FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW | SILIGURI Controlled politics in the meme age Authority tested WORLD Trump threatens Iran with economic pressure as talks stall Page 7 Page 10 Page 6 Vande Mataram row: Shah asks people to unite against Congress New Delhi, 20 August T J’khand HC stays cancellation of JPSC appointments SHASHI SINGH to the first two stanzas. With the Congress taking this stance and Mr Shah stepping in, the issue surrounding the national song is all set to become a major flashpoint between the BJP and Congress, say observers. The Congress has sought to frame the BJP’s campaign as the politicisation of national symbols with senior Congress leader K C Venugopal accusing the BJP of turning Vande Mataram and the national anthem into political issues Page 12 Five-member panel to probe Jantar Mantar clashes STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE to digress people’s attention from issues bothering the BJP such as the students unrest and the Ram Mandir donation theft. Launching a scathing attack, Mr Shah, meanwhile, warned of the consequences of the Congress’ earlier decision to “divide the national song” and accused the party of insulting not only its writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay but also “lakhs of martyrs who laid down their lives, and went to the gallows raising the slogan of Vande Mataram” during the freedom struggle. “In 1937, it was the Congress itself that split Vande Mataram into two parts for the sake of appeasement. That move strengthened the two-nation theory and eventually contributed to the partition of the country,” Mr Shah said. He added that the Modi government had “corrected this historic mistake” on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram by giving the complete song legal status, accusing the Congress, under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, of once again following the path of appeasement for electoral gains. BJP president Nitin Nabin also accused the Congress of formalising what he called the “insult” to Vande Mataram during its Independence Day celebrations in Delhi into a party resolution. The BJP’s attack escalated following allegations that senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had objected to the full rendition of Vande Mataram at the party’s Independence Day event. A video showed Mrs Gandhi gesturing and speaking to a party worker while the song was being played. It was not clear what she was saying, but the BJP alleged that she was attempting to stop the full rendition. The CWC that followed said the Congress would sing only the first two stanzas at its function. “There is no confusion” about the Congress’ position, Mr Venugopal said, adding that the party would abide by decisions taken by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel to limit the rendition to the first two stanzas. Mr Venugopal also accused the BJP of treating Vande Mataram and the national anthem as “political issues”. • Related report: Page 5 Former Supreme Court judge Justice R Subhash Reddy will head a five-member High-Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC) constituted by the top court to investigate allegations of police excesses during the students’ march from Jantar Mantar towards Parliament on 20 July. The other members of the panel include Punjab & Haryana High Court Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court judge Justice Shalinder Kaur, former Central Bureau of Investigation Director Rishi Kumar Shukla, and former Meghalaya DGP, Dr L R Bishnoi. The Supreme Court said in its order that the constitution of the HPEC “shall in no way deter or debar the police authorities or other security forces from taking administrative or disciplinary action against such of their officers as may be found to be in contravention of the rules governing their conduct”. The issues identified for investigation by the committee include allegations of excessive force, including pellet guns, electric batons, lathi charges and tear gas, as well as the question whether police responses were proportionate to the constitutional right to peaceful protest. It will also examine whether police/security personnel were properly identifiable through uniforms and nameplates. Issues relating to alleged harassment and molestation of women protesters, the provision for medical assistance and compensation for injured protesters, the use of prohibitory orders under Section 163 BNSS and whether Section 152 BNSS was used in a manner that could suppress peaceful political dissent will also be examined by the panel. In its order delivered on Tuesday, a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant directed the HPEC to look into “the use of excessive force and violence against protestors by police authorities and other agencies, including the deployment of pellet guns, electric batons, lathi charges, and tear gas without adequate warning or proportionality, resulting in severe bodily harm and injuries, some of which are alleged to be of a grievous and lasting nature”. The committee will also look into the necessity of ensuring that police and security personnel wear proper uniforms and visible nameplates at the time of effecting arrests or using force during crowd control operations, so as to secure accountability and enable the identification of individual officers. India, Japan agree to deepen Delhi Master Plan 2047 focuses on the maritime security cooperation all-round development, housing for all Ranchi, 20 August