Heavy lifting (The Indian Express- 8 June 2017)

     Having established its superiority in the numbers game, ISRO is now throwing its weight around

     In February, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) made world headlines by using a polar launch vehicle to slingshot a record 104 satellites into orbit. That established it as the go-to launch service provider for developers of small satellites, a market which can only grow at exponential speed. Now, the launch of the geosynchronous launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III has catapulted it into the league of big hitters. The launch vehicle, which includes a completely indigenous cryogenic motor, placed India’s heaviest satellite, GSAT-19, in a transfer orbit. The two achievements of 2017 place ISRO in a very special position in the space race.

     When the Cold War fired the starter’s gun, the race was dominated by prestige projects, like sending men into space and to the moon, funded by governments to demonstrate technological supremacy. But now, the commercialisation of space is imminent, private players have entered the fray and the race is about establishing a technological presence and facilities in orbit and on the less forbidding planets, like Mars. ISRO’s biggest GSLV has launched a 3,200 kg satellite into geosynchronous orbit, but can accommodate 800 kg more. Besides, it can send a payload of eight tonnes to low earth orbit, the preferred band for most satellites and all space stations.

     Therefore, ISRO can partially pay its way with cheap multiple launchers, though this market may soon be dominated by reusable vehicles operated by entrepreneurs like Elon Musk. It can also provide launch services to makers of heavy satellites, and pursue its own big projects, like manned flight, space stations and lunar and planetary missions bigger than Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan. It is in the enviable position of reaching for the stars with fiscal prudence. Perhaps no other national space mission currently has this capability, and it will make a difference to India’s prospects in space.

Read More »

Restive Gulf (The Indian Express- 8 June 2017)

     A mercantilist approach to the Qatar crisis will not serve India’s strategic and energy concerns in West Asia

    It is tempting to see the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) diplomatic offensive against Qatar as a rerun of earlier spats in West Asia. That seems to be the understanding behind New Delhi’s cautious reaction to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and Yemen cutting off ties as well as transport to Qatar, sparked by an alleged statement of support for Iran by its Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Expressing concern for the over six lakh Indian workers in Qatar, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, while asserting that the current row was an internal matter for the GCC, said that New Delhi is “trying to assess who and how many are stuck in the middle, and then we will move”. Securing the Indian diaspora in the Gulf is, of course, of paramount importance. New Delhi must, however, look at the current crisis, and West Asia and North Africa as a whole, from a broader prism than just Indian labour in the region.

The latest developments are symptomatic of a structural change in the Gulf, with Saudi Arabia’s worries about Iran’s influence evidently sharpening. Since the “Arab Spring”, the Iran-Saudi rivalry has been playing out in civil wars, diplomatic manoeuvrings and internal conflicts in Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Egypt. Against this backdrop, Qatar has often tried to play all sides: It was the only GCC country to support the Muslim Brotherhood — which has officially sworn off violence but is still accused of terrorism by many in the GCC — sided with Turkey in the Syrian civil war, and is perceived to be backing Iran. For the Sunni-ruled countries of the GCC, that has serious implications — Bahrain, for example, has a restive Shia majority ruled by a Sunni monarchy. Qatar is also a US ally and houses arguably its most important military base in the region. President Donald Trump’s reversal of his predecessor’s policy of relative non-interference has not helped.

     The situation in West Asia only looks to be escalating if the serial attacks in Tehran, for which the Islamic State has taken responsibility, are any indication. The pressure on Qatar seems to be aimed at changing its policy direction, making it fall in line with Saudi interests. If Iran intervenes or the royal family feud continues, Delhi should be prepared to evacuate its people. Over the longer term, India can’t continue with a mercantilist approach to the Gulf. The region’s salience to India’s strategic and energy concerns demand a deeper engagement.

