by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Asaduddin Owaisi
Hyderabad : MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said that the title suit of the Babri Masjid can be decided only on the basis of evidence and not on ‘aastha’ (faith) as the Sangh Parivar is demanding.
Addressing a public meeting here on Sunday, he voiced his apprehension that the Sangh Parivar might vitiate the atmosphere in the country on the issue before the 2019 elections to gain political mileage.
The Member of Parliament condemned the statements by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders that the construction of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya will begin on October 18, 2018.
Owaisi wondered how they could make such a statement when the title suit was still pending in the Supreme Court.
He said such attempts could repeat the violence and bloodshed witnessed in the country in the 1990s during BJP leader L.K. Advani’s Rath Yatra and after the demolition of the Babri mosque. He warned that this could weaken the country.
The public meeting was organised by the Joint Action Committee comprising various Muslim organisations just days ahead of the 25th anniversary of the demolition of the mosque on December 6.
In 1992, on that date, a large number of religious volunteers or “Kar Sevaks” gathered in the temple town and demolished the 16th century structure, leading to widespread rioting and political crisis.
Taking strong exception to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement that only a temple could be built in Ayodhya, Owaisi said: “Muslims would not be cowed down by such threats.”
“What is pending in the Supreme Court is title suit, which will be decided purely on evidence and not an aastha,” he said.
Owaisi said Babri Masjid was not the issue of Muslims but an issue linked to secularism. “This is an issue which will decide the course of this country,” he said.
The MP said he supports Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan’s suggestion that the title suit should not be taken up for hearing till the criminal case relating to the demolition of the mosque was disposed off.
Owaisi also quoted former Chief Justice A.M. Ahmedi reportedly saying that had Justice Venkata Challaiah not permitted Kar Seva, it would not have led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
He said even 25 years after the demolition, the contempt of court case had not come up for hearing in the apex court.
The MIM president alleged that the BJP is returning to its real agenda as it has failed to provide jobs to the unemployed and demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax has hit the people and dealt a blow to the economy.
Babri Masjid Action Committee convenor Zafaryab Jeelani said it was not an issue of “aastha” but of the political interests of some communal groups. He recalled that even the FIR registered in 1949 states that idols were stealthily kept in the mosque.
He said some elements tried to spread the falsehood that it was the birthplace of Ramchanderji (Lord Ram) but this has nothing to do with facts.
The speakers called up on Muslims to peacefully observe the shutdown on December 6 to demand reconstruction of the mosque at its original place.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh is committed to promoting religious tourism in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday after undertaking a five-kilometre long ‘parikrama’ of the Kamadgiri temple at Chitrakoot.
On the second day of his visit to Chitrakoot, Adityanath took many by surprise when he decided to walk the entire five kilometre stretch around the temple called ‘Panchkosi Parikrama’.
Later, amending his scheduled programme, he went to meet holy men from the Nirmohi Akhada on the banks of Mandakini.
Refusing to take a seat specially kept for him, Adityanath sat on the floor, like other holy men, and said that he being a saintly person did not require VIP treatment.
The holy men handed over a memorandum to the Chief Minister, who said all their demands would be accepted by the government.
He said Mandakini was a holy river and efforts would be made to ensure it was kept pollution free.
He said the area would be a ‘no power cut zone’ and would get 24×7 electric supply.
The Chief Minister declared that the Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh border would be declared a free zone to make it easy for people to visit Chitrakoot.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
BJP leader Sangeet Som
Noida : BJP leader Sangeet Som has triggered controversy by saying the Taj Mahal is a “blot” on Indian culture and misquoted history by saying that Shah Jahan, builder of the 17th century marble mausoleum, had jailed his father and wanted to wipe out Hindus from the country.
The remarks by the Sardhana MLA in Meerut came after the Uttar Pradesh government removed the Taj Mahal from the list of attractions in its tourism booklet.
“Many people were disappointed that the Taj Mahal was removed from the UP tourism booklet. What history are we talking about? Whose history?
“The creator of the Taj Mahal (Shah Jahan) imprisoned his father. He wanted to wipe out all Hindus from India. If these people are part of our history, then it is very unfortunate.
“I guarantee you that we will change this history,” Som was shown saying in an undated viral video, apparently addressing a public gathering.
TV reports said the BJP leader was addressing a gathering in Meerut.
Som wrongly quoted history saying Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan had jailed his father. It was Shah Jahan’s son Aurangzeb who had dethroned and jailed his father inside the Agra Fort.
The Taj, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage site, was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Amulya Ganguli,
The reason why the UP election results in May were a showpiece for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was that they represented, in the party’s opinion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s continuing forward march.
Yet, the overblown nature of this self-congratulatory assessment will be evident if the outcome of the five elections which took place at the time are taken into consideration.
A more realistic picture will be available if all the results are taken together, for it will show that the original verdict was 3-2 in the Congress’s favour with an outright win in Punjab and emerging as the largest party in Goa and Manipur.
