by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
Nagpur : RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday dismissed reports of cow vigilantes indulging in communal violence, saying that on the contrary those protecting bovines within the constitutional framework were being “attacked and killed”.
Bhagwat asked the government not to misinterpret the facts on cow protection and make sure that criminals were punished and innocents not harmed as the “virtuous work of cow protection will increase in coming days”.
Addressing a crowd of RSS activists at his annual Vijaya Dashami speech in Nagpur, he said volunteers of the Hindutva group and other organisations were peacefully involved in the cow protection campaign, which “is also included in the Directive Principles of our Constitution”.
He said cow smuggling had emerged as a serious issue in all states, and especially on the Bangladesh border which made cow protection “more valuable”.
He said inquiries into recent incidences of violence and atrocities by cow vigilantes had made it “amply clear that these activities or the activists were not involved in those acts of violence”.
“On the contrary many activists who were peacefully involved in cow protection were attacked and killed. This issue is neither discussed nor being inquired. It is unfair to link cow protectors or the entire activity of cow protection with violent incidences or communal feelings,” Bhagwat said in his Hindi speech. The English translation of the speech was made available on the RSS’ website.
The RSS chief said many Muslims involved in the activity of cow protection, cow promotion and management of cow shelters, told him that a “nefarious campaign” was being run to create tension among the people of different religions in India.
Apparently referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stern warning against violence in the name of cow, Bhagwat asked RSS volunteers, who are “piously involved in the activity”, not to get distracted with the statements of “highly placed persons in the government” and remarks by the Supreme Court asking governments to act against those involved in lynching incidents.
“People who are criminals and involved in violent activities should be bothered about that.”
He asked the government to “stay away from such misinterpretation and ensure that criminals get penalised and the innocents are not troubled”.
He said the utility of the Indian breed of cow was scientifically proven by “the medicinal value of cow dung and urine for human beings”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Yoga guru and Patanjali founder Swami Ramdev said cow urine should be acceptable to Muslims too as something used for treatment.
“It is written in Quran that cow urine can be used for treatment. Some people are targeting Patanjali by saying that it is a Hindu company. Did I ever target Hamdard (set up by the Hamid brothers)?
“I have full support for Hamdard, and Himalaya drug company too. Farooq bhai of the Himalaya group even donated land to me for setting up yoga gram. If some people level such charges, they will only be creating a wall of hate,” Ramdev told India TV’s Rajat Sharma in the TV show Aap Ki Adalat.
The show will be telecast on Saturday night, according to a press release issued by the channel.
He said he has already prepared a plan of succession for his Rs 10,000 crore Patanjali group, saying that his “successor” would be a team of nearly 500 sadhus trained by him.
The 52-year-old yoga guru said: “I never think small. I think big. I think about our nation 500 years hence. I think about Patanjali group for the next 100 years. I will be leaving my successor when I go.”
“My successor will not be a businessman or a worldly man, it will be a team of nearly 500 sadhus whom I have trained.”
The Aap Ki Adalat show with Swami Ramdev was organised at the AIMA convention, and was attended by corporate bigwigs, CEOs of Indian and multinational companies and management experts.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Nikhil M. Babu,
New Delhi : With their less-than-an-acre rice field parched due to poor rains and elder son caught up in a court case, what led to Pehlu Khan’s lynching has ironically turned into the only source of income for his family: Two cows.
In April, Khan, a dairy farmer from Jaisinghpur village in Haryana, was lynched by cow vigilantes in Behror of Alwar district in Rajasthan. He was returning home after purchasing two cows and two calves from Jaipur.
The murder caught national attention and Khan became the face of protests against the spate of lynchings across the country in the name of gauraksha or cow protection.
After Khan’s death, two cows — one black and the other a light coloured one — were given to the family by two organisations and now milk from them is the only source of income for the family.
“We get a little money from selling milk and relatives help us with the rest,” Khan’s wife Jabuna, 50, told IANS here.
Sporting a faded pink salwar with a black dupatta over her head, Jabuna said her elder son Irshad, who was with his father when they were attacked, is caught up in the case and has not been going for work.
“I’m not able to do anything after his death,” Jabuna said, adding that earlier she used help her husband in their field.
As she started to explain how life has been after Khan’s death, her eight-year-old son Inshad came running and hugged Jebuna — his arms could barely reach her waist.
“We make around 150 rupees a day by selling milk and rest of the milk is used in the household,” Irshad, 24, said.
Irshad used to work as a driver, but not any more.
“How will I go? Now it’s my responsibility to look after the whole family. Will I look after the family and manage the case, or go for driving?” he asked.
He said the two cows they had bought from Jaipur for Rs 45,000 never reached their house and they were shifted to a “gaushala” in Rajasthan.
Apart from the financial crunch, the family also has a tough legal battle ahead of them to get justice for Khan’s murder.
“Last time I went to Behror for the case, they (people close to the accused) stopped their car near ours and told me that they’ll shoot me if I come back,” Irshad told IANS.
The family has sought a court-monitored probe into Khan’s killing and demanded shifting the case out of Rajasthan, after the local police gave a clean chit to six of the accused.
“They beat him (Khan) in front of my eyes,” Irshad said about the six persons who got the clean chit.
Earlier, five other accused had also got bail on the ground that they were not present at the spot during the crime.
Irshad has only one question for the government, the police, and the judiciary: “If no one was there, then who killed my father?”
(Nikhil M. Babu can be contacted at nikhil.b@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Shivraj Singh Chouhan
By V.S. Chandrasekar and Brajendra Nath Singh,
New Delhi : Seeking a hat-trick of election victories, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is confident he suffers from no anti-incumbency against his government nor are intolerance and cow vigilantism issues for him in the state that goes to polls next year.
For him, the image and performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are advantages which he will seek to drive home to the electorate along with his own performance in the last 12 years. “The opposition is jealous of his (Modi’s) competence, talent and popularity.”
Chouhan, 58, who has been declared the Chief Ministerial face by BJP President Amit Shah, acknowledges that Congress is the main challenger but feels it is not a force that is a threat to him.
“If you ask this question to a leader, then he will obviously say there is no anti-incumbency. But I am saying from the bottom of my heart that even after 12 years there is no unrest among people,” Chouhan told IANS in an interview.
“Now we have two advantages. One is Modiji and his leadership. And the other is the achievements of the state government. Due to him, India’s stature has gone up in the world. Like all Indians, every citizen of Madhya Pradesh too feels pride. Apart from this his schemes are there. The Ujjawala scheme has turned out to be a miracle. In just one district in Madhya Pradesh, we have distributed around 90,000 gas cylinders. Obviously we will reap benefits from his image of performer,” he said.
Citing the resolution of the Doklam standoff with China, Chouhan said, “There is pride in every Indian heart that Modiji has ‘straightened China’. This reflects in the people’s mind. Through the surgical strikes the message went that ‘We can set things right’. Due to Modiji, the feeling of national pride and self-pride have gone up in people’s mind. Obviously, due to all these there will be no anti-incumbency. People feel there is a powerful government at the Centre.”
Asked about issues like intolerance and cow vigilantism figuring in the national discourse, the Chief Minister said it was not an issue in Madhya Pradesh except that there is a ban on beef and strict action will be taken against anyone breaking law.
“One or two small incidents may have taken place but the whole state cannot be blamed for that. If something had happened, we have taken quick action. Law and order is our priority and nobody will be allowed to break it,” he said.
He said the state has been “tough on Naxalites and dacoits”. “The SIMI network has been finished. Madhya Pradesh is a peaceful place where people live in harmony. There is no question of discrimination. Even in the Chief Minister’s house we celebrate all the festivals together of all the religions and communities.”
Asked about support to forces of fundamentalism, Chouhan said neither the BJP nor the RSS supported such forces. “Individuals may be involved in such activities. We take action according to law.”
He hit out at opposition parties for targeting the Prime Minister and using strong language against him. “The opposition is jealous of the competence of Modiji, his talent, his devotion towards the country and people and his overall impact. That is why they are targeting him all the time.”
He recalled former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s advise that one should outshine the other by drawing a bigger line and not erasing the existing line.
“Instead of being jealous about Modi, friends in opposition should draw a bigger line. But they don’t have the capability. That is why they target Modiji. And by targeting him they stoop low. They can’t fight the Prime Minister on the ground. That is why they play with words and go to the extent of abusing him.”
Asked about whom he saw as the opponent, Chouhan acknowledged that Congress is the main challenger. “But I don’t think about them or their leadership. It is their look out. They need to create their leadership. We are banking on development and our work. The way the Congress leaders are talking and making remarks, only God can save them.”
(V.S. Chandrasekar and Brajendra Nath Singh can be contacted at chandru.v@ians.in and brajendra.n@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor during the second day of ‘intolerance’ debate in Lok Sabha.
NEW DELHI–In a sharp attack, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor blamed the government for the ‘rising intolerance in the country’ on Tuesday.
Addressing the Lok Sabha, Tharoor said, “It is safer to be a cow than a Muslim in India.” Tharoor said that a Bangladeshi friend told him that fundamentalist leaders in his country attacked India in this fashion.
The Congress MP said that India was built on the premise of respecting diversity, and it is the responsibility of the government to uphold that premise. “Hate at home and Make in India abroad cannot go hand in hand,” he said.
Tharoor also pointed out that foreign publications were talking about growing intolerance in India. “We are shamed with the reputation we gaining abroad.”
Tharoor also reminded of the the Kerala House raid that was conducted last month, at a time when African delegation was in India. “What would they have thought about the intolerance in the country,” he asked.
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reminding of his election promises, Tharoor said, “Has the Prime Minister forgotten that he’s a leader and he is supposed to walk with people belonging to all caste, class and religion?”
Tharoor also demanded abolition of death penalty, describing it as an “aberration in a healthy democracy”.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, he said hanging people does not deter crime and there is a lot of subjectivity in application of death penalty. “It (death penalty) is an aberration in a healthy democracy,” Tharoor said, adding that instead preventive and reformative measures should be strengthened to prevent crimes.
Contending that death penalty has mostly affected the marginalised people, the Congress leader said the state should not become killer. “We should abolish death penalty to uphold the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi,” he said.
According to him, around 70 per cent of the UN member nations have abolished death penalty.