Read More »

The Morning Knock (The Indian Express- 8 June 2017)

     How CBI handles the NDTV case has significant implications for media freedom — and its credibility

   Seven years after causing an alleged loss of Rs 48 crore to ICICI Bank on a loan they took, NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy were raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation Monday morning. Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu is right to affirm that a media house cannot presume itself to be above the law. Indeed, this is especially true when ownership of most media today is defined by a vertiginous web of cross-holdings involving

corporates and entities for whom media is not a primary business. In the interests of transparency, NDTV must submit to due process. The CBI’s FIR asks questions about disclosures by NDTV and ICICI Bank that will need to be addressed. But the story will unfold under intense public scrutiny, since summary raids on media houses are relics from a dark time to which no one wishes to return. Late last year, Naidu’s ministry, indefensibly, had ordered NDTV India to shut down for a day, a decision it, wisely, revoked. So, the manner in which the new NDTV probe is conducted has significant implications for freedom of speech, the health of democracy and the image of the premier investigative agency.

     Due process may have been followed so far but there are disquieting questions. The CBI has stepped in seven years after the event — in the interregnum, two of its directors are in the dock for their alleged ties with some accused in other cases — and barely a month after a complaint was lodged. Large parts of its FIR are little more than a cut-and-paste job from the complaint with no evidence of any original investigation. Significantly, ICICI Bank which is alleged to have suffered a presumptive loss has not complained. Further, it was a private loss, with no implications for the exchequer. Such private

matters are customarily decided by the law of torts and the government is not expected to weigh in. Disputes concerning defaults bigger by orders of magnitude are being heard by the courts and the government has made no attempt to short-circuit the process by letting the CBI loose. The complainant, a former consultant with NDTV, has approached the court but has got no order.

For these reasons, this investigation, both in form and content, is a touchstone. The CBI must ensure that it is nobody’s caged parrot. Its statement issued on Tuesday that it “fully respects the freedom of press and is committed to the free functioning of news operations”, is welcome. How it conducts the investigation — and itself — will be a test of this commitment.

Read More »

Staying the course (The Indian Express- 8 June 2017)

     Big picture in mind, the Monetary Policy Committee refuses to cut repo rate

     The decision by the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to keep the central bank’s benchmark “repo” or overnight lending rate unchanged, along with maintaining a “neutral” stance in its latest bimonthly review, can be questioned on many counts. The resolution statement released at the end of its two-day meeting admits to “deceleration” of economic activity since July-September and “contraction” in gross fixed investment in the latest January-March quarter. More importantly, it refers to lower inflation expectations “three months ahead and a year ahead”, based on the RBI’s own survey of households. On both grounds — a deepening slowdown with no signs of an investment pickup and “the abrupt and significant retreat of inflation” since April — there was a clear case for a reduction of policy rates, undertaken last on October 4. Even if no actual lowering of rates was resorted to, the least the MPC could have done is signal a return to an “accommodative” stance, as was the case prior to February. The current repo rate of 6.25 per cent, when adjusted for a consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 3 per cent, works out to over 3 per cent in real terms. This is much more than the RBI’s own 1.6-1.8 per cent estimate for the “neutral” or “natural” interest rate for India, consistent with the economy growing at its potential with low stable inflation.

     But whether right or wrong, one must still give credit to the MPC for its unwavering commitment to reining in inflation and not taking any premature action now that might risk “disruptive policy reversals later and the loss of credibility”. The latter part is most important. The RBI today enjoys credibility globally as a regulator largely for the impeccable inflation-fighting credentials it has built in recent years. That credibility has only been reinforced by the Narendra Modi government’s decision to enter into a monetary policy framework agreement with the RBI, tasking the latter with targeting CPI inflation to 4 per cent or thereabouts in the medium term. Subsequently, a six-member MPC headed by the RBI governor was constituted to take decisions on interest rates. The whole idea here was to insulate such decision-making from any political or populist pressures.

     Under these circumstances, it is unfortunate to see attempts, particularly by the Finance Ministry, to seemingly influence the MPC’s decisions. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian issued statements, both making explicit arguments for a significant monetary easing. It goes to the MPC’s credit for fending off these pressures, even if one might not agree with its decision. Ultimately, there are institutional arrangements that need to be respected. We would leave it to the MPC to decide when the time is ripe for the next cut, which may actually come sooner than later.

Read More »

The waiting game (The Indian Express- 6 June 2017)

     The London jihadi strikes indicate that there is no easy full stop to terror

     Enough is enough,” said British Prime Minister Theresa May in the wake of Saturday’s terrorist attack in London. But her fighting words only serve to mask the fact that there is no simple way to put a full stop to the wave of jihadist violence that has hit Europe since it went to war with the Islamic State. May, like other politicians before her, lamented the fact that there was “far too much tolerance of extremism in our country”. In the London case, though, there is evidence that the key perpetrator, who moved to the UK from Pakistan with his parents and his child, was far from tolerated. Members of the community not only expelled the alleged attacker from the local Ahlulistiqamah mosque for his political views, but his friends reported him to the police because of his pro-Islamic State views. “I did my bit, I know a lot of other people did their bit, but the authorities did not do their bit,” one of those who reported the perpetrator to the police told the BBC.

     From the point of view of the authorities, it’s hard to know just what to do in these cases. The perpetrator, father of a toddler, made no secret of his pro-Islamic State views, even appearing in a documentary last week. However, he engaged in no behaviour that would have justified placing him — as opposed to several other high-risk suspects — under expensive, human resource-intensive surveillance. If mere expressions of support to jihadists are to be made illegal, it will hinder, rather than help authorities, driving potential supporters underground. Even attempting to shut off all access to jihadist websites and messaging will do little to staunch the flow of jihadist ideas, because of easily available technology most teenagers can demonstrate to their parents.

     The simple truth is that the expensive investments in policing made incrementally after 9/11 have approached their limits. In London, after all, the attackers were shot in just eight minutes; plot after plot has been preempted. There is, however, no means of identifying those vulnerable to a toxic ideology — nor a quick-fix tool to catch all those willing to kill for it. The Islamic State’s toxic ideology will continue to appeal to the nihilistic urges of some Muslim youth until it is decisively defeated. Until then, societies must hold fast to their democratic values, instead of surrendering them to demagogues.

Read More »

The son also rises (The Indian Express- 6 June 2017)

     The birthday bash in Chennai last Saturday had the trappings of an Opposition conclave. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Sitaram Yechury and D. Raja representing the communists, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, representatives from the NCP and the IUML flew in to greet the DMK patriarch, Kalaignar Karunanidhi, on his 94th birthday. They extolled the virtues of Kalaignar at the public meeting later in the evening. Kalaignar, unwell and confined to home, didn’t take the stage, while DMK Working President Stalin played the perfect host.

     Such gatherings have, in the past, led to new political fronts. For instance, the National Front in the 1980s was born out of an initiative by Telugu Desam leader and then-Andhra Pradesh CM, N.T. Rama Rao. The NF eventually defeated Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress. With the presidential elections looming in the background, many felt the birthday lunch was an occasion for the Opposition leaders to come together and plot the future. Presidential polls, reportedly, didn’t figure in the conversations. As Kalaignar receded to the background, the meeting heralded a son rise in national politics. In his speech, Nitish predicted a government led by Stalin in Tamil Nadu soon. Others referred to his organisational abilities. The DMK’s backroom boys insisted that Rahul’s visit to Stalin’s Cenotaph Road residence was significant: Kalaignar’s Gopalapuram house was the only port of call for national leaders in Tamil Nadu all these years. At 65, Thalapathi (Commander) was turning the General.

     Indeed, it was a Stalin show, from the planning to the execution of the event. His refusal to invite the BJP, once allied with the DMK, for the function was a clear political statement. In his speech, he took on the Centre for its failure to create jobs, its obsession with Hindi and beef. It showcased a new Stalin, in total control of the DMK and ready to engage with national politics. Is the father complaining?

Read More »

Whose prestige? (The Indian Express- 6 June 2017)

The Centre’s notification on slaughter cattle trade will undermine multiple businesses. It must go

     One must welcome the Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan’s statement that the government is “carefully studying” the objections over its new rules on regulation of livestock markets and not making this a “prestige issue”. His government actually should go further and withdraw the May 23 notification that bans sale of cattle and buffaloes meant for slaughter in animal markets across India. Merely clarifying that there is no intention to prohibit bovine slaughter or target the country’s multi-billion dollar meat and leather processing industries isn’t enough. Truth be told, the rules would end up killing not just these two businesses, but even undermine the White Revolution by rendering dairy farming unviable.

