Under Modi; India's ties with Italy has strengthened “in every way” -- MEA's big snub to Congress and Rahul Gandhi after Meloni remark

Arrogance and 'two dynasts' - one son of a former PM and another son of a former Delhi chief minister - Rahul Gandhi and Sandeep Dikshit left red-faced !!

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday called for mutual respect in diplomatic discourse after Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sandeep Dikshit made a reference to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The two opposition leaders made reference to Meloni while taking a dig Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India’s relationship with Italy had expanded and strengthened “in every way” in recent years, stressing that both sides must remain respectful of each other.  

“We have strong ties with Italy. Our ties with Italy in recent years have expanded and strengthened in every way, and it’s important that, as part of diplomatic practice, we strengthen our ties, keeping in mind and being respectful of each other and this mutual understanding between the two sides,” MEA spokesman Jaiswal said.

His comments came a day after Rahul Gandhi (whose mother hails from Italy) mocked Modi’s approach to foreign policy at a party meet in New Delhi.

Italian embassy blasts Rahul : 

Rahul said he did not understand where the idea had come to Modi that foreign policy was about “hugging leaders”.  

BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi accused Rahul Gandhi of crossing the limits of political discourse, while other BJP leaders also criticised the reference involving Meloni.  

To counter Rahul Gandhi's PM 'hug' jab, BJP's Nishikant Dubey shared photographs of Indira Gandhi with Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.  

In a post on X, Dubey shared photographs of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, as well as the viral image of Rahul Gandhi hugging PM Modi in Lok Sabha eight years ago, with the caption, 

"Rahul Gandhi ji calls this choking sensation gastric fire, or is it the fire of lust?”

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Tomorrow looks like Yesterday :::: Boost is the secret of Rio's energy .. may be ?? :::: But Team Rio gets "shabash" pat on the back :::: Is someone exposed and the other person is desperate ??? ::: !!Muivah's I-Day speech targets "Shillong Accordists" ::: "Do we allow these traitors to decide the future of the Nagas ?"

Back to Future !!

The Rio Govt gets "shabash" pat on the back !! 

NSCN-IM vice chairman V S Atem has confirmed what was being whispered around. Asked by journalists in Dimapur whether NSCN-IM endorses the state Govt demand of the Centre for appointment of a ministerial level interlocutor, Atem was more than categorical. 

"Yes, that was our demand...," he said. He also made it clear that the "Nagaland state (Govt) is only facilitating. They are giving the boost ... that's all". 

The talks between the two entities were initially agreed to take place at the Prime Ministerial level. 

Citing the PM’s scheduling constraints; Atem said that the NSCN (IM) accepted to having an interlocutor representing the PM. Acknowledging the practical difficulty, he said, 

“We agreed to accept a representative appointed by the Prime Minister as the interlocutor, which has also been the practice in the past.”

Muivah's speech on I-Day 

"The pertinent issue is who upholds the Naga national principle and the mandate of the  people?," says Thuingaleng Muivah of NSCN-IM seeking legitimacy for his group that suffered a first of its kind split lately.

"The Shillong Accordists are the Nagas who lost hope and faith in  Nagalim and the Naga people. They had renounced their own rights ....".

"After the fall of NNC from the grace on account of the Shillong Accord, we the NSCN  are the only people who represent the Nagas and uphold the national principles," he said on the occasion of 'Naga independence Day'. 

"Why are the Nagas divided today? It is very clear to all of us that the Shillong Accord divided  the Nagas vertically," he said within weeks of a completely new body of Naga militants calling them - the 'Eastern Flank'. 

The key figures in the Eastern Flank -  Ikato Chishi Swu (chairman) and Lt. Gen. (Retd.) H S Ramsan (vice chairman) and A Raman (Longvibu - commander-in-chief) were all his lieutenants for years.

In July 2026, they announced the formal split and also alerted security forces in Nagaland and Manipur by stating that the ceasefire has stopped working.  

