The Editorial Page: Our stakes are high in West Asia. Delhi must call for diplomacy, de-escalation 8 FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2026 JOURNALISm of COURAGE MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 NITISH TENURE WILL BE KNOWN AS GOLDEN PERIOD IN BIHAR POLITICS, SAYS SHAH 126 154 192 65 Business as Usual By EP UNNY Bihar readies for post-Nitish era: CM for RS, BJP set to take charge New government will have my full cooperation, says Nitish Kumar How it went from RS nomination for his son to one for Nitish Kumar Flying Axar, brainy Liz Mathew & Santosh Singh In a keenly contested match, India defeated England by seven runs to enter the ICC Men’s T20 final, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Thursday. NARENDRA VASKAR Santosh Singh & Himanshu Harsh Patna, March 5 SETTING IN motion the end of his run as Bihar’s longest-serving Chief Minister, Nitish KumaronThursdayfilednomination papers for the coming Rajya Sabha elections. This clears the decks for a new CM, likely from the BJP, to take charge,andhasleftmanyinthe JD(U) in disbelief. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Happening today lUNION HOME MINISTER Amit Shah will attend CISF Raising Day ceremony in Odisha Friday. lINDIAN WOMEN’S team will be in action in a one-off Test match at WACA in Perth against Australia. Match starts at 10.50 am. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON WWW.INDIANExPRESS.COM 7 minor students apprehended for ‘sexual abuse’ of hostel mates in Nashik Manish Kumar Pathak & Pallavi Smart Mumbai, March 5 THENASHIKRuralpolicehave apprehendedsevenschoolstudents of a government-aided hostel in Nashik district for allegedly sexually abusing seven younger hostel mates. The students have been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Anti Ragging Act, and were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board in Nashik on Thursday. Police have also booked the hostelsuperintendentforallegedly failing to report the sexual abuse, that is believed to have been going on for six-seven months, after becoming aware of it. The hostel has been shut with immediate effect and the district administration has ordered an independent inquiry. The hostel is a privately run residential facility for boys from underprivileged families belongingtoScheduledCastes, ScheduledTribesandVimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes. It operates with financial assistance from the Maharashtra Social Welfare Department, which gives a grant of Rs 2,200 a month per student to meet expenses on accommodation, food and other basic facilities. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 New Delhi, Patna, March 5 IF THE change of guard in Bihar, marking the start of the end of Nitish Kumar’s 21-year run as Chief Minister, came as a surprise, it was. Sources in the BJP and JD(U) camps say that it was only in the last week that the wheels were set in motion. The conversation between the allies initially started a month ago as a discussion on the future of Nitish’s son Nishant. A political novice, Nishant has developed a public profile recently, with many in the JD(U) seeing in him the glue to keep the party together as Nitish’s deteriorating health slides further. According to sources in the BJP, a Rajya Sabha berth was E. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the latter’s filing of nomination papers for Rajya RELATED REPORT: PAGE 7 Sabha elections, in Patna, Thursday. PTI »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Responded to Iran warship SOS: Navy At Iran embassy, Foreign Secretary offers India’s condolences on the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, others Amrita Nayak Dutta & Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, March 5 ADAYafteraUSsubmarinetorpedo sank an Iranian warship nearSriLankaasitheadedhome after participating in Exercise MILAN and the International FleetReviewinVisakhapatnam, the Indian Navy said Thursday it had sent its aircraft and ships to augment the search and rescue (SAR) efforts for IRIS Dena after it put out a distress call. The Indian Navy statement came on the day the government condoled the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and others killedinairstrikesbyIsraeland the US. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited the Iranian embassy in New Delhi and signed thecondolencebook—thefirst publicgesturefromthegovern- ment ever since the assassination of the Iranian leader. According to sources, Misri, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Strait of Hormuz shut, a few tankers with Russia crude oil divert to India Sukalp Sharma New Delhi, March 5 WITH VESSEL passage through the Strait of Hormuz disrupted due to the West Asia conflict, there are early signs that India could be increasing its intake of Russian crude. Two crude oil tankers laden with Russian oil, which were earlier showing East Asia as their destination, arrived at IndianportsThursday,according to ship tracking data. Another tanker, while still showing Singapore as its destination, appeared to be heading towards India’s west coast. In recent months, India had cut down significantly on its oil imports from Russia amid trade negotiations with the US. Oil tankers Matari and Odune, both sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone, arrived at the ports of Vadinar in Gujarat and Paradip in Odisha respectively,Thursdaymorning,vessel tracking data showed. The two tankers together are estimated to be carrying over 1.4 million barrels of Russian crude. Another Sierra Leoneflaggedtanker,Indri,hasturned northwards towards India althoughitisstillsignallingSingaporeasitsintendeddestination, according to the data. Indri is »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sriram Veera Mumbai, March 5 TWOACTSofsportinggreatness deflated England and revealed India’s desperation to win. Thetargetof254toenterthe T20WorldCupfinaldemanded EnglishcaptainHarryBrookdo what he does. The flat pancake at Wankhede demanded Jasprit Bumrah do what he does. But Axar Patel ensured he didn’t have to do it alone — with an act of athleticism that will long be recalled, the kind that embeds itself straight into viral reels. Unbelievably, he would better it when the chase tightened with another breathtaking effort. Onthenightwhenbatsmen from both teams repeatedly hit high notes, Axar delivered a match-winning performance with his hands, feet and eyes. Despite scoring 253, India won by just 7 runs. Before Flying AxarandBrainyBumrah,itwas Sanju Samson who set up the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Maharashtra cabinet gives its approval to anti-conversion Bill SriLankaallowscrew ofsecondIranshipto disembarkinColombo Chennai: A day after a US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian naval frigate near Sri Lanka’s southern coast, a second Iranian warship waited for hours just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. Eventually, the country’s President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said the crew of the Iranian naval ship, IRIS Bushehr, will be disembarked at Colombo Port. He said the vessel will then be taken to Trincomalee Harbour, while the Sri Lanka Navy makes arrangements to bring the 208 personnel on board safely to Colombo. PAGE 6 Bumrah take India to final after a scare 7 yrs in jail, Rs 5 lakh fine for forced religious conversions Vallabh Ozarkar Mumbai, March 5 Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri signs a condolence book at the Iran Embassy in New Delhi, Thursday, days after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israel-US strikes. PTI l TEHRAN LAUNCHES NEW PM: India for rule of law, dialogue; military conflict no solution l ISRAEL TO ATTACK IRAN’S Jaishankar speaks to Araghchi who sends his deputy to Delhi for talks LATEST l AzERBAIJAN VOWS TO RESPOND TO IRAN DRONE ATTACK; IRAN SAYS IT HIT U.S. TANKER ATTACKS, SAYS U.S. WILL ‘BITTERLY REGRET’ SINKING ITS WARSHIP UNDERGROUND MISSILE SITES IN SECOND PHASE l AS STARMER CALLS FOR IRAN TALKS, BRITAIN SENDS MORE FIGHTER JETS TO WEST ASIA ECONOMY PAGE 13 3,000 coNtAINErS StUck, rIcE ExPortErS SEEk Port fEE wAIvEr NATION PAGE 6 IrANSAILorStook tImEoUtININdIA Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, March 5 UNDERLINING THAT India believes in the “rule of law, dialogue, and diplomacy”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday that “no issue can be resolved solely through military conflict” and Delhi will continuetosupporteveryeffort to end conflict and restore peace, be it in West Asia or Ukraine. His remarks came a day after Iranian warship IRIS Dena, which had earlier taken part in a military exercise in India, was torpedoed by a US submarine in international waters in the Indian Ocean. MAHARASHTRA’S CABINET on Thursday approved a draft anti-conversion law titled “Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 2026”, proposing up to seven years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh for unlawful or forced religious conversions. BJP