Evening Wrap | February 23, 2026

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday released the country’s first-ever anti-terror policy, emphasising that other than terror sponsored from across the border, “criminal hackers and nation states continue to target India through cyber-attacks.”

The policy said that India faces terrorist threats on all three fronts — water, land and air — and capacities have been developed to protect the critical sectors of the Indian economy, including power, railways, aviation, ports, defence, space and atomic energy, from State/non-State actors.  The Hindu first reported on December 23, 2025 that the National Counter Terrorism Policy and Strategy has been finalised and will be released soon.

The policy named “PRAHAAR, uploaded on MHA’s website, stated that “India does not link terrorism to any specific religion, ethnicity, nationality or civilisation.”

It added that India has long been affected by “sponsored terrorism” from across the border, with “Jihadi terror outfits as well as their frontal organisations” continuing to plan, coordinate, facilitate and execute terror attacks in India.“India has been on the target of global terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which have been trying to incite violence in the country through sleeper cells,” adding that violent extremists operating from foreign countries have hatched conspiracies to promote terrorism.

“Their handlers from across the border frequently use the latest technologies, including the use of drones, for facilitating terror-related activities and attacks in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Increasingly, terrorist groups are engaging organised criminal networks for logistics and recruitment to execute and facilitate terror strikes in India,” the policy said.

It further said that for propaganda, communication, funding, and guiding terror attacks, these terror groups use social media platforms as well as ‘instant messaging applications’ and technological advancements such as encryption, the dark web, crypto wallets, etc. Have allowed these groups to operate anonymously.

“Disrupting/Intercepting terrorist efforts to access and use CBRNED (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive, Digital) material remains a challenge for Counter Terrorism (CT) agencies. The threat of state and non-state actors misusing drones and robotics for lethal purposes remains another area of concern.”

As a way forward, the policy suggested that to make appropriate cases against the perpetrators of acts of terrorism, there is a need to associate legal experts at every stage of investigation, right from the registration of FIR to its culmination in prosecution.

“Terrorist groups based outside nowadays use the infrastructure, logistics and terrain knowledge of local outfits for launching attacks. National actions, coupled with international and regional cooperation, are key elements in addressing the transnational terrorism challenge,” it said.

MHA said that terrorist groups are continuously making efforts to recruit Indian youth and to thwart these efforts, Indian intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been continuously disrupting the designs of terrorist groups.

“Once identified, these youths undergo a graded police response, aimed at comprehensively addressing the problem of radicalisation and violent extremism in a multi-stakeholder setting. Legal action is initiated against the individual based on their level of radicalisation,” the Ministry’s new policy said.

Underscoring the role of community and religious leaders, the policy stated that moderate preachers and NGOs are engaged to spread awareness about the adverse consequences and impacts of radicalisation and extremist violence.

“Besides, youth are constructively engaged in ensuring that issues that may threaten peace and communal harmony are checked. In order to prevent radicalisation in prisons, prison staff are cautioned from time to time to prevent acts of radicalisation of vulnerable inmates by hardcore inmates. De-radicalisation programmes are also undertaken,” MHA said. 

CJI says ‘general’ directions in 2018 hate crime judgment may be ‘unmanageable’, favours case-to-case action

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday referred to “general directions” issued by the Supreme Court in a 2018 judgment to the Centre and States to prevent and prosecute cow vigilantism and mobocracy as “unmanageable”.

Rather, the CJI observed in favour of an individualistic approach, taking up each crime on its singular facts and merits, and acting on any infraction of a person’s right r abuse of law with immediate effect.

The Chief Justice remarked that the apex court only lays down general principles of law for the authorities to comply with and the people to raise in their protection in case of any violation of their rights. In case of any breach of rights, the public has a remedy in law through the courts concerned, the Chief Justice indicated.

“If somebody’s rights are infringed or some action is taken in excess of the protection of the law. Their rights must be protected. Immediate action must be taken in such cases,” Chief Justice Kant, heading a Bench comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, observed.The court refused to entertain contempt petitions, urging that the State Governments and authorities have not been acting in compliance with the 2018 Tehseen Poonawalla judgment.

The eight-year-old verdict had reverberated as a sharp judicial criticism against a spate of lynchings and communally-coloured mob violence which had occurred since 2014. The court had described these as “creeping threats. It had warned that the rising wave of frenzied mobs — fed by fake news, self-professed morality, and false stories — would consume the country like a “typhoon-like monster.”