Muivah also 

"The  national principles here mean, defending and protecting the August 14, 1947 independence  declaration and the May 16, 1951 plebiscite to live as an independent sovereign people. 

"A time came when we were faced with an overwhelming challenge, and we are thankful to  the Almighty God, for He was there when hopes and confidence were all shattered in the  tragedy of the 1975 Shillong Accord. 

"We made up our mind, declaring that the Shillong  Accord is not the end of our history. No! 

It was never the will of God that we sell off our  birthright, and we were persuaded that He wants us to be free, saying, “I will make a great  nation of thee”. 

"Therefore, we took a firm decision and condemned the Shillong Accord for  betraying Nagalim's national principle, thereafter, 

we formed the National Socialist Council  of Nagalim (NSCN) in 1980 to save the Naga nation from perishing." 

Muivah also said: "The Nagas are one ....There are some Nagas who believe in the rights of the  Nagas and some who do not. 

We believe that the Nagas are the right people to  decide their own future."   

"Our political position is crystal clear" he said adding among other things -- 

"Any political agreement that does not uphold these national principles is a betrayal of the Nagalim national principle. ... 

 With a breach of the letter and spirit of the August  3, 2015 Framework Agreement, India is consciously reverting to a military solution. We will  not accept an imposed agreement or be silent spectators to a military approach."

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"Public exams open doors of opportunities for students. Govt is taking steps ... to reform ... Aim of these reforms is to completely curb the use of unfair means" - says President Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu in her message to the nation on the eve of Independence Day says, 

"Public examinations open the doors of opportunity for students. Therefore, the government is taking comprehensive steps to reform these examinations. 

The aim of these reforms is to completely curb the use of unfair means in public examinations and make the examination system more transparent, secure and trustworthy for young people. 

The government's efforts and new economic activities are creating many new opportunities for the youth. By learning about these opportunities, our young people can choose new paths to success."   

President Murmu also said:

“We are moving ahead towards building Viksit Bharat by the centenary year of our Independence in 2047. 

Guided by the spirit of Antyodaya, it is our resolve to ensure that the fruits of development reach every individual… 

The Ved-Vakya, ‘Vayam Rashtre Jagriyam,’ inspires us to always remain ready to serve the nation. 

"During our freedom struggle, people with diverse ideologies were united by one common goal – India’s Independence. 

During the Swadeshi Movement, the song Vande Mataram became a song of the masses. Countless Indians plunged themselves into our freedom struggle under the leadership of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. 

Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar embodied the highest ideals of social reform and patriotism. I humbly bow to all those great sons and daughters of Bharat Mata whose ideals guided our country to its freedom and its progress thereafter.”

"Time to correct the wrongs of history" ::::: Kitovi hints towards "unity move" among NNPG factions .... ::: Want Nagas to play "strategic roles" in Modi's Act East plan ....

N Kitovi Zhimomi, convener NNPG and one of the key signatories of the Agreed Position of 2017, has tried to be as much Pragmatic as possible. 

In his fresh and renewed rapprochement journey, he also looks within. 

"I admit I am not a perfect human being and may have hurt the sentiments of my former comrades however, on the Naga issue I have not betrayed anyone to make a person inferior or useless. I do not have any grudge or ill will against them for forming new organisations. 

On the Naga issue, all are on the same table. One goal, one vision," he said in his customary Independence Day speech at camp Khehoyi near Dimapur. 

A Naga veteran 'warrior' - as he likes to be called; Kitovi also spoke about --- "hatred, defective political orientations, haphazard formation of political groups and civil bodies which have brutalized the Naga movement". 

One diagnosis is also pertinent. He says : 

"The lure of easy money and leadership position has made the Naga political movement a thriving illegal industry to many."

He claims at one point - 

"For instance, in the last fifteen years, the enemies of the Naga people have managed to convince many of my trusted senior Kilonsers and Commanders to establish their own groups and governments to weaken the core Naga history, identity and political right."  

These remarks at a critical juncture - that is August 2026  - make a lot of sense. These came just within a few weeks of a split in the NSCN-IM and after the formation of Eastern Flank. 

