Home Blog Page 3394

AAP goes from damage control to lies after humiliating Kashmiri Pandits, makes false claims over teachers’ jobs: Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
-
0
AAP goes from damage control to lies after humiliating Kashmiri Pandits, makes false claims over teachers’ jobs: Here is what happened

Earlier in the day, the Kashmiri Pandit Teachers’ Association essentially fact-checked Delhi CM and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s claim that his government provided permanent jobs to 233 Kashmiri Pandits who had been working on contracts in Delhi for decades.

However, in defiance of the facts, Kejriwal’s loyalists have been continuing to spread the myth that the AAP government in Delhi was steadfast in issuing orders to regularise 233 of these teachers within days of the issue being brought to their attention and that it was the central government that was against the regularisation of the KMTs.

In an interview on Times Now, the snippet of which was shared on Twitter by @thehawkeyex, the AAP MLA Atishi Marlena is heard claiming that it was not the AAP-led Delhi government but the Central government-appointed L-G who went against Kashmiri Migrant Teachers’ (KMT) regularisation.

Parroting the same lie peddled by her chief Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi added that when the AAP government came to power in 2015, it was the decision of Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet to ensure the regularisation of the Kashmiri as soon as possible.

She added that the AAP govt had not challenged the court order directing them to regularise jobs for Kashmiri Pandit teachers, instead, it was the Centre-nominated lieutenant governor and his services department that had repeatedly challenged the order.

In the same thread of Tweets, @thehawkseyex shared the screenshot of a tweet posted by AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj. In his tweet, the senior AAP leader had carefully twisted his words to prove that the Kejriwal government was indeed in favour of regularising jobs of the Kashmiri Migrant Teachers’. He insinuated that the AAP govt had already taken concrete actions before even the Delhi HC delivered the judgement in favour of KMT and ordered the Government to regularize its services. 

Saurabh Bharadwaj shared a copy of the Delhi Government’s response to the Delhi High Court after the latter ordered the Government to regularise KMT’s services. Bharadwaj cleverly captioned his Tweet to appear as if the Delhi Government was “informing” the HC that it had already passed a policy in favour of regularising jobs of the Kashmiri Migrant Teachers’.

In reality, however, the Delhi Government’s response to the Delhi High Court stated that it would ‘comply’ with the HC’s directives to expedite the process to regularise KMT’s services, as can be seen in the copy of the document shared by the Twitter user The Hawk Eye.

In his third tweet in the thread, @thehawkseyex Tweeted, “Bhardwaj & Atishi said it was Service Deptt under L-G that went to SC against HC’s order in 2018. However, their DoE (deptt of education) letter to UPSC in Sept’2017, following HC order, mentioned that AAP GOVT HAS OBTAINED L-G APPROVAL prior to seeking UPSC approval.

The Twitter user shared screenshots of senior AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj’s Tweets wherein he had claimed that it was the Centre-nominated Lieutenant Governor who did not agree with Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to regularise the KMTs and opposed it in the High Court.

The AAP leader had further tweeted, that it was the service department under the LG/central government who later went on to the Supreme Court against the regularisation of Kashmiri Migrant teachers.

To prove, how Saurabh Bhardwaj was, indeed, lying blatantly, Twitter user @thehawkseyex used the screenshot of a media report published on September 17, 2017. The report was most likely the one published by Firstpost.

The report published by Firstpost in 2017

The report clearly mentioned that the AAP government had written to the UPSC following the Delhi High Court’s order to the government to take an expeditious decision on regularising Kashmiri migrant teachers. In the letter to the UPSC, the Kejriwal government had clearly stated that it had obtained the LG’s approval.

Excerpt from the report published by Firstpost in September 2017

So it is clear that the AAP government is lying when it claims that the Centre-nominated Lieutenant Governor did not agree with Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to regularise the KMTs. If they themselves wrote to the UPSC in 2017 that the LG had approved the regularisation of Kashmiri migrant teachers in Delhi, how can they now blame the LG and claim that his department opposed the decision?

In fact, the series of lies peddled by the AAP loyalists to defend Arvind Kejriwal’s misinformation that his Government gave permanent jobs to 233 Kashmiri Pandits who had been working on contracts in Delhi for decades did not end here.