The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday stayed, until further orders, the state government’s decision to cancel appointments made through the 11th to 13th JPSC Civil Services examinations and directed that the affected selected candidates be taken back into service. Justice Deepak Roshan passed the order while hearing three separate petitions challenging the government's August 18 notification cancelling the appointments. The court observed that the selected candidates could not be removed without following due process and the principles of natural justice. It sought responses from the state government and the Jharkhand Public Service Commission and fixed 15 September for the next hearing. Two petitions challenge the cancellation of the 11th to 13th JPSC Civil Services examinations and of the appointments made on their basis, while the third concerns the recruitment of Food Safety Officers. According to the petitioners, 342 candidates selected through the 11th to 13th JPSC examinations are currently in government service. One of the petitioners, Sonam Kumari, submitted that she had left another job to join the Jharkhand government service and received her appointment letter on 24 November 2025. The state government had cancelled the examinations and appointments following investigations into alleged irregularities and the role of TDPL in the examination process. The action was part of a wider decision announced by the government on 18 August following a prolonged student agitation over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations. 10-day preparation time definitely helped a lot: Manav Suthar after Galle win New Delhi, 20 August VIBHA SHARMA he political slugfest over Vande Mataram intensified on Thursday with Union Home Minister Amit Shah leading the BJP’s attack against the Congress over its decision to recite only the first two stanzas of the national song at party events. Quoting the Congress Working Committee’s (CWC) decision, Mr Shah accused the Congress of taking an “anti-national decision” and appealed to people to unite against its “politics of appeasement”. The BJP would take the issue to the streets, he also said. On Wednesday, the Congress’s highest decision-making body cited a 1937 CWC resolution to argue that great leaders of the freedom movement, such as Mahatma Gandhi, had backed limiting the public rendition of Vande Mataram Friday, 21 August 2026 SPORTS PERSPECTIVE EDITORIAL | STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 20 August India and Japan on Thursday agreed to further deepen defence and maritime security cooperation, including information sharing on Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), joint exercises, naval logistics and ship repair, as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi held bilateral talks in the national capital. The two ministers signed a Memorandum of Arrangement (MoA) on Maritime Security Cooperation between the Ministry of Defence of Japan and the Ministry of Defence of India, providing a framework for strengthening operational cooperation between the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the Indian Navy. According to the joint press statement issued after the meeting, the MoA envisages enhanced cooperation in MDA, Search and Rescue (SAR) and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). The two sides also agreed to strengthen coordination for protecting sea lines of communication through mutual visits by naval ships and units, joint exercises, personnel and subject matter expert exchanges, and logistical support, including access to ports and maintenance and repair facilities. The ministers stressed the need to move swiftly towards concrete maritime security 1984 anti-Sikh riots convict Sajjan Kumar dies at 80 PARWINDER SANDHU New Delhi, 20 August Former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar, who was serving a life sentence in connection with cases arising from the 1984 anti-Sikh violence, died at the age of 80 in Delhi on Thursday. Kumar was taken from Tihar Jail to Safdarjung Hospital after his condition deteriorated and was declared brought dead, according to hospital sources. Kumar’s death marks the end of a political career that took him from Delhi’s municipal politics to the Lok Sabha before his association with the 1984 violence resulted in a series of prolonged legal battles, convictions and imprisonment. Born on 23 September 1945, Kumar entered politics in Delhi in the 1970s. He was elected to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 1977 and later became General Secretary of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee. He emerged as an influential Congress figure in the capital and was associated with the political circle around Sanjay Gandhi. Kumar entered Parliament after winning the Outer Delhi Lok Sabha seat in 1980. He returned to the Lok Sabha from the constituency in 1991 and again in 2004, making him a three-time member of Parliament. The trajectory of his political career changed dramatically following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards. cooperation that meets strategic and operational requirements. They also agreed to explore enhanced mine-countermeasure capabilities and the possibility of joint development in naval shipbuilding and design by leveraging Japan's technological expertise and India's production capabilities. The two sides further agreed to explore greater use of India's defence production capabilities under the "Make in India" framework and deepen