In a shocking incident, Thol Thirumavalavan, the Member of Parliament from Chidambaram constituency of Tamil Nadu, has made offensive statements against Hindu temples triggering a massive uproar across social media, reports Swarajya.
Thol Thirumavalavan, the founder of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), who fought the 2019 Lok Sabha elections under a UPA-DMK alliance ticket, on Wednesday made a derogatory reference to Hindu temples at an event in Puducherry.
Reportedly, in a video that has gone viral on social media now, the UPA MP Thirumavalavan can be seen addressing a meeting for “opposing Sanatana Dharma education policies” and mocking the Hindu temples in front of the audience stating “if the building has a dome, it is a mosque; if it is tall and straight, it is a church; and if it has dirty idols/dolls, it is a temple”.
Following the anti-Hindu statements, Hindu groups such as Hindu Munnani have lodged complaints in different police stations in Ariyalur district demanding the registration of an FIR against Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan. Some social media users also demanded the arrest of the Chidambaram MP.
One Congress from Tamil Nadu, Americai V Narayanan, had tweeted that he had conveyed his displeasure to Thirumavalavan and the latter has stated that the derogatory statement was made ‘in a flow’.
In yet another horrific incident, a BJP worker was allegedly killed by TMC workers in West Bengal. In an image shared by the West Bengal unit of Bharatiya Janata Party on November 15 (Friday), a man can be seen hanging from a tree. According to the Tweet put out on the party’s state unit official handle, the man who has been brutally hanged to death was identified as Barsha Hansda, a tribal BJP worker from Paschim Medinipur in West Bengal.
Holding the ruling TMC goons responsible for this heinous act, BJP Bengal tweeted, “Barsha Hansda, a tribal BJP worker from Paschim Medinipur, was hanged to death by TMC goons. Why are the liberals so silent now on these brutal political murders in TMC ruled West Bengal? Would they be so silent if this was a BJP ruled state?”
Barsha Hansda, a tribal BJP worker from Paschim Medinipur, was hanged to death by TMC goons.
Why are the liberals so silent now on these brutal political murders in TMC ruled West Bengal? Would they be so silent if this was a BJP ruled state? pic.twitter.com/yhPADzb1UY
According to reports, the incident followed clashes between BJP and TMC workers earlier this week. On Tuesday, several BJP workers were booked by police for a clash with TMC workers on Monday. Barsha Hansda was among the BJP workers against whom police had registered the cases. On Thursday, BJP workers had protested against this saying that the party workers were booked under false charges. Barsha Hansda was also part of this protest. And the next day on Friday, Hansda’s body was found hanging from a tree near his house.
The incident was subsequently shared by the party’s West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh who condemned the horrific incident and blamed TMC for targeting BJP karyakarta’s in West Bengal.
In his two tweet posts, Ghosh wrote: “Shame TMC shame! Barsha Hansda of Santoshpur (Dantan, Paschim Medinipur Zela) brutally killed and his body hung on a tree.”
“This active vibrant party karyakarta from the Adivasi community loved BJP. So he was hunted down by the #PoliticalTerrorists of TMC. To create fear through terror was, is and will always be the political mantra of TMC,” he added.
This active vibrant party karyakarta from the Adivasi community loved BJP. So he was hunted down by the #PoliticalTerrorists of TMC. To create fear through terror was, is and will always be the political mantra of TMC.
West Bengal has been a witness to several such incidents in the past where BJP workers have fallen prey to the angst of TMC goons who have unleashed their inhumanity and barbaric on these innocent workers, especially since BJP has made successful inroads into the state. BJP has long been alleging that its workers are being targetted and killed for political reasons.
In one of such several incidents reported, BJP minority cell member Amir Ali was killed in a clash in Hooghly on October 30. Blaming the TMC goons for the murder, the BJP had then called for a 12-hour bandh in West Bengal’s Arambagh district.
On October 12, it was reported that yet another BJP worker hailing from Ranaghat in TMC ruled West Bengal’s Nadia district has been brutally shot dead. According to reports, 50-year-old BJP leader Harlal Debnath of booth number 21 of Habibpur Panchayat of Ranaghat police station was returning home after closing his shop late at night when he was shot dead on October 11 (Friday) night by some miscreants.
What is the best way to pay tribute to Bhagwan Birsa Munda on his birth anniversary? The story of his life, which was cut short at the tender age of (less than) 25 years, gives us some clues.
As a child, Birsa Munda was baptized and raised as “Birsa David” at a school in Jharkhand run by Christian missionaries. Many tribals at the time had to convert thus, as a precondition for receiving an education in missionary schools. This was in the 1870s and the 1880s, when oppression by Christian missionaries, obviously patronized by the British colonial government was at its peak.