The Aam Aadmi Party further went on to discredit the press note by the Kashmiri migrant teachers association released on Monday, March 28, wherein it strongly condemned the statement given by the Delhi CM that it was the Delhi Government that regularised the services of Kashmiri Migrant Teachers (KMT). Signed by Dilip Bhan, Co-ordinator of the teachers’ association, the statement noted down the timeline of the court cases that led to the Supreme Court’s verdict forcing the Delhi government to give them jobs.

Despite several media houses explicitly reporting on how the Delhi government had fought years of a legal battle to oppose the regularisation of the Kashmiri migrant teachers and how the Government School Teachers Association (Migrant) issued a statement claiming the Delhi government regularised the teachers only after they approached the Delhi High Court, the AAP refuted the press note calling it fake.

Kashmiri Migrant Teachers’ association fact-checks Arvind Kejriwal

It becomes imperative to note here that in its press note, the Kashmiri migrant teachers association clearly wrote how it had first approached the court in 2010 after which a single bench delivered a judgment in favour of their regularisation, which was challenged by the government before a double bench. The association said this bench also directed that the teachers be regularised, which was challenged by the Kejriwal government in the Supreme Court, which dismissed its petition in 2018.

“In 2019, finally the government regularised Kashmiri migrant teachers, having no other option left. This indicates that the Delhi government was never interested in regularising the services of KMT. In fact, the Delhi government opposed the regularisation till the very end,” read the statement issued by the Government School Teachers Association (Migrant) on March 28.

Kejriwal claims the AAP government regularised KMTs in Delhi

The press note was released soon after, Kejriwal went into a damage control mode and claimed his Government gave permanent jobs to 233 Kashmiri Pandits who had been working on contracts in Delhi for decades. His statement came after his speech in Delhi Assembly went viral where he deemed ‘The Kashmir Files’ to be a movie based on ‘lies’. The Hindu community has criticized him for his insensitivity and called him out for denying Kashmiri Pandits’ genocide that led to their exodus from Kashmir valley.

Ukrainian foreign minister asks all countries to criminalize the symbol ‘Z’ to boycott Russia

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Ukrainian foreign minister asks all countries to criminalize the symbol ‘Z’ to boycott Russia

On Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had called upon all the nations to boycott Russia by criminalizing the use of the symbol ‘Z’.

In a tweet, he wrote, “I call on all states to criminalize the use of the ‘Z’ symbol as a way to publicly support Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. ’Z’ means Russian war crimes, bombed out cities, thousands of murdered Ukrainians. Public support of this barbarism must be forbidden.”

Screengrab of the tweet by Ukrainian Foreign Minister

The significance of the ‘Z’ symbol in the Russia-Ukraine war

As per a report in The Guardian, Russian military tanks, trucks and other hardware were found painted with Zs. Although the letter ‘Z’ does not exist in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet, there are several theories surrounding its recent usage of it by the Kremlin.

“The most popular theory used by military experts to explain the letter is that they were written according to the respective areas where the Russian troops are usually stationed, with Z potentially standing for Zapad (west),” reported The Guardian.

It further added, “Others believe the letters were drawn in an attempt to avoid friendly fire, while some pro-Kremlin Russian military experts have speculated that the letter Z stands for the name of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the letter V for Vladimir Putin.”

According to the Russian defence Ministry, ‘Z’ stood for Za pobedu (victory). NPR had earlier reported that State-funded media Russia Today (RT) had been selling merchandise, including hoodies and T-Shirts with the ‘Z’ symbol embroidered on them.

Earlier this month, a 20-year-old Russian gymnast named Ivan Kuliak wore a ‘Z’ symbol taped to his leotard during the gymnastics World Cup event in Qatar. Although he was criticised by the International Gymnastics Federation (IGF), he said that he would do it again if given a second chance.

Critics have dubbed the ‘Z’ symbol as Putin’s version of the Nazi symbol ‘hooked cross’ (Hakenkreuz).

Besides the ‘Z’ symbol, Russian forces were also seen brandishing the English alphabet ‘V’. As per a report in The Scotsman, ‘V’ is aligned with Russian phrases such as ‘Сила правде’ (Power of Truth) and ‘задача будет выполнена’ (task will be completed)

Indore: Landlord Yakoob Mansoori threatens tenant Mohammed Yusuf Khan asking him to remove PM Modi’s photo from the walls of his house

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Indore: Landlord Yakoob Mansoori threatens tenant Mohammed Yusuf Khan asking him to remove PM Modi’s photo from the walls of his house

A man named Mohammed Yusuf Khan living as a tenant in the house in Indore owned by Yakoob Mansoori and his brothers is threatened by the landlords over PM Modi’s photo. A video of Mohammed Yusuf Khan appeared on 29th March 2022 in which he informed about the incident. Mohammed Yusuf Khan reached the office of the Police Commissioner (CP office) situated at Regal Square on Tuesday 29th March 2022 to report the incident in a public hearing. The CP office holds such a public hearing every Tuesday.

