From the Urdu Press: Rahul Gandhi’s UK theme song to Opposition faultlines to Saudi-Iran deal

SIASAT

Welcoming the remarkable agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to resume their diplomatic ties in a deal brokered by China, the Hyderabad-based Siasat, in an editorial on March 12, writes that their relations had been marked with hostility and tension, with the two Islamic powers taking on each other, overtly or by proxy, thereby impacting geopolitics across West Asia. While Saudi Arabia is a leading Sunni country, Iran is a prominent Shia nation. The editorial points out that both the countries are established Gulf players, so their clash is bound to have repercussions for the larger world. Some quarters had always been advocating that they should hold talks to resolve their conflict, it says, noting that the countries have had wide-ranging political and ideological differences. “If the relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran are restored and put back on track, it would have a salutary effect on the entire Middle East region.”

The ties between the two countries have remained severed since 2016 following the storming of the Saudi embassy in Tehran after Riyadh executed a prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. The daily notes that playing the role of a mediator China hosted the talks between them in Beijing, which resulted in a breakthrough agreement under which they will re-establish their diplomatic ties and reopen their embassies in Riyadh and Tehran within two months. “Significantly, this is the first time that instead of the United States, China has played the role of a peace broker in the crucial Gulf region.”

The rapprochement between Saudi and Iran would also give a shot in the arm to the efforts to bring the devastating war in Yemen to an end, where the two heavyweight Islamic nations have been on the opposite fronts, the editorial says, adding that although there has been a ceasefire in this war due to the American efforts, it is still not over. The US seems to be limiting its diplomatic role in West Asia, creating a strategic space for China to step in and fill the vacuum. The Saudi-Iran pact may also lead to talks to ensure a cessation of the Syrian war, where, too, they are in two opposite warring camps, the edit says. “On all parameters, therefore, the Saudi-Iran agreement could be seen as a welcome global development.”

URDU TIMES

Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s 10-day UK tour, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its editorial on March 9, notes that the top Congress leader attended various events during his UK visit, interacted with many people and answered their questions on a range of issues. Flagging Rahul’s in-conversation session at the Chatham House think tank in London, the daily says that at this event an Indian-origin woman from the audience, Malini Mehra, told Rahul that she “felt wretched” to see the current state of her homeland and that even her father, who used to be a “proud RSS man”, was not able to “recognise” India any more. “For 20 million Indian diaspora, how can we engage, how can we re-empower our democracy?” she asked Rahul.

The editorial says Malini Mehra’s question set off a row, although she is not a member of the Opposition and her father has an RSS background. In his reply to Mehra, Rahul said if he made a comment on the lines she did, people would call him “biased”. He praised her, saying she was doing a service by speaking out that India has lost its core values and that it needs to go back to those values. He told her that it was a “powerful thing for her to speak up” when her father was in the RSS. “The point is that even overseas Indians are getting concerned over the alarming erosion in India’s core values like tolerance, non-violence, secularism, and constitutional democracy, which is denting the country’s image globally,” the edit says.

SALAR

Commenting on the move of nine top Opposition leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, to write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protest against the alleged “blatant misuse” of central agencies against the Opposition, citing senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s arrest in the Delhi excise policy case, the Bengaluru-based Salar, in its editorial on March 10, says that “they might have made a bid to signal a closeness in the Opposition ranks, but the reality is that a unity still eludes the non-BJP parties”. The daily notes that the Congress and some other Opposition parties were not signatories to this joint letter. The Congress sought to point an accusing finger at Sisodia, it says, even though its own top leaders, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, have also been grilled for days by the ED, in the National Herald case. “So the real question that continues to hover is about the existing rifts within the Opposition camp.”

The daily writes that this issue heated up last month when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge declared that a Congress-led alliance will form the government after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Later, at the Tamil Nadu CM and DMK president M K Stalin’s 70th birthday celebrations, Kharge nuanced his stance and stressed on the need to fight the 2024 polls unitedly while ignoring who will lead or who will become the PM. His clarification came in response to National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah’s remark that the Opposition’s main goal should be to first win the elections before getting worked up over the PM candidate. Soon afterwards, Mamata announced her intention to go solo in 2024. The Congress’s dilemma stems from the point that its targeted vote base overlaps with that of several leading Opposition players including the AAP, TMC and RJD, the edit says. “But the fact remains that unless the Opposition parties succeed in getting united, it will be an uphill task for them to dislodge the BJP from power in 2024.”