The three-judge Bench led by then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had imposed that the primary obligation of the government was to protect all individuals irrespective of race, caste, class or religion. It had directed several preventive, remedial and punitive measures to deal with lynching and mob violence while ordering the Centre and the States to implement the measures and file compliance reports.

“Crime knows no religion and neither the perpetrator nor the victim can be viewed through the lens of race, caste, class or religion,” the Supreme Court had observed then.

However, in February 2025, the apex court had, when the case come up, was of the opinion that it could possibly not “micro-manage” criminal prosecutions of mob lynchings and violence in “different areas or different States” across the country sitting in Delhi.

Instead, it had urged victims to approach the local courts and State authorities to comply with the directions in the 2018 judgment to prevent and fairly investigate hate crimes and communal violence.

The 2018 judgment had issued a series of guidelines to the States and their police forces to take steps to prevent communal violence and lynchings. The court, in its judgment, had directed the police to register FIRs and prosecute the perpetrators without delay.

In 2025, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had submitted that mob-lynching was a separate offence under the new criminal law. Any violation, the law would take its own course. Mr. Mehta had nevertheless agreed that the 2018 directions of the Supreme Court were binding on all. 

Rahul Gandhi meets Uttarakhand’s ‘Mohammad Deepak’, tells him ‘will take membership in your gym’

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday met a gym owner from Uttarakhand who shot into the limelight as ‘Mohammad Deepak’ for taking on Bajrang Dal activists allegedly harassing a Muslim shopkeeper, and expressed support by telling him that he would come to Kotdwar to take membership in the gym.

Congress leader Vaibhav Walia, the gym owner Deepak Kumar and his friend Vijay Rawat, along with several others, were present at the meeting, which took place at the 10, Janpanth residence of Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi. Mr. Deepak also met Sonia Gandhi.

“Every human being is equal. This is Indianness, this is ‘mohabbat ki dukaan’. Meeting with brother Mohammad Deepak from Uttarakhand — this same flame of unity and courage should burn in every Indian youth,” Rahul Gandhi, who also spoke with Deepak’s wife over the phone, said in a Facebook post.

After the meeting, Mr. Kumar told reporters, “Rahul ji invited me. He introduced me to Sonia ji and also spoke with my wife over the phone. He told me that you have done a good job and I will come to Kotdwar and take a membership at your gym.”

Congress leader Vaibhav Walia, who had walked with Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Yatra, said, “Mohammad Deepak has carried forward the message that Rahul Gandhi gave through the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ — which is of opening ‘Mohabbat Ki Dukaan’ across the country.”

“We are grateful to Rahul ji for honouring a young man from Uttarakhand who stood up for humanity and love. We hope that love will prevail and hatred will lose in Uttarakhand and the entire country,” Mr. Walia said.

On January 26, Bajrang Dal activists protested outside the ‘Baba’ clothing store on Patel Marg in Kotdwar to pressure its 70-year-old owner, Vakil Ahmed, to change the name of the shop.

During the protest, clashes broke out between the activists, shop owner Vakil Ahmed and his son’s friend Deepak Kumar, after which Mr. Kumar, identifying himself as Mohammad Deepak, forced the protesters to retreat.

On January 31, a larger group of activists again gathered outside Mr. Ahmed’s shop and Mr. Kumar’s gym, blocked the road and shouted slogans. However, police intervention prevented escalation. Three separate FIRs have been filed in connection with the incidents.

Fresh concerns have emerged following a viral video by the Hindu Raksha Dal, in which a man could be seen threatening to march to Kotdwara on February 12 to “teach Deepak a lesson”. Local authorities have maintained a strict vigil to prevent any flare-up.

Mr. Kumar, the 42-year-old owner of The ‘Hulk’ gym in Uttarakhand’s Kotdwara, had earlier said his business has collapsed since he confronted Bajrang Dal activists.

He had said the ongoing tension has made his livelihood a casualty of the dispute. Following the incident, Mr. Gandhi had expressed support for Mr. Kumar and alleged that the Sangh Parivar is deliberately poisoning the economy and the society to keep India divided. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha had said that Mr. Deepak is a hero of India as he is fighting for the Constitution and humanity. 

Pre-2018 land acquisition cases can’t be reopened for grant of compensation with interest: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday orally observed that pre-2018 land acquisition cases cannot be reopened for the grant of compensation with interest to the farmers whose land had been acquired under the NHAI Act.