Mohammed Yusuf Khan said, “For the last few decades I am living in a house in the Peer Gali area. Sharif Mansoori, Yakoob Mansoori, and Sultan Mansoori own that house. They are bothering me saying why have you put PM Modi’s photo on the walls of the house. They have threatened me saying we will beat you if you don’t remove the photo of Narendra Modi and we will throw you out with all your belongings. As the month of Ramzan is not far, it is not good that this photo remains here.”

Revealing his inclinations toward the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he said, “I am connected with the ideology of Sangh (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). I am very much fond of this ideology. I often read their books and other available content. So the ideology has grabbed my mind. I often read their articles, etc.”

He further said, “It has been quite a long since I have put PM Modi’s photo on the wall of the house. I want to register a complaint that the landlords Yakoob Mansoori, Sharif Mansoori, and Sultan Mansoori are pressurizing me to remove this photo. They have also threatened me and asked me to vacate the house. Few politicians and police have also bothered me in this regard for the last eight days. They have caused us so much tension that my mother had a heart attack. Right now she is admitted to the hospital. I am in great trouble. I request the officers to relieve me of this troublesome situation.”

Additional DCP Manisha Pathak Soni said, “A case appeared in the public hearing at the CP office situated near the Regal Square. A youth had informed that he has put a photo of the honourable Prime Minister in his rented house and the owners of that house are causing trouble to him. This is an issue regarding his freedom of expression. The police will ensure the necessary action in this case. Peer Gali falls under the Sadar Bazar police station so the case is in the area of the same police station. The concerned police inspector and other officials are instructed to take the necessary actions in this case.”

It is notable that besides PM Modi’s photo, Mohammed Yusuf Khan’s house also has photos of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Fact check: Viral message claims arms cache seized from a madrassa in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Fact check: Viral message claims arms cache seized from a madrassa in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor

Social media platforms on Tuesday were awash with a post that alleged that thousands of swords and pistols have been seized from a madrassa in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district alongside the arrest of six people.

The post went viral in no time, with a legion of social media users amplifying the claims made in it by sharing and reposting them on their timelines and chat groups.

A Twitter user with the handle @satviksoul posted a tweet on March 29, 2022, claiming that the Bijnor Police had seized arms, guns, pistols and swords from a madrassa in Uttar Pradesh. The tweet instantly went viral, racking up more than 1,500 retweets.

Screenshot of the viral tweet (deleted now)

Similarly, others too joined in to spread the claim that a huge cache of arms has been seized in Bijnor. A Twitter user with the handle @theVAG_A_BOND posted a tweet insinuating that the swords were gathered for ‘jihad purpose’. “Arms seized from Madrassa in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. If this wasn’t for Jihad, then what was it for?”, the tweet read.

Screenshot of the viral tweet

The truth about the viral claim

Even as social media platforms were replete with posts asserting that arms and ammunition were recovered from a madrassa in Uttar Pradesh, the Bijnor police took cognisance of the viral claims made and issued a clarification. In its clarification, Bijnor police shared an old post made by the account that declared the claims and the images being bandied around as fake and misleading. It quoted a tweet posted by it on 8 November 2020, wherein it had issued a clarification after similar claims of arms and ammunition being seized from a madrassa were being peddled then.

The police had then stated that the case was about the arrest of 6 people, from whom they had recovered 1 pistol, 4 guns, 49 cartridges and 1 car. It further added that the images showing thousands of guns and swords shown on the sofa were fake.

“Bijnor Police refutes the news regarding the recovery of thousands of guns and swords in a Madrasa under Sherkot police station area of Bijnor district”, the Police said adding that the images shared along with the tweet were fake. “In 2019, the Police had arrested 6 people and had recovered only 1 pistol, 4 guns, 49 cartridges and 1 car. The image with the tweet that shows thousands of swords and guns on the sofa is fake”, the Police had said in its tweet on November 08, 2020.

