Saif at Home

JUST ABOUT every­thing about the at­tack on Saif Ali Khan and its aftermath was layered with shocks and twists, and that includes his return home in the full glare of media cameras dressed in blue denim and a white shirt, looking unfazed after having not too far back been in an ICU with a piece of a knife lodged in his back. Between the early morning of January 16 when he was stabbed to his homecoming on January 21, so much happened that it could be fodder for a movie.

There was first the incred­ible nature of the crime, not because of what happened but who it happened to—a movie star residing in a high-end building in a posh neighbourhood with all the expectation of security that it brings in. The burglar, from what we know of the police version, had already planned to rob a flat, but not Khan’s specifically. He had entered the building by jumping the wall, according to one report, walked up the stairs, and broken into the home on the 11th floor.

A maid had spotted him walking into the bedroom of one of the children and had raised an alarm. Khan arrived and tried to hold the thief, who claims that he stabbed his victim to get away. Khan’s wife, Kareena Kapoor, was also present at the residence and so were their two chil­dren. Once he was stabbed, Khan and others came out of the room, bolted it from outside and the attacker fled. Khan was rushed to hospital accompanied by his seven-year-old son after an autorick­shaw was waved down. The driver had no clue initially that the injured man in his vehicle was a movie star.

The perpetrator, police say, meanwhile walked to the nearest Bandra railway station and then got down at Dadar. He was captured on CCTVs at multiple places, including Khan’s building and a shop. The police knew what he looked like. Under intense pressure to crack the case, they formed as many as 30 teams. And still it would only be after two false leads, where they detained looka­likes, one from Mumbai and the other from as far away as Chhattisgarh, that they managed to get to the one they now think is the real attacker, an illegal Bangla­deshi migrant named Shariful Fakir. The police were tipped off by a contrac­tor who had earlier em­ployed him.

Fakir was hiding in a marsh in Thane when the police tracked him down. After the arrest, they made a short post on X: ‘A foreign na­tional accused of burglary & attacking a Bollywood actor at his Bandra residence was arrested from Thane.’ Most information in the media on the case has been coming through sources in the police, which have often been wrong, as with the first two false detentions when it was assumed that the attacker was found. Even now, various aspects of the investigation are being reported in bits and pieces, like the knife parts being recovered in different areas, but without official substantiation, the question of veracity remains open. They are also looking at whether Fakir had a criminal record in Bangladesh. His father was quoted in one newspaper as saying that his son had no such history.

When Khan returned home from the hospital, his hand was in a brace and he had a bandage on his neck but other than that, there was little to indicate the trauma he had gone through. Before he left the hospital, he had one thing to do—the autorickshaw driver who had helped him was requested to come and Khan thanked him for his help. The brave front put up during his return notwith­standing, within the privacy of the family, there would be aftereffects. An indication of that was in a new agency being hired to look after their security.

THE RIGHT NOTE

AS INDIA READIES ITSELF for dealing with the second Donald Trump administration, it seems to be making the right initial moves. On January 22, Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar told reporters in Washington that India was willing to take back its citizens who had come to the US as illegal migrants. On trade, too, India is considering the right measures. India may purchase more crude oil; reduce tariffs on goods such as pecan nuts, and more.

These steps matter. The US is one of India’s largest trading partners. In 2023-24 the two-way trade between the two countries was $119.71 billion with a trade surplus of $35.31 in India’s favour. The US is also an important source of defence equipment for India. Managing this relationship in an increasingly volatile world is important for India. Assuaging the new US administration on two of its domestic political priorities—illegal migration and trade—is important.

Trump’s threat to impose puni­tive tariffs, ranging wildly between 25 per cent (against Mexico and Canada) and 60 per cent (against China) in case ‘deals’ are not forthcoming, has worried analysts in India. It should not. Analysis by private economists puts the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the Indian economy at an estimated 0.8 per cent of GDP. This number is high—given the size of India’s economy—but should be seen in perspective. Countries dependent on exports, such as Vietnam, are expected to suffer a much bigger dent: 8 per cent of its GDP. Others like China (1.1 per cent of GDP) and South Korea (2.2 per cent of GDP) are expected to suffer much bigger hits. India may, yet, muddle through this brave new trading world.

For now, India should set its priorities right. Its defence supply pipeline from the US for vital imports like fighter jet engines (F404 and F414) have been clogged because of the last administration’s politi­cal animus towards the Narendra Modi government. Getting this equipment is im­portant and should be prioritised. At some point, trade issues will come to the fore but there is time to handle those issues. (Siddharth Singh)

 THE BIG PICTURE

Washington DC January 20, 2025

Donald Trump cuts the cake at the Commander-in-Chief Ball with a military sword as Melania Trump looks on. The 47th president reportedly made the Secret Service nervous as he went on to dance with the melee weapon.

NEWSMAKER: CHALAPATI

DEATH OF A MAOIST

It is a big blow to the insurgents already on their last legs

IN 2016, THE Andhra Pradesh police recovered a cheap smartphone from the site of an encounter with Maoist guerrillas. Upon trawling through it, they found a picture they were too glad to lay their hands upon. It was the only picture available, in decades, of senior Maoist leader, Ramachandra Reddy, more popularly known by his party name of Chalapati. A moment of weakness had made him click a selfie with his lover, the senior Maoist leader Aruna— an act strictly forbidden by the Maoist leadership.