It is another matter that what the Congress won in the swings, it lost in the roundabouts because a nimble-footed BJP managed to lure away a sufficient number of MLAs to its side to rob the Congress of its No.1 position in the Goa and Manipur assemblies.
But if the BJP had been humble enough to look at the results in their entirety, then it might not have gloated over its success in UP. That election was one which the BJP could not but win because its principal opponent, the Samajwadi Party (SP), had shot itself in the foot via its internal factional battles.
It was the belief, however, that the BJP had decimated the opposition in the country’s largest state which apparently made the party commit what may turn out to be a fateful mistake by choosing one of the most hawkish of the hardliners to be the Chief Minister.
True, Yogi Adityanath has toned down some of his utterances in deference to Modi’s “development for all” rhetoric.
But it is as an administrator that his inadequacies have come to the fore, thereby showing that devotion to the saffron cause may give a leg-up while climbing the official ladder, but it doesn’t help in running the government.
Since law and order in UP has always been dismal, it will be unfair to blame the present government for its failures on this count. But what has attracted countrywide attention are the deaths of scores of children in the state’s hospitals.
Considering that UP once witnessed a Rs 9,000 crore (over $1 billion) scam in connection with a rural health programme when two Chief Medical Officers were killed and their deputy died in custody, the latest tragedy may appear to be a part of a dreadful pattern.
But its hurtful impact on the Chief Minister and his party cannot be denied.
To make matters worse, the upsurge of student demonstrations in Banaras Hindu University (BHU) over what the Vice Chancellor initially dismissed as an incident of eve-teasing has been seen as yet another evidence of dissatisfaction with the ruling dispensation.
The unrest in BHU has followed the defeat of the BJP’s affiliate, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), in student union elections in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Hyderabad University, Gauhati University and elsewhere.
The Vice Chancellor’s ouster has been sought by, among others, the National Commission for Women, but a BJP government can hardly be expected to remove someone with a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background.
There is little doubt, however, that episodes such as these have deprived the BJP of much of the sheen of its victory in less than six months.
The party will be wary, therefore, of the reports that the rift in the SP between Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav has healed. It is the rupture between father and son which had contributed largely to the BJP’s success by undermining its biggest challenger.
But it isn’t only the reconciliation which will be of concern to Yogi Adityanath and Co. Of even greater worry will be the possibility of the SP under Akhilesh teaming up with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to take on the BJP.
Akhilesh has been talking of such an alliance for quite some time although his father is against it. But now that the son is fully in control of the party, a tie-up between the SP and the BSP is a distinct possibility, not least because the two know that the BJP cannot be unseated otherwise.
The SP-BSP combination’s advantage is that their combined vote share of 44 per cent in the last assembly election — the SP 21.8 and the BSP 22.2 — is higher than the BJP’s 39.7 per cent.
If the Congress’s 6.3 per cent is added to the SP-BSP’s 44, then the trio becomes a formidable force.
It was only to be expected, therefore, for Yogi Adityanath to turn to building a 100-metre tall statue of Lord Ram on the banks of the Saryu river to boost the BJP’s fortunes.
Since he appears incapable of providing efficient governance, recourse to religion to consolidate the Hindu vote is the only way out for the Chief Minister and his party.
There are also reports that he will be fielded by the BJP as a campaigner in the upcoming elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat to rev up the party’s position with a strong dose of Hindutva at a time when the economic slowdown has robbed Modi’s ‘vikas’ (development) slogan of much of its appeal.
The BJP has probably never felt the need for a saffron hawk more than at present.
(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | C S R, Corporate, Economy, News
Lucknow:(IANS) The Uttar Pradesh government will be signing an MoU with the Tata Trusts on Monday to set rolling a long-term partnership in community development work, an official said.
The multi-dimensional MoU would be signed by representatives of the two sides in the presence of Tata’s chairman emeritus Ratan Tata and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, a state government spokesman told IANS, adding the trusts would be providing support in the state government’s endeavours in poverty alleviation, employment generation, increasing income and infrastructure development.
To ensure proper execution of work and effective monitoring, a joint state-level steering committee comprising representatives of the state government and the Tata Trusts would be set up.
The spokesman said that the sectors in which the state government and the Tata Trusts would be working include mother-infant health, preparing and implementation of a nutrition programme for better health of mother-child, and special efforts in ensuring that anaemia is eliminated in women.
A mechanism would be developed so that cancer can be detected at an early stage and a cancer registry would also be prepared.
Both sides would work together to ensure quality education and job-oriented training in various sectors.
Under the MoU, developing off-grid solar energy as well as solar energy-based irrigation systems, establishing solar water lifting pumps, hi-tech plant nurseries, introduction of improved varieties and techniques of horticulture, assimilation of various varieties, agro-forestry, bio-farming and combined efforts to increase agriculture harvest, mechanisation, post-harvest management are some other initiatives.
The MoU would also encompass safe storage, agri-marketing, encouraging micro-irrigation, developing high-quality seeds, development of value chain for milk, menthol, garlic, onion, maize, pulses, banana and potatoes.