In July 2019, a person named Jitendra Meena had first tweeted the fake images and had said that Muslims had collected thousands of swords and guns to create violence in the state of Uttar Pradesh. “Police arrested 6 people who had planned to create violence in Bijnor. As if these people have forgotten that Bijnor is in Uttar Pradesh and CM of Uttar Pradesh is Yogi Adityanath. Government should ban the madrassas,” the tweet had read.

Image Source- Bijnor Police

The Police then had said that the madrassa operated as a ‘hikmat’ (a place where a hakim prescribes medicines). The illegal weapon smugglers would come pretending to be patients. No one suspected that the ‘patients’ were arms smugglers. Police had suspected that one Sabir, who hailed from Bihar, was the main supplier. He had got a ‘Shiv Sena’ sticker on his car which he used for smuggling so that no one would suspect him.

Acting on a tip-off, the police had raided the madrassa and recovered 5 pistols and 49 cartridges. Zafar Islam, Noor Ali, Mohammad Sabir, Azizurahman and Fahim were arrested in connection with the case. The police later issued a clarification stating that claims of thousands of pistols being recovered from the place and the images that had gone viral on the social media were all fake.

Assam and Meghalaya sign interstate boundary settlement ending a 50-year long border dispute: All you need to know

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Assam and Meghalaya sign interstate boundary settlement ending a 50-year long border dispute: All you need to know

The north-eastern states of Assam and Meghalaya have signed a settlement, that has been termed ‘historic‘, concerning the border dispute between the states. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma signed the accord in presence of Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Tuesday.

Taking a step forward in the mutual partnership, the states of Assam and Meghalaya have settled a historic border dispute that prolonged for over 50 years. The issue runs back in time to 1972 when Meghalaya was to be carved out as an independent state out of Assam. The initial draft of the new maps included in the primary agreement demarcated varied boundaries for both states. This caused a furore among elements from both states and the issue was prolonged for more than 50 years.

The issue was one of the primary concerns for the Modi government’s North-East policy. On Monday, a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Chief Ministers of both states two months after a draft was submitted by them to Central Home Minister Amit Shah on January 31 for examination and consideration. Along the 884-km long boundary shared between the states, the resolution identifies 12 areas of difference shared by Assam and Meghalaya.

Chief Ministers Sharma and Sangma signed an agreement for 36.79 square km of land, from which Assam keeps 18.51 square km and give the remaining 18.28 square km goes to Meghalaya.

Conrad Sangma gave credit to officers from Assam and Meghalaya who prepared the draft for this bill. “We’re celebrating the Golden Jubilee of our state this year and even after 50 years, this issue remained. So, there’s a large section of society that wants a resolution to this, including the leadership. I want to thank all our committee members and the officers of the Assam and Meghalaya governments. This has been successful because of the hard work of not only the officers but the political leaders who have been chairman of the committee,” he stated.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma thanked PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah for their commitment towards the upliftment of the North-East. “This is a milestone in our collective efforts to strengthen cooperative federalism. Together, we’re committed to resolve all such legacy boundary issues very soon,” he tweeted. He added that HM Shah also wants Assam to solve its disputes with Arunachal Pradesh and assured that a roadmap for the same is being made.

While the resolution that was signed today concerns 6 out of the 12 locations identified, Sarma noted that a resolution on the remaining 6 locations could arrive in the next 7 months. The Assam-Meghalaya border concerns dispute between the states over the areas of Upper Tarabari, Gazang reserve forest, Hahim, Langpih, Borduar, Boklapara, Nongwah, Matamur, Khanapara-Pilangkata, Deshdemoreah Block I and Block II, Khanduli and Retacherra.

Home Minister Amit Shah called it a ‘historic day’ for North East. “This interstate boundary settlement will usher in a new era of peace, harmony & progress in the state of Assam & Meghalaya,” the Home Minister tweeted. In the press conference, Amit Shah highlighted that ever since Narendra Modi became the PM, he has worked continuously for the pride of the northeast with a commitment to make it dispute-free.

Sri Lanka is teetering on the edge of a financial collapse: Understanding the island nation’s worst economic crisis in its history

Dibakar Dutta
-
0
Sri Lanka is teetering on the edge of a financial collapse: Understanding the island nation’s worst economic crisis in its history

Sri Lanka is faced with the worst economic crisis in its history, with inflation reaching a record high of 17.5% in February 2022. The residents of the island nation are struggling with an acute shortage of food, and cooking gas. Power cuts are frequent and people are seen standing in long queues in the National Capital for buying diesel fuel.

