On 22nd October 2020, General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of Army Staff will commission the indigenously built ‘INS Kavaratti’ into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. ‘INS Kavaratti’ is the last of four indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare (ASW) stealth corvettes under the ‘Project 28’.
The Indian Navy, in a statement, said, “Designed by Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design, the ship portrays our growing capability in becoming self-reliant through indigenization.
The name Kavaratti comes from erstwhile INS Kavaratti, which was an Arnala class missile corvette. The older Kavaratti played a vital role during Bangladesh’s liberation war in 1971.
It is a ‘Made in India’ warship designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organization, Directorate of Naval Design(DND), and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
It is equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and a sensor suite capable of detecting and prosecuting submarines. ‘INS Kavaratti’ is also capable of self-defense. The weapons and sensors suite of the warship is predominantly indigenous. It has good endurance for long-range deployments.
With 90 percent indigenous content and use of carbon composites for the superstructure, it perfectly showcases the commendable feat achieved in Indian shipbuilding.
The ship will be commissioned into the Indian Navy as a combat-ready platform. It has already completed sea trials of all the installed systems onboard.
‘Kavaratti’ last of four indigenously built Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth corvettes is all set to join #IndianNavy. Designed by #IndianNavy‘s Directorate of Naval Design, the ship portrays the growing capability of the nation in becoming self-reliant through indigenization pic.twitter.com/Z3d0R9uloM
The induction of ‘INS Kavaratti’ into the Indian Navy will enhance its preparedness amid ongoing tension with China. It showcases the growing capability of the Indian Navy, GRSE, and the nation in becoming self-reliant through indigenization. It is being touted as a significant step in India’s national objective of “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. The warship was delivered amid strict Covid-19 restrictions, which makes it a praiseworthy achievement in itself. INS Kavaratti is the fourth and last one of the Kamorta Class Stealth ASW Corvette. INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, and INS Kiltan have already been commissioned in the Indian Navy.
Mohammad Shahabuddin is one such name which every child in Bihar is acquainted with, especially those living in Bihar’s Siwan district, the fiefdom of four-time Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Mohammad Shahabuddin aka Saheb (as Shahabuddin is referred to in Siwan), who has ruled Siwan with fear, especially during the days of Lalu Yadav’s Jungle Raj.
This is why, for those who have lived or even for that matter visited Siwan, the area where the dreaded gangster’s writ still influences the way of life, it’s almost impossible for them to be unaware of Shahabuddin’s ancestral bungalow located in Pratappur’s Terdighat. It is said that there can be no count of how many people have been killed and buried in the backyard of the Siwan’s strongman’s ancestral house.
Siwan: Pratappur encounter and Mohammad Shahabuddin
Apart from this ancestral house, a huge white bungalow greets visitors at Muslim Tola. The house, known as “Saheb ka bungalow”, is built on about 4 acres of land belonging to the family. Shahabuddin used the bungalow as his office when he was not in jail. On March 15, 2001, something happened in this white house, that took the country by the storm. People remember the incident as the infamous Pratappur (Siwan) gunfight.
On March 15, 2001, Shahabuddin’s bungalow was raided by a police team headed by then Siwan police chief Bachchu Singh Meena, resulting in a fierce gunbattle in which 12 people, including two policemen, were killed. In a way, it was an encounter between RJD- the then ruling party of the state and the state police. The police had then suffered major losses with two of its men being killed in the shootout along with the supporters of the don. Ten others were also killed while several police vehicles were burnt down. The police recovered three AK-47s from the spot. But they could not catch hold of Shahabuddin. He had fled. The police filed several cases against him.
RJD chief-Lalu Yadav was then busy in building a front against the BJP because whenever the BJP comes to the centre, the opposition parties start suddenly working on their ‘secularism’ image. However, when this incident happened, the then de-facto Chief Minister of Bihar and RJD supremo Lalu Yadav who was to leave for Delhi to hold talks on the formation of the People’s Front, had to cancel his trip.
Following the Pratappur (Siwan) gunfight, the district’s atmosphere had become very hostile. As tensions ran high in Siwan, the Bihar Mounted Police, three columns of the Central Reserve Police Force and one column of the army moved in from Ranchi in neighbouring Jharkhand and other places to assist the police to maintain peace and step up their offensive to arrest Shahabuddin. Prohibitory orders were also clamped in the district.
But even before the police could know, the MP had reportedly fled the district. But this had not come as a surprise as Shahabuddin was known to be the right hand of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. Since he was Lalu’s beloved, he became a law unto himself and was free to do anything in the state. Siwan soon turned into a bastion of murder, rape, extortion and kidnapping and was leading all big and small districts of Bihar. Many people were disappearing every day from the Siwan district, of which Shahabuddin was the unchallenged ‘ruler’.
What led to the infamous Pratappur encounter
Pratappur village was 17 km from Siwan and Mohammad Shahabuddin used to run a parallel administration in the district, carrying out all his illegal businesses freely from there. Pratappur had in one way become the crime capital of Siwan. The district was out of bounds for the police. The dreaded gangster ran his own “kangaroo courts” to settle family and land disputes in the area. He gave two hoots to the police and administrative officials. He thrashed them on a regular basis. He would even shoot at the policemen and get away with it.
In 2001, one day, Shahabuddin’s men attacked Siwan DSP Ashwini Kumar. In a few days, Siwan Sadar’s DSP Sanjeev Kumar was at one of matriculation exam centres. Sanjiv Kumar had come with a force to comply with a warrant against local RJD chief and a wanted criminal Manoj Kumar Pappu. Shahabuddin and his supporters were also present. Shahabuddin had come to provide “assistance” to one of his ‘boys’ taking the exam. When DSP Sanjeev Kumar tried to nab Manoj Kumar Pappu, in the presence of ‘MP Saheb’, the infuriated Shahabddinu slapped DSP Sanjeev Kumar in front of the public. This news was not covered in the media because of the terror of the mafia don.
One can imagine how close was Shahabuddin to Lalu Yadav from the fact that he was the only person in Bihar, who would sit alongside Bihar CM with a pistol tucked to his waist. No one could have dared to touch Shahabuddin.
However, a sense of anger and desperation was prevailing among the police officials of Siwan. The Manoj Kumar Pappu episode had enraged the police to another level. That time Bacchu Singh Meena was the SP of Siwan, under whom the police showed unbelievable courage and decided to raid Shahbuddin’s house in Pratappur.
The MP’s supporters were already sitting prepared. The police didn’t even imagine that so many people would start firing with AK-47 and assault rifles at them simultaneously from inside the MP’s house. It is known that Shahabuddin was also leading the attack and firing at the police.
Besides the Bihar Police, teams of Uttar Pradesh police from Deoria were also deployed on SP Meena’s request. After a 10-hour long gun battle and more than 4000 rounds of bullets fired, 3 policemen and 8 of Shahabuddin’s accomplices were shot dead while several police vehicles were burnt down. When police eventually entered the gangster’s home, to their shock, they found a considerable amount of weapons, including Pakistan-made assault rifles, AK-47s, grenades, several 9 mm pistols, and ammunition in Shahabuddin’s home.
The immediate fallout of this episode was the transfer of SP Bacchu Singh Meena, and the DM the very next day. The matriculation exams were postponed for three days. Siwan came to a standstill.
The RJD MP managed to escape and reappeared from nowhere a few hours later and declared: “अगर बच्चू सिंह मीना को राजस्थान तक भी दौड़ा कर मारना होगा तो मारेंगे, लेकिन मारेंगे ज़रूर” (I’ll kill Bacchu Singh Meena even if I’ve to chase him to Rajasthan. No one can save him now.) The next of the encounter, he was seen giving interviews to news channels. Shahabuddin had infact, told star news that his men fired in self defense and he was not going to surrender under any circumstances.
Police claimed to have recovered an AK-47 rifle, a 9mm pistol and some hand-grenades from the MP’s house. The then Director-General of Police RR Prasad and other top police and administrative officials had then camped in the village. Chief Secretary Mukund Prasad had then confirmed that two columns of the army from Ranchi and one column from Danapur (Patna) had been deployed in Siwan. Besides, three companies of central paramilitary forces had also been rushed there. According to official sources, the state government had also deputed four additional district magistrates and four executive magistrates in Siwan.
Mohammad Shahabuddin synonymous with terror
However, this was not the stand-alone episode when Shahabuddin and his gang had open fired at policemen.
In 1996, a day after polling for the Lok Sabha elections concluded in Siwan, Shahabu– as Mohammad Shahabuddin was also popularly known, along with his supporters had opened fire on the vehicle of the then Superintendent of Police (SP) SK Singhal in the heart of Siwan and forced the police officer to run for his life. Singhal, then SP of Siwan, had escaped a murderous attack on him by the henchmen of Mohammad Shahabuddin, while he was investigating a complaint against him during the parliamentary polls.
For the uninitiated, SK Singhal is currently the DGP of Bihar. The post became vacant due to Gupteshwar Pandey’s early retirement and joining politics, for which DG Homeguard SK Singhal became the first choice of the Bihar government.
The 1996 incident was said to be the first public display of Shahabuddin’s terror that was stamped in the minds of the people of Siwan. This incident is also remembered because it was the first time Shahabuddin was seen standing opposite Lalu Prasad. By this time his relationship with RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav had strained and Sahabuddin was seen hobnobbing with rebel leader Ranjan Yadav.
Shahabuddin was the Janata Dal MLA at the time from Jiradei constituency, was contesting the Lok Sabha election from Siwan seat. In 1996 he was elected to Lok Sabha for the first time. It is said that during the elections in Siwan, then Shahabuddin’s opposition candidates were not even allowed to put up their posters, such was Shahabuddin’s terror in the district at that time.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Shahabuddin, furious with the Pratappur encounter, had vowed to kill Siwan’s SP Bachhu Singh Meena and also threatened policemen from the surrounding districts with the help of whom his house was raided. Some traders started leaving the district while some refused to open their shops out of fear. It is said that the then Siwan’s DM, Mohammed Rashid Khan had provided tactical support to Shahabuddin in all his misadventures which had greatly miffed the police officiers in Siwan.
Many believe that the Pratappur encounter was nothing but a political gimmick. The incident was then portrayed as an issue of security for Muslims. The rebellions in the RJD camp- like Ranjan Yadav, the once-trusted aide of Lalu Prasad in 1990s who had turned hostile towards the latter, linked the incident to the ‘protection of minorities’. Some leaders also said that it was a ‘conspiracy’ to kill Mohammad Shahabuddin because of his loyalty towards Ranjan Yadav.
The Bihar government transferred Siwan’s district magistrate and superintendent of police and ordered an inquiry into killings of 11 people at Pratappur residence of controversial RJD MP, Shahabuddin. The government’s action followed the submission of a report by a team led by the then Excise Minister Shivanand Tiwari, which made an on-the-spot inquiry and charged the police with being utterly brutal. Tiwari had termed it as ‘cold-blooded murder’ and alleged that the encounter was a fake one.
The kin of the deceased was given government jobs and Rs 2.5 lakh as compensation. In his report, Shivanand Tiwari had, in turn, called the raid as police brutality and claimed that the policemen disobeyed the orders of their superiors. In his report, Tiwari recommended action against the police officials. A case of murder, attempt to murder and possession of illegal arms was also registered against Mohammad Shahabuddin. This action was a grim reminder to the Bihar administration that the state is nothing but an empire of crime.
Mohammad Shahabuddin- the terror of Siwan
The Siwan district, in the 90s and early 21st century, became Shahabuddin’s fiefdom and he was its unchallenged ruler. Shahabuddin entered into politics under Lalu’s shadow as a member of Janata Dal’s youth wing. He got the advantage of his influence through muscle power. He contested on Janata Dal ticket in the 1990 Bihar Assembly elections and won. He also won in 1995. His political stature grew further when he won the 1996 Lok Sabha elections for the first time. He acquired more power with the RJD coming to power in the State in 1997.
In 2009, the court banned the mafia don from contesting elections. But, such was his hold in the party, that RJD instead started giving tickets to his wife- Hina Shahab, for Siwan Lok Sabha seat. However, luck kept eluding her. She lost the 2009 and then the subsequent 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well.
Shahabuddin’s Terror
Shahabuddin, known as “Sultan of Siwan”, is now serving life imprisonment in the Tihar jail in connection with several cases including the kidnapping and murder of CPI(ML) leader Chandrashekhar Prasad aka Chhote Lal Gupta in 1999 and a double-murder case. Interestingly, CPI(ML) today is preparing to enter the assembly elections by forming an alliance with the RJD.
