Modi government trying for kisan-mukt Bharat: Congress
New Delhi, Oct 3 : Flaying the Centre for waiving corporate loans totalling 3.17 lakh crore instead of those of farmers, the Congress on Wednesday accused the Modi government of trying to create a "kisan-mukt Bharat".
Condemning the Tuesday's police crackdown on protesting farmers on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, the Congress questioned the government's "indifference" towards the demands of farmers who have been protesting across the country.
"The Modi government has become a symbol of cruelty against farmers. It seems it is trying to build an India free of farmers and its slogan is 'loot kisan and hit kisan," said Congress Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala here.
Citing a Reserve Bank of India report, he said that the government waived loans totalling Rs 3,17,000 crore of a handful of corporates between April 2014 and April 2018 but it has no time to pay heed to the long-standing demand for farm loan waiver.
Blaming the NDA regime for aggravation of the agrarian crisis in the country, the Congress questioned Modi and his government about fulfilling the 2014 promise, including that of cost plus 50 per cent profit to farmers.
"Since independence, no government has ever imposed a tax on agriculture. Then, why the Modi government has imposed Goods and Services Tax on tractors and agricultural implements, insecticides, and tractor tyres and spare parts?" it asked.
The party accused the government of breaking the backbone of farmers by steeply hiking
prices of diesel and fertilisers.
The Congress also alleged that the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme has become a profit-reaping scheme for private insurance companies.
"In 2016-17 and 2017-18, the Modi government collected Rs 19,000 crore through agricultural cess. But the farmers under the Crop Insurance Scheme received a compensation of only Rs 5,650 crore whereas the companies made a profit of Rs 14,828 crore through premium," Surjewala claimed.
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UK Professor Nitasha Kaul's Overseas Citizenship of India cancelled
Academician decries move as "transnational repression"
London/New Delhi: Professor Nitasha Kaul, a London-based academic, announced on May 18, 2025, via a social media post that her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card has been cancelled by the Indian government. She described the move as a "bad faith, vindictive, cruel example of transnational repression" intended to punish her for her scholarly work critical of the Modi government's policies concerning minorities and democracy.
The cancellation follows an incident in February 2024 when Professor Kaul, who holds a British passport and held an OCI card, was denied entry into India upon arrival at Bengaluru airport. She had been invited by the then Congress-led Karnataka state government to speak at a conference on "The Constitution and Unity in India."
According to an image of the letter shared by Professor Kaul, the Indian government stated that it had been "brought to the notice of the Government of India that you have been found indulging in anti-India activities, motivated by malice and complete disregard for facts or history." The letter further accused her of regularly targeting India and its institutions on matters of India's sovereignty through "numerous inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities at various international forums and on social media platforms."
Professor Kaul, who is a Professor of Politics, International Relations, and Critical Interdisciplinary Studies and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at the University of Westminster, London, vehemently rejects these accusations. She stated she had provided a 20,000-word response to what she termed the government's "ridiculous inanity about ‘anti-India’," but the OCI was cancelled through a "rigged process."
In her social media posts, Professor Kaul lamented the decision, questioning how the "mother of democracy" could deny her access to her mother in India. She characterized the action as stemming from "thin-skinned, petty insecurity with no respect for well-intentioned dissent."
The February 2024 denial of entry had already sparked controversy. At the time, immigration officials reportedly cited "orders from Delhi" without providing formal reasons, though Professor Kaul mentioned informal references to her past criticism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Ministry of External Affairs had then responded by stating that the entry of foreign nationals into India is a "sovereign decision." Unofficial government sources had indicated that a "preventive lookout circular" was issued against her due to her alleged "pro-separatist" and "anti-India" stance on Kashmir.
The BJP in Karnataka had criticised the state government for inviting her, labelling her an "anti-India element." Conversely, the then-Karnataka government and various international human rights organizations and academic bodies had condemned the denial of entry.
Professor Kaul has been an outspoken commentator on Indian politics, including the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and has testified before international bodies such as the US Congress on human rights in the region. She maintains her work is academic and pro-democracy, not anti-India.
The cancellation of her OCI card effectively bars her from entering India, a country to which she has personal and academic ties. This incident adds to a growing list of academics, journalists, and activists of Indian origin whose OCI status has been revoked or who have been denied entry to India in recent years, raising concerns about freedom of speech and dissent. Reports indicate that over 100 OCI cards were cancelled by the Indian government between 2014 and May 2023. Furthermore, in 2021, new rules were introduced requiring OCI cardholders to obtain special permission for activities such as research and journalism.
