"Brightness of my memories ought to be left with me" .... ::: Pathos follow poets ... in more ways than one :: Check this ... Urdu poet Bashir Badr's unpublished literary works were "lost during 987 Meerut communal riots" :::

Riots and diplomacy may do different things to different people.

He wrote a popular couplet titled 'Dushmani Jam Kar Karo' in 1972.

This was around the time; Indira Gandhi and Z A Bhutto worked on the Shimla Agreement.

Most of Badr's unpublished literary works, including an uncertain number of poems was lost during the 1987 Meerut communal riots, and later he moved to Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.  

Bashir Badr (born Syed Muhammad Bashir; 15 February 1935 at Ayodhya expired on 28th May 2026) in Bhopal. 

The veteran poet, who was living with dementia for many years, breathed his last at his home in Bhopal. 

An wordsmith he wrote sarcastically - 

दुश्मनी जम कर करो लेकिन ये गुंजाइश रहे

जब कभी हम दोस्त हो जाएँ तो शर्मिंदा न हों

(Dushmani jam kar karo ... lekin yeh gunjaish rahe ....

(Be enemies to each other fiercely; but keep it mind; when you become FRIENDS; either of you do not feel ashamed of past conduct.) 

This certainly goes well for Indo-Pak ties.  

He taught Urdu at the Aligarh Muslim University and primarily wrote in the Urdu language particularly ghazals.  

He started writing poems at the age of seven. He wrote some collections of ghazals titled 

Ikai, Kulliyate Bashir Badr, Aamad, Image, Aahat and Devanagari script ghazals titled Ujale Apni Yadon Ke. 

He wrote books -- titled -- Azadi Ke Bad Urdu Ghazal Ka Tanqidi Mutala (Critical study of Urdu ghazal after independence) and 

Biswin Sadi Mein Ghazal (Ghazals in 20th century) focused on literary criticism.

He also served at the Bihar Urdu Academy as a chairman.

 

A popular radio show 'Ujaale Apni Yaadon Ke' on Vividh Bharti derives its title from one of Badr's most popular sher. 

ujāle apnī yādoñ ke hamāre saath rahne do na jaane 

kis galī meñ  ... zindagī kī shaam ho jaaen 

(The brightness of my memories ought to be left with me ..... 

otherwise in certain turns and twists of life; the Life may reach its twilight hours

The 2015 film 'Masaan' contains various examples of poetry and shaayari by Basheer Badr, along with works by Akbar Allahabadi, Chakbast, Mirza Ghalib and Dushyant Kumar.

Explaining this as a conscious tribute, the film's lyrics writer Varun Grover explained that he wanted to show the character of Shaalu (played by Shweta Tripathi) as a person whose hobby is to read Hindi poetry and shaayari, as this is a common hobby of Millennial and Generation X youngsters in Northern India, especially when in love.

However; this aspect is rarely shown in Hindi films. 

Actor Vicky Kaushal's 'Masaan' (2015) established him as an unconventional actor.

Even though the film had a serious theme, Kaushal stood out for his grounded and nuanced portrayal as Deepak Kumar. 

The film makes a good presentation of issues like caste discrimination, 

patriarchy, misogyny and heartbreak in a society divided by orthodox norms.  

"For me, for my mother, and for all his loved ones, it is a very painful day. His poetry is poetry of love and life. 'Ujaale unki yaddon ke'.... This couplet is a representation of his life; it is his trademark," his son Syed Badr said.

"I would like all of you to celebrate this," he maintained adding that his father withdrew from public after his memory started failing him.

"He had dementia and had not been part of any mushaira (gathering of poets) for the past 10 years. 

That was his conscious decision because he was a showman... That is why he retired from mushairas when he realised that his memory was weakening, and he had not been active in writing or public life for quite some time. 