     Those backing the new notification — both within and outside the government — claim that disallowing trade in animals for slaughter in markets will make no difference to abattoirs and meat processors. They can get their bovines straight from the farms, while the livestock markets would deal only in animals meant for milch and agricultural purposes. That logic may sound fine, but it betrays total ignorance of the way animal farming happens in India. In the West, there are distinct categories of “beef cattle” and “dairy cattle” farmers. The animals reared for meat are also typically Aberdeen-Angus cattle, which are different from the regular dairy cow breeds, such as Holstein-Friesian, Jersey and Brown Swiss. In India, the farmer who milks a buffalo till it is about nine years old sells the same animal for slaughter. The buyer is often a trader who aggregates the spent animals from other similar farmers in the area and takes these to the local livestock market. The trader is obviously doing a service by not only paying for the farmers’ unproductive bovines, but also saving them the cost of fodder and labour resources, which can be deployed towards animals that yield milk and incomes.

     If markets for spent buffaloes and cattle cease to exist — which is what the Environment Ministry’s rules effectively do — the ultimate victim would be the farmer. The ordinary dairy farmer who may need to dispose of one or two unproductive animals a year has no means to supply these directly to a slaughterhouse. The latter, in turn, cannot economically source from hundreds of scattered individual producers, each selling one or two animals a year (unlike the 5-10 litres of milk they would sell daily that also makes direct procurement a viable proposition). The institution that makes trade in unproductive bovines possible is the market, which brings together the sellers (whether farmers or primary aggregators) and buyers (butchers or agents of slaughterhouses) for these animals on a single platform. The loss to the country from closing down these thousands of markets extends beyond “prestige”.

Read More »

The black box (The Indian Express - 5 June 2017)

     Government must address EC’s concerns about recent amendments to laws that govern political finance. One of the main contentions of the EC has to do with a proviso that exempts political parties from disclosing donations received from electoral bonds.

     The Election Commission has flagged the recent amendments in the Representation of the People (RP) Act and the Companies Act, related to donations made to political parties. It has expressed concern that they militate against greater transparency in political finance. The government must urgently address the EC’s concerns.

One of the main contentions of the EC, articulated in its letter to the law secretary, has to do with a proviso that exempts political parties from disclosing donations received from electoral bonds. In the last budget session, the government had introduced the bonds, which a donor could make and gift to registered political parties. Simultaneously, it also banned cash donations over Rs 2,000. The plan, it seemed, was to shift from cash donations that were difficult to track towards cashless transactions. However, the radical edge of the proposal was undermined by the amendment that exempted political parties from disclosing donations received from bonds. The EC rightly wants the provision withdrawn. Its concern that “in a situation where the contributions received through electoral bonds are not reported on perusal of the contribution report of political parties, it cannot be ascertained whether the political party has taken any donation in violation of provision under Section 29(b) of the RP Act which prohibits the political parties from taking donations from government companies and foreign sources” is valid. Besides, the bonds allow anonymity to donors, who can channel large sums electronically to their party of preference. Earlier, political parties had to disclose details of the donors who made contributions above Rs 20,000. The provision made it possible to track the identity and volume of contributions received by every political party.

     These changes need to be seen in relation to amendments to the Companies Act. The Act has been diluted to lift the cap on corporate donations to political parties. Earlier, a company could not contribute more than 7.5 per cent of its net profit over the last three years to parties. The EC has warned that the change in the law “opens up the possibility of shell companies being set up for the sole purpose of making donations to political parties with no business of consequence”. The law in the previous form, the EC has argued, ensured that “only profitable companies with proven track record could provide donations to political parties”. The opacity of political finance has been a significant part of the story of political corruption in the country. In light of the EC’s note of caution, the government needs to revisit the changes it has made both in the RPA and the Companies Act.

Read More »

Engaging Europe (The Indian Express - 5 June 2017)

     PM Modi did well to reaffirm India’s strategic partnerships with Russia and France. The new global imperatives call for it.   