In fact, the 2004 double-murder case was one of the most visible symbols of the reign of terror that Shahabuddin ran in Siwan for nearly a decade and a half before he was jailed in 2005. Chanda Babu’s three out of four sons were the victims of Shahabuddin’s atrocities. His two sons – Girish Raj (20) and Satish Raj (25) – were drenched in acid before being killed at Pratappur by henchmen of the mafia don, while his third son Rajeev Raushan, who was the only eyewitness in the double-murder case, was later murdered in Siwan on June 16, 2014.
सीवान का कुख्यात तेज़ाब-कांड तो याद होगा ही? @RJDforIndia के शहाबुद्दीन भी याद होंगे, चंदा बाबू याद हैं या नहीं?
The four-term former MP of Lalu Prasad’s RJD-Md Shahabuddin had stepped into politics and crime during his college days. The first case against Shahabuddin was registered in 1986 at the age of 19. Thereafter, several criminal cases against him got added to the list. A history sheet was opened in his name in Hussainganj police station and he was declared an ‘A’ category criminal. Interestingly, this ‘A’ category criminal holds a master’s degree in arts and has done a PhD in political science.
Contested from jail
Despite being arrested eight months before the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, he contested the Lok Sabha elections from inside the jail. Over 500 booths were looted on the polling day allegedly on his directions. Despite the re-election, he won the seat. However, Om Prakash Yadav of the JD(U) had then given him a tough fight by securing over 2 lakh (33 per cent) votes. This had hurt Shahabuddin’s ego and after that, the massacre of JD(U) activists begun. Several JD(U) workers were killed. The head of the village, where Om Prakash Yadav had got more votes, was killed and his house was set on fire. Om Prakash Yadav is currently the National Vice President of Bharatiya Janata Party Kisan Morchaand the incumbent MP of Siwan in Bihar.
As Bihar gears up to vote, the first full-fledged state assembly election after the Chinese coronavirus pandemic hit, the word on the ground is that the NDA is all set to return to power with the BJP emerging as single largest party. In fact, the support to NDA is more so because of Modi government in centre which has been a boon to the poor in the lockdown where economic activity was hit badly.
Amidst the pandemic, as we stared at uncertainty and hopelessness, the images of hundreds and thousands of migrant workers, especially from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, making their way back from states like Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra filled our screens. So-called experts were quick to draw conclusions that this will affect the upcoming Bihar elections adversely. However, the reality seems to be quite different.
Neeraj Kumar, a political observer from Patna, while speaking to OpIndia said that migrant workers feel that had it not been for the lockdown, more and more people would have died and most would have been the poor like them who could not afford healthcare. “I recently visited six districts of Bihar, where migrant workers had returned during lockdown in large numbers. If there is one thing that has increased their faith in Modi government tremendously it is the food security. The fact that the poor worker did not have to worry about where he will get his next meal when he had no work and no money coming in, made their support for government stronger,” he said.
Migrant workers were mostly unhappy with the states where they had to return from, especially Delhi and Maharashtra. The state governments of these states left them to fend for themselves and with no other option and no money and food, they left for their home states. On foot. Hungry, broken when they reached Uttar Pradesh they finally managed to get food. “It was only when the migrant workers reached Uttar Pradesh they managed food. Arrangement for food was made on the highways. In fact, some even felt they were better treated in Yogi’s Uttar Pradesh than in Nitish’s Bihar,” he added.
It is also why Yogi Adityanath is roped in as one of the star campaigners for Bihar. In fact, Yogi is campaigning in more rural areas than urban where he could communicate to people who got direct help from him and his government during coronavirus crisis, Neeraj Kumar added.
“Whether it was sending Rs 500 to women under the Jan Dhan Yojana or the free ration which is now extended till November or the Shramik Special trains which not only brought them home for free but also gave them food during the journey, the migrant workers whose livelihood depends on daily work have decided to extend their support to Modi. It is because of this that Nitish government may be back,” said Kumar.
The migrant workers, while happy with the BJP, are not too satisfied with the way their own chief minister Nitish Kumar handled the COVID-19 situation. “Nitish Kumar promised jobs under MNREGA, but many of the migrants never got that. Similarly, an app, ‘Bihar Corona Sahayata’ was launched through which Rs 1,000 were to be transferred to workers from Bihar stuck in other states. Here also, perhaps out of 20 who registered, 5 got benefit,” Kumar said explaining how there has been a dissatisfaction amongst people on how Nitish Kumar government handled the pandemic crisis.
“People feel that Modi worked and came to their rescue when Nitish Kumar didn’t,” he said. “Even the central government help of free gas cylinders proved beneficial to the poor and downtrodden. As many as 90% of migrant workers who returned during the lockdown are happy with PM Modi,” he added.
What could work against the BJP is the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act. The Muslim vote which had tilted in BJP’s favour after the passing of Triple Talaq Bill, especially Muslim women, is now gone with the passing of CAA. The protests and misinformation surrounding the Act made the Muslim women wary of BJP again. “In fact, the strategy of letting women lead the protests was more than just a shield against police using force. Women were there to tell the Muslim women who supported Modi for Triple Talaq that Modi still does not care about Muslims. The misinformation regarding the Act furthered their agenda and cut into the votes,” he added.
“People’s faith towards Modi is intact. It is Nitish Kumar whom people are unhappy with. The resentment is such that Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) might get seats in double digits because those who are upset with JDU but still want BJP to win will now vote for LJP instead,” Neeraj Kumar said.
“The NDA is coming back to power, that is for sure. The BJP will be single largest party with at least 90 seats. And while people want a BJP Chief Minister, it will be left to seen whether Bihar goes Maharashtra way after the results are out,” he concluded.
Bihar Assembly elections for 243 seats will be conducted in three phases between October 28 to November 7. The results will be announced on 10th November.
On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court slammed the Kejriwal-led AAP government for not sanctioning funds for the basic requirements of the district courts. The High Court said that the district courts generate huge revenues via the collection of fines, traffic challans, and court fees. Still, the Delhi government failed to sanction funds for basic requirements. It further asked the Delhi government if they wanted to kill a golden egg-laying goose.
The Delhi High Court has directed that Rs 2.52 crore be immediately released from its own fund to facilitate the recruitment process before district courts.
A bench comprising of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad said, “Rs 115 crore collected through virtual traffic fines by district courts. What do you (Delhi government) want? You want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg?”
More than 200 crores collected as court fees, challans, and fines
Reetesh Singh, Officer of Special Duty (Examination), informed the high court that the district courts in Delhi collected fines of Rs. 80 crore and sold court fees worth 90 crores in 2018-19 that were deposited with the Delhi government. In 2019-20, the district courts collected Rs.89 crores as fines, and Rs.102 crore court fees were sold. From July 2019 to 12th October 2020, the traffic courts collected traffic challans worth Rs. 115 crore.