But the impact of his couplets and verses on the world has its own life," the son added.

ends 

Throws up googly for Rahul ::: Congress veteran Siddaramaiah confirms he "declined" an offer to move to Rajya Sabha ::: He is also opposed to giving chief ministership to Shivakumar

 Siddaramaiah has resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka after informing his Cabinet colleagues of his decision during a breakfast meeting hosted at his official residence earlier in the day. 

Though Siddaramaiah is said to have opposed D K Shivakumar's candidature as his successor, the Congress high command is learnt to have finalised on giving the latter his due. 

Siddaramaiah was keen that his successor should be a Dalit, with Home Minister G Parameshwara reportedly as his choice.

“I’ll continue in active politics. I have no interest in national politics,” outgoing CM Siddaramaiah said, dismissing speculation that the Congress high command could accommodate him in Delhi.

He later held a joint press conference with Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar amid dramatic political developments in the state. Karnataka witnessed a major political transition on Thursday as Siddaramaiah stepped down from the Chief Minister’s post, paving the way for Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to take over the top job.  

Soon after submitting his resignation as chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah on Thursday made it clear that his political journey was far from over, declaring that he would remain active in state politics and had no interest in shifting to a national role.

Addressing reporters after submitting his resignation, the veteran Congress leader revealed that he had declined an offer to move to the Rajya Sabha, signalling his intent to stay rooted in Karnataka politics despite stepping down from the top post. 

“I was also asked about the Rajya Sabha. I declined it. I want to remain in Karnataka politics,” he said.

Siddaramaiah made it clear that his resignation followed directions from the Congress leadership. "I’ve told you all many times, when high command asks me to resign, I will resign," he said.

"Two days back, high command asked me to step down. I told them I’ll resign today. Hence I’ve resigned," he added. 

D K Shivakumar has been in the race for the chief minister since 2018-19. He is a Vokkaliga leader and Siddaramaiah - an OBC. 

Siddaramaiah belongs to the Kuruba Gowda community, which is a traditional shepherding caste and the third-largest numerically significant caste in Karnataka (after the Lingayats and Vokkaligas). 

Kurubas are classified as an Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state.  

In his third year of governance since 2023, Siddaramaiah had been planning to go in for a Cabinet restructure. 

Over 30 debutant Congress MLAs had petitioned the party high command recently for Cabinet berths during the proposed reshuffle.

Parting shot ::: Siddaramiah's quiet revenge on successor DKS and Rahul Gandhi ... just before quitting ::::: "Especially the backward classes will go against the Congress", says former CM and BJP leader Basavaraj

Siddaramiah's quiet revenge on successor DKS and Rahul Gandhi

Just before stepping down as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah decided to accept a caste census report, pending since November 2025. 

With this, he is leaving a ticking bomb for his successor, DK Shivakumar, and for Rahul Gandhi.  

The report on the first caste survey (commonly referred to as caste census) in Karnataka has been ready since 2017, Siddaramaiah's previous term as the chief minister. 

After returning to power in 2023, Siddaramaiah ordered a fresh caste survey, whose report was ready in 2025.  

Political observers believe Siddaramaiah is attempting to leave office after firmly stamping his image as Karnataka's foremost backward-class leader. 

But by accepting the report at this moment, he has also ensured that the burden of handling its consequences shifts entirely to DK Shivakumar.

KARNATAKA'S TRYST WITH TWO CASTE SURVEYS

Karnataka has conducted two caste surveys in the last nine years, both with Siddaramaiah at the helm in the state.

The Karnataka government under Siddaramaiah's first term as CM conducted a caste survey, led by H Kantharaj, and was completed and ready by 2017, but remained unimplemented for years due to political sensitivities, opposition from dominant castes like Lingayats and Vokkaligas, and technical issues such as missing original records and unsigned documents.

Successive governments, including the JD(S)-Congress and the BJP governments, avoided tabling the report amid fears of backlash over the survey's findings.

 On Karnataka CM row, BJP MP & former CM, 

Basavaraj S Bommai says, "...It will have impact on Congress party as well as in electoral politics of Karnataka. 