  

     As America enters an uncertain era and great power relations turn turbulent, India is eager to sustain two of its long-standing strategic partnerships with Russia and France. That was the main message from the second leg of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s European sojourn last week. In the first part of the four-nation tour that took the PM to Germany and Spain, Modi’s emphasis was on exploring the new avenues of cooperation with Germany and other European nations that Delhi has long neglected. Just before Modi arrived in the old continent, President Donald Trump was there shocking America’s European allies with his boorish personal behaviour and anti-globalist worldview. Coupled with Trump’s warmth towards China and Russia, the unfolding Western divide has begun to complicate the assumptions of India’s international calculus since the end of the Cold War. Sharpening the case for a fresh Indian look at its external environment was Trump’s rant against India in announcing the decision to quit the 2015 Paris accord on climate change after his return to Washington.

     Amidst this new international fluidity, Delhi appreciates the need to minimise the emerging friction in the old partnership with Moscow. That India has been anxious about Russia’s drift towards China and Pakistan has not been a secret. Modi’s talks with President Putin did not end the differences on assessing the regional situation. For Putin sidestepped questions on Kashmir and signaled that Russia will continue to improve ties with Pakistan. Modi’s focus in Moscow was on limiting political differences with Putin and revitalising the stagnant commercial engagement with Russia. If Modi turned on his personal charm to reboot the trust-based relationship with Putin, his mission to Paris about establishing rapport with President Emmanuel Macron who has just taken charge of France. Paris has always been an exception to India’s ambivalent relationship with the West, and Modi appears to have won Macron’s commitment to build on the special relationship with France in the areas of high technology and defence and extend it to counter terrorism.

     Macron’s decision to accompany Modi to a memorial for Indian soldiers who fought in France during the First World War is an acknowledgement not just of Delhi’s past contribution to European geopolitics, but its future role in ordering this vital region. In aligning with Europe on mitigating climate change amidst US pull out of the Paris Accord and navigating the current divisions between Russia on the one hand and Germany and France on the other, Modi has shown some diplomatic finesse. But to play the long game in these tumultuous times, the PM must get his domestic economic and security decision-making upto speed with the new global imperatives.

Read More »

Climate rogue (The Indian Express - 03 June 2017)

     In reneging on the Paris Agreement, Donald Trump’s America has ceded the bully pulpit on climate change

      Less than five months after assuming office, US President Donald J. Trump has fulfilled his ludicrous “election promise” to withdraw his country from the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The decision puts the US, which claims leadership in global environmental negotiations, in telling company: War-ravaged Syria, and Nicaragua, which has argued that the Paris pact is not radical enough.

    

     Trump’s decision was not unexpected. Nevertheless, the announcement was appalling in its rejection of the science and history of climate change, and smacked of the US president’s contempt for India and China. “I cannot support a deal that punishes the United States, the world’s leader in environmental protection, while imposing no meaningful obligations on the world’s leading polluters…. India can double its coal production.

But we are supposed to get rid of our coal plants,” Trump said. That is somewhat rich coming from the president of a nation whose annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are second only to that of far more populous China.

     Historically, the US has pumped in more GHG into the atmosphere than any other country. But like the then-US president George W. Bush, who refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, Trump has always denied America’s historical culpability in climate change. Much has, however, changed between 2001 and today, and Trump is unlikely to get away with his braggadocio, like Bush did. The US president’s climate denial has got him bad press from not just global political leaders but also the Pope and corporates such as Exxon-Mobil. The US decision is unlikely to have a domino effect and other countries are unlikely to ease their efforts to decarbonise.

     India and China, whose per capita GHG footprint is far lower than the US, have affirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement. In fact, India’s target of producing 40 per cent of its installed electricity capacity by 2030 from non-fossil fuels outstrips that of the US by 10 per cent. With Trump reiterating his “commitment” to reopen some coal mines, the US might now find it difficult to attain this comparatively conservative target.

     The absence of the US from the Paris agreement will hurt the pact in other ways. A core condition in the Paris pact commitments of most developing nations is the promise of financial and technology support from developed countries. On Thursday, Trump announced that his government will go back on the Barack Obama administration’s promise of a $3 billion contribution to help poor nations develop sustainable energy sources. Meanwhile, the EU commissioner for climate action and energy, Miguel Arias Canete, has pledged continued “global leadership” on climate change.