After learning about the funds collected, the bench said, “Despite the aforesaid finances generated by the district courts, they are being starved of funds for the basic requirements of running a court which cannot be countenanced.”
The subordinate judiciary ‘running from pillar to post’ for funds
The court was informed that the sanction of funds could not be further delayed as around 150 more judicial officers joined the office in the coming months. It also directed the Delhi government to purchase 23 vehicles for judicial officers out of 119 requested by the courts. The court also noted that the Delhi government had collected Rs. 3.4 crore from the candidates as fees who applied for the posts.
The bench also mentioned that the Delhi government is making the subordinate judiciary “run from pillar to post” to get funds sanctioned to recruit supporting staff. The court further said, “Thank God we have our own funds.” While rapping the Delhi government, the court asked if they want the judicial officers to conduct the proceedings from ‘chaupals’.
Delhi High Court to issue funds intermediately
In its order [PDF], the bench has directed the Delhi High Court to release Rs. 2.52 crore immediately from its own fund to facilitate the recruitment process. The funds will be returned to the Delhi High Court when the Delhi Government sanctions funds to the District Court. The process must complete before 31st December 2020.
Earlier this month, the French President Emmanuel Macron took the stage at city hall in the Paris suburb of Les Mureaux to deliver one of the most consequential speeches of his career. A series of policy pledges to tackle what he calls Islamic separatism.
Incidentally, the day that Macron chose for this announcement was Oct 2. It is not clear whether the French President meant this deliberately as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. However, two things are clear. First, the speech involves a level of plain speaking that is quite unusual for a head of state. Second, the speech completely changes the way France (and potentially the rest of Europe and even the West) looks at Islam.
The following is a collection of some of the upshots from the speech, translated loosely into English. We shall not go into details of his policy announcements, which are very specific to domestic governance in France. Rather, we will look at the introduction to the speech, where Macron explains what he has set out to do and why. The full text of the nearly hour long speech, in French, is available from the French Government website [pdf].
“Who has put the Republic in danger?”
The French President lays it out thus:
“There are two objectives for why I am speaking to you today. The first is to define the reality of our problems without any taboos. Who is it today, in our society, that has put our Republic in danger and our ability to coexist? The second is to share with you the decisions made by the government on how to tackle the situation. These decisions are the result of careful consideration of nearly 3 years.”
“The problem is not secularism”
The President laid this out firmly:
“The problem is not secularism. I have said many times that secularism in France means the freedom to believe or not to believe and to worship however you want, subject to public order. Secularism means the neutrality of the state and does not mean that religion must be erased from the public sphere. Secularism is the glue that holds France together.”
In France, they take secularism (in French: laïcité) with overwhelming seriousness. The state maintains the strictest possible distance from religion, bans all religious symbols in government buildings including public schools and forbids public servants from wearing them.
A bit of historical context is needed here. The French Revolution saw religious authorities as part of the complex that supported the tyranny of the king. The 1789 revolution was followed with the Declaration of the Rights of Man. It explicitly rejected religion as the basis of government and laid the foundation for modern secular law. At the time, the US had just finished fighting the revolutionary war, in which France had been their ally against British colonial rule. The Declaration inspired the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution and was also the basis of the UN’s declaration of universal human rights in the 20th century.
“Islamic separatism aims to form a counter-society“
The President describes his opponent thus:
“It is Islamic separatism that we have to attack. Islamic separatism is a conscious effort, a politico-religious one. It repeatedly breaks with the values of the Republic and aims to form a counter-society. This takes the form of taking kids out of school, developing sports and cultural communities that become an excuse for teaching principles that do not conform to the laws of the Republic. This indoctrination negates our principles such as equality of men and women and the dignity of the human being.“
A “counter-society” that does not respect the dignity of the individual. Ouch!
“First it forms a parallel society, but its ultimate aim is to take over“
The President explains further:
“The problem is this ideology which believes that its laws are superior to those of the Republic. I have often said that people are free to believe or not to believe, but every citizen, with or without religious belief, must absolutely respect the laws of the Republic. And let us name it and tackle it : it is in Islamic separatism that we find a desire and a methodical organization to destroy the laws of the Republic and create in its place a parallel system, based on different values and a different organization of society. At first, this is only a parallel society, but the ultimate aim is to take control of everything.“
I warned you. This level of plain speaking is unusual for a modern head of state.
“Islam is in crisis all over the world“
The President gave his personal view
“A lot has been written, said and analyzed in this regard, about what our country is facing right now. I have the humility to admit that I am no specialist, but let me tell you in a few words what I think. Islam is a religion which is in crisis all over the world. This is not just happening in France, this hardening of attitudes is happening all over the world, including in countries where Islam is the majority religion. Just see the example of our friend Tunisia, how different it was thirty years ago. And Tunisia is one of the most educated and developed in that part of the world….“
And with this, President Macron went on to lay out his ideas for tackling the problem as he saw it. For instance, requiring that all kids must attend public school, instead of possible indoctrination via “home schooling.” Closing down places of worship that are suspected of spreading radicalization. A national effort to shut down establishments that have practices that violate core French values, such as gender equality, for example by having different times for men and women to use a swimming pool. He would also crack the whip on elected officials, who might “compromise” on these values in certain neighborhoods, due to pressure from the local public.
While Macron’s speech did not receive the kind of attention you would expect, possibly due to English being the language of global discourse, the usual suspects did cry out.
Al Jazeera upset with Macron’s speech
And then, two weeks later, came the public beheading of a school teacher Samuel Paty in a suburb of Paris. It touched something within the already alarmed French public and set off a public reaction that has become a mass movement. For days now, crowds have thronged public squares across France, holding up placards, banners and in mourning. This one reads : “I defend liberty against barbarism.“
Support for Samuel Paty
No leaders. Just people. Gathering to sing La Marseillaise, the French national anthem. Below are the powerful lyrics of the song.
A two-day national symposium on ‘Memories of 22 October 1947’ is being organised in Kashmir by the National Museum Institute in collaboration with the Union Territory Government of Jammu and Kashmir on October 22 and October 23, 2020, to mark the violence and atrocity faced by residents following the invasion of Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan’s Pashtun tribal militias, aided by the Pakistani military.
Ahead of the national symposium, billboards have been put up at several places in Srinagar to inform people about the exhibition and create awareness among them about the horrors meted upon their ancestors by the invading Pakistani intruders on October 22, 1947(Black Day).