The observation was made by a special Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan while commencing the hearing in an open court of a plea of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), seeking a review of a 2019 verdict of the top court.

The apex court, in 2019, held that the decision to grant compensation with interest to farmers whose land was acquired under the NHAI Act would apply retrospectively.

The NHAI, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said the 2019 judgment imposed a huge financial burden (approximately ₹32,000 crore) and should only apply prospectively.

The Bench had previously rejected this, noting that denying such benefits violated Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.

“What perhaps weighed with your lordship was that it was ₹100 crore,” Mr. Mehta said, adding that in another judgement, the top court said that no disposed of cases will be reopened.

“The cut-off date appears to be 2008, provided claims were alive then. Pre-2018 matters cannot be reopened. Those matters which were pending in 2008 continue. If someone in the early 2020s filed an application saying they are entitled to parity on the basis of 2008, we can say yes as the solatium but not interest, like in land acquisition matters,” the CJI observed.

The Bench heard the brief arguments and asked the parties to file written submissions, if any, and listed the review plea for hearing after two weeks. On November 4 last year, the CJI-led Bench had agreed to hear in open court the plea of the NHAI seeking review of its verdict.

The Bench had issued a notice on the review plea and listed the matter for open court hearing on November 11, 2025. The Solicitor General had told the Bench that the matter would have wide implications of around ₹32,000 crore, and not ₹100 crore as was stated earlier in the petition.

On February 4, 2025, the top court, while rejecting NHAI’s plea, had ruled that its 2019 decision allowing the grant of compensation and interest to farmers, whose land was acquired under the NHAI Act, would apply retrospectively.

The NHAI had sought the applicability of its September 19, 2019 judgment prospectively, consequently precluding the reopening of cases where land acquisition proceedings had already been completed and the determination of compensation attained finality.

The Bench had said, “We find no merit in the contentions raised by the applicant, NHAI. We reaffirm the principles established in Tarsem Singh [2019 decision] regarding the beneficial nature of granting ‘solatium’ and ‘interest’ while emphasising the need to avoid creating unjust classifications lacking intelligible differentia. Consequently, we deem it appropriate to dismiss the present miscellaneous application.” 

Mexico fears more violence after army kills powerful drug lord El Mencho

School was cancelled in several Mexican states, and local and foreign governments alike warned their citizens to stay inside, as widespread violence erupted following the army’s killing of the powerful leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho” was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, notorious for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against government officials who challenged it.

He was killed during a shoot-out in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. Cartel members responded with violence across the country, blocking roads and setting fire to vehicles.

President Claudia Sheinbaum urged to maintain calm, and authorities announced late on Sunday they had cleared most of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states. The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.

Mexico hoped the death of the world’s biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many remained hunkered down and on edge as they waited to see the powerful cartel’s reaction.

Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state and Mexico’s second-largest city, was almost completely shut down on Sunday as fearful residents stayed home. Passengers arriving to the city’s international airport Sunday night were told it was operating with limited personnel because of the burst of violence. 

In Brief:

In an advisory issued on Monday, the Indian Embassy in Tehran asked Indian nationals (students, pilgrims, business persons and tourists) currently in Iran to leave the country by available means of transport, including commercial flights. “All Indian nationals in Iran are requested to also have their travel and immigration documents, including passports and IDs, readily available with them. They are requested to contact the Indian Embassy for any assistance in this regard,” it added. This follows earlier advisories issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), as well as India’s Embassy in Tehran, in January 2026. On January 5, 2026, the MEA had advised Indian nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Iran, as protests roiled the country.

India’s drug regulator has inspected nearly 90% of ​the country’s cough syrup makers and found compliance lapses, its ⁠chief said on Monday, amid heightened scrutiny after India-made syrups were linked to the deaths of children in the country and abroad. The inspections follow the discovery of ‌a brand of cough syrup contaminated with diethylene glycol that was linked to the deaths of 24 children in October ‌last year. The product, named Coldrif, was made by Sresan Pharmaceutical, ‌based ⁠in Tamil Nadu. “We took serious actions on serious non-compliances, ⁠and our belief is that the rot of cough syrup manufacturing will be removed,” Drugs Controller General of India Rajeev Raghuvanshi said at the IPA 11th Global Pharmaceutical Quality Summit ​in Mumbai.

Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.