opinion

Obviously, Channi did “mark his absence” from the CWC meeting with a clear message and also got away with it using the excuse of having to take an exam the next day.

The crisis raises questions Europe has not asked. Why is a European border located on African soil? And why has the dispute about Ceuta and Spanish colonisation remained unresolved for so long?

Although the party high command had earlier made it categorically clear that Amarinder Singh Raja Warring will remain the PCC president till the 2027 assembly elections, there is still lack of clarity if he will be allowed to continue or not as the rebels are still holding the fort against him.

Political strategists are adopting PAC names that signal the opposite political goals from what those organisations truly intend. They hope to taint voter perception of the candidates or ballot initiatives to which they donate.

The BJP has learnt and realised quite late that in case it wants a firm foothold in Punjab, it will need to have a direct outreach among the Jatt Sikh community. Earlier, when the BJP had an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal, it had confined itself within the urban Hindu community.

This byelection was less about political choices than the expression of a public mood – democracy as a register of feelings rather than the “who gets what, when and how”.

Punjab is a sensitive border state which is always under the perennial threat from enemy forces. Political leaders like Badal, who are moderate in their political approach and have the potential to challenge and fight against the radical, sectarian and divisive tendencies will always be the target of such forces.

A weaker country’s victory doesn’t require conquering territory or destroying an enemy’s forces – it may simply mean survival. This creates an imbalance: an aggressor must achieve something; a defender only has to prevent it. Putin loses if he cannot impose a settlement on his terms and Zelensky succeeds by denying it to him.

Gandhi, during his speech, tried to create a visual impression by hugging Sandeep Dixit, trying to suggest that PM Modi also hugs foreign leaders like that and believes that his hugs will improve relationships with their countries. He hinted towards Trump saying while Modi was trying to “hug” him, he in return was trying to pull his collar.

Gamification is neither exclusive to Ukraine or war. But warfare itself is clearly changing. Some Bangladeshi soldiers fighting in Ukraine have created huge online followings, ranging from several hundred thousand people to around 1 million, by vlogging from the frontlines.

While the law will take its own course, there must not be any concessions, any leniency with the culprit, whose aim was clearly to cause grave harm to the senior Akali leader’s life.

Hope, far from being mere rhetoric, can be a powerful force in politics. Whether Burnham’s tour of the UK, and the announcements made along the way, will be enough to inspire such hope remains to be seen.