minister Nitesh Rane told The Indian Express that the law would “prevent »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TN’s Ravi replaces Bose in Bengal, Sandhu Delhi, Varma in Maharashtra Liz Mathew & Jatin Anand External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too had a phone conversation with Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian Foreign forcible marriage and conversion of Hindu girls”. The Bill is expected to be tabled in the state legislature during the ongoing budget session, sources told this NEW GOVERNORS IN STATES, UTs New Delhi, March 5 PM Narendra Modi with Finland President Alexander Stubb at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi, Thursday. ANIL SHARMA The Indian Express reported about the draft on February 27. WITH ASSEMBLY elections in West Bengal round the corner, Governor C V Ananda Bose resigned Thursday citing “personalreasons”.Hewasreplaced by Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi who had been at loggerheads with the DMK-led government in the state. As part of major gubernatorial appointments announced by President Droupadi Murmu Thursday night, Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) was named the new Bihar Governor, taking over from Arif Mohammed Khan. Taranjit Singh Sandhu, retired diplomat and a former Ambassador to the US, will be the new Lt Governor of Delhi, replacing Vinai Kumar Saxena who was posted to Ladakh as Lt Governor. Ladakh Lt Governor Kavinder Gupta, a former Deputy Chief Minister in the BJP-PDP government in the erstwhile »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l KILLED IN EXPLOSION OF OIL TANKER MKD VYOM OFF MUSCAT COAST A photo without a garland: Five days on, ‘no clarity’ on seafarer Dixit Solanki’s body Purnima Sah he worked on, the oil tanker MKDVyom—butsofar,hehas refused to garland the photo ATTHESolankis’ground-plus- frame.Hisreason:thebodyhas onehouseinMahaveerNagarin yet to be found. Kandivali West, a framed photo “So far, I don’t have a clear of Dixit Solanki stands on a picture of my son’s body. I smallwoodenstooldrapedwith have been given false informaa red cloth. In one tion from the start,” PAGE 1 corner, Dixit’s father he tells The Indian Amratlal sits quietly, Express. avoidingeveryone— OnMarch1,MKD friends, well-wishers and, most Vyom was hit by an unmanned of all, the media. boat 52 nautical miles off the The 64-year-old Amratlal coast of Muscat Governorate — has heard that his 32-year-old thecasualtyoftheongoingIranson is gone — killed in an ex- Israelconflict.Theattack,allegplosion that rocked the vessel edly from the Iranian side, reMumbai, March 5 anchor sulted in a fire and explosion in the engine room, killing Dixit. Fivedayslater,hisfamilystill has no clarity on whether the body has been found, with Amratlal alleging he has been receivingconflictinginformation. In an attempt to find his son’s body, he met some of the crew members who returned safely to India at a hotel in Andheri. “I asked them [the crew members] a basic question — whenablasthashappenedand the iron vessel was smashed into pieces, how will a human body remain intact in that blast? They then started giving Amratlal Solanki, father of Dixit Solanki (right), at his residence in Mumbai on Thursday. SANKHADEEP BANERJEE vague answers that they went back and tried their best to pull out the body,” Amratlal, an exseafarer himself, says. According to him, two officials from the shipping com- pany — including a captain — visitedhishousehoursafterthe attack and told him that Dixit’s breathinghadstoppedandthat they would update him. “After about 10 hours, they sent a messagethatsaidDixithaddied andthathisbodywouldsoonbe transferred to me,” he said. Whenhecontactedtheship managementcompany,hewas allegedly told that there were unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the body. But he still has questions. “They told me they tried their best to pull him out and had dragged his body till the upper deck. But then, why was he not rescued, or if he had died, why was his body not takenoutfromthevessel?They didn’t have answers,” he says. On their part, V. Ships Asia, managers of the Marshall Islands-flagged MKD Vyom, said Dixit, who was in the engine roomatthetimeoftheincident, haddiedbutthattheremaining 21 crew members — including Ukrainian, Indian and Bangladeshi nationals — were safely rescued and have now disembarked ashore in Oman. “We are in contact with the crew member’s family and are »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2