Especially the backward classes will go against the Congress and it is a betrayal of backward classes by Congress party, especially Rahul Gandhi. He has been campaigning for OBC and has removed a OBC Chief Minister himself. 

His crocodile tears for backward class has been exposed...They are disappointed and are reacting very sharply and saying that they are going to teach a lesson in the next general election at 2028...".  

BJP MP & former CM, Basavaraj S Bommai says, "...Siddaramaiah, after completing his seven and half years almost eight years now he is resigning...From day one the date was fixed for period sharing between Siddaramaiah and D. K. Shivakumar and D. K. Shivakumar was making it very clear from day one that he is going to take over after 50% of the term. 

He was edging him out in every day and every possible occasion. 

Siddaramaiah did not have a period of peaceful governance. 

Because of the mismanagement of the finances and difference of opinion, the governance was totally zero. Administration was totally failed as well as development was not to be seen and the debt of the government has increased four times. 

Karnataka has been pushed back nearly 20 years because of the misrule of Congress and infighting of Congress especially between Siddaramaiah and D. K. Shivakumar for last three years". 

ends 

India, UAE are building the world's next power corridor !!

 How India, UAE are building the world's next power corridor

PM Narendra Modi's visit to Abu Dhabi came in the backdrop of the two nations quietly assembling a strategic architecture for a fractured world  

Successive Indian governments deferred filling even existing capacity against competing fiscal priorities while consumption skyrocketed from 158 million metric tonnes in 2013-14 to 239 million metric tonnes in 2023-24. 

A parliamentary standing committee as recently as March 2026 urged the government to reach the 90-day benchmark, a target that has remained aspirational for decades.

The Middle East has rarely felt this unstable. Gaza bleeds. Houthi drones circle over Red Sea shipping lanes. The Strait of Hormuz—that narrow stretch through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows daily—sits permanently on the edge, hostage to the slow-motion confrontation between Iran and the US-Israel axis.

Oil prices lurch. Container routes are being changed. And the geopolitical map of West Asia, redrawn by the Arab Spring and the Abraham Accords, is shifting yet again under the weight of the ongoing conflict.

Amidst these volatile circumstances, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the United Arab Emirates, and what he is building there is anything but routine diplomacy. 

For most of the past half century, India’s relationship with the Gulf was essentially a bargain of convenience: crude oil, remittances and millions of Indian workers shuttling between the two worlds.  

That bargain served both sides adequately. But it was never a strategy. Today, that is precisely what India and the UAE are constructing—a strategic corridor spanning energy, defence, maritime industry, sovereign capital and artificial intelligence, designed to give both nations resilience in an uncertain era.  

The foundation beneath these developments is the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement already signed between the two countries, which has pushed bilateral trade to record levels and created the commercial infrastructure within which this deeper strategic partnership is being built.

Begin with oil, because oil is where everything in this region ultimately begins. India is the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil, importing close to 90 per cent of what it burns. Half of that comes from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE, all of it passing through the Strait of Hormuz. That single chokepoint is the daily reality underpinning the Indian economy right now.

Against that exposure, India’s strategic oil reserves are a study in inadequacy: three underground caverns at Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur, covering only 9.5 days of crude oil requirement at full capacity, and currently filled to just 64 per cent, covering five days.

Japan holds over 200 days of oil reserves, China over 100. The International Energy Agency (IEA) recommends 90 days. The United States held 413 million barrels as of late last year. India’s entire stockpile fits inside that number more than 10 times over.  

The two sides also committed to establishing strategic gas reserves inside India, beginning to address the country’s near-total absence of any gas equivalent to its petroleum buffer. 

The West Asia region has already faced Iran’s barrages of missiles and drones, intercepted by UAE air defence systems, a reminder that the threats animating these agreements are not hypothetical. Modi’s formal declaration during the visit in favour of unimpeded navigation through the Strait of Hormuz was, therefore, a statement on existential national interest.

