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Emergency-Era Changes In Constitution's Preamble A 'Festering Wound': VP Dhankhar
Emergency-Era Changes In Constitution's Preamble A 'Festering Wound': VP Dhankhar

News18

time4 days ago

  • Politics
  • News18

Emergency-Era Changes In Constitution's Preamble A 'Festering Wound': VP Dhankhar

His comments come against the backdrop of a recent call from sections of the RSS and BJP for a review of the terms 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Saturday that the preamble of any constitution is its soul, and it is not changeable. Except for India, he said, no other constitution's preamble has undergone change. He was speaking at an event marking the presentation of a book titled Ambedkar's Messages. The Vice President was referring to the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976, enacted during the Emergency declared on June 25, 1975. This amendment controversially added the words 'Socialist", 'Secular", and 'Integrity" to the Preamble, which originally described India as a 'Sovereign Democratic Republic". Dhankhar questioned the legitimacy of these changes, particularly their timing. He highlighted that the amendments were pushed through during the 'darkest period of Indian democracy", when fundamental rights were suspended and countless citizens, including prominent leaders, were imprisoned. He said, 'When We the People were bleeding—in heart, in soul—they were in darkness," making the alteration a 'travesty of justice." Dhankhar's remarks also touched upon the judicial understanding of the Preamble. He recalled the Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala case of 1973, where a 13-judge bench of the Supreme Court had deeply reflected on the Preamble, with Justice HR Khanna famously stating that it serves as a guide to interpreting the Constitution and indicates its authority derives from 'We the People of India". His comments come against the backdrop of a recent call from sections of the RSS and BJP for a review of the terms 'socialist" and 'secular" in the Preamble, arguing they were forcibly added and were not part of BR Ambedkar's original draft. The Vice President argued that changing something considered unalterable, something that emanates from the people, at a time when the people were 'virtually enslaved", was a grave 'sacrilege to the spirit of Sanatana" and a belittling of India's civilisational heritage. He further termed the added words a 'nasoor" (festering wound) that could 'create upheaval", signalling a 'betrayal of the mindset of the framers of the Constitution". (With agency inputs) About the Author News Desk First Published: June 29, 2025, 05:25 IST

Before ‘Parks & Rec,' Nick Offerman Worked in the Cornfields of Illinois
Before ‘Parks & Rec,' Nick Offerman Worked in the Cornfields of Illinois

Wall Street Journal

time24-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Wall Street Journal

Before ‘Parks & Rec,' Nick Offerman Worked in the Cornfields of Illinois

Nick Offerman, 54, is an Emmy-winning actor known for TV's 'Parks and Recreation' and 'The Last of Us' and the movie 'Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning.' He stars in the crime-drama film 'Sovereign,' due July 11. He spoke with Marc Myers. I grew up on 3 acres in the middle of a cornfield. My father, Ric, taught junior-high social studies, and my mother, Cathy, was a hospital labor and delivery nurse. Both were raised on farms a few miles to either side of our home. My mom's family still farms corn and soybeans.

‘State of Firsts' Review: Trans Congresswoman Sarah McBride Steps Into the Spotlight for a Doc That's More Than Your Average Political Puff Piece
‘State of Firsts' Review: Trans Congresswoman Sarah McBride Steps Into the Spotlight for a Doc That's More Than Your Average Political Puff Piece

Yahoo

time09-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Yahoo

‘State of Firsts' Review: Trans Congresswoman Sarah McBride Steps Into the Spotlight for a Doc That's More Than Your Average Political Puff Piece

