by Editor | Aug 29, 2024 | News, Politics
JAMMU – The BJP launched a damage control exercise on Wednesday after Jammu and Kashmir party president Ravinder Raina was forced to cut short his speech by angry workers seeking explanation over denial of ticket to Rohit Dubey from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat in Reasi district, reported PTI.
Dubey’s name was replaced in the revised list of candidates with former MLA Baldev Raj Sharma.
The party immediately started taking actions to minimise the damage.
Dubey visited the party headquarters at Trikuta Nagar in Jammu this evening and posed with Sharma and other senior leaders of the party, which the BJP termed as a move to show the “unity and the strength of the organisation”.
Union minister Jitendra Singh, national general secretary and in-charge J&K Tarun Chugh, Raina, member of Parliament Jugal Kishore Sharma, election management committee convener Sarb Singh Naag and other senior BJP leaders were present on occasion, the party said in a statement late in the evening.
Chugh said the BJP is a disciplined party of ground-level workers who work together like a family.
“Together we are strong and the BJP is set to make history in the Assembly elections in the J&K. The BJP is working with the mission to make the J&K an example of peace and prosperity in the coming times,” he said during Dubey’s visit to the party headquarters.
The BJP said all the party leaders present on the occasion showed their strength and committed themselves to the party’s victory in the region.
Earlier in the day, Raina rushed to Katra where Dubey’s supporters had come out on the roads and blocked the highway outside the newly set up party office to protest the party’s decision to field Sharma in his place.
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat is going to polls along with 25 other segments in the second phase on September 25.
Meanwhile, the protest at the BJP office here continued for the third day on Wednesday with a fresh group of agitated party workers from Chhamb constituency of Jammu raising slogans against fielding former MLA Rajeev Sharma from there.
The workers, who assembled outside the party headquarters at Trikuta Nagar in Jammu, said they were hoping for a local leader instead of an “outsider” to get a ticket.
The first phase of elections covering 24 seats is taking place on September 18, while the final and the third phase covering the remaining 40 seats will be held on October 1 followed by counting of votes on October 4.
Dubey, who is district president of the BJP for Reasi, was named in the initial list of 44 candidates issued by the party on Monday which was subsequently withdrawn. However, in the rescinded list of 29 candidates issued on Tuesday, the party named Sharma in place of Dubey while all other names remained the same for the same set of constituencies announced earlier.
As the J&K BJP president reached the party office, he was greeted by hundreds of slogan-shouting workers demanding an explanation for denying ticket to Dubey and replacing him with Sharma.
“We know Dubey is a hardworking and dedicated member of the BJP whose family has been associated with the party for generations… we are in election mode and have to fight together with our party’s mission of nation first, party second and self last,” he said while addressing the workers.
Raina’s speech was frequently interrupted by the party workers, demanding an answer in clear terms whether Dubey would be given a ticket or not. Soon he had to abandon his speech as the party workers stood up despite attempts by Dubey to pacify them.
“Dubey is a dedicated worker of the BJP whose family has a history of backing the party since the days of Jan Sangh. He will always remain with the party,” Raina later told reporters in response to a question that many of his supporters are pressing him to fight as an independent from the constituency.
The workers removed the road blockade on the intervention of Dubey who said the party’s decision had left the workers disappointed.
“What I am today is because of the party and it is not good to block the road and cause inconvenience to the commuters including Vaishno Devi pilgrims who are stranded. I was told to wait till tomorrow,” Dubey told the gathering.
He said senior leaders are coming from Delhi and “we will come to know about the party’s decision”.
“I do not know the reason why my name was dropped after being included in the first list. It is premature to say what I will do next. Whatever the party workers will decide, I will respect their decision,” he said while talking to reporters.
Former provincial president of Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) Jugal Kishore Sharma also met Dubey and said “he is my younger brother”.
