Today in Politics: After Netflix content head, will I&B ministry summon Anubhav Sinha over IC-814 series row?

According to Divya A’s report, while the government has no immediate plans of banning the series, it has asked officials at Netflix to find a way to douse the controversy. It may also summon the filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, sources have said.

The depiction of hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has stirred controversy with a section of viewers objecting to the ‘humane’ projection of the perpetrators.

“Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation. Indian culture and civilisation should always be respected. Should we allow any foreign people to slipshod over our cultural values,” the source said without elaborating.

The sources said filmmakers have to think before portraying something in a wrong manner. “You may be liberal, but you cannot portray institutions in a wrong manner,” the source said.

In context: The documentary has landed in controversy after BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya said the hijackers of the flight were dreaded terrorists, who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities. “Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, legitimised their criminal intent, by furthering their non-Muslim names. Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814,” Malviya posted on X.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said it was really amusing to see the people who took movies like “Kashmir Files” as the gospel truth having a meltdown at the way the events of IC-814 are depicted in the Netflix show. “Now suddenly they want accuracy and nuance packaged in the script,’ Abdullah said on X.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the “right-wing outrage” over the IC-814 TV series was a reminder of the BJP government’s massive failure then. “… it reminds the nation how the intelligence and government agencies were caught off guard. Much like the Kargil war too,” she said.

New AICC secretaries to meet

Meanwhile, newly appointed All India Congress Committee secretaries are meeting on Tuesday at the party headquarters. The meeting will be presided over by national president Mallikarjun Kharge.

In the first major organisational reshuffle after the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Friday had appointed new secretaries and joint secretaries and some state office-bearers – to be associated with the party’s general secretaries and in-charges in the states.

Pranav Jha and Gaurav Pandhi, coordinators in the office of the Congress president, were made AICC secretaries. While Vineet Punia, an AICC secretary in the party’s communication department, was given similar responsibility, Ruchira Chaturvedi was appointed secretary in the department along with him. Two former MLAs of Rajasthan, Danish Abrar and Divya Maderna, were appointed secretaries for Delhi and J&K and Ladakh, respectively.

Former president of All India Mahila Congress Netta D’Souza, former NSUI president Neeraj Kundan, and Naveen Sharma will work as AICC secretaries along with Venugopal. Dheeraj Gurjar, Pradeep Narwal, Rajesh Tiwari, Tauqir Alam, Nilanshi Chaturvedi and Satyanarayan Patel will be AICC secretaries in UP. Subhashini Yadav, daughter of late Sharad Yadav, was appointed a secretary.

PM Modi trip to Brunei to mark first-ever bilateral visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his two-day Brunei visit on Tuesday, marking the first bilateral visit ever by an Indian PM

The visit aligns with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral ties between India and Brunei. “PM Modi, at the invitation of His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is scheduled to visit Brunei during September 3-4. This will be the first ever bilateral visit by an Indian PM to Brunei. The visit coincides with the 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Brunei. ” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced last week.

Modi’s visit to Brunei comes almost 10 years after his first meeting with the Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in November 2014 on the sidelines of 25th ASEAN Summit in Myanmar. They met again during the 2017 East Asia Summit held in the Philippines.

The PM will then proceed to Singapore on September 4.

BJP state units to launch membership drives

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha will kick start the one-and-a-half month-long membership drive of BJP in the northeastern state on September 3, a senior party leader said on Sunday.

The BJP Tripura unit has set a target of 12 lakh members this time, state BJP general secretary Amit Rakshit told PTI. “We will kick start the one-and-a-half month-long membership drive of BJP in Tripura from September 3. Chief Minister Manik Saha will inaugurate the process in the presence of party’s state president, Rajib Bhattacharjee”, he said.

In Rajasthan, the BJP has set a target of inducting one crore members, the party’s membership campaign state convenor Arun Chaturvedi said here on Sunday. Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and state president Madan Rathore will launch the campaign in the state.

– With PTI inputs