It is most likely this picture that enabled the Chhattisgarh police to gather intelligence that led to an encounter along the Odisha border in which 20 Maoists, including Chalapati, were killed. It must have also played a role in identifying his body.

Chalapati had worked in and around Bastar region for decades; he was a member of the Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist), their highest decision-making body. In the past, he had served as the Odisha secretary of the party, and was the brain behind several big attacks on security forces, including the one in Nayagarh (in Odisha) in 2008.

He hailed from Andhra’s Chittoor district. After post graduation, he joined the government’s sericulture department for a while. It is in the Visakhapatnam area that he is believed to have come in touch with Maoists, ultimately joining them. He steadily rose through the ranks, and all this while evaded security forces, at times giving them a last-minute slip. His death is a big blow to the Maoist movement, already in its last throes. (Rahul Pandita)

NOISEMAKE: R K BIREN SINGH

LESS AUTHORITY

Janata Dal (U) Manipur leader K Biren Singh realised that fame can be fleeting the hard way. His decision to ‘withdraw’ JD(U) support to the BJP-led government in the state made it to the front pages of many national dailies as the party is part of the National Democratic Alliance. The action was compared to Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party which had withdrawn support to the Manipur government. It soon turned out that the JD(U) leader has acted unilaterally and had no actual authority over the lone party MLA in the Assembly. JD(U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan said Singh had acted in an undisciplined manner. As it is, JD(U) won six seats in the Assembly and five MLAs have joined BJP. The lone JD(U) MLA Abdul Nasir is currently, at least on paper, a member of NDA. Just how he might vote in the House should the occasion arise is another matter.

 IDEAS

DEFINITION

Among the proclamations by Donald Trump after assuming office as president of the US was the designation of drug cartels as terrorists. Terrorism has a clear definition of illegal use of violence for political ends.

Drug cartels use violence but the overthrowing of governments is not their primary motive for existence. It is usually to make money. By terming them terrorists, effectively the definition of a terrorist has been changed. The reason for such a manoeuvre is because terrorism is seen as a higher crime for which the state allows itself greater powers to quash. Lesser crimes have more legal protections built in for the accused. Changing the definition removes those protections. Such a change in label is also designed to make a statement to the public and reap their appreciation. It is a political gambit.

Words have meanings for a reason. What ought to have been done is to set the same punishments and loss of liberties to drug cartels while retaining the nomenclature. To modify it for convenience can lead to unintended and unwholesome consequences. It can be a slippery slope, for example. Any category of criminals, like say rapists or murderers, could in future be brought under the terrorist category simply because either the government or public sentiment demands it. What then happens to terrorism itself as a crime in its original sense? Does it not come down one rung in its heinousness? If all crime is terrorism, then terrorism becomes just another crime.

 MONEY MANTRA

THE SMART HEDGE

Looking beyond equities would be a safer strategy for retail investors in the Trump 2.0 era

 IT HAS BEEN a lacklustre welcome on the Street for Donald Trump, with both the Indian and US benchmark indices coming off nearly 2 per cent over the past one month. The ner­vousness is understandable given that Trump is a man who redefined unpredictability during his tenure as the US president in his first term.

For Indian equity investors, the Trump’s first term was a les­son in the art of diversification. Just as Trump’s tweets sent ripples across Wall Street, the aftershocks reached Dalal Street. When he announced tariffs on steel imports, global trade dynamics shifted overnight. When he pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, renew­able energy stocks stumbled worldwide.

In a world where one tweet can spark a global sell-off, spreading investments across sectors and asset classes isn’t just a strategy—it’s a necessity. Why 2024 stands out though is that just about all asset classes, including the yellow metal, ended with double-digit returns. Will this year be an encore with Trump calling the shots on every geopolitical axis that matters—from tariffs to visas, from climate change to migrants? Nobody knows. The one good thing about Indian equities is that it does offer a playground for diversification.

The coming four years of Trump 2.0 is going to very different from Trump 1.0. The big difference between then and now is that the Biden administration has left office by stoking conflicts across continents. It has led to ramifications across global markets, including India.

Will oil stocks shine as the US eyes fossil fuels, or will renewables stage a comeback? In a world where no asset class feels safe, spreading investments remains the golden rule. As always, diversification is your best hedge against a storm as unpredictable as Trump himself.

(V KESHAVDEV)

IN DEFENCE OF GAUMUTRA

A video clip in which IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti praised cow’s urine, or gaumutra, for its medicinal properties ended up as an online talking point with even politicians entering the fray. Speaking at an event, Kamakoti gave an anecdote of a saint who was immediately cured of a fever after drinking it. He added that gaumutra was an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent. As the clip got traction online, Kamakoti averred that he had basis for what he said with even reputed scientific journals in the US publishing papers on its efficacies. It led to a political slugfest with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in the state ridiculing him while the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party was on his corner. The media, too, latched on getting experts on both sides of the debate. One voice in favour of gaumutra turned out to be the billionaire Sridhar Vembu, the founder of Zoho, who said that modern science was increasingly recognising such traditional insights.

ChalapatiChinaConrad SangmaDonald Trumpequity marketMaoistS JaishankarSaif Ali Khan