discussions on Japan's use of Indian manufacturing capacity in defence shipbuilding and related sectors. They also concurred on progressing reciprocal provision of ship repair facilities, including working towards a ship repair arrangement in the near future. India and Japan welcomed the steady expansion of bilateral military exercises, including the Army exercise Dharma Guardian and the maritime exercise JAIMEX. AGRAJ PRATAP SINGH New Delhi, 20 August A Master Plan 2047 for the national capital was unveiled on Thursday by Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, and minister Ashish Sood. The master plan has been prepared keeping in mind the growing population of the city, with an emphasis on planned development to improve overall quality of life and better housing for all. The master plan has been prepared after extensive consultation with experts, citizens, and stake holders concerned, Mr Lal said, adding that housing for all and construction of around 40 lakh homes are key features of the plan to ensure that people have a place to live with dignity, especially, the poor. (Photo: Subrata Dutta) The transportation aspect has been kept in mind while drawing up the plan to ensuire smooth traffic flow in the city, envisioning the expansion of the Delhi Metro network to more than 650 km from the present 416 km. There is a provision for the redevelopment of older areas and also houses and flats that are very old and need to be reconstructed. “The colonies will be encouraged to adopt a redevelopment policy on the lines of the in-situ redevelopment policy by registering RWAs to convert them into habitable areas,” Mr Lal said. There have been relaxations on older guidelines based on the area in a bid to promote economic activities and land use. He said restrictions on height of buildings are going to be relaxed except for some areas which are sensitive from security point of view. Speaking on the occasion, LG Sandhu said that aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of ‘Sapt-Dhara’, the MPD-2047 lays a robust roadmap for vertical growth, transit-oriented development, quality housing, knowledge, education and medical hubs, while preserving Delhi’s rich cultural heritage. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said under the coordination of Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Sandhu, the Delhi government will decisively advance the resolve for a developed Delhi by turning this vision into reality. From villages to unauthorised colonies, from old residential colonies to market areas, this Master Plan encompasses the needs of every resident and the concerns of the future. Ms Gupta said amid the challenges of a growing population, transportation, and pollution, the plan is a resolve to prepare the national capital in an organised, and future-ready manner. New pathways for redevelopment will open with increased Floor Area Ratio (FAR). Government proposes campus outreach as Rahul Gandhi seeks to turn Gen Z’s anger into political constituency STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 20 August Amid student protests across the country, the Narendra Modi government is planning what could be easily be its most extensive outreach in the politically critical Gen Z ~ a group whose support would be shaping the narrative in the elections to come. The proposed initiative~ said to be ‘One Day, One University’ ~ comes amid heightened student mobilisation over various issues, as also the government’s emphasis on youth-focused measures relating to employment, skills and education. According to UGC figures there are around 57 central universities, 522 state universities, 161 deemed-to-be universities and 560 private universities in the country ~ a huge young audience with a mind of its own. The timing is interesting. The proposal comes at a time when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been successfully interacting with students listening to their grievances ~ particularly exam paper leaks, unemployment and the treatment of protesters. In the just concluded Monsoon Session, the Opposition led by Rahul Gandhi also successfully managed to stall the proceedings over the government’s handling of Jantar Mantar protests. There is no official list on which institutions will be covered or in which order. but the plan to send ministers to directly interact with youngsters is creating substantial political buzz. Sources say the BJP wants to rebuild direct contact with Gen Z. Ministers will go to campuses, allow students to question them and hear concerns about jobs, education, skills and opportunities. The programme will also give the government a direct insight into their concerns and perspectives on issues facing the country. Apparently the plan was discussed at a Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Education Minister Pralhad Joshi and Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya were tasked with coordinating the initiative, including preparing university-wise lists and assigning ministers. The rollout schedule, participating universities and ministerial assignments are still being finalised, say sources. The meetings can be in the form of open-house sessions rather than one-way addresses. Ministers may also seek students’ views on broader national issues and explain government programmes targeting young people and students. Mr Joshi took charge of the Education Ministry after former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned amid student protests over the NEET-UG paper leak controversy.