-sex marriages, saying it can only be done by the legislature and that any attempt by the court to do so would amount to encroaching upon the field set for the legislature.
The month also saw a series of blasts at a Sunday prayer convention of the Christian denomination Jehovah’s Witnesses near Kochi in Kerala. At least 7 people died and over 30 were injured.
The election fever returned to the country as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram went to the polls this month. From high-octane campaigning to poll promises, parties went all out to set the tone ahead of the big 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
1.4 billion people across the country suffered a heartbreak this month as India fell short of winning the ODI World Cup after a terrific campaign. For 40 nights since their first win against Australia in Chennai, India strode like the invincibles, but would stumble on the 41st night to a tame defeat.
The highlight this month, however, was the mammoth rescue operation to drill out 41 workers who were trapped following a tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand. A collective sigh of relief coursed across a nation after rescuers reached the 41 workers trapped, capping an operation that lasted over 400 hours. It was a test of resolve, grit and perseverance — for those on both sides of the 57 metres of debris — as the rescue operation suffered one setback after another. In the final lap over the weekend, the drilling machine gave way, and, in the end, it was 14 “rat-hole miners” who dug through the last 12 metres and reached the trapped men.
The month kicked off with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram getting new governments as the results of the Assembly polls were announced on December 3 and 4. With its landslide win in Madhya Pradesh, and having overturned Congress governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is now in power in 17 states and Union Territories.
For the Congress, after a disappointing counting day, its win in Telangana was just a consolation prize. The Congress’s strong performance, with 64 seats and 39.4% of the vote share, however, solidifies its presence in the South.
On the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament attacks, in a major security breach, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery on December 13, raised slogans and opened canisters that emitted yellow smoke, triggering panic among those present and raising questions of what if. The two men held in Lok Sabha were seated in the visitors’ gallery and took out canisters from their shoes. Television footage showed them jumping from desk to desk, and they appeared to be headed towards the Well of the House.
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