From the Urdu Press: Ex-SC judge S Abdul Nazeer appointment row and BBC raids to Nitish Kumar, Congress’s unity play

Commenting on the “surveys” conducted by the Income Tax department at the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai, the New Delhi edition of Inquilab, in its editorial on February 17, says that the action against the BBC has made global headlines, underlining that it came weeks after the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, using emergency powers under the 2021 IT Rules, blocked the first part of the BBC documentary, “India: The Modi Question”, on the 2002 Gujarat riots and Modi. The daily writes that while the I-T department has described the surveys as part of its probe into alleged tax evasion by the British broadcaster, “there is barely anyone who would not understand its meaning and message”. These surveys have been seen everywhere as “reprisal raids”, it says, as the I-T department swung into action on the heels of the release of the BBC’s documentary. “And then within hours after the launch of the I-T department’s operation, BJP spokesman Gaurav Bhatia addressed a press conference to attack the BBC, trashing it as the most corrupt organisation.”

The editorial asks why the press conference was held by the ruling party and not the agency investigating the alleged tax irregularities. “Such questions remain unanswered, even as a slew of leading national and international media organisations and human rights bodies — from the Amnesty International and Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to Editors Guild of India, and The New York Times to The Guardian — have linked the I-T department’s move to the BBC documentary,” it notes.

The daily says that India’s image, especially on the corporate governance front, was dented by the Adani-Hindenburg affair, which, it adds, has now further taken a beating in the wake of the government’s crackdown on the BBC. “These developments are taking place at a time when India is hosting the G20 Summit. The press coverage of the tax department’s action against the BBC is flagging that India’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index has plunged to 150th rank… So, the question arises whether the ruling establishment is taking such decisions without taking these aspects into consideration?”

SIASAT

Referring to the appointment of former Supreme Court judge S Abdul Nazeer as the Andhra Pradesh Governor within weeks of his retirement, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in its editorial column “Fikr-o-Nazr (Reflection and Insight)” on February 15, notes that Justice (retd.) Nazeer was part of six new faces, including four BJP leaders, that the Modi government appointed as Governors, even as it effected transfers of seven incumbent Governors. Highlighting that Nazeer was part of the five-judge Constitution Bench that delivered the 2019 Ayodhya judgment, the piece says his appointment drew sharp criticism from the Opposition, with the Congress saying that such moves were a “great diminution of and a great threat to the independence of judiciary”. This was rejected by the government, it states quoting Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju as saying that “they (Congress) should better understand that they can no more treat India as their personal fiefdom” and that “now India will be guided by the people of India as per the provisions of the Constitution of India”.

The daily writes that Nazeer headed the Bench that upheld the Modi government’s controversial 2016 decision to demonetise notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. “Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said it is not a matter of individuals but principles… These appointments undermine the independence of judiciary which is part of the Constitution’s basic structure. Singhvi also recalled late Arun Jaitley’s remarks that the desire of a post-retirement job influences pre-retirement judgments,” it says, adding that the Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh charged that several of these appointments have been made over the last three-four years.

The editorial column points out that former Chief Justice of India (CJI) P Sathasivam was appointed as the Kerala Governor in 2014. More recently, it says, another ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi, who headed the Ayodhya Bench, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in March 2020 within months of his retirement, which had also drawn fire from the Opposition. The alleged politicisation of the gubernatorial office by the BJP dispensation and the use of the Governors as its “tool” in several Opposition-ruled states is “unfortunate”, it adds.

URDU TIMES

In its editorial on February 20, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times writes that the battle lines are being drawn for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah sounding the poll bugle from Maharashtra. Referring to Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar’s remark that he was waiting for a signal from the Congress to work towards uniting the Opposition which would ensure that the BJP is “not able to cross 100 seats” in the 2024 polls, the daily notes that the grand old party, in response to Nitish, said it knew its role very well and that the Opposition unity would not fructify without it. “Jairam Ramesh fired barbs at some parties, saying that they attend the Opposition meetings but act in the BJP’s interest,” the edit says. Ramesh cited the Adani Group row in which the Congress along with a large Opposition section demanded the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the allegations against Adani, but some Opposition parties pitched for an “unviable” judicial probe that bailed out Prime Minister Modi, it states. “Ramesh also said many Opposition parties attend the meetings called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, but later their actions favour the BJP dispensation.”

The editorial says that rather than finding faults with other Opposition parties the Congress should look within and try to put its own divided house in order, whether it is in Maharashtra or Rajasthan. At this crucial juncture, the Congress should welcome every Opposition party, including smaller regional players, to come and join hands on a platform against the BJP. “This was the message of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. As the Opposition unity starts taking shape more parties would come on board. The Congress should try to rise above its narrow self-interest. It would do better to pay heed to Nitish Kumar’s suggestion, who is not a pushover after having been at the helm in Bihar for the last two decades.”