'Representation' takes two forms in Chase Joynt's new documentary, State of Firsts. The 93-minute film, premiering at Tribeca, follows Sarah McBride's quest to be elected to Congress, representing the state of Delaware; as she's aspiring to be in the House of Representatives, she's also on the verge of making history as the first openly trans member of Congress. McBride is proud of both kinds of representation, but she's pragmatic. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Andy Kaufman Is Me' Review: Solid but Unrevelatory Doc Uses Puppetry to Tackle the Iconic Comic 'Boy George & Culture Club' Review: An Affectionate Look at the '80s Band and Its Flamboyant Frontman That Entertains but Treads Too Carefully 'Sovereign' Review: Nick Offerman's Fierce Turn as an Anti-Government Extremist Boosts a Timely Drama McBride is a joyful trailblazer and a calculating politician, and Joynt's willingness to feature both sides of her personality is what finally makes State of Firsts more than just a hagiographic puff piece. It would have been easy for Joynt and editor Chris McNabb to trim away the 'politician' side of McBride's personality and let her be the uncomplicated icon that many of her supporters will probably want to see represented — that word again — here. Instead, they show an increasingly public figure at a crossroads for her and for the country, and suggest why McBride may have the mettle to chart a career that embraces her various 'firsts' while positioning herself for substantive further chapters. State of Firsts traces McBride's life from mid-2024 to early 2025, as she goes from an already precedent-shattering tenure as a Delaware state rep to a Congressional candidate — only to become one of the most visible figures of the country when Donald Trump and the Republican Party latch onto virulent transphobia as a wedge issue. Joynt begins the documentary with Delaware's own Joe Biden as president, but he has just completed the disastrous debate that became a catalyst for his exit from the presidential race. We follow McBride as she does the grunt work of retail politics, from knocking on doors to opening campaign offices to a debate that her opponent opts not to attend. She pushes back against intimations that she's running as a trans candidate and not a Delaware candidate, promising that her assortment of pet issues — healthcare, paid family leave, economic insecurity — will be relevant to the state where she was born and raised. Still, she knows that the 'first' guaranteed to come up in interviews isn't related to Delaware's state nickname. I don't know how to precisely describe McBride's attitude toward the inevitable trans-themed questions that she faces in every interview, toward the pressure to address issues of identity even in standard speeches, toward the fact that the 2024 Democratic Convention didn't have a trans speaker on the main stage's lineup. It isn't 'reluctance' and it isn't 'exhaustion.' It isn't 'wariness,' but it may be 'awareness' — awareness that no matter how much she says 'I'm running on behalf of the people of Delaware,' there will always be an AND or BUT that gets brought into the discussion. Circumstances, as casual observers of current events know, get even more heightened. After the election, South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace — who responded to her own experience breaking gender barriers at an entrenched institution (the Citadel) by becoming a cartoonish bully rather than developing an iota of empathy — uses McBride's bathroom use as a way to gain her own share of the spotlight. McBride's responses become a referendum even within her own community. It's an open question as to whether Joynt's very presence is a further source of McBride's self-conscious awareness. Despite McBride repeated emphasis that she's a Delaware candidate and not a trans candidate, the director's interest often seems just as trans-focused as that of the media. A rare exception to that angle comes when a constituent wants to engage McBride on issues related to the Israel/Gaza conflict — and even then, it's obvious that while McBride knows her ideological position, this isn't really the issue she wants to talk about either. Long stretches of the documentary feature McBride, Joynt and usually McBride's perpetually anxious campaign manager driving in cars. In those scenes, McBride's answers to the director's questions are thoughtful, passionate and, if you've seen other interviews with her, delivered with consistent preparedness or prepared consistency. Often State of Firsts is a film about a woman doing interviews while she waits to do more interviews. When McBride isn't answering the director's questions and when Joynt is able to fade into the background, the documentary, which asserts little visual style other than fly-on-the-wall presence, is able to witness moments that showcase the unguarded McBride. Family gatherings and backstage meetings show McBride's vulnerability, dorky sense of humor and general passion for the political process. Much more than when she's making statements or espousing messages, it's these glimpses that allow State of Firsts to pack an emotional punch when she fields a congratulatory call from President Biden, hugs a trans constituent, or briefly takes in the joy that her parents and siblings feel as they walk down the hall on her first day at the Capitol. Whether we're seeing McBride the person or McBride the politician, McBride the Delaware rep or McBride the trans pioneer, State of Firsts portrays a young person realizing she can't avoid being all of these things at once — and facing, perhaps for the first time, the idea that she can't be a perfect representative of everything at all times. That's more interesting than if State of Firsts were just a love letter. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now

‘Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Accuses College Soccer Coach of Sexual Harassment
‘Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Accuses College Soccer Coach of Sexual Harassment

Yahoo

time09-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Yahoo

‘Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Accuses College Soccer Coach of Sexual Harassment

Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper claims in her new Hulu documentary that she was sexually harassed by her soccer coach, Nancy Feldman, at Boston University. Call Her Alex premiered at the Tribeca Festival on Sunday, and in part one, the podcasting mogul details the harassment she suffered over three years at the school, accusing Feldman of commenting on her body and asking questions about her intimate life, among other claims. Cooper, a top soccer player in high school, went to Boston University on a full scholarship. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Boy George & Culture Club' Review: An Affectionate Look at the '80s Band and Its Flamboyant Frontman That Entertains but Treads Too Carefully 'Sovereign' Review: Nick Offerman's Fierce Turn as an Anti-Government Extremist Boosts a Timely Drama 'American Psycho' Director Mary Harron Is Surprised by Movie's Lingering Relevance 'My sophomore year, everything really shifted,' she said in the documentary. 'I started to notice her really starting to fixate on me way more than any other teammate of mine. And it was confusing because the focus wasn't like, 'You're doing so well, let's get you on the field, you're gonna be a starter.' It was all based on her [Feldman] wanting to know who I was dating, her making comments about my body and her always wanting to be alone with me.' Cooper said she would try to avoid Feldman, but that her coach would retaliate by benching her during games. It ultimately ended with Cooper being kicked off the soccer team senior year. 'It was this psychotic game of, 'You wanna play? Tell me about your sex life, I have to drive you to your night class, get in the car with me alone,'' she recalled. 'I started trying to spend as little time as possible with her, taking different routes to practice where I knew I wouldn't run into her. During meetings, I would try to sit as far away from her as possible, literally anything to not be alone with this woman.' In Call Her Alex, Cooper claimed university officials 'dismissed' her allegations against Feldman and that there was no investigation. Cooper graduated from Boston University in 2017, and Feldman retired in 2022. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Boston University for comment. In a Q&A following the premiere, Cooper shared why she chose to open up about the sexual harassment allegations in the documentary. 'I think a lot of this process almost made me realize, if I have the finances to pay for a lawyer and I have the resources to do all these things, how is another woman going to feel comfortable to come forward? I'm still fucking scared up here, you know. And I was nobody when I was in college. I did come forward. I was denied, essentially. And so the story is frustrating, because I want to tell women come forward … But I did, and I wasn't believed, and then it took me a decade.' She continued, 'I actually think this is just the beginning. It's really opened my eyes to how difficult the system is, and it's so built against us as women, and we have to fight so fucking hard to have our voices heard, and we are denied, or we're questioned, or you feel shame, and that started to really get in my head of, how am I about to not put this in the documentary?… I realized, holy shit, I have so much more work to do, and I'm going to use my platform to hopefully inspire other people to come forward and tell their stories, because conversation is the only way that we're going to actually have change and we're going to make change.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)

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