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By:

Akhilesh Sinha

25 June 2025 at 2:53:54 pm

External involvement in Chandranath’s murder

Political and Geopolitical forces behind the killing in West Bengal New Delhi: The 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections have not only signaled a new trajectory in Indian politics but have also stirred ripples in global geopolitics. The unprecedented victory of the BJP in the state brought to light events that reveal how the long-standing cycle of political power struggles and violence is now emerging in a new form. The most alarming manifestation of this shift came late Wednesday night with...

External involvement in Chandranath’s murder

Political and Geopolitical forces behind the killing in West Bengal New Delhi: The 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections have not only signaled a new trajectory in Indian politics but have also stirred ripples in global geopolitics. The unprecedented victory of the BJP in the state brought to light events that reveal how the long-standing cycle of political power struggles and violence is now emerging in a new form. The most alarming manifestation of this shift came late Wednesday night with the murder of Chandranath Rath, personal secretary to senior BJP leader Shuvendu Adhikari. Chandranath Rath, a veteran who served 15 years in the Indian Air Force, was closely working with his family friend and senior BJP leader, Shuvendu Adhikari. His killing is more than an isolated personal attack and it signals a disturbing new dimension of political violence. Historically, electoral violence in West Bengal has targeted the workers of losing parties. This time, however, even the leaders and workers of the winning side have fallen victim. The implications of this violence extend beyond the state's borders. Following the BJP's landslide victory in West Bengal, the activity of anti-India elements in neighboring countries has intensified. Bangladesh and Pakistan have expressed concern over the party's victory, while China and the United States are also closely monitoring its implications. This highlights that election results in border states now carry geopolitical significance far beyond local politics. For decades, West Bengal and Assam have been treated as strategic zones in broader geopolitical games, with external forces allegedly attempting to maintain unrest in these regions over the past seven decades, like Jammu-Kashmir. Investigations into Chandranath Rath's murder indicate a pre-meditated conspiracy. The assailants used advanced Glock 47X firearms, suggesting that the plot was not confined to local planning alone. The crime occurred just 60 kilometers from Basirhat, near the Bangladesh border, which strengthens the likelihood of external involvement. Violent History History shows that violence and muscle power have always been intertwined with West Bengal politics. From the "Khaddo Movement" of the 1960s to slogans like "Dam Dam Dawai," political action was often synonymous with coercion, intimidation and murder. During the Left Front era, strategies like "scientific rigging," booth capture, and leveraging local goons became commonplace. Later, the Trinamool Congress inherited these structures and kept them under its control. Today's events demonstrate that this system remains alive. Border Dynamics The complexity of border areas and communal dynamics further complicates the scenario. In constituencies along the West Bengal and Assam borders, Muslim candidates secured victories, while regions adjacent to West Bengal in Bangladesh are represented by members of Jamaat-e-Islami. Groups like Jamaat-e-Islami have long pursued anti-India agendas, and their influence can be seen in electoral outcomes across these areas. The BJP's recent victory, and the violence that ensued, draw attention to geopolitics. The President of the United States congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking an unprecedented acknowledgment of a state-level BJP win. In contrast, Pakistani and Bangladeshi media have reacted with alarm, while discussions in Bangladesh's parliament highlight concern for the Muslim communities in these regions. Local outbreaks of violence further underline that West Bengal is no longer merely a domestic political theatre, however, this is a hub of geopolitical activity, where external forces seek to keep unstable and chaotic. This cycle of political violence extends beyond individual acts. It has become a complex mix of administrative inefficiency, local political rivalry, and external interference. The immediate presence of DGP Siddh Nath Gupta and CRPF DG Gyanendra Pratap Singh at the crime scene underscores the gravity of the situation. Chandranath Rath's murder is not merely a personal tragedy but a broader political and societal security challenge. The events echo the 1970s when Naxalism emerged in West Bengal, eventually spreading across India's "Red Corridor." Rath's assassination makes it clear that politics in West Bengal is no longer limited to electoral competition or local governance. The incident lays bare the intertwined realities of political violence, international geopolitics, and social security concerns. If the current trends continue, West Bengal may evolve into a region sensitive not only to national politics but also to global strategic interests.

