The MEA should stay away from BJP propaganda and Hindutva; in the home of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s followers; and more 

[View this email in your browser]( Top Story [In Sinha’s Criticism of Modi’s Economic Policies an Echo of Discontent Within RSS’s Foot Soldiers]( Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta [Why would Sinha take aim only at Jaitley, who is widely known to have never been in the good books of the RSS, and not prime minister Modi, who has been taking all the credit for the economic measures taken during the NDA regime? Within the high-optics political strategy of the Sangh parivar, the senior Sinha’s opposition is, at best, an exercise to regulate equations between the BJP and the RSS at a time when the latter has been forced to appease its constituents. While doing so, however, the RSS has not only tried to insulate Modi from criticism as the 2019 election nears but also absorb similar resentment the opposition parties have been showing against the Union government.;]( [The MEA Should Stay Away From BJP Propaganda and Hindutva]( Siddharth Varadarajan [Book on Deendayal Upadhyaya published by external affairs ministry says the BJP is the only political alternative in the country, Hindu thought is Bhartiya thought, and only Hindu society can be spiritual.]( [In the Home of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s Followers]( Romita Saluja [“Pitaji always used to say that he had enemies. Look, what they have done now. How they have succeeded in conspiring against him. They bought the verdict with their money.”]( [‘The Frictions in the Rakhine State Are Less About Islamophobia Than Rohingya-Phobia’]( Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty [Eminent Arakan historian Jacques P. Leider talks about the historical context of the Rohingya conflict.]( [Periyar’s Detractors Are Misrepresenting His Words]( Karthick Ram Manoharan and S. Anandhi [Periyar problematised what freedom meant, who it benefitted and who it excluded. But that doesn’t mean he gave a clean chit to colonialism.]( [Exalted in the Catalan Freedom Scene, There’s No Place Barça Would Rather Be]( Priyansh [If FC Barcelona stays committed to its political beliefs, such as Catalonia’s independence from Spain, it will threaten its own existence, such as getting kicked out of the La Liga.]( [Saudi Arabia Lifting the Driving Ban on Women Has Little to Do With Empowerment]( Talmiz Ahmad [The move does not address the onerous burden Saudi women carry on account of the male guardianship system and is instead intended only to shore up the stature of the crown prince.]( Copyright © 2017 The Wire, All rights reserved. You're getting this email because you recently subscribed to receive email digests from The Wire via our website. Our mailing address is: The Wire 13, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg Gole MarketNew Delhi 110001 India [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](