The Evening Wrap: U.S. Senator concerned over democracy in India

The Hindu Newsletter - The biggest news stories from today [logo] The Evening Wrap Thursday | 18 March, 2021 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( U.S. Senator asks Secretary of Defence to raise concerns over eroding democratic values in India Saying the Indian government is moving away from democratic values, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez has written to the U.S. Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, [asking him to raise concerns about democracy and India’s purchase of the S-400 Russian missile defence system]( during his visit to New Delhi. Austin is expected to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and senior national security officials between March 19 and 21 when he is in New Delhi. “I would like to see the U.S.-India partnership grow, but we must acknowledge that the partnership is strongest when based on shared democratic values and the Indian government has been trending away from those values,” Menendez says in the letter dated March 17. [Bob Menendez] “I also expect that you will raise the administration’s opposition to India’s reportedly planned purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system,” he writes. Among his concerns, Menendez cites a crackdown on journalists and critics of the Indian government, the government’s handling of the farmer protests, the use of sedition laws, and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). “The Indian government’s ongoing crackdown on farmers peacefully protesting new farming laws and corresponding intimidation of journalists and government critics only underscores the deteriorating situation of democracy in India,” Menendez says. “Moreover, in recent years, rising anti-Muslim sentiment and related government actions like the Citizenship Amendment Act, the suppression of political dialogue and arrest of political opponents following the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, and the use of sedition laws to persecute political opponents have resulted in the U.S. human rights group Freedom House stripping India of its ‘Free’ status in its yearly global survey,” he says. India’s purchase of S-400 for just under $5.5 billion could attract sanctions under a 2017 law, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) act. While India is not a treaty ally of the U.S. and is increasing its purchase of U.S. arms – mitigating circumstances as per U.S. law – the Menendez letter suggests that sanctions are still, an option as India is expected to take delivery of the S-400 later this year. It reads, “India’s planned purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system is also a matter of concern. I recognise that India is not a U.S. treaty ally and has historical ties with the Soviet and Russian militaries. However, if India chooses to go forward with its purchase of the S-400, that act will clearly constitute a significant, and therefore sanctionable, transaction with the Russian defense sector under Section 231 of CAATSA.” Menendez also asks Austin to “make clear” to New Delhi that all areas of India-U.S. cooperation are contingent on India’s adherence to democratic values. [underlineimg] Former CEA Arvind Subramanian resigns from Ashoka University after P.B. Mehta’s exit Former Chief Economic Advisor [Arvind Subramanian has resigned from his position as professor at Ashoka University](. In his resignation letter, Subramanian said he had been “devastated” by “the circumstances involving the ‘resignation’ of Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta two days earlier. “That someone of such integrity and eminence, who embodied the vision underlying Ashoka, felt compelled to leave is troubling,” he wrote in his letter to Vice-Chancellor Malabika Sarkar. “That even Ashoka — with its private status and backing by private capital — can no longer provide a space for academic expression and freedom is ominously disturbing. Above all, that the University’s commitment to fight for and sustain the Ashoka vision is now open to question makes it difficult for me to continue being part of Ashoka,” Prof. Subramanian added. His email was shared with members of the university’s economics faculty. Subramanian added, “I am acutely aware of the broader context in which Ashoka and its trustees have to operate, and have so far admired the University for having navigated it so well.” The university’s student newspaper The Edict reported that in Mehta’s email to his students, he said that “after discussions with the university about prevailing circumstances, it became clear to me that it was best to move on.” The paper also elaborated on the circumstances surrounding Mehta’s exit. “A source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told The Edict that the resignation of Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta was endorsed by the Founders of the University,” said an article. “This endorsement, according to a senior faculty member with whom our source spoke, was motivated by an understanding that if Prof. Mehta resigned, the University’s efforts to acquire a new plot of land to expand the campus would get much smoother. Additionally, formal recognition for the fourth-year post-graduate diploma, Ashoka Scholars’ Program, was also hinted at as being part of the deal,” the article added. A group of Ashoka University students “concerned by the abrupt resignation” of Mehta plan to hold a physical protest on campus this afternoon. “In light of the silence regarding this matter, a few of us are planning to gather in the atrium area today at 1:30 pm to register our protest with the university administration,” said an email to the student community, urging them to show up in large numbers, but maintain social distancing and wear masks. Students, faculty and alumni are also gathering signatures for a letter to the University