In Delhi circles; these may be appreciated as sincere efforts of unity. 

In 2024 - his own organisation and also the NNPG he was heading as convener had split. Analysts in Delhi were not happy with the developments and many might have even presumed that some overground politicians in the state had played their "influencing and instigating roles".  

Come what may - the fact of the matter is such divisions suited the Status Quo club and the saboteurs of the peace talks. There were some metaphysical organisations as well -- talking big but contributing negligible towards a final solution.  

Kitovi is right in talking about the "thriving illegal industry to many".   

In his I-Day speech; Kitovi says "... in pursuit of an honorable and acceptable Naga political solution; I believe the ground is prepared for what is best for the Naga people at a present time. 

Today, I ask the Government of India (Gol) leadership to take a leaf out of your pre-independent years and juxtapose it with the Indo-Naga matter at a present time. 

"The Naga people have taken a decision; by signing the Framework Agreement in 2015 and Agreed Position on 17th November 2017, our people acknowledged and understood the contemporary political realities and chose to co-exist with India wherein, the right of the Nagas to self determine their future in consonance with their distinct history and identity."

He said : "This implies broadening and enhancing political and administrative mechanisms in a federal structure through constitutional amendment. 

"This would allow the Nagas to play a strategic role in the act east plan. 

Nagas are scattered into four states in India and into Myanmar arbitrarily and therefore to correct the wrongs of history, without altering state or international boundaries," Kitovi said.  

A small ceremony was also held at the NSCN (Kitovi) - NNPG's ceasefire Supervisory board/ Ceasefire monitoring group office too. The Flag was unfurled by CFSB supervisor G Naga.

ends 

INDEPENDENCE DAY Spl ---- It's a fact of life ... The Indian subcontinent could never 'recover' from bloody aftermath of Partition

"Partition’s pain can never be forgotten,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in 2021 as he announced that August 14th would be remembered as the Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.  

The conference in New Delhi (June 7, 1947) where the partition plan was disclosed (left to right): Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first pirme minister, Lord Ismay, adviser to Mountbatten, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Viceroy of India, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, President of the All-India Muslim League.

We may look for all kinds of debates and argument; but the fact of the matter is the very concept of the nation had completely changed after the Partition. Ironically - that 'change or transition' element is still a permanent feature. Imagine the fate of Bangladeshi Hindus who happened to be supporters of Awami League and an elected PM named Sheikh Hasina. 

Visit Kolkata and some parts of West Bengal and also in Assam - you will find these elements. 

I hit upon a 10-year-old girl child from such a background and asked her casually - "Which city is better for you Kolkata or Dhaka".  She did not answer specifically. 

She merely said: "Kolkatae war nei (There is no chaos and violence in Kolkata)". Imagine what will permanently stay in her memories. Partition has been blamed on to Mahatma Gandhi as well. Partition and its impact on a Muslim family is depicted well in Hindi film 'Garam Hawa'. 

In this film, Balraj Sahani gave a performance of his life and did not live long to see the release and the commercial success of the film. 

Salim Mirza (played by Balraj) does not want to leave India.

Salim’s two siblings migrate to Pakistan. Halim, the politician, realises he must move to Pakistan to flourish, taking his son Kazim.

Salim’s daughter,  Amina, hoped to marry Kazim. But there is a twist. 

Once his marriage to a politician’s daughter in Pakistan is decided on, Kazim runs away to Agra to meet Amina but now he is "deported" for failing to register with the police as he is now a citizen of a hostile country. 

'Garam Hawa' maps the real life stories how economic discrimination along with the curses of parition, property loss and societal shifts slowly break apart the Mirza household.  

There is one dialogue in 'Garam Hawa' that should generate interests in contemporary polity.

Balraj Sahni asks the character -- " How come you are in Congress? You were all for Muslim League?"  

And the response was == "These days (post-Partition) Congress party gives us much importance". 