“I am not affiliated to any party right now because I have left DPAP… I felt happy for him when his name was listed in the BJP candidate list and decided not to fight the elections against him,” the former minister said.
by Editor | Aug 29, 2024 | Business, News, Technology
NEW DELHI — The Digital Media Policy 2024 approved by the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday proposing punishment for criticism and payment for the advertisement of the government has drawn flak from opposition leaders.
According to a statement issued by Chief Secretary Sanjay Prasad, the Uttar Pradesh government will take strict action against agencies and firms for uploading content on X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, which deems to be “objectionable”. “The content must not be obscene, offensive and anti-national under any situation,” reads the statement.
Under the new policy, posting anti-national content is a serious offence carrying stiff action including penalties ranging from three years in prison to a life term. Earlier, such actions were addressed under Sections 66E and 66F of the Information Technology (IT) Act, which dealt with privacy violations and cyberterrorism, respectively.
The new policy also has proposed payments for influencers, account holders, and operators on social media platforms if they advertise content related to the government. For X, Facebook, and Instagram, the maximum monthly payment limits are set at Rs 5 lakh, Rs 4 lakh, and Rs 3 lakh, respectively. On YouTube, the payment limits for videos, shots, and podcasts are Rs 8 lakh, Rs 7 lakh, Rs 6 lakh, and Rs 4 lakh, respectively.
The policy is being seen as a move to curtail freedom of expression and criticism of the government. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi termed it as an attempt by the Yogi Adityanath government to cover up its failures.
“To cover up its failures @myogiadityanath has started a new scheme. Under this scheme, one can earn up to 8 lakh rupees by falsely praising Baba on social media. If you even legally oppose Baba or his party, you will be declared anti-national and sent to jail. Now the IT Cell people will run their household with your tax money,” he wrote.
by Editor | Aug 29, 2024 | News, Politics
NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court directed the Union culture ministry and the ASI on Wednesday, August 28, to positively produce before it a file containing the decision of then prime minister Manmohan Singh that the historic Mughal-era Jama Masjid should not be declared a protected monument.
The court said if the authorities fail to place the documents, which are reportedly missing, before it, action would be initiated against the officials concerned, reported PTI.
The court’s order came after it was informed that officials are trying to trace the file that has gone missing.
“These are important documents which are in your custody and you have to keep them safely. This is very serious and we will take action against the officials if the documents are missing,” a bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma said.
The high court was hearing a clutch of public interest litigation (PIL) pleas seeking directions to authorities to declare the Jama Masjid a protected monument and remove all encroachments in and around it.
It was also dealing with an application, filed on March 16, 2018 by one of the petitioners, Suhail Ahmed Khan, seeking production of the file of the Ministry of Culture relating to the Jama Masjid.
The bench noted that on February 27, 2018, the court had reiterated its August 23, 2017 order, directing the ministry to produce the file wherein the decision was taken not to declare the Jama Masjid a protected monument.
It pointed out that the file was produced before it on May 21, 2018 and thereafter, the records were again directed to be produced.
“As per the previous orders, the file of the ministry had to be kept ready for the hearing of this matter. Today, it was submitted by an official of the ASI that the original letter written by the then prime minister (Singh) is missing in the file. However, he said they are taking steps to trace the same,” the court said.
“It is made clear that whether it is the Archaeological Survey of India or the Ministry of Culture, the original file shall be produced on the next date of hearing, which shall be complete with all the documents, failing which the concerned officials would be held responsible,” it added.
The court, while disposing of the application, listed the main matter for hearing on September 27.
The Centre’s counsel had earlier submitted that the Jama Masjid is a live monument where people offer prayers and there are a lot of restrictions.
The ASI had, in August 2015, told the court that Singh had assured the Shahi Imam that the Jama Masjid would not be declared a protected monument.
The court was also informed that as the Jama Masjid is not a centrally-protected monument, it does not fall within the ASI’s purview.
