Modi government a one-trick horse with no policy on Kashmir: Arun Shourie
New Delhi, June 25: Taking a dig at the Narendra Modi government, former Union Minister Arun Shourie on Monday said that it was a "one-trick horse" with no policy either on Kashmir or Pakistan.
"There is no government and no policy regarding Kashmir or Pakistan or even the banks ... What we have is a one-trick horse that only knows how to divide the Hindus and Muslims of this country," he said at the launch of the book "Kashmir: Glimpses of History..." penned by senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz.
Terming the Modi government as "event-oriented and election-oriented", Shourie said that the focus was on organising events and winning elections with little heed to policy or governance.
He also took a dig at the much publicised surgical strike against Pakistan and termed it as "farzical" (fake) strike.
Commenting on the Kashmir unrest, the former Union Minister said the situation has been hurting the whole country and not just the Kashmiris and people should realise that fact.
On the Centre's newly-declared "all out action" stance on Kashmir, Shourie said that what he understood of it was there would be "more aggressive target killings of individuals" but stressed that it would not be wise to use "foolish force" against the people.
He said there was no alternative to the talks and with "everyone" in the Valley including the Hurriyat.
"If you say Hurriyat is being controlled by Pakistan, I think that is precisely the reason we must talk to them. We have to wean away the Hurriyat from Pakistan and talks are the only way to do it. So keep talking and keep talking to everyone," Shourie said.
He said that the security agencies need to identify the emerging leadership in Hurriyat and engage them.
Contending that the real problem with Kashmir and the northeast has been in the way the Centre has dealt with these states, he said: "You engage a sub-contractor and tell them, 'I give you money and keep running the semblance of the government there'. But the money is not reaching the common man on the ground. They are not getting the basic facilities of roads, water, hospitals, schools. Where is the money going? It means the officials and the politicians in these troubled states are cornering it."
On the issue of Kashmiris demanding "greater autonomy", Shourie demanded to know as to what they meant by the term.
"What is autonomy? Be specific. In the light of example given above of the money not reaching the common people, I think you need greater supervision, not less of it (in the name of autonomy)," he said.
Shourie said that a lynching of a Muslim in the Indian mainland in the name of the cow was a "thunderclap" in Kashmir that has the effect of alienating the Kashmiris by forcing them to think of themselves as Muslims being persecuted by the Hindus.
"You are pushing the Kashmiris to think themselves as just Musalmans, that too, of the Wahhabi kind, which they certainly are not. The Kashmiris celebrate their syncretic culture," he said.
Shourie also observed that falling on history would make the forward movement difficult on the issue.
Earlier, clarifying on his controversial "Independence" made recently remarks, Soz said that things were being wrongly attributed to him and that he knows for a fact that "azadi" was not an option.
"Let's leave the extremes and come to the middle," Soz said vis-a-vis the solution to the Kashmir issue, adding that "small minds" in the governments and the security apparatus have not let the Indian establishment embrace the Kashmiris or trust them.
"I have narrated facts. I did some research for this and I am confident that this is a well-researched book," Soz said.
He also stressed that the views in the book was his own and not that of the Congress.
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Karnataka Governor gives assent to legislation against ‘honour killing’ in inter-caste marriages
Bengaluru: The government has brought into force the Karnataka Freedom of Choice in Marriage and Prevention and Prohibition of Crimes in the name of honour and tradition (Eva Nammava Eva Nammava) Act, 2026, intended to restrict ‘honour killings’ in inter-caste marriages.
According to The Indian Express, the legislation received assent from Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on April 9 and was officially notified in the state gazette on April 10. The law had been passed unanimously by the state legislature last month.
The Bill was proposed by the Congress government in the wake of caste-linked ‘honour killings’ in the state, including the December 21, 2025, murder near Hubli of a 20-year-old Lingayat woman by her father for marrying a man from another caste.
The phrase ‘Eva Nammava Eva Nammava’ in the title is in reference to the message of universal humanity that the Lingayat saint Basavanna espoused. Basavanna, who rebelled against the caste system to lay the foundation of the Lingayat faith system, an amalgamation of all castes, used the words meaning ‘he is a part of me’ to say all people are one.
Under the new law, crimes committed in the name of ‘honour’, including murder, assault, threats, and social boycott, are specifically addressed with stringent punishments. ‘Honour killing’ offences carry a minimum imprisonment of five years, while serious assaults attract at least three years in jail.
The new law defines the social boycott of inter-caste couples as forcible eviction to remote corners of villages, refusal to provide services, refusal to provide work, refusal to conduct business, denial of loans and admissions to schools, and makes it punishable.
In the case of ‘honour killings’ per se, the new law prescribes a minimum imprisonment of five years, and in the case of assaults, a prison term that is not less than three years for serious injury and two years for minor injuries.
The offences under the proposed law are cognisable and non-bailable, which means police can carry out arrests without court permissions after taking up a case.
The legislation follows several reported inter-caste relationship-related killings in Karnataka in 2025, including cases in Raichur and another involving 18-year-old Kavita.
The law to protect the freedom of choice in marriages is among several social bills that the Congress government has brought out in line with its policies for the backward and downtrodden communities in the state.
