Violence against Dalits in Maharashtra is not new but Dalit reaction to it is changing; A forgotten memorial gives Indian soldiers their due; and more

[View this email in your browser]( Top Story [Ignore Rural Anger at Your Own Peril]( V. Rajagopal [The years 2018 and 2019 are going to be hectic with elections scheduled for some state assemblies and to parliament. The issues that confront the citizens are many, ranging from financial to livelihood, farm operations to health and education to rural development. The performance of the governments, central and state, on overall governance will be put to rigorous test. The recently concluded assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh added new dimensions to the electoral fight with political parties projecting the problems being faced by the electorate. The lessons to be learnt are many from the results, which reflected the mood of the people across the two states. The much acclaimed development plank in Gujarat has started crumbling, exemplified by the decline in the number of votes, notwithstanding the vote shares. What caused the voters to opt either for the opposition party or to prefer NOTA that embarrassed the incumbent BJP government?]( [These Feisty Hunters Will Surprise You With What They Can Bring Down]( Janaki Lenin [In a coordinated attack, yellow-throated martens can bring down rhesus macaques, mouse deer, musk deer, barking deer, langur, even Himalayan tahr. Whence their gumption?]( [‘We Don’t Know What Will Happen to Bilal Ahead of January 26’]( Majid Maqbool [The family of Kashmiri trader Bilal Kawa, recently arrested in New Delhi for his alleged involvement in the Red Fort terror attack, says he’s innocent and was framed.]( [A Pakistani Spy and Lord Hanuman Walk Into an Aadhaar Centre. What Does the UIDAI Do?]( Anand Venkatanarayanan [Do Mehmood Akhtar and a Hindu god really get LPG cylinders delivered to them? Does the government have the institutional capacity to stamp out the problem created by its flawed enrolment ecosystem?]( [Medical College Bribery Scam: CBI Tapes Talk of ‘Prasad’ for ‘Temple’ in Delhi, Allahabad]( Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta [To get favourable verdict, “prasad will be needed. We will give the prasad. We have to give the prasad”, say conspirators accused of bribing public functionaries.]( [Violence Against Dalits in Maharashtra Is Not New, but Dalit Reaction to It Is Changing]( Sumeet Mhaskar [While the state’s approach in dealing with Dalit protest has not changed, the success of Dalits in pitching their issues at the centre stage of the national agenda has created new political and social possibilities.]( [A Forgotten Memorial That Gives Indian Soldiers of Yore Their Due]( Lt Gen K.J. Singh (Retd) [We have an obligation to those whose valour and heroism deserves recognition even if they fought and died as part of a war that was not India’s.]( [Interview: Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on the SC Judges’ Press Conference]( Karan Thapar [An interview with former Union Minister of Law and Justice Ashwani Kumar about the unprecedented press conference by the four Supreme Court Justices, its implications and repercussions.]( Copyright © 2018 The Wire, All rights reserved. You're getting this email because you recently subscribed to receive email digests from The Wire via our website. Our mailing address is: The Wire 13, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg Gole MarketNew Delhi 110001 India [Add us to your address book](//thewire.us11.list-manage.com/vcard?u=6b988b13445248b1268a308f2&id=4808224841) Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](