Billboard informing J&K residents about invasion of Kashmir by Pakistani militias on October 22, 1947(Black Day)
“A museum or an exhibition will become one of the platforms to document, reconstruct and to bring alive the historic narrative of October 22, 1947. Remembering the violence and atrocity of the invaders and the valour displayed in overcoming this challenge will be a tribute to the people who laid down their lives in the first battle of independent India. The said exhibition or memorial will be the first of its kind in this direction,” the official statement by the organisers as quoted by ANI said.
The official statement also added that it is important to present such a historic narrative to the people in order to have a dialogue with them. It sought to clear hazy sense of history some people in Kashmir had, especially with regards to Pakistan’s claim on the territory. The statement said that people should be aware of the challenges faced by the nation just months after securing independence.
Billboard informing J&K residents about invasion of Kashmir by Pakistani militias on October 22, 1947(Black Day)
“Pakistan invaded Jammu and Kashmir on October 22, 1947, and brought in its wake horrifying mass plunder and vandalism. Thousands of men, women and children were mercilessly slaughtered by the intruders. Four days later, on October 26, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession, merging his state with India. Following the accession of the state to India, Indian troops were airlifted to Srinagar, the state capital to repel the tribal invasion,” the statement noted.
Pakistan Army launched ‘Operation Gulmarg’ to snatch Jammu and Kashmir
Soon after the partition, the Pakistani leadership, both civilian and military, was desperate and determined to expand its territorial area. Several attempts were made by Pakistani leaders, including Mohammad Ali Jinnah to convince Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir to accede to Pakistan. However, Singh had remained adamant on his demand to have an independent princely state.
Soon after the independence, the Pakistani Army prepared a plan called ‘Operation Gulmarg‘ and put it into action. According to the plan, 20 Lashkars (tribal militias), each consisting of 1000 Pashtun tribals, were to recruited from various Pashtun tribes, and armed at the brigade headquarters at Bannu, Wanna, Peshawar, Kohat, Thall and Nowshera by the first week of September. The armed Lashkars were expected to reach their launching point in Abbottabad on October 18, and subsequently cross into Jammu and Kashmir on October 22, 1947. The primary objective of the Operation was to capture Srinagar by October 26, 1947.
The 20 Lashkars were to be divided into a group of 2—10 militia tribes were expected to attack the Kashmir Valley through Muzaffarabad and the remaining ten were expected to join the rebels in Poonch, Rawalkot and Bhimber from where they were to advance to Jammu.
Simultaneously, Maj. Gen. Akbar Khan, who was entrusted with the operation, devised a plan to make the Kashmir rebellion appear like a revolt waged by the people of Jammu and Kashmir against their non-Muslim rulers. The aim here was to take the cover of civilian unrest for the impending military action. Through a concerted attempt, rebellion against Maharaja Hari Singh was ginned up and rebels were encouraged to take up arms against the Hindu ruler.
As a prelude to this plan, Pakistan stopped the supply of essential goods like petrol, oil, food, sugar, salt etc. to Jammu and Kashmir, effectively blockading the state and thereby actively stoking rebellion against Maharaja Hari Singh.
Pakistani Pashtun tribal militias and Pakistani Army regulars invade Jammu and Kashmir
The weeks of planning and illicit manoeuvrings under Operation Gulmarg culminated into the invasion of Jammu and Kashmir which marked the commencement of the events that led to the first Indo-Pak war. In the wee hours of October 22, 1947, scores of Pakistani Pashtun tribal militias, in connivance with the Pakistani state and army surreptitiously crossed the border from Garhi Habibullah into Jammu and Kashmir and attacked the town of Muzaffarabad.
Several accounts claim that the tribal raiders, raised by the Pakistani Army, were aided by the traitors of the 4 KI guarding the outposts at Lohar Gali and Ramkot. Many Muslim forces tasked with protecting the sovereignty of Jammu and Kashmir mutinied and colluded with the rampaging Pashtun tribesmen to defeat the forces deployed by Maharaja Hari Singh.
These rebels provided crucial information to the armed raiders about the troop deployment and position and helped them prevail over them. Even before the sleeping residents of Muzaffarabad could realise, the town was already under the control of invading Pashtun militias. Documented accounts state that hundreds of women were raped and abducted, houses looted and men slaughtered on the streets.
After wreaking havoc in Muzaffarabad, the Pashtuns marched towards the prosperous town of Baramulla, even though the path to Srinagar was clear. Here too, the Pashtuns killed innumerable men and women, looted houses and then set them on fire. Out of 14,000 population at the time, less than two thousand had remained. Most of them were either killed in the Pashtun onslaught or fled the village for safer places.
The ‘Lashkars’ wreaked havoc, killed, raped and looted Hindus and Muslims alike
The invading tribal groups had no regard for anyone. They ran riot, leaving chaos, destruction and killings in their wake. They even raped nuns, who were performing their duties at St. Joseph Hospital and schools in Baramulla. Even doctors, paramedics, and nurses tending to the sick and incapacitated were not spared. They were, too, subjected to a brutal assault by the invading tribesmen.
As Pashtun tribesmen and Pakistani regular army soldiers were busy looting Kashmiris in Baramulla, defiling their women and vandalising the properties, Maharaja Hari Singh sought an intervention from India to stop the devastation, which was contingent upon his signing of Instrument of Accession.
After Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to India on October 26, 1947, the Indian Armed forces were airlifted to the Kashmir Valley the next day. The Army launched an aggressive offence against the rampaging Pashtuns and stopped their march towards Srinagar. In the subsequent months, the Indian Army purged the state of the Pashtun tribesmen and Pakistani regulars and forced them to retreat to what is present-day Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
For years, Pakistan perpetuated the myth that tribal raiders were liberators who had come to Kashmir to fulfil their religious obligation of jihad and avenge the deaths of Muslims killed in the communal riots in Jammu. However, in reality, the tribesmen were not carrying out any religious war or jihad. They were there to brazenly trample upon the sovereignty of Jammu and Kashmir, rape and dishonour the women, plunder and pillage Kashmiri, regardless of their religion.
They were aided, provided and instigated by the regulars in the Pakistani army. Whose motive, to this day, remains to add the region of Jammu and Kashmir to the territory of Pakistan and push India’s northern border further down.
Days after the barbaric beheading of teacher Samuel Paty on the streets of Paris by a terrorist for showing the cartoons of Prophet Mohammad to his students, support continues to pour in for the deceased teacher.
The people of France, defying threats to their life, on Wednesday assembled near a government building in Montpellier to condemn the killing of Samuel Paty. Amidst heavy security, the locals projected huge images of Charlie Hebdo cartoons and the images of Samuel Paty on a local government building as a symbolic tribute to the deceased teacher.
Charlie Hebdo cartoons, including one of Mohammed, projected onto Montpellier government building. pic.twitter.com/pnhU0EXTsc
Reportedly, the images were projected onto two town halls in the Occitanie region — Montpellier and Toulouse for over four hours on Wednesday evening. Carole Delga, the mayor said that the decision to project the image was to state “there must be no weakness in the face of the enemies of democracy, facing those who transform religion into a weapon of war… those who intend to destroy the Republic.”
Paty, a history teacher in the greater Paris area, was murdered by a Muslim immigrant terrorist on Friday after he had shown his students cartoons of the Prophet of Islam from Charlie Hebdo during a class debate on freedom of expression. A Muslim youth had stabbed a 47-year-old teacher in his throat while shouting “Allahu Akbar”.
French President pays his tribute
Earlier on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron too paid his respects to the deceased teacher who was beheaded near Paris last week.
At the memorial service at The Sorbonne, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed that France ‘will not give up cartoons’. He also added that Paty was killed by ‘cowards’ for representing the secular, democratic values of the French Republic.
Taking to Twitter, Macron also shared an image of Paty to express his solidarity with the terror-victim.
The cartoons of Prophet Mohammed have been used by Islamic terrorists as a justification to carry out several attacks especially in Europe. In 2015, Islamic terrorist had attacked offices of Charlie Hebdo after the satirical newspaper had published cartoons that depicted Muhammad, which is strictly prohibited in Islam.
Offended by Charlie Hebdo’s actions, two Islamic terrorists had attacked the office of Hebdo in 2015 and had killed 12 people. The terrorists had stated that the attack was an act of revenge for depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
The attack on Paty was the latest attack over the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, who was beheaded for showing those cartoons to his students.
The Friday’s terror attack on Paris has now prompted a strong response from the French government, including banning of radical Islamic organisations that expressed support to the terrorist. The French government has taken steps to dissolve radical Islamist organisations in the country.
Just a couple of months after activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan was convicted of contempt of court by the supreme court of India for his tweets, he has again posted a tweet that may invite fresh contempt charges against him. He has again targeted chief justice of India SA Bobde, accusing him of being partial towards the Shivraj Singh Chauhan govt in Madhya Pradesh. But like always, his accusations are based on lies.
On Wednesday, Prashan Bhushan posted a tweet the CJI has availed a special chopper provided by the Madhya Pradesh for a visit to Kanha National Park & then to his home town in Nagpur. Then he added that the CJI was visiting the state when an important case of disqualification of defecting MLAs of MP is pending before him. He said that survival of MP govt depends on this case, directly accusing the CJI of taking favours from the BJP govt in the state in return of a favourable judgement in that case.
Prashant Bhushan posted a copy of order by the state protocol officer of Madhya Pradesh to make necessary arrangements for the travel of the CJI by helicopter in the state from 17 October to 20 October. The order states that the CJI will be considered as a state guest.
The CJI avails a special chopper provided by the MP Govt (authorised by the CM) for a visit to Kanha National Park& then to his home town in Nagpur, while an important case of disqualification of defecting MLAs of MP is pending before him. Survival of MP govt depends on this case pic.twitter.com/XWkYVjHkvH
Apart from the obvious contempt of court in the tweet posted by Bhushan, it is also based on lies. He accused that MP govt has provided a special chopper to the CJI, and tried to paint this as a favour done to CJI Bobde. That accusation is completely baseless, because the CJI is one of the top VVIPs in the country, and he is eligible for travel arrangements made by states whenever he visits any state.
According to the protocol of govt of India, any visit, official or unofficial, by the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, Governors of other states and several other such VVIPs are considered as state visits. This means, whenever they visit the states, even on unofficial visits, their visits are considered as state visits and it is the responsibility of the respective state govts to arrange their travel and other logistics.
Therefore, by treating the CJI as a state guest, the Madhya Pradesh government is not giving any undue favour, they are just following the standard protocol. According to the state guest rules 2011 of Madhya Pradesh, Chief Justice of India is listed in the list-A of state guests, which means that the CJI will be provided security, accommodation, catering, transport etc facilities by the state govt as per the rules.
The allegation made by Prashant Bhushan that the CJI is visiting MP while important matters are pending before him is also baseless, because CJI Bobde is visiting his home state during holidays. According to the holiday calendar published by the Supreme Court of India, the court will remain closed from 19th October to 24th October due to Dussehra holidays. 17th was Saturday and 18th was Sunday, which means the CJI’s visit fell within weekends and official holidays, and no matter pending before the court is going to be affected by this visit.
Therefore, while the MP govt is providing transport facility to CJI Bobde as per existing norms and protocol, Prashan Bhushan needlessly linked the same with the MLA disqualification case to attack him again.
Siwas is a district in western Bihar connected to the UP border. Once, it was popular because of India’s first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who was born in Jiradei, Siwan. His wisdom, role in the Independence movement, and post as the first President made the district a prominent place. However, today, Siwan is notoriously famous because of the crime, gang wars, muscle power, and dominance of criminals in politics.
It is a well-known fact that money and muscle power plays a vital role in Bihar elections. As the state elections are not too far, the impact of money and muscle power is becoming more evident in the state. As parties are distributing tickets, the Bahubalis are marking their presence along with their supporters. There are two notorious Bahubalis who are popular in the district and have become the centre of discussion. On one side, it is Mohammad Shahabuddin alias ‘Chote Sarkar’ of Siwan. On the other side, there is Ajay Singh, whose wife Kavita Singh defeated Shahabuddin’s wife in the Lok Sabha elections. Kavita is currently serving as an MP of Siwan.
Lalu Prasad’s ‘Jungle Raj’ and Shahabuddin’s status in the region
If someone writes the story of how Bihar was ruined and stayed backward, there will be a long chapter on the role of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s ‘Jungle Raj’. During his tenure, the fear of Shahabuddin was at the peak in the state. Shahabuddin, along with his henchmen, was considered to be above the law. They openly did whatever they liked, and no one ever dared to touch them. No one in the Siwan region ever dared to go against him.
Shahabuddin was fearless because of the backing he got from Lalu Yadav, and in return, he made sure Lalu got votes in the elections. While for Shahabuddin Lalu Yadav was everything, Lalu considered Shahabuddin to be the foundation of his political career. During that time, kidnapping, extortion, and murder of businessmen were widespread. As Lalu provided full support and cover to Shahabuddin, he made life impossible not only for the residents of Siwan but Bihar as a whole. People used to shiver with fear on hearing his name.
In the 1980s, politics in Siwan was ruled by criminals. Shahabuddin was named in several crimes in the 1980s, after which he entered politics and became MLA twice and MP four times. That was when his name made headlines in every notable crime in Siwan, including the infamous acid attack and murder of Chandrashekhar. Shahabuddin, the ‘Chote Sarkar’ of Siwan, ruled every hospital, school, bank and office in the district.
First case against Shahabuddin in 1986 when he was 19
Shahabuddin has been accused of several crimes, including murder, kidnapping, extortion, pose possessing deadly weapons and rioting. His name started to appear in criminal cases at the age of 19. The case was registered at a police station in Siwan.
Before he joined politics, Shahabuddin was popular as Bahubali. As per the records, the FIR was registered at the Hussainganj police station in Siwan district in 1986. Because of his criminal background, people started to avoid taking his name out of fear. During the time he contested elections, no one dared to put up the flags of opposite contestants in the Siwan city.
His fear had gripped the region to a level where people started to avoid spending money on them. All members of the family would not get jobs. Traders stopped buying new vehicles. Showing any sign of prosperity meant that they had to pay extortion money in the form of ‘tax’ to Shahabuddin. If anyone refused to pay him, death was inevitable. People even started to put up his posters at their homes to show solidarity to him.
As time passed by, he became the most wanted criminal of Siwan. He has 56 cases more than his age registered against him. He has been convicted in six of these cases. Currently, he is facing life imprisonment for kidnapping and murder of Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation party worker Chhotalal Gupta.
In 2003, he was arrested for the kidnapping of a CPI-ML party worker in 1999. However, he started living in Siwan District Hospital with an excuse of health issues. He prepared for 2004 elections from the hospital in which he managed to defeat the Janata Dal (United) candidate by more than three lakh votes.
After the election results came out, his supporters killed eight JDU party workers and beat many activists. They also attacked Omprakash Yadav, the JD(U) candidate, but he narrowly escaped, but many of his supporters were killed. After the incident, 34 cases were registered against Mohammad Shahabuddin in several police stations in Bihar.
Lal Yadav’s support and political debut
There is no shortage of criminals who joined politics in India. Shahabuddin also chose to become a politician. He first came into the limelight in the political arena when he became a member of the youth unit of Janata Dal under the patronage of Lalu Prasad Yadav. As soon as he joined a member of Janata Dal, his true colors started to reveal. In 1990 he got an assembly ticket and won.
His journey to Lok Sabha in 1996
In 1995, he again won the elections. Based on his growing strength, the party decided to give him a Lok Sabha ticket in 1996. He also won the election and became a Member of the Parliament. When Lalu Decided to form Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1997, Shahabuddin got a high position in the party. With his help, RJD increased its status and reached Bihar quickly. In return, Shahabuddin’s hold on the state became stronger.
The police force became a mute spectator
A report of the ‘People’s Union’ for Civil Liberties in the states in 2001 revealed that the RJD government was patronizing Shahabuddin. He was getting protection and support from the government during the legal proceedings. The report also suggested that despite of the criminal activities of Shahabuddin, police stood as a mute spectator. There was no action or FIR on him out of his fear.
Police officers got abused and slapped
Shahabuddin got so intoxicated with power that he started targeting the police officers. There were reports that he and his goons assaulted several police officers. In one such case, he even fired shots at police officers. In a recent case, Vikas Dubey killed eight police officers in Uttar Pradesh that shook the country but during Shahabuddin’s time, such cases were common. He had killed several police officers, and no actions were taken against him.
In March 2001, a police team led by SP BS Meera arrived at RJD local president Manoj Kumar Pappu with a warrant against him. Shahabuddin slapped the arresting officer Sanjeev Kumar. In that encounter, eight people were killed, including two police officers.
The incident shook the Bihar Police. They took immediate action and called the State Task Force and Uttar Pradesh Police for support. Their teams surrounded the village and house of Mohammad Shahabuddin and attacked him. Several rounds were fired from both sides resulting in many deaths, including police officers. Police vehicles were set on fire. However, after the encounter, Shahabuddin managed to escape and fled to Nepal.
It is believed that he regularly treated the police officers in a very derogatory manner that irked the department resulting in the said operation. However, Shahabuddin’s dominance in the state showed its color within a day, and all the senior officers in the district, including Meena, were transferred by the then-Rabri Devi government.
Though Shahabuddin was not arrested in operation, but the police revered a cache of weapons, including AK-47, from his house during the raid. Shahabuddin vowed to kill the SP as revenge and said that he would chase him even if he had to go to Rajasthan, SP’s home state.
Shot SP SK Singhal in 1996, sentenced to 10 years
Recently, IPS officer SK Singhal took charge of DGP Bihar after DGP Gupteshwar Pandey took Voluntary Retirement (CRS) from his post. He is the same IPS officer of 1998 rank who was attacked by Shahabuddin in Kathan 24 years ago. On the day of Lok Sabha elections in 1996, Shahabuddin fired shots on then-SP SK Singhal, who came to arrest him for creating menace at a polling booth. Shahabuddin himself fired several shots on Singhal, and he had to escape from the scene to save his life.
Singhal did not take the case lightly and used his position and law to teach a lesson to Shahabuddin, who was contesting the election to become a Union Minister at that time. As a result, he was sentenced to ten years in jail. He was also convicted in the Acid Attack case in which he was awarded life imprisonment. As of now, he is in jail since 2005.
DP Ojha gathered evidence against Shahabuddin in 2003
For a long time, Shahabuddin received political patronage from RJD President Lalu Yadav. However, in 2003, DP Ojha became DGP of the state, and he started to collect evidence against Shahabuddin. He reopened several cases against him.
Those cases were also reviewed that were handled by CID. A warrant was issued against Shahabuddin in the case of kidnapping and murder of activist Munna Chaudhary, after which he had to surrender in court. As soon as he surrendered, the state politics started to play its role, and seeing the matter getting out of hand; the state government removed DP Ojha from the post of DGP.
Shahabuddin’s relations with ISI and recovery of Pakistan-made weapons from his home
DP Ojha, then-DGP of Bihar, in a 100-page report about Shahabuddin, established his link to ISI. The report became a hot topic of discussion across the country. In April 2005, Siwan’s then-SP Ratan Sanjay and DM CK Anil raided Shahabuddin’s house in Pratappur. They recovered several Pakistan-made weapons, including AK-47, which were used only in the military.
They also recovered night vision goggles and laser-guided guns. The weapons had stamps of Pakistan Ordinance Factory. After the incident, the tension prevailed in the district for several months. During that period, the task force remained active to control the situation. Shahabuddin was well connected to not only Kashmir terrorist organizations but also with ISI and Dawood Ibrahim.
Accused of killing JNU student union president
In March 1997, Chandrasekhar, then-president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union, was holding a ‘Nukkad Sabha’ in Siwan. He was shot dead, and a close aide of Shahabuddin, Rustam Mian, was convicted for the murder.
The court of Shahabuddin
Shahabuddin’s influence on society was increasing quickly. With the rise in political protection, his influence in the Siwan region became prominently visible. His court was one of the highlights during the period when he was at his peak. He was running a parallel government in Siwan district until the early 2000s.
Image: Outlook India
He used to give decisions, just like a court. Due to his fear, people were forced to accept whatever he says. From settlement in land dispute to the fees of doctors was decided by Shahabuddin. In 2004, just eight months before the Lok Sabha elections, he was arrested in the case of 1999 kidnapping and alleged murder of a CPI-ML worker.
The one who got beaten up by Shahabuddin publicly defeated him twice
Shahabuddin was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007 for kidnapping and murder. After he got convicted in a criminal case, the Election Commission banned him from contesting elections. Thus, he could not contest the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. RJD gave a ticket to his wife, Heena Shahab, in 2009 and 2014. However, she got defeated by independent candidate Om Prakash Yadav by 60,000 votes.
Later in 2014, Om Prakash Yadav contested elections from the BJP ticket and again defeated Heena by more than one lakh voted. This was the same Om Prakash who was once beaten publicly by Shahabuddin. Heena Shahab is currently a national executive member of RJD.
Killed two brothers with acid
In 2004, two brothers were killed by acid bath in Pratappur village. They were sons of Chanda Babu. The incident revealed the nexus between the criminals and police as the police asked the family of Chanda Babu to go somewhere else rather than taking action against the killers.
Three sons of the same family were murdered for 10-12 feet piece of land. In the first week of August 2004, some anti-social elements tried to capture a shop in an under-construction house that belonged to Chanda Babu, resident of Gaushala Road, Siwan. During that time, two brothers were brutally murdered by pouring acid on them.
The third brother, who was an eyewitness of the murder of two brothers, was killed before he could register his statement in the court. The case shook the nation, and the role of the police was heavily criticized. The case went to a special court, and Shahabuddin was awarded life imprisonment. It was only after the formation of a government under Nitish Kumar that Shahabuddin was jailed.
The Patna High Court also upheld the life sentence in the murder of two brothers. The judgment was challenged in the Supreme Court, where the decision of the High Court was upheld. This is not the only case that made him popular as a notorious criminal. There were several cases registered against him. However, many people did not file any complaint out of fear.
Murder of a journalist, murder of a communist leader, slapping a police officer, firing on the police force, hoarding Pakistani weapons at home, threatening jailer and judge, money extortion, kidnapping and several other cases are the ‘gems’ of his long career as a criminal. He used to have his courts and political patronization made him one of the most dangerous criminals in Bihar.
There are stories of his posh lifestyle in jail that are also popular. It was because of Nitish Kumar that he was sentenced to jail. However, when Nitish formed a government with Lalu in 2015, he was granted bail. After coming out from jail in 2016, a convoy of 1300 vehicles accompanied him to Siwan.
He openly called Lalu Yadav as his leader and said that Nitish is a ‘leader of circumstances’. His wife continues to contest the election after he went to jail. Shahabuddin will be one of the major issues in the upcoming elections.
How close Shahabuddin is to Lalu Yadav becomes evident by the fact that RJD made his wife Heena Shahab their candidate in 2019 elections, too though she never won any election. During a meeting, Lalu Yadav admitted that he had a telephonic conversation with him during his stay in Siwan.
Punishment in these 8 cases
Sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007 in Chhotalal kidnapping case
Sentenced to 10 years in 2008 for possessing foreign pistols
In 1996 SP SK Singhal was shot dead, sentenced to 10 years
Male office was attacked in 1998, sentenced to two years
Sentenced to 3 years in the kidnapping case of government servant Rajnarayan in 2011
Stolen bike recovered, sentenced to 3 years
Got one year sentence for threatening a police officer at Jiradei station
Life sentence for Siwan acid attack
Even the Nitish Kumar administration is not free of Bahubalis. Several leaders of Janata Dal (United) were Bahubalis, but they did not get political protection to that extent. Nitish always allowed the law to work at its own pace and refused to interfere in any investigation involving his party MLAs. As a result, several high profile Bahubali leaders like Sunil Pandey and Anant Singh left his party.
At a time when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing several high-profile cases in Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray govt in the state has taken a decision to block the central agency to investigate any case in the state.
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday passed an order withdrawing its consent for the CBI to probe cases in the state. As per law, the central investigative agency needs the permission of states if it wants to probe any case in the states. To avoid requiring permission for each case, states have issued blanket consent for such probes by CBI. Now, the Uddhav Thackeray has withdrawn this case. This means, now CBI will have to seek the permission of the state govt before initiating any investigation in any case.
The move came a day after CBI had registered a case in the TRP scam case, where the Mumbai police is trying to implicate Republic TV and shield India Today. In the high-profile fight between Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh and Republic Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, the police officer had said that Republic was one of the accused in the case of bribing viewers with BARC Bar-o-meters installed to watch the channel, to increase viewership data. But soon Republic TV had accessed the FIR filed in the case, and the complaint based on which the FIR was registered, and both the documents had revealed that it was India Today which was named in them, not Republic TV as accused by the commissioner.
CBI had filed the case in TRP case after the UP government sought a CBI inquiry into the matter since it is a matter that spans across states. This came after the lawyer of Mumbai Police told Bombay High Court that Republic TV was not named in the FIR, contradicting the police version.
CBI is also probing the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, after the Supreme Court of India handed over the caser to CBI on the recommendation of Bihar police. There are demands to hand over other cases, like the Palghar sadhu lynching case, and the Disha Salian death case, to CBI, alleging cover-up by Maharashtra police.
