New Delhi: There are years in which decades happen and 2024 was one such year – full of small, big, seemingly insignificant but in fact enormous developments. Some of the memorable text stories that The Wire has done in 2024 include:
- PM Modi in Ram Temple Pran Prathishtha: End of Secularism as ‘Distance’ Between State and Religion?
In this analytical piece, Sravasti Dasgupta observed how the official sanction to the destruction of a mosque by an organised group heralded the end of secularism as principled distance between religion and state. The religious event at the under-construction temple had enormous fanfare.
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BJP Stares at Defeat in the Land of Ram Mandir
Six months after the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Narendra Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost from the Ayodhya seat in the Lok Sabha polls. In his piece, Omar Rashid noted that it was a symbolic defeat of the saffron party’s project of pitying marginalised Hindu castes, including Dalits as foot soldiers against Muslims.
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9.23 Things to Think About as We Look at the 2024 Election Results
The Lok Sabha polls gave us 9.23 things to think about, Seema Chishti wrote in her piece. “In 23 years of electoral politics for Narendra Modi, this is the first time, Modi has fallen way short of a majority, of the half-way mark. This has a bearing on the cult he heads, the strong brand of divisive politics he has championed in the state of Gujarat from 2002 and then nationally from 2014,” Chishti observed.
- ‘Where’s the Proof They Were Raped?’, Biren Allegedly Says of Kuki Women Paraded Naked, ‘Reward Those Arrested for Saving Them’
In August, Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty’s deeply investigated reports brought under scrutiny Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh’s role in the ongoing ethnic violence in the state. A recording, purportedly of Singh’s voice, which has been placed on the record of the official commission of inquiry under the law suggested that Singh allegedly supported the use of lethally destructive ammunition in parts of the state last year. It also suggested that he reportedly got banned militants groups to join together and allegedly asked for proof that two Kuki women who were seen being paraded naked in a video were indeed raped.
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Two Years On, How Is India’s Project Cheetah Faring?
Aathira Perinchery’s piece in September on what happened to the first batch of African cheetahs that were brought and released in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park is a stark reminder of why it is necessary to record how ambitious projects are progressing.
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How Government Policies and SECI Have Favoured the Adani Group
Pavan Korada’s deep dive throws light into how government policies surrounding green energy have favoured the Adani Group. “The emphasis on centralised solar plants, alleged manipulation of the coal market and pressure on states to sign unfavourable PPAs suggest that corporate lobbying has seemingly trumped consumer interests,” Korada wrote.
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Fact Check: Old Data, New Spin in PM-EAC Report on India’s Population
Banjot Kaur reminds in her fact check that come election time, the Muslim population growth bogey is back in the news. India’s demographic history and that of the world has established that population stabilisation is most closely linked to women’s education, empowerment and other socio-economic factors, not religion.
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Vikash Yadav: An Empty Flat, a Govt Order Confirming Job at Cabinet Secretariat Just After Trudeau’s Claims
After the US department of justice named and charged Vikash Yadav as the Indian government official who had allegedly orchestrated a plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer for Sikhs for Justice, a US-based group banned by India for its pro-Khalistani stance, Devirupa Mitra visited the unassuming block of flats that Yadav had listed as his address and found that there was no indication of its significance – no guards present and no signs of barriers.
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Amit Shah’s Rajya Sabha Speech Didn’t Just ‘Insult’ Ambedkar, It Also Peddled Lies About Him
In his piece, Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta analysed that what has gone unnoticed in the outrage over Amit Shah’s comments on B.R. Ambedkar is the fact that the home minister has misconstrued, and also lied about, Ambedkar and his opinions on two vital counts that shouldered his entire argument against the Congress.
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‘End Authoritarian Regimes of Pre-constitution Era’: What SC Said When Ending Caste-Based Prison Work
In October, the Supreme Court declared that provisions relating to caste-based discriminatory practices in prison manuals are unconstitutional, and directed all states and Union Territories to revise their Prison Manuals, in a landmark judgment. The order came after a petition was filed by Sukanya Shantha, whose 2020 report ‘From Segregation to Labour, Manu’s Caste Law Governs the Indian Prison System‘ formed the basis of the plea which Shantha wrote along with Jahnavi Sen.
Watch this video for an overview of all the important stories that The Wire has covered in 2024:
