by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her government is equally considerate towards all minorities and the state never denies shelter to anyone.
On the issue of migration, she said: “Today is International Migrants Day. It is our humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants.
“In Bangla we will take care of anyone who seeks shelter in our state, to the best of our abilities.”
She added that her government does not differentiate between people in their hour of need.
“Today is Minority Rights Day. We are all equal and united. Unity in diversity is our strength,” Banerjee tweeted.
Highlighting her Trinamool Congress’ contribution towards the minorities, she said: “You will be happy to know that in Bangla, we have distributed scholarships to over 1.7 crore minority students, the highest in the country.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Representational Image
Mumbai : In a huge embarrassment, a prominent Maharashtra farmer leader has demanded that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) must replace Prime Minster Narendra Modi with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wishes to win the 2019 general elections.
The demand has come from a state-government panel, Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission (VNSSM) Chairman Kishore Tiwari, on a day when Modi was in Maharashtra to attend a series of events, including laying foundation stones for Metro Rails in Thane and Pune.
In his letter to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and General Secretary Bhaiyyaji Suresh Joshi, Tiwari said the BJP’s defeat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh was the direct outcome of “arrogant leaders” who implemented devastating decisions like demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST), fuel prices hike and other anti-people measures.
“Leaders who pursue an extremist and dictatorial attitude in the party and government are dangerous for the society and the country… This has been witnessed before and if history is not to be repeated, hand over the reins to Gadkari for the 2019 polls,” Tiwari said.
On December 11, the VNSSM chief, who is accorded a Ministerial status, had categorically asked the BJP to “get rid of both Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah” for their anti-farmers and anti-people policies, which led to the party’s stunning defeats in the just concluded elections.
Accusing Modi and Shah of upturning the good works done by the former BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Tiwari said they (Modi-Shah) seem to be interested “only in grandiose Bullet Trains and Metro Rail projects”.
In his letters to the RSS top brass, Tiwari said that considering the “dictatorial approach” of Modi and Shah, which has unleashed fear in the country, it was imperative to have an acceptable and gentle leader like Gadkari, who can take along all viewpoints and friendly parties, evolve consensus and remove fear among people.
He said the 61-year-old Gadkari, a staunch BJP-RSS activist since decades, was “adequately qualified” for the top post since he has also headed the BJP as National President, besides ministerial capacities in Maharashtra and now at the Centre.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, commonly known as the Triple Talaq Bill, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday despite opposition from the Congress and amid protests over the Rafale controversy.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the bill amid ruckus created by opposition members including the Congress, AIADMK and TDP over various demands.
Soon after the House reassembled at noon after the first adjournment, the Congress, the AIADMK and TDP members trooped near the Speaker’s podium and started sloganeering.
The Congress members were demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale jet fighter deal with France while the AIADMK members wanted Karnataka to take back its proposal to construct a dam across the Cauvery river at Mekadatu.
The TDP members raised several issues related to special status to Andhra Pradesh.
Amid the din, Minister Prasad sought permission from the Chair to introduce the bill.
Congress member Shashi Tharoor opposed the bill claiming it was targeted at a particular religion and hence unconstitutional.
“The bill was based on the ground of a specific religion and it was violation of sections 14 and 21 of the Constitution. This is a misconceived bill,” he said.
His objections were rejected by Prasad.
“The bill was brought in as per the direction of the Supreme Court to protect the rights of Muslim women. Several Muslim women suffered due to instant talaq. This bill is in the nation’s interest and constitutional. The objection is baseless,” Prasad said and then introduced the bill.
The government could not pass the bill in Rajya Sabha during the previous monsoon session.
Later it issued an ordinance on September 19 in making Triple Talaq a criminal offence.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Stating that conviction of party leader Sajjan Kumar in an 1984 anti-Sikh riots case should not be politicised, the Congress on Monday raked up the 2002 Gujarat riots demanding punishment for BJP leaders alleged to be involved in the communal violence that claimed over 1,000 lives.
On a day when the Delhi High Court convicted and sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment, Congress leader and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal pointed finger at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was at the helm of Gujarat during the 2002 riots.
“Kumar doesn’t hold any office nor was given ticket by the party to contest polls, whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, who were involved in the riots, have been given positions of power. The one who was the Chief Minister then has become the Prime Minister now,” Sibal told the media here.
While Modi, the then Gujarat Chief Minister, was given a clean chit by the special investigation team (SIT) in connection with the 2002 Godhra riots, it has been challenged before the Supreme Court which has adjourned the matter till January.
The clean chit to Modi has been challenged by Zakia Jafri — widow of Congress leader and former member of Parliament Ahsan Jafri — who was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre, one of the worst incidents during the riots.
Reacting to Kumar’s conviction, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi also said that the matter should not be politicised.
“His conviction is not a political issue, the cases have been on for over 20 years and there have been several convictions and acquittals. This should not be seen in a political context and people should not try to seek political mileage from it,” Singhvi told the media here.
Kumar was sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life, with the Delhi high Court holding that the violence was a “crime against humanity” engineered by politicians with assistance from police.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Amiya Kumar Kushwaha,
New Delhi : Thirty-four years after the gruesome killings, the Delhi High Court on Monday convicted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in an anti-Sikh riot case of 1984 here and sentenced him to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life, holding that the violence was a “crime against humanity” engineered by politicians with assistance from police.
Setting aside the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar and five others by a trial court, the court convicted them saying that the “criminals” had escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades.
“This court is of the view that the mass killings of Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere in November 1984 were in fact ‘crimes against humanity’. They will continue to shock the collective conscience of society for a long time to come,” a bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel said.
“The mass killings of Sikhs between 1st and 4th November, 1984 in Delhi and the rest of the country, engineered by political actors with the assistance of the law enforcement agencies, answer the description of ‘crimes against humanity’ that was acknowledged for the first time in a joint declaration by the governments of Britain, Russia and France on May 28, 1915 against the government of Turkey following the large-scale killing of Armenians by the Kurds and Turks with the assistance and connivance of the Ottoman administration,” the court said.
Recalling the summer of 1947, the court said that “during partition, this country witnessed horrific mass crimes where several lakhs of civilians, including Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus, were massacred”.
Thirty-seven years later, the country was again witness to another enormous human tragedy. Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on October 31 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards, a communal frenzy was unleashed, the court observed.
For four days all over Delhi, 2,733 Sikhs were brutally murdered, their houses were destroyed. In the rest of the country too thousands of Sikhs were killed, the court noted.
“A majority of the perpetrators of these horrific mass crimes enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency. The criminals escaped prosecution and punishment for over two decades,” the court said.
The case against Sajjan Kumar and others was registered in 2005 on a recommendation by the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission.
“While it is undeniable that it has taken over three decades to bring the accused in this case to justice, and that our criminal justice system stands severely tested in that process, it is essential in a democracy governed by the rule of law to be able to call out those responsible for such mass crimes.
“It is important to assure those countless victims waiting patiently that despite the challenges, truth will prevail and justice will be done.”
Sajjan Kumar and five others were tried in the case involving the killing of five Sikhs — Kehar Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Narender Pal Singh and Kuldeep Singh, who were from the same family — by a mob in Delhi Cantonment’s Raj Nagar area. he trial court had acquitted him.
(Amiya Kumar Kushwaha can be reached at amiya.k@ians.in)
—IANS