  

Salim Mirza and others lift his aging mom as they decide to migrate and leave Agra 

In Ritwik Ghatak's Bengali film 'Meghe Dhaka Tara (Cloud hiding the star) character Nita cries out ‘Dada, ami bnachtey chai’.

This is at the end of the film as she realises that all her life she has been exploited ... thanks to Partition and her selfish family members and siblings.  

In the film, Supriya Chowdhury plays Nita.  Her elder brother Shankar (Anil Chattejee) is unemployed but pursues his career as a classical singer, the younger brother wants to be a player and the father is a former school teacher and not doing much to run the partition-hit life. 

Nita "shoulders" the burden of the family but continuously finds herself trapped.  Even her fiancé Sanat ends up marrying her own younger sister Gita.  

In real life and in political context... 

It is said that like a drunk person making a good resolution in the morning – rioters stopped attacking helpless citizens in several parts.

Hindus and Sikhs even greeted Muslims with fruits. 

The bitter truth was - Things were too good at times to be real. 

Words spread that things were being stage-managed too.  On the other hand, the "Hindu refugees" from Pakistan having suffered directly at the hands of Muslims felt outraged that Mahatma Gandhi was staking his own life to save Muslims. 

Gandhi also wanted Indian government pay Rs 55 crore to Pakistan as was agreed upon before 1947. 

Angry protestors often marched to Birla House to voice their protest.  

In the words of Manohor Malgonkar in his book ‘The Men who killed Gandhi’, 

--  “…when it turned out that the Muslim League was altogether unappeaseable, the Congress began to show signs of giving in to their demand for Pakistan, but Savarkar and his followers (that included Godse certainly)  remained staunchly opposed to it till the very end, and so to be fair, did a large number of people within the Congress organization itself”.

It would be pertinent here to say that strangeness has always not only made history interesting – it has guided the course itself. 

The two men – Narayan Apte and Godse (elder of the two) were so different in personalities - but - yet ironically both had become the closest of friends. And they set out on a mission.  

On a different plane, the real blame for Partition should have gone to those who went off in search of paradise in the new country. 

But the “real tragedy”, according to M J Akbar and I endorse that - the price of partition is not being paid by the people who got Pakistan but “by the Muslims in India” – who stayed back and trusted their Hindu and Sikh brethren. 

This is the irony and a melancholic turn!

The fine line between moral courage and entitlement is often not understood well.

Hope is what rebuilds nations because people believe in its worth. In the case of Pakistan and India too ... this was the norm. India set out on its own journey of nation making and Pakistan opted to work for ways and means to defeat its bigger neighbour. The results are well known.  

We may now examine -- What would have been the course of Indian history had not protagonists like Mountbatten come around to decide about India’s history? ...... 

Were the likes of  Churchill ..... 

already looking for a scapegoat in Mountbatten to pull them out of the mess? 

“On the other hand, the Indian political scene had offered five foremost protagonists then to be dealt with effectively and individually, then collectively. The famous five–Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru, Liaquat Ali Khan and Sardar Vallabhai Patel–were already divided politically .......".  

The Muslim League didn't care about independence. 

All it wanted was Pakistan.

So the archrivals, the Muslim League and the Congress - who had never seen eye to eye about anything, finally found a common cause: India-Pakistan split.

Both the parties were shocked to see the Radcliffe Line, the boundary that demarcated India and Pakistan. It was too late. 

The subcontinent could never really recover from the bloody aftermath of the Partition.   

But what was our partition? And more importantly, did the history makers and historians miss the bloodbath and the post-1947 sort of permanent hostility between India and Pakistan? 

What's the Bangladesh paradigm ? 

Would India of today be different without the chief protagonist of the Partition theory - Mountbatten himself ?  

“If somebody had told me he’s going to be dead in X months, would I then say let’s hold back India together and not divide it? Would I have put back the clock and held the position? Most probably,"

-- Mountbatten reportedly told Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre in exhaustive interviews later in the 1970s. 

