1. Domestic Politics
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has stated his support of an Election Commission directive banning the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) proposed Vijay Yatra in Gujarat. State elections in Gujarat are scheduled for December 12. Vajpayee's statement, as well as an earlier statement by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani that "India can "never be a Hindu state" has drawn the ire of more radical Hindu parties. Sandeep Shenoy (Asia Times) writes that the discord among various Hindu parties - sometimes collectively referred as Sangh Parivar (united family)- is the "classic case of a family that stuck together during the bad times but cannot help but feud during the good times." The Hindustan Times writes that with "VHP threatening to oust the prime minister, the game of doublespeak [among parties of the Sangh Parivar] may have gone out of hand."
"PM puts rule of law before parivar"
"VHP turns a deaf ear to Vajpayee"
"Thackeray assails Advani's remarks"
"India: Trouble in the family?"
"The real opposition"
Neera Chandhoke (Hindu) argues that the "arousal of communal passions simply outstrips the efforts of the very leaders who had incited them, to command them." Prem Shankar Jha (Hindustan Times) writes that "there is a profound change taking place in the right flank of Indian politics and it is one that does not bode well for the country, at least in the immediate future."
"The unleashing of a monster"
"India's identity"
Frontline magazine carried a profile of India's Chief Election Commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh who has been the target of criticism by radical Hindu parties.
"Quiet efficiency"
A report by The Concerned Citizens' Tribunal headed by a former Supreme Court chief justice has described Gujarat's former Chief Minister Modi as "the author and architect of all that happened in Gujarat after the Sabarmati Express carnage''.
"Group finds Modi guilty of genocide"
A daily Indian Express report examines the various assessments of the threat of HIV/AIDS in India.
"The Great AIDS Numbers Game"