leadership asking for answers, said a faculty member who did not wish to be named. A town hall meeting has been planned with the Vice Chancellor at 6 pm, to ask the founders of the University to explain their position. [underlineimg] Sexual assault: Supreme Court sets aside M.P. High Court’s ‘rakhi’ order The [Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court order]( asking a suspected sex offender to visit his victim at her home and [allow her to tie a ‘rakhi’ on him as a condition for his bail](. A Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar issued a slew of directions meant to sensitise the judiciary in cases concerning offences committed against women. Even a single utterance by a judge trivialising the sexual offence committed against a woman will show the judge's lack of fairness. Comments like "she did not behave like an Indian woman" or remarks about a victim's chastity or that she had previously consented to a sexual act diminishes the trauma of the victim, the Bench held in its judgment. It also likened the Madhya Pradesh High Court order to transforming a molestor into a brother by judicial mandate. The court had earlier sought the views of Attorney General K.K. Venugopal on the issue of courts imposing bail conditions for sex crime offenders which end up further harassing their victims. The judgment was based on a petition filed by nine women lawyers challenging the High Court bail order. The nine lawyers, led by advocate Aparna Bhat and represented by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, had said the High Court order was a “trivialisation of her [victim’s] trauma”. Parikh had argued that there were many such instances of court orders which objectify women already traumatised by the crimes committed against them. The law prescribes the victim to be kept far away from the accused. Instead, the High Court had ordered the accused to visit the home of the woman — the very place where the crime was alleged to have occurred. The petition said the High Court had also ordered the accused to gift the woman ₹11,000 “as a customary ritual usually offered by brothers to sisters on such occasion and shall also seek her blessings”. The High Court had also ordered the accused to offer ₹5,000 to the woman’s son for the “purchase of clothes and sweets”. Parikh had argued that such orders only succeeded in further victimising women and retard the years of work done to sensitise the courts about how damaging it would be to attempt a compromise “by way of marriage or mediation between the accused and the survivor”. [underlineimg] Supreme Court to hear on March 24 plea against sale of electoral bonds Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde agreed with advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday to urgently hear [a plea by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms to stay the sale of a new set of electoral bonds]( on April 1, before Assembly elections in crucial States such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Responding to an urgent mentioning made by Bhushan via video-conferencing, Chief Justice Bobde said the matter would require a detailed hearing and posted the case for March 24. Bhushan said the RBI and the Election Commission had both said the sale of electoral bonds had become an avenue for shell corporations and entities to park illicit money and even proceeds of bribes with political parties. “Every time there is an election, the sale is opened. Every time this happens, we have moved the Supreme Court to stay it,” Bhushan submitted. “But hasn’t stay been refused earlier?” Chief Justice Bobde asked. [ A sample of the electoral bond issued by the SBI. Photo: Special Arrangement ] “Not so, but parties had been asked to submit records in sealed cover... But a proper stay has to be considered. There are two documents from the RBI and the Election Commission that say the electoral bonds scheme is detrimental to democracy,” Bhushan replied. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Chief Justice that Attorney General K.K. Venugopal would be appearing in the case. The NGO, also represented by advocate Neha Rathi, has voiced serious apprehensions that the sale of electoral bonds before elections in poll-bound States would “further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies”. “Data obtained through RTI has shown that illegal sale windows have been opened in the past to benefit certain political parties... There is a serious apprehension that any further sale of electoral bonds before the upcoming State elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam would further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies,” the NGO submitted. [underlineimg] Pakistan Army chief calls for better relations with India Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Thursday that [it was time for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward”]( as he asserted that peace between the two neighbours would help to “unlock” the potential of South and Central Asia. Addressing a session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue in Islamabad, Gen. Bajwa also said that the potential for regional peace and development always remained hostage to the disputes and issues between Pakistan and India, the two “nuclear-armed neighbours”. “We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward,” he said, adding that the responsibility for a meaningful dialogue rested with India. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 1,15,09,362 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,61,742. India today [reported its highest single day spike in new Covid-19 cases this year](, with 35,871 cases and 172 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per data released by the Health Ministry. [underlineimg] Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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