But will the EU also put its money where its mouth is?

Read More »

Players & superstars (The Indian Express - 03 June 2017)

     Ramachandra Guha’s resignation from cricket administration flags important concerns. It may not be enough

     Ramachandra Guha’s resignation letter to Vinod Rai, chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) to manage Indian cricket, is at once damning and revealing. Guha shines unflattering light on ills that still plague Indian cricket, despite the CoA being in the fourth month of its existence. The biggest issue that Guha has tackled in the letter is the “superstar culture” in Indian cricket — an equivalent of “VIP culture” in Indian society in general.

     The subject of celebrity cricketers, past and present, getting away with much, has been the big elephant in the room, spoken in whispers by Indian cricket watchers but never addressed so specifically, and unequivocally, as it is by Guha. He takes on the holy cows — Sunil Gavaskar (BCCI commentator and director of a player management company), Rahul Dravid (India A coach and IPL team mentor), Sourav Ganguly (Bengal Association’s president with media/broadcast commitments) — for blatant conflicts of interest. He cites previous communications as proof that even though the CoA members were made aware of the issue, they didn’t take any action.

     Guha points out, correctly so, that the superstar culture in the BCCI management is at the root of such conflicts of interest and lack of transparency. But why blame the BCCI and CoA alone? The SC made Gavaskar, despite his conflict of interest, the BCCI’s interim head during IPL 2014. While Guha’s letter is welcome, and the evidence it produces incriminating, will it change anything? The answer, tragically, seems “no”. The letter, in its spirit, doesn’t read different from the findings of the Justice Mukul Mudgal committee and the recommendations of the Justice R.M. Lodha panel, which led to the SC setting up the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the sport without the encumbrances of a reluctant BCCI.

     It had a sweeping mandate, and the backing of the court. And yet, in a matter of months, the committee appears to have mutated into a subset of the same BCCI it had taken over from. No one would be more thrilled to read Guha’s letter than the board’s old guard. The timing suggests that, for Guha, the tipping point was the ongoing Anil Kumble-Virat Kohli rift, which looms over India’s Champions Trophy campaign.

     Isn’t giving senior players the impression that they may have a veto power over the coach, Guha asks, another example of the superstar culture gone berserk? It’s ironic that the letter appears sympathetic to Kumble, who had in the past benefited from the same culture: He mentored teams in the IPL while running a player management company.

Read More »

Just plead guilty (The Indian Express - 03 June 2017)

     US’s new visa questionnaire provides the thrill of a criminal interrogation to law-abiding applicants

     Is the daily grind of work, study or the sheer boredom of an uneventful life getting you down? Does the ennui of being a law-abiding citizen make you crave risk and adventure? Don’t worry. Uncle Sam will make you experience the thrill of a criminal life without actually breaking the law. The Trump administration’s new visa questionnaire for applicants across the world is an interrogation into details that even the most interested love interest will not know, or care about. It will make you feel, just for wanting to study or holiday or work in the US, like a harbourer of great secrets and a threat to the global order.

     The US state department now needs details of all the social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers that applicants have had in the last five years. Remember the embarrassingly angst-ridden blogs of your youth or that late night Facebook post you forgot to delete? Well, the US state department will examine them before you can frolic with Mickey Mouse in Disneyland.

     Those who live life the old-fashioned way — with a minimal digital footprint — need not worry. The US administration’s services for criminal thrills have a comprehensive analogue component: Applicants will need to provide 15 years of biographical information, including addresses, for every job and place they have travelled to.

     The new visa application process has been criticised on multiple counts — from granting arbitrary power to consular staff to creating a bureaucratic backlog and the fact that the US already has one of the most stringent visa processes in the world. Luckily for thrill-seekers, the Trump administration has paid no heed. So forget bungee jumping and river rafting, and just visit your unfriendly neighbourhood US visa office.

     Incidentally, the White House is trying to re-impose the travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries. So even if you do manage to make it through the interrogation, you may still be guilty.

Read More »