What if they have already
bought property? Will they
be entitled to state welfare?
What about the status of
their children born after
publication of the NRC?
As for voting rights,
the home ministry has
said that was for the
Election Commission to
decide. But chief election
commissioner O.P. Rawat
says the “decision to
include or not include the
names of those excluded
by the NRC is not for the
EC to take. The EC has
asked the chief electoral
officer, Assam, to work
with the NRC state coor-
dinator so that no eligible
voter is left off the rolls”.
As the process stands, the
district revenue depart-

ment first prepares the

list of voters and the EC

doesn’t have a role in it.

The current NRC lists

March 1971 as its cutoff,

thus granting effective

amnesty to ‘illegal’ im-

migrants who moved to

Assam before that year.

This was challenged by

Motiur Rahman of the

Asom Sanmilita Maha-

sangha, which filed a peti-

tion in the Supreme Court

claiming that the granting

of citizenship to those who

moved to Assam before

1971 still threatened the

existence of indigenous

people. The court is likely

to decide on Rahman’s

plea by end August. Any

verdict in his favour may

throw the NRC off gear. n

The “problem”, the “things”
that Rajasthan chief minister
Vasundhara Raje claimed in a
TV interview were happen ing
“everywhere”, is a euphe mistic
reference to the lynchings that
scar the state she governs,
most recently on July 20 in
Alwar when a man, beaten by
cow vigilantes, apparently died
due to police negligence. Of
course, Alwar was also where
Pehlu Khan died in April last
year, beaten to death by gau
rakshaks. When the Supreme
Court recently cautioned
against “mobocracy”,
was it Raje’s democracy
it had in mind?

Ties That Bind

At the Indo-Pacific Business Forum in Washington DC

on July 30, the United States confirmed it had conferred

India with the Strategic Trade Authorisation 1 (STA-1)

designation, enabling access to, among other things,

sensitive weapons technology. The move, said Navtej

Sarna, Indian ambassador to the US, was inevitable

once India had been elevated to defence partner status

in 2016. “It is a sign of trust,” Sarna said, and “testifies to

our excellent record in maintaining non-proliferation of

these technologies.” Both countries will have ‘2+2’ trade

talks in September. While the bulk of India’s spending on

defence is on Russia-made equipment, the US has over the

last decade become a leading supplier. As China increases

strategic investments in the neighbourhood, the US will

see India as a critical counterbalance and vice versa.

INDEX

$9.7 BILLION

550

%

$25.7 BILLION

36

62

%

Value of US products

India might have imported

in the past 7 years, says

US commerce secretary

Wilbur Ross, had STA-

status been granted

Growth in US arms exports

to India during 2013-

(compared to the 5 years

before it); exports to

Pakistan in the same

period dropped by 76%

$63.9 BILLION

India’s defence spending in 2017, says Stockholm

International Peace Research Institute, up 5.5% from

the previous year; China spent $228 billion and

the US $610 billion

Value of Indian imports

from the US in 2017;

India’s exports to the US

were worth $48.6 billion.

In 2018, value of Indian

imports from the US up to

May was $12.5 billion

Countries have STA-

status. India is the only

South Asian country

to have it. Other Asian

countries with it are

South Korea and Japan

Of India’s defence

supplies (2013-17)

imported from Russia,

down from 79% (2008-

12). India is world’s largest

importer of weapons

India’s rank among US

trading partners in 2017—

China (1), Mexico (3),

Britain (7) are examples

of countries in the top 10.

USA is India’s 2nd largest

trading partner

This is a problem that stems from a

population explosion. People wanting

jobs, people being frustrated by the fact

that they’re not able to get jobs. There is

an angst spreading across communities...

it’s happening everywhere, not just in

Rajasthan...^

PULLQUOTE

The “problem”, the “things”
that Rajasthan chief minister
claimed in a
TV interview were happening
“everywhere”, is a euphemistic
reference to the lynchings that
scar the state she governs,
most recently on July 20 in
Alwar when a man, beaten by
cow vigilantes, apparently died
due to police negligence. Of
course, Alwar was also where
Pehlu Khan died in April last
year, beaten to death by gau

. When the Supreme
Court recently cautioned
against “mobocracy”,
was it Raje’s democracy

RAJWANT RAWAT