The government, headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has been seeking credit lines from countries such as India, China and even Bangladesh for purchasing milk powder and diesel. The situation is so grim that the central bank is forced to buy oil from Iran by bartering tea leaves.

Opindia had earlier reported how schools in the western province of Sri Lanka were forced to postpone the exams of their students because the country had run out of printing paper. Due to a shortage of US dollars, it had become impossible to finance the imports.

Aggrieved by the financial crisis in the island nation, a group of 6 had set sail for India from Sri Lanka. They were later rescued by the Indian Coast Guard. In a bid to fix the situation, the Rajapaksa government is closing down embassies, scheduling power cuts, selling prime real estate and converting US dollars to Sri Lankan rupees.

Disastrous economic policies of the Rajapaksa regime

These temporary measures, however, are unlikely to solve the economic distress caused to Lankans. “We’ve really hit rock bottom,” remarked Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu of the Center for Policy Alternatives. Chairman of think tank Advocata Institute, Murtaza Jafferjee, said, “Sri Lanka’s economy is experiencing multiple organ failure, and sepsis has set in.”

According to policy analyst K Don Vimanga, the root cause of the current economic crisis lay in the trade liberalisation of 1977. He explained that Sri Lanka had been suffering from a combination of factors, including large deficits in the budget, tax cuts and macroeconomic instability.

“The country could not refinance maturing debts or finance the current account deficit that was growing rapidly due to fiscal expansion. They then tried to fix the exchange rate and control imports, which have led to the shortages,” he emphasised.

People stand in long queues to buy kerosene, images via Twitter/@seanjgleeson

Although President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have pinned the blame on the past governments, experts believe that the ongoing crisis is the result of policy errors made by the Rajapaksa regime between 2005 and 2015.

In that 10 year period, Sri Lanka amassed large debt in the hopes of turning the island nation into Singapore. The government spent lavishly on ambitious infrastructure projects. However, most of them failed to garner private investments and had to be stalled such as Hambantota Port and the Ceylon Electricity Company.

This created a political crisis for the following government of President Maithripala Sirisena. After being faced with pricey loan repayment, the Sirisena administration restructured the loans into cheap long-term debts. This helped Colombo rake up foreign reserves up to $7.5 billion.

The island nation also posted a budget surplus during his tenure. However, things quickly changed after Rajapaksa returned to the power corridors. Today, yields on the country’s sovereign debt have risen to 16% from 7%.

Import ban and tax cuts proved fatal

Gotabaya Rajapaksa banned the import of spices, chemical fertilisers and luxury vehicles in the hopes of encouraging domestic production, protecting foreign exchange reserves and boosting exports. It must be mentioned that Sri Lanka has traditionally been an import-dependent country and the abrupt policy reversal led to economic problems.

Prior to the ban, the island nation was annually importing vehicles and chemical fertilisers worth $1.5 billion and 400 million respectively. The administrative action failed to meet its objectives. The sprawling apparel industry of Sri Lanka had crippled due to the import ban on essential supplies and raw materials.

While speaking about the matter, Economics Professor Kopalapillai Amirthalingam said, “When imports are stopped, how can we ensure quality in exports? Sri Lanka depends on imports for raw materials.” Far from protecting foreign exchange reserves, the Rajapaksa government had to sell its gold reserves by mid-January this year.

Economist R Ramakumar had tweeted, “Sri Lanka had one of the lowest indirect tax rates in the world prior to the pandemic. This led to a major fall in indirect tax revenues. GST/VAT revenues fell from 443,877 LKR million in 2019 to 233,786 LKR million in 2020 i.e., by close to 50%.”

“We have been spending beyond our means for years,” remarked Professor Ahilan Kadirgamar of the University of Jaffna. The situation was further aggravated by an unprecedented tax cut, which reduced the number of registered Sri Lankan taxpayers by almost 35%.

In the aftermath of the decision, revenues plummeted to an all-time low of 9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to Parliamentarian Patali Champika Ranawaka, the tax cut by the Gotabaya administration derailed Colombo’s financial situation and led to debt repayment at ‘a huge social cost’.

Covid-19 and the blow to Sri Lanka’s tourism century

The Coronavirus pandemic, which originated in the Wuhan province of China, had restricted people to their homes. This proved fatal for the tourism industry across the globe, especially in Sri Lanka where tourism is a key source of foreign exchange.