Bharatiya Antariksh Station Dream Takes Flight

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Bharatiya Antariksh

India’s human spaceflight programme has progressed steadily in the last ten years. Call it the compounding effect of ISRO’s brick-by-brick efforts over the past five decades. Also, due credit must be given to the Prime Minister’s Office which brought about an enormous evolution in the space programme and has been unabashedly bullish about taking common Indians into space. This was even when the other side was content with Indian commoners glorified to Oscars as slum-dwellers. With the cabinet clearance for the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, our very own space station to be placed in the low-Earth orbit, India is entering into a haloed league of only four countries, the other three being the US, Russia, and China. But then, we have a long way to go and lots to do.

Let me share with you a story of two “axioms”—’Axiom Research Labs’, more famously known as Team Indus, a startup that was established in 2010 in Bengaluru, and ‘Axiom Space’, now a major American space company, founded in 2016 in Houston. Both companies are connected to India-United States (US) space collaboration. The Indian Axiom was supposed to attempt India’s first landing on the Moon. However, due to the scarcity of domestic opportunities for commercial space ventures, it eventually went for the greener commercial pastures in the US in 2017. The American axiom was best placed where it was formed. It was brought to life by American and international talent drawn to the maturing commercial space landscape in the US. An examination of the narratives and destinies of these two entities is necessary, especially as India approaches a significant milestone in its human spaceflight diplomacy.

Today, American Axiom Space is the same company that will ferry the first Indian astronaut―Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, with Group Captain Prasanth Nair as the reserve candidate - to visit the International Space Station. This ferry arrangement was made possible through an agreement between ISRO and NASA. India is not a member of the International Space Station. However, all ISRO and Indian astronauts’ learnings will help with the setting of the Bharatiya Antriksh Station. There will be a time, in the next 15 years, when the Indian national station will coexist with the Chinese space station and America’s one or at most two commercial space stations. That makes India an extremely crucial player in the world’s human spaceflight endeavours, including the efforts to take humans back to the Moon.

The US is one of many countries that assisted in our early human spaceflight steps. The French helped us with their superior space medicine knowledge, which is crucial for astronaut health. The Russians have trained our astronauts at their Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre and their experience using their experience. Partnerships with different space agencies are only going to help us. They are reason enough that India needs to boldly exercise its autonomy to decide who it wants to partner with. But this is not it. What have we learnt from the two axioms? Why do Indian companies, for the lack of domestic business opportunities and business sustenance, move overseas in the name of international markets? Is there a chance that this ‘startup drain’ akin to ‘brain drain’ will stop plaguing us?

To prevent the startup drain and ensure that no other Team Indus fades into obscurity, India must increase industry and startup participation in mission design. Yes, ISRO will lead these missions scientifically, collaborating with different academic institutions. Industry, too, will help build the space station, but that is not enough. India will only be able to accomplish the greater socio-economic benefit of raising a space station if the Bharatiya Antariksh Station becomes an enabler of new science and a provider of business opportunities for the private space sector. New science can happen if new commercially crucial R&D experiments are carried out on the space station, with the BAS seeking rentals for the duration they are hosted. The new science can happen if there is continuous commercial supply of logistics and crew to the space station and back. The new science can happen only if the space station results in a bevy of cargo and human missions to the Moon, with the majority of hardware and software contributed by corporate R&D.

The Bharatiya Antariksh Station will be the nation’s asset and will be operated by the Indian military, ISRO, scientific institutions, and private industries. These four will have to handhold each other as they build and commercially-run the station. It is their synergy that will help prepare the first Indians to land on the Moon to set up commercial R&D bases on the Moon. India must ensure that it keeps engaging its startups and private companies, which are the cornerstone of the four-way partnerships. Without them, the entire Indian space programme may not be sustained beyond a certain point; however, good ISRO is at its tasks.

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