Energy, however, is only the foundation. Built atop it is a maritime layer that reflects a sharper strategic ambition. The memorandum of understanding between Cochin Shipyard Limited and Drydocks World to develop a ship repair cluster at Gujarat’s Vadinar signals genuine intent to enter a global industry long dominated by China, South Korea and Japan.

India, despite 7,500 km of coastline astride major shipping lanes, has remained largely marginal to this ecosystem. That marginality is now becoming untenable. Maritime infrastructure is no longer merely commercial infrastructure. It is geopolitical infrastructure. 

China understood this early and built it relentlessly through the Gwadar, Hambantota and Djibouti ports. Its Belt and Road Initiative was, at its core, an infrastructure-power strategy.

ends

Most admit they had entered India "illegally through middlemen" ::::: Fear and uncertainty are unfolding at Hakimpur border in West Bengal :::: Carrying bags, blankets and identity cards, "Bangladeshis" now wait near the border, to cross back into own country

Carrying bags, blankets and identity documents, families who had spent years living in India now wait near the border, to cross back into their country.

A major reverse exodus has begun along the India-Bangladesh border. 

Hundreds of undocumented Bangladeshi nationals are lining up at exit points like the Bithari-Hakimpur border in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, seeking to return to Bangladesh. 

This follows intensified state-level crackdowns by the Suvendu Govt.

Such exercises and arrests have been carried out in cities like Ahmedabad and Surat, and there were reports of deportations via Tripura and Assam. 

Fear and uncertainty are unfolding at the Hakimpur border in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, where dozens of undocumented Bangladeshi migrants have gathered over the past two days seeking to return to Bangladesh. 

This comes amid growing pressure from authorities and the setting up of holding centres for illegal migrants across the state.

At the Hakimpur border outpost, police have set up a registration desk where details of those arriving are being recorded. 

Officials are verifying Bangladeshi documents and preparing a database before migrants are shifted to holding centres.  

According to officials on the ground, records of more than 350 Bangladeshis have already been prepared since Monday.

Around 50 to 60 people were present at the border on Wednesday, many of them from Kolkata’s New Town, Hatiyara, Khardah, Dum Dum and Dankuni areas. 

Most admitted they had entered India illegally through agents or middlemen over the years in search of work.

"We are poor people. That is why we came here," said Salam Dali, a carpenter who said he entered India from Khulna district in Bangladesh around five years ago after paying Rs 8,000-10,000 to a middleman. (India Today)  

"The government told us to leave because we do not have documents. So now we are leaving," he said while waiting near the border with his wife and child.

Several migrants said the atmosphere had changed sharply in recent months, with police visits, document checks and fear of detention forcing them to leave. Hidoy Mulla, a young man born in 2003 who claimed he grew up in Madhyamgram after his parents migrated from Bangladesh in 2001, said local police had repeatedly demanded proof of residence prior to 2002.

"I was born in 2003. My parents are completely uneducated. They don’t even know ABCD. How were they supposed to make documents?" he said.

Mulla said he possessed Aadhaar, PAN, ration card and school certificates, but his voter ID applications were rejected multiple times. "I grew up here. This culture is part of me. My parents feel they are returning to their country, but for us it feels like we are leaving our country and going to another country,' he said.

"What mistake did we make? The mistake was of our parents. They brought us here." He added that the family no longer had land or relatives to depend on in Bangladesh. "What will I do there? There is no friend circle, no future for me there," he said.

Among those gathered near the border -- a family from Khardah -- Mohammad Shamsur Rahaman, his wife Asiya Khatun and his brother Bilal -- they survived by begging on trains and streets in Kolkata.

"We are requesting the authorities to send us back immediately," Rahaman said. The family claimed they had lived in India for over a decade and had obtained Aadhaar and other documents while staying in the Khardah area.