Economist R Ramakumar had explained that the 2019 Easter bomb blast, which claimed about 253 lives, led to a decline of 18% in tourist footfall in the island nation.

The decline in tourist footfall in Sri Lanka, graph via Twitter (@ramakumarr)

“The pandemic caused tourism revenues to fall from $7.5 billion in 2019 to $2.8 billion last year. Just as the sector was limping back to normalcy, the Russia-Ukraine war has come as a major setback. A significant portion of foreign tourists who visit Sri Lanka are from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus,” reported The Week.

Sri Lankan officials are hopeful that the tourism industry will revive again and help ease the economic crisis. While speaking about the matter, Centra Bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal remarked, “We know that this difficulty that we’re facing is mainly because of the tourism receipts not being there. If the tourism receipts had been there, notwithstanding the Covid debacle, nobody would have been talking about I.M.F.”

Organic farming and the final death knell

During his 2019 election campaign, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had vowed to transform the country’s agriculture sector into 100% organic. On April 26. 2021, he imposed a complete ban on the import of chemical fertilisers. The objective was to save import costs and the environment at the same time.

The ban coincided with the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. Many experts had warned the government that such a move could lead to food scarcity. Interestingly, the move was supported by both liberal groups and Christian churches.

“Sri Lanka’s organic farming policy was a disaster. In most countries, agriculture held up during the pandemic. But it was the opposite in Sri Lanka. According to IMF, there was a “worse-than-anticipated impact of the chemical fertilizer ban on agricultural production,” economist Ramakumar had pointed out.

Moreover, tea and paddy cultivation took a severe blow and the output of vegetables, pepper and cinnamon shrunk by over 30%. By the time the Rajapaksa government intervened, it was already late. The island nation had lost about 50% of its production capacity.

As per a report in Al Jazeera, 1/3rd of all agricultural land became dormant in the immediate aftermath of the fertiliser ban. Today, Sri Lanka is forced to import white and parboiled rice from Myanmar, India and China. The country is dependent more than ever on foreign countries for staples that it once excelled in production.

Professor Saman Dharmakeerthi of the University of Peradeniya had said, “The ban led to a reduction in yield, which went down by 25 per cent. Organic agriculture, being low-yielding, is land-intensive. The crops may be resilient, but they cannot feed a growing population when cultivable land is shrinking”

India reaches out to Sri Lanka in testing times

Amidst the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, India has extended a helping hand to the island nation. On Tuesday (March 29), it had come to light that surgeries were suspended at the Peradeniya hospital due to a shortage of medicines.

India’s Minister for External Affairs, S Jaishankar, had called upon the Indian embassy in Sri Lanka to make necessary provisions for the hospital.

India had extended a $1.5 billion credit line for the purchase of 40,000 tonnes of diesel. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka had sought an additional $1 billion credit line for importing essential items.

The EAM arrived in Srilanka on March 27 to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and other ministers in the cabinet. On Tuesday (March 29), Dr Jaishankar participated in the 18th BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Ministerial Meeting in Colombo.

Punjab: Several injured in Police lathicharge on farmers in Lambi village in Muktsar

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Punjab: Several injured in Police lathicharge on farmers in Lambi village in Muktsar

According to reports, several Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) members were injured on Monday night as police reportedly lathicharged protesting farmers outside the Lambi tehsil office in the Muktsar district of Punjab.

The incident happened when a group of farmers were protesting against the long-delayed compensation for pink bollworm damage to their cotton harvests. They also allegedly kept 12 government officials hostage inside a sub-tehsil office for several hours.

According to police, a group of more than 100 farmers protested outside the Lambi sub-tehsil on Monday under the banner of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). Protesters stormed the office building in the late afternoon, and kept officials hostage until police freed them at midnight.

Later, the police filed an FIR, identifying ten farmers as well as over a hundred other unnamed persons. Gurpal Singh Singhewala, Harpal Singh Killianwali, Bhupinder Singh Channu, Davinder Singh Maan, Kala Singh Sanghewala, Kala Singh Purankhurad, Jagdeep Singh Khuddian, Rampal Singh Gaggar, and Manjinder Singh Sran are among the farmers identified in the FIR.

12 government personnel were taken hostage, according to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sandeep Kumar Malik. He denied that police used force on farmers in order to liberate the officials.

“We freed the officials in a restrained and peaceful manner. No force was used. Before moving to free the officials, we requested them (farmers) many times that they can hold their dharna but the government officials performing their duty cannot be taken captive,” he stated.

The pink bollworm attack, according to Gurpal Singh Singhewala, president of BKU (Ugrahan) in Lambi block, has ruined the cotton crop in Muktsar. “However, to date, just a few farmers have received compensation. We’d been doing dharnas since September of last year, but to no effect,” he stated.

“On March 28, we began a new dharna outside the tehsil office. The tehsildar was not permitted to return home, but after 11.30 p.m., the police lathicharged on the protestors to coerce them to let the tehsildar go, and then arrested us,” Singhewala further added.

Punjab: Man beaten up in Nagiana Gurudwara Sahib for attempting to steal motorcycle

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Punjab: Man beaten up in Nagiana Gurudwara Sahib for attempting to steal motorcycle

A video has surfaced on social media platforms in which a man could be seen getting thrashed by a mob over allegations of involvement in stealing a motorcycle from the premises of Gurudwara Nagiana Sahib, Uchoke Kalan, District Amritsar.

In the video, after being beaten up, he was questioned by the people present at the scene. He identified himself as Vijay from Village Jaito. His associate was identified as Manu, who had escaped. When asked if he had attempted to steal a motorcycle in the past, he said this was his first attempt.

OpIndia tried reaching out to Police but could not connect. It is unclear if he was handed over to the Police or not.

Mob lynching in Punjab

It is noteworthy that several incidents of mob lynching have been reported in recent months in Punjab. Often the victims have been accused of sacrilege but there has been little evidence in such cases to prove the same, hinting at the possibility of personal enmity or an organised conspiracy, or spontaneous acts of violence against unsuspecting victims.

In December, a man was beaten to death when he was caught in a kitchen of Gurudwara premises when he was trying to find some food to eat. The reports suggest that when the sewadar spotted the man, he tried to escape and was eventually apprehended by the sewadars. The man, who was in his twenties, was kept in a room on Gurudwara premises. The Police were not allowed to take him. He was beaten to death by the angry crowd. It is noteworthy that Police also added that the deceased had eight deep cuts on his body that were made by a sharp weapon like a sword. The badly thrashed man was rushed to the hospital by the Police, where he was declared dead.

On December 18, a man was lynched to death by the Sikh Sangat (Sikh devotees) in Shri Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara (Golden Temple) in Amritsar over an alleged attempt to disrespect the holiest book of the Sikh religion, Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. As the CCTV footage showed, the young man jumped into the Sanctorum where the holy book was placed. He picked up the kirpan (sword) that was placed next to the holy book. By that time, Sikh Sangat present got into action and grabbed him. Reports suggest the Sangat alleged he was trying to desecrate Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Months before that, on the intervening night of July 1-2, 2021, an Army staffer, identified as Deepak Kumar, was lynched in a Gurudwara located in a village near Gurdaspur, Punjab. He was lynched for allegedly committing sacrilege against Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Daljit Singh Kashmir alias Bobby was booked as the main accused in the case, among others. Damdami Taksal Jatha Rajpura, actor-turned-activist and Republic Day riots accused Deep Sidhu, and several others came in support of Daljit Singh and justified the lynching.

Babar Ali murder case in Kushinagar, UP: Azimullah, Salma, Tahid and Arif arrested

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Babar Ali murder case in Kushinagar, UP: Azimullah, Salma, Tahid and Arif arrested

Two absconding suspects in the Kushinagar murder case, in which a Muslim youth named Babar Ali was murdered for allegedly celebrating the BJP’s election success, were apprehended by UP police on Monday.

Azimullah and Salma are their given names. Tahid and Arif, two more suspects, have already been apprehended in the case.

According to reports, a Station House Officer (SHO) has also been removed from his post and transferred to police lines. Due to his alleged negligence and refusal to provide security to the victim despite a complaint. The action was taken against the Ramkola Station in charge.

The accused have been arrested as per an FIR filed by the widow of the deceased Babar Ali.

Babar Ali was killed by his neighbours after he had celebrated the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly elections. The event occurred in the Kathgharhi village of Ramkola police station in the Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh when a young man called Babar was killed after campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and distributing sweets after Yogi Adityanath’s government was formed. On March 20, 2022, Babar was brutally beaten up by his neighbours and relatives. He was taken to the district hospital before being transferred to Lucknow, where he died while undergoing treatment.

Even after Babar’s death, the local Muslims in the region were enraged by him, as per reports. People were furious when the deceased’s body arrived in the community. People refused to perform the body’s last rites.