“In 2004, the issue of notifying the Jama Masjid as a centrally-protected monument was raised. However, former prime minister Manmohan Singh assured the Shahi Imam, vide his October 20, 2004 letter, that the Jama Masjid would not be declared as a centrally-protected monument,” the ASI had said in its affidavit in the court.
by Editor | Aug 29, 2024 | News, Politics
NEW DELHI – Declaring that ‘enough is enough’, President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday said it is time for India to wake up to the perversion of crimes against women and counter the mindset that sees women as less powerful, less capable, less intelligent.
“Those who share such views then go further and see the female as an object. We owe it to our daughters to remove the hurdles from their path of winning the freedom from fear,” Murmu said.
Referring to the August 9 rape and murder of a junior doctor in a Kolkata hospital, a ‘dismayed and horrified’ president said what is even more depressing is that it is part of a series of crimes against women, reported PTI.
Murmu said no civilised society can allow daughters and sisters to be subjected to such atrocities.”The nation is bound to be outraged, and so am I,” she wrote.
The hard-hitting and personalised article, titled “Women’s Safety: Enough is Enough”, is the first time the president has articulated her views on the August 9 Kolkata incident that has once again shaken the conscience of the nation and led to widespread, continuing protests.
The president gave the article after a detailed conversation on topical issues with a team of PTI senior editors, who called on her at Rashtrapati Bhavan to mark the 77th anniversary of the news agency’s founding on August 27, 1947.
“Even as students, doctors and citizens were protesting in Kolkata, criminals remained on the prowl elsewhere. The victims include even kindergarten girls,” Murmu said.
During the interaction, she recalled her recent meeting with a group of schoolchildren on Raksha Bandhan.
“They asked me innocently if they could be assured that there would be no recurrence of the Nirbhaya-type incident in future,” the president said, referring to the brutal rape and murder of a physiotherapy intern in Delhi in December 2012.
She noted that an outraged nation then made plans and devised strategies, and the initiatives did make some difference.
In the 12 years since, there have been countless tragedies of similar nature though only few drew nationwide attention, Murmu said.
“Did we learn our lessons? As social protests petered out, these incidents got buried into a deep and inaccessible recess of social memory, to be recalled only when another heinous crime takes place,” she said.
Taking a macro view of the rights of women, she said they have had to fight for every inch of ground they have won.
Social prejudices as well as some customs and practices have always opposed the expansion of women’s rights, Murmu added.
“This is a rather deplorable mindset. This mindset sees the female as a lesser human being, less powerful, less capable, less intelligent,” she wrote.
In her view, it is the objectification of women by a few that is behind the crimes against women.
“It is ingrained deeply in the minds of such people,” the president said, stressing that countering this mindset is a task for both the State and society.
Acknowledging that there have been laws and social campaigns, she said, “Yet, there is something that continues to come in the way and to torment us.”
History, the president said, often hurts and societies scared to face history resort to collective amnesia to bury their heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich.
“Now the time has come not only to face history squarely but also to search within our souls and probe the pathology of crimes against women,” she said in her impassioned appeal.
Let us deal with this perversion in a comprehensive manner so as to curb it right at the beginning.
We can do this only if we honour the memory of the victims by cultivating a social culture of remembering them to remind us of our failures in the past and prepare us to be more vigilant in future, Murmu said.
The society needs honest, unbiased self-introspection, and ask itself some difficult questions, the president said.
“Where have we erred? And what can we do to remove the errors? Without finding out the answer to that question, the half of our population cannot live as freely as the other half,” she said.
by Editor | Aug 29, 2024 | News, Politics
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says Israel’s major military incursion into the occupied West Bank must not be “the premises of a war extension from Gaza” and a repeat of the “full-scale destruction” seen in the Palestinian enclave.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) suspends staff movement across Gaza after one of its “clearly marked UN humanitarian vehicle” was hit at least 10 times by Israeli gunfire at a military checkpoint.
Eight Palestinians have been killed in the latest Israeli bombing of a school sheltering displaced people to the east of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
The largest Israeli military raid on the occupied West Bank in decades continues with at least 12 Palestinians killed and dozens wounded after the first day of the incursion on Wednesday.
At least 40,534 people have been killed and 93,778 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7. ( With Agencies Inputs )
