The Big Story
The protest against the Centre’s three farm laws is back in the spotlight. On Saturday, farmers tried to block Haryana BJP leaders from reaching a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. They could not stop their vehicles but managed to show black flags and raise slogans. Later, when they refused to lift the highway blockade, the police charged at themand left several farmers injured.
Meanwhile, a video clip of a sub-divisional Magistrate instructing policemen to beat up protestersand not to let anyone breach the security cordon without a broken head has gone viral on social media.
Only in the Express
P Chidambaram writes on the Centres plan to monetise state-owned assets: “It was as if India had attained Independence only in May 2014. On August 23, 2021, the Finance Minister released a list of assets that were proposed to be monetised. However, she failed to disclose when those assets were built.”
From the Front Page
An August 16 statement, signed off by India, which is the President of the UNSC for this month, has dropped a reference to the Taliban in what is being seen as the first signal by the international community that the Taliban may no longer be a global outcast.
Delivering the Sixth Chief Justice M C Chagla Memorial Online Lecture, Supreme Court judge Justice D Y Chandrachud said one cannot only rely on the State to determine the truth. He said speaking truth to power is a right and the duty of every citizen and the way to achieve this is by strengthening public institutions.
In what is being framed as nationalism that is very different terms from the divisive version of the BJPs, Aam Aadmi Party leaders will take out a Tiranga Yatra September 14 in Ayodhya with likely pitstops at the Ram Lalla temple and, en route to it, at Hanumangarhi.
Must Read
In a first for India, Paralympic table tennis player Bhavina Patel beat World No. 3 Chinas Miao Zhang at Tokyo to assure India a historic silver medal and a very good shot at the gold. But her journey to the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, the pinnacle of athletic success, has been far from easy. Despite being afflicted with polio as a toddler and using crutches ever since, Bhavina has always wanted to do it all, her husband toldThe Indian Express.
A complete bandh was observed across Ladakh on Saturday, as its residents and leaders demanded statehood and constitutional safeguards under 6th Schedule of the Constitution. Soon after, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai held three-hour talks with local leaders of Leh and Kargil districts.
At first glance, Pappu ki Dukan, a tea shop hidden in the twisty lanes of Banaras, is not much to look at small and ill-lit, with a couple of smudged tables and benches. But despite its austere exterior, the tea shop is at the centre of the citys thriving culture of debate and banter. At Pappus tea shop, during elections and in between them, you will always find a political conversation you can join or poke, no matter what your own politics may be. But things are changing.
And Finally
Long before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan this month, there was a Kabul that was a city of dreamers and poets, kite flyers and children trudging to school. In the mainstream media, the events of last week appear as a sudden shift. But in reality, Kabul changed a long time ago. For years, many voices tried to tell us this moment was coming. We get a glimpse of that old city and its people, once brimming with hope, through the eyes of a former resident.
Until tomorrow,
Leela Prasad G and Rahel Philiposeread more
Daily Briefing: Farmer protests flare up again in Haryana; UNSC drops Taliban reference in line on terror