Residents in the region were apparently disgruntled because Babar was canvassing for the BJP, according to Babar’s family members. Babar has been warned several times not to support the BJP. Many personnel at the Ramkola police station were asked to provide security for Babar, but his request was denied. As the Ramkola police station failed to respond, the goons harassed and tortured Babar and threw him off the terrace.

Arvind Kejriwal continues spreading misinformation to cover up AAP’s failure to distribute free rations to the poor in Delhi: Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Arvind Kejriwal continues spreading misinformation to cover up AAP’s failure to distribute free rations to the poor in Delhi: Here is what happened

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Monday applauded his AAP compatriot Bhagwant Mann’s decision to deliver ration at the doorstep of beneficiaries in Punjab. The Punjab CM rolled out the doorstep delivery of ration scheme in the state months after AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had failed to implement a similar model in Delhi.

In a video address on Monday, Kejriwal said that the scheme for doorstep delivery of rations will save the time of the poor and will stop the indulgence of ration mafia in the system. He also recounted how he wanted to start the same scheme in Delhi but he was allegedly blocked by the Central Government from doing so. “For the last four years in Delhi, we are trying our best to implement this scheme of doorstep delivery of ration. We had worked out it all, but the BJP-ruled central government blocked it. They didn’t let us do it,” Kejriwal said in the video address.

While the Kejriwal Government in Delhi has been at loggerheads with the Centre over the implementation of the scheme, AAP has now decided to carry it forward to Punjab instead of Delhi. Aam Aadmi Party’s official Twitter handle juxtaposed his challenges in Delhi to implement the scheme with his new announcement in Punjab. However, it is worth noting that throwing around wild allegations to cover up his government’s inadequacies has been catnip for Arvind Kejriwal—a means that he routinely employs to shun accountability—and pass the buck on his rivals.

Even so, as Kejriwal blamed the Central Government for not letting the scheme happen in Delhi, the story has different policy dimensions to uncover beyond Kejriwal’s narrative over ration for the poor.

Kejriwal’s Mukhyamantri Ghar-Ghar Ration Yojana

In the June of 2021, Arvind Kejriwal led AAP government in Delhi was all set to start the doorstep delivery of rations to beneficiaries in Delhi. However, close to a week after the launch of the scheme, AAP accused the Central Government of striking down the scheme. The Aam Aadmi Party had lashed out at the BJP for stopping the Delhi government from distributing rations to the poor. AAP claimed that under the guise of lack of approvals, the central government was denying free rations to the poor.

The announcement made by the Delhi Government had naturally piqued the interest of the observers, given that the centre had already announced free ration for the 80 crore beneficiaries, including those residing in Delhi, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. To many observers, Kejriwal’s announcement was a clever ploy, timed to perfection, just after the Centre announced distributing free rations and aimed at stealing credit.

Clarification from the Centre

The Central Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution wrote to the Delhi Government that the subsidised foodgrains allotted under the National Food Security Act are not permissible to be used for the state government scheme. It pointed out that provision for household delivery of rations does not exist in the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.

However, the Centre maintained that the state has the right to distribute food grains under any scheme. The Central Government’s letter to Delhi stated that the Centre will have no objection if the Delhi government comes out with a separate scheme without mixing the elements of the NFSA. Furthermore, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal only returned Kejriwal’s scheme for reconsideration, while not rejecting it as was portrayed by the Delhi government.

Kejriwal reiterates the accusations

But the announcement made in Punjab provided a fresh opportunity to amp up his rhetorics against the central government and reiterate the same accusations to malign the Centre. It is noteworthy to mention that the Modi Government always granted additional rations to the state whenever required. In 2021, the Kejriwal government lifted 179% of its total quota under NFSA and 63,200 MT of ration under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

Talking about Delhi itself, despite the Central government’s several notifications on implementing the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme in Delhi, the Kejriwal government has, so far, failed in doing so. Allotted under National Food Security Act (NFSA), the scheme could have benefited more than a million migrant workers in Delhi without any additional cost to Delhi’s budget.

In 2021, the Government of India had categorically denied the allegations raised by the Delhi Government over the ration delivery scheme. While Kejriwal has played to politics by accusing the Government of India of the same things again, his tendency to make tall promises, without understanding the nuances involved, betrays his lack of understanding of policy matters as a politician.

1...3,3933,3943,395...7,642Page 3,394 of 7,642