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KOLKATA: Though happy that ultimately the warring Manipur groups – the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zos – sat across the table with the Union government on April 5, Saturday in New Delhi yet the home ministry team led by advisor (North-East) A K Mishra has had its share of disappointment that its much-desired joint resolution as an outcome of the meeting did not fructify. In the words of political observers and civil society organization representatives who kept themselves informed on the proceedings, it was an intense disappointment which can be described as one “bordering on anger”.

71 year old CPI(M) politburo member Mariam Alexander Baby has taken over as the sixth general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) following his nomination at the 24th congress of the Party which concluded at Madurai on April 6. Baby is a veteran leader of the CPI(M) from Kerala with wide exposure both in the state and also in national politics. He was the education minister in the Kerala LDF government as also member in Rajya Sabha for two terms. Like his earlier two predecessors, Baby also joined the CPI(M) through students movement.

US President Donald Trump is absolutely right to justify the new tariffs as a necessary step to combat “unfair” import trade practices that have hurt his country’s industries and employment opportunities for decades. Thanks to its own liberal import policy over the last several years, the US has been a favourite merchandise export dumping ground for many countries, including China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, South Korea, and Canada. India had to struggle hard to sell its wares to the US. One area of Indian exports which have benefited the US and its citizens immensely is a wide range of drugs and pharmaceutical products, which the new Trump tariff has exempted. Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs have also spared India’s export of semiconductors and copper, car and car parts, and bullion and minerals.

There is a lot of concern about the Waqf Property Amendment Bill 2025, which the Lok Sabha passed on Wednesday. This controversial bill updates the 1995 Waqf Act and gives the Central Government more control over waqf properties. The Rajya Sabha cleared it the next day. President Draupadi Murmu gave her asset last week end converting it into a law.

With the President of India’s assent, the WAQF Amendment Bill 2025 has become an act, but it was promptly challenged in the Supreme Court of India, where the matter was mentioned today April 7, 2025, before the Chief Justice of India for urgent hearing. The petitioners so far have challenged it on various grounds chiefly of its being anti-Islamic, unconstitutional, and violative of the Supreme Court’s judgement on the Ramjanmabhumi-Babri Mosque case.

Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra is in the Bombay High Court with a petition to quash the Mumbai Police FIR against him for making the ‘traitor’ jibe against Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, whose keen ears prick up in a micro-millisecond if the word happens to be ‘gaddar'. Kamra's petition concerns the right to freedom of expression and speech as also on limitations placed on this right.

Donald Trump and Narendra Modi never seem to tire of expressing admiration for each other, their mutual regard forming an odd but undeniable transnational political camaraderie. What binds them is not simply shared ideology but a similar worldview shaped by populism, nativism, and a flair for dramatic, often reckless, decision-making.

Two important pieces of news this week may shock the conscience of many, but not the ruling establishment of India. The first is that Minimum pension for workers under one of the social security coverage given under Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) remains at Rs 1000 per month since 2014, while the Centre boasted that India’s social protection coverage has doubled just within three years from 24.4 per cent in 2021 to 48.8 per cent in 2024. The second is that female employment showed to be doubled since 2014, but counting unpaid women helping in the family work without payment as workers.

Don’t doubt the intentions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the gentle warning to a fellow panelist from a BJP spokesperson, which caught the fancy of the anchor of the prime-time show who repeated the warning in a tone that brooked no defiance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the passage of the Wakf Act 2025, has gone on to a different level of acceptability. For proof, supporters pointed to the raucous reception Modi received in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Saffron ecosystem must be feeling ecstatic at its achievement of having Waqf board under its belt, acquiring vast tract of land owned by it across the country and pushing the Muslims to the position of second grade citizens. A closer introspection nevertheless would make it explicit that the strategy of saffron retribution will prove to be boon in disguise for Muslims as it would witness emergence of a new type of Muslim politics, having different culture and tenet.