Navanethem Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged the Indian government to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (ADSPA) during a visit to New Delhi. The act gives Indian security forces wide-ranging emergency powers, which are alleged to have been misused in the strife-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir and India's north-eastern states.
Despite recent claims by Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, that the act was to be scrapped, the Indian Express reports that Pillay was "politely but firmly told" by Central government ministers that this would not be possible.
Pillay was also rebuffed after proposing that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises homosexuality, be reformed. She stated that she would continue to pursue such issues after the general elections.
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Improved US-India relations non-proliferation
In the Obama administration's first policy speech on India, US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg asked the Indian government to join an international approach to produce safe nuclear power and prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. India is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but has been unofficially admitted into the "nuclear club" after the controversial Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and the lifting of a ban on nuclear trade by the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group in September 2008. Also in openDemocracy on the Indo-US nuclear deal:
Javits Rajendran on the controversial trust vote in July 2008
Also speaking at the event in Washington, Shyam Saran, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy for nuclear issues and climate change, suggested that India was likely to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in the future if other nations moved in the same direction.
The first overseas journey of the new CIA Director Leon Panetta included a three day stop-over in New Delhi. B Raman, writing for Rediff News, sees this as a move designed to simultaneously assure India of continued US assistance in investigating the Mumbai attacks while allowing Barack Obama to assess the Indian political scene.
Varun Gandhi debate rages on
The row between the Election Commission of India (EC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the remarks of Varun Gandhi continues. The BJP, which initially distanced itself from the comments, has come out in support of Varun and condemned the Commission. Debate has centred over whether the EC, as a constitutional body, should be able to recommend denying the nomination of candidates. The Deccan Chronicle argues that "the Commission has unfortunately shifted the issue from the culpability of Varun Gandhi to its own wrong response to the matter," while the Hindustan Times suggests that the EC had gone beyond its remit.
However, The Telegraph states that the EC's decision was "reasserting a fundamental principle of Indian democracy - secularism - when the largest democratic exercise is about to take place," and media coverage was, in general, dominated by attacks on Varun Gandhi and the culture within the BJP that gave rise to his speech. The basics
Three major coalitions will compete in the upcoming elections:
the governing United Progressive Alliance (UPA) dominated by the Congress Party;
the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP);
and the Third Front, an informal group made up of parties opposed to both the Congress and the BJP.
The UPA has been in power since 2004.
Court cases and poll controversies
The EC has come under further strain after the news channel NDTV broadcast recordings of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the leader of the Uttar Pradesh-based Samajwadi Party, making threatening and sexist remarks towards a district magistrate. The BJP has seized on the fact that the EC did not immediately make an investigation into the case as evidence of the organisation's dual standards. Mulayam was recently at the centre of controversy after appearing to distribute money at an election rally during the national festival of Holi.
Sensitivities are high throughout the country, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in court accused of using religious symbols in campaigning and the executive president of the Mumbai-based Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray, at risk of censure from the EC after comments made about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor, contesting from the electoral seat of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, is also due to appear in court after allegations that he disrespected the national anthem by placing his hand over his heart as it was sung at a recent event.
Meanwhile, a recent survey by National Election Watch, a group of over 1,200 NGOs, found that 29 candidates from various parties in the forthcoming elections had criminal records. Trilochan Sastry, the founder of the group, said that records were not available for all candidates and that the actual number could be higher than this.