Blogger 

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It will be too much to expect Rahul Gandhi to learn something from former lawmakers like Vajpayee and George Fernandes ::: They were in opposition mostly and they made mark with their speeches ... Rahul is on 'Monkey trail'

Frustration has caught up the 'pappu'.

Parliament's Monsoon Session came to an end on Thursday, Aug 13, amid high-voltage political clashes as BJP and Opposition MPs stage counter-protests at Makar Dwar. 

Congress MP Pawan Khera - crossed limits - and led Opposition slogans, including the controversial "56 inch ka chhota bandar" jibe.

He also made a toy monkey become part of the protest. 

The session was marred by repeated disruptions over the NEET paper leak row, the Jantar Mantar protest crackdown and resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. 

A few months back Rahul ha said - PM Narendra Modi will not last more than a year. Hence, it is clear - he is working to a plan. The plan is well financed and organised wth the help of India's adversaries. 

More dramas  are expected.  Rahul and former Congress MP, Sandeep Dikshit also staged a well thought out skit and tried to find hole in Prime Minister's 'bear hug'. 

But the most unwarranted and disgraced part was the rather cheap reference to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.  

The Modi Govt needs to wake up. Patience and Tolerance are good. They are virtues human being should always display. 

But it will be erroneous to let that 'virtue' of patience turn into a weakness. Not only the central government should act and show Rahul that -- yes; "rules, norms and proceedings conduct should apply to Rahul Gandhi and his team.  

Pawan Khera deserves to be banned from entry into Parliament premises for a brief spell at least.  

And for Rahul; his arrogance and sense of entitlement ought to be returned with immediate suspension of the Leader of the Opposition as Lok Sabha member. Both the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman should jointly serve a show cause notice to Rahul and enquire why 'no strong action' ought to be taken against him. 

No individual or party should be allowed to hold the Parliament of India hostage.  

The Modi-Amit Shah should act now with a firm hand. 

 

Rahul is doing all these to conceal his own defeat and that too repeatedly. He has lost nearly 90 plus elections for Congress. And in direct confrontation with PM Modi; Rahul has lost thrice parliamentary polls for Congress - 2014, 2019 and also 2024.  

Leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and George Fernandes  opposition mostly but they made mark with their speeches in Parliament.

... Rahul is on 'Monkey trail'  ... and it will be too much to expect Rahul Gandhi to learn something from such esteemed former lawmakers.

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Bangladesh turns to India for help :::: Why not ??? ::: The country goes dark as it battles worst power crisis

Bangladesh goes dark as it battles worst power crisis, turns to India for help

Bangladesh is facing a worsening power crisis, with several parts of the country witnessing power outages stretching to 9-10 hours. 

In desperate measures, the Tarique Rahman Govt has ordered shopping malls and shops to close early and has also reached out to India for additional diesel supplies.

The BNP Govt has said shortage of funds was disrupting supplies.

However, the opposition NCP rejected the government’s claim that a shortage of funds was disrupting supplies.

The party cited bank figures showing gross foreign exchange reserves of around $36.9 billion and reserves of around $32 billion under the BPM6 method.  It also criticised a July 28 decision to shorten the bidding period for fuel imports for September-December from 42 days to 10, arguing that such a brief window could discourage major international suppliers, reduce competition and drive up prices.  

The power crunch is being felt particularly in rural areas outside the capital, Dhaka, with outages stretching to 8-10 hours, according to local reports. The sweltering heat and the ongoing heatwave have only added to the woes. 

Factor this: while demand has hovered around 18,000 MW, the supply has struggled to reach 13,000 MW.

The excessive load-shedding, which has been going on for days, has prompted frustrated residents to attack electricity facilities in some areas, according to a report in Dhaka Tribune.

It has forced the Bangladesh Palli Bidyut Association to seek police security for grids, substations and electricity offices. Over the past few days, local police stations have received letters from electricity cooperatives seeking deployment of police and regular night patrols at power installations. 

There have been reports of vandalism and arson in Saidpur, Nilphamari, and Kushtia.

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