Another migrant, Mohammad Ali Munshi, who claimed he was born in India after his father crossed the border decades ago, said fear and pressure had forced the family to leave.

ends 

30 lakh beneficiaries of dole ineligible: Suvendu flags irregularities in 'Mamata's Lakshmir Bhandar' scheme

30 lakh beneficiaries of dole ineligible: CM Suvendu flags irregularities in 'Mamata's Lakshmir Bhandar' scheme

Suvendu Adhikari said the government had received complaints that absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate electors, whose names had been permanently deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR and did not appeal before the tribunals or under the CAA, were availing of the benefits of the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme

"Initially, we planned to verify the list of Lakshmir Bhandar beneficiaries and start paying money to the women under the Annapurna Yojana. 

But we have received complaints that the names of lakhs of ineligible women were included in the list of beneficiaries. 

"Preliminarily, it appears that the figure could be around 30 lakh. The actual figure would become clear once the filled-in forms are returned,” the chief minister said while launching the application forms for the Annapurna Yojana.

"As many as 30 lakh ineligible people could be among around 2.21 crore women who receive monthly financial grants under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme" 

The chief minister said the government had received complaints that absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate electors, whose names had been permanently deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR and did not appeal before the tribunals or under the CAA, were availing of the benefits of the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme. 

Moreover, the list included lakhs of fictitious, non-existent, non-Indians and ineligible beneficiaries.

'This happened because of a lack of interest or effort to verify the applicants. 

We had to launch the forms so that we get a clean and error-free list of beneficiaries,” said the chief minister.

The form would be an elaborate one to get the details of the family of the beneficiaries so that more benefits under several other government schemes could be extended to the families.

Drama Queen of 2021 show - social media 

Priyanka Gandhi wanted Siddaramaiah to quit ::: Shocked 'chief minister' has reportedly declined a Rajya Sabha berth

 One version is more than Rahul Gandhi, it was his lawmaker sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who wanted Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah to quit. 

The Congress party is believed to have offered him a Rajya Sabha seat, but the veteran leader expressed no interest in shifting to national politics. 

Once told about Rahul's mind; K C Venugopal. Randeep Surjewala, and visibly surprised Siddaramaiah proceeded to the residence of Energy Minister K J George. 

Ministers close to him — Byrathi Suresh, H C Mahadevappa, and G Parameshwara — joined the gathering, where he disclosed that he had been asked to resign. For the chief minister, it was almost a shock. 

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah belongs to the Kuruba Gowda community, which is a traditional pastoral and shepherd community classified as an Other Backward Class (OBC). 

His background as a non-dominant OBC leader has heavily shaped his political identity as a champion of backward classes and AHINDA (a coalition of minorities, backward classes, and Dalits). 

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah did not start politics with Congress.

He spent a significant portion of his early political career with the Janata Dal factions. 

Before joining Congress in 2006, he served as the Secretary-General of the Janata Dal and was twice appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka while with the Janata Dal (Secular).

In 1994, he was elected as a Janata Dal MLA and served as the Finance Minister in the cabinet led by H D Deve Gowda. 

If Siddaramaiah now comes to Rajya Sabha; this may help the Congress retain 24 Akbar Road office. He has been promised a bigger role as OBC face for 2029 parliamentary polls.  

This at a time when Rahul Gandhi has aggressively sharpened the Congress’s social justice and caste census pitch across the country. 

The AICC president Malikarjun Kharge is the Dalit face - also from Karnataka. 

As KPCC chief, Shivakumar played a central role in rebuilding the Congress after its 2019 collapse, spearheading the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka and leading the party’s successful 2023 Assembly campaign. 

The organisational position will now become important in the event D K Shivakumar makes it as the chief minister. 

A Vokkaliga strongman from Old Mysore, Shivakumar likely to occupy the Chief Minister’s chair. Congress may look at appointing a fresh face as the second in command in the State Cabinet.

The Congress leadership in a crucial meeting in Delhi on May 26th said that the party now needed him in Delhi. 

Assembly elections in Karnataka are due by April-May 2028.   

 ends