On growing up, he cast away the name of “Birsa David” and decided to return to his original faith. The Church at the time extracted tributes from the public, leading to immense hardship among the much oppressed and impoverished people. He decided to start an uprising.
Matters came to a head-on Christmas eve in December 1899, when Birsa Munda and his followers rose up against the Church and landowners patronized by the imperial government. This is recorded in his official biography by A K Dhan from the Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
He was captured by the British government and died in a jail in Ranchi soon after, laying down his life before reaching his 25th birthday.
There is a lot to unpack here. The first is the shameful history of oppression of tribal people by the Church in India. How many people even know about this?
The second is the pain of Indian people being uprooted from their original belief system and converted by missionaries. This is a form of aggression and Birsa Munda clearly understood it as such. Almost one hundred and twenty years after his death, have we as a nation realized it properly even today?
No. In fact, the popular discourse around Birsa Munda has often painted him as an icon of tribal separatism. This amazing Orwellian feat has been achieved by collusion between leftists, missionaries and the ‘secular’ establishment. On the ground in Jharkhand, missionaries and their allies often use his name to pit tribals against ordinary Hindus!
Could there be a better day than Birsa Munda’s birthday to push for a nationwide anti-conversion law?
The identity of the Indian nation is anchored in its traditional beliefs. These beliefs constitute our identity, which is as much a legacy as any other form of wealth. An organized campaign to uproot our people from this identity is no different from colonial plunder of the riches of India.
Is an anti-conversion law against the principle of secularism? Of course not. This is like saying that rejecting British colonialism is against free trade or capitalism. The British Empire required India to become a captive market for British made goods. This is how the wealth of India was systematically pumped out. A sovereign India does not reject trade relations with the UK. Instead, we trade out of free choice, which enriches both our economies. Free trade only works if it makes both parties better off.
Secularism is supposed to work the same way. Our traditions are our cultural wealth. We can engage actively with other nations and other cultures. The free exchanges are supposed to make everyone better off. That’s real secularism. But the organized missionary cartels and the lack of awareness in India means it becomes one-sided plunder, akin to the dumping of Chinese goods in the Indian market.
One hundred and twenty years ago, the young hero Birsa Munda rose up against this cultural plunder. No better way to honour his memory than to make a final push today for a nationwide anti-conversion law.
A local court in Delhi has ordered that if there is a need to arrest Shehla Rashid, the police will have to give advance notice of 10 days to her before the arrest. The court issued this order to police while disposing of an anticipatory bail plea filed by the student activist turned politician.
A Delhi court directs police to issue 10 day pre-arrest notice to Shehla Rashid if the need arises to arrest her in the alleged case of defaming Indian Army on social media, while disposing of her anticipatory bail application. pic.twitter.com/N8fMY7AqZy
Shehla Rashid had approached the court seeking anticipatory bail in a case filed against her for defaming Indian army on social media. The JNU freelance protestor-turned-politician is facing several charges under sections 124-A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity), 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code for posting defamatory content against the Indian army.
In a series of tweets posted by Shehla, she had accused the Indian Army of entering houses in the middle of the night, picking up boys and ransacking the homes, deliberately mixing oil with rice. Furthering her propaganda, she had also claimed that the armed forces had picked up four who were then taken into the Army camp. “A mic was kept close to them so that the entire area could hear them scream, and be terrorised. This created an environment of fear in the entire area,” added Shehla Rashid.
However, the Indian Army rejected allegations made by Shehla Rashid regarding the situation in the Jammu and Kashmir and called it “baseless”. “Allegations levelled by Shehla Rashid are baseless and rejected. Such unverified & fake news is spread by inimical elements and organisations to incite unsuspecting population,” said Indian Army.
In yet another buffoonery by Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, the federal minister for Science and Technology in the Government of Pakistan recently announced in a speech that he has asked “SPARCO”-the Pakistani Space agency to check the feasibility of providing Internet services to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir via satellite or any other technology.
“Internet has become a fundamental right nowadays by the world. I have asked SPARCO if we have the technological prowess to provide Internet services to the people of Jammu and Kashmir who are held incommunicado by India for the last 100 days. I have inquired to SPARCO if the Internet services can be extended through satellite or through other means,” Hussain said.
“Internet is considered a fundamental right nowadays.. I have asked SPRACO to check the feasibility of providing internet to caged citizens of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir via satellite” – @fawadchaudhrypic.twitter.com/nre1PxoJqG
Soon after the video was uploaded on social media, users started mocking Hussain for his erroneous pronunciation of Pakistani Space agency-SUPARCO(Space and Upper Atmosphere Commission) as SPARCO. He was also reminded of the economic crisis facing Pakistan and the sky-rocketing inflation in the country before venturing to help the residents of Jammu and Kashmir, that too via ‘satellite’.
Mocking about the tomato crunch in Pakistan, one user advised him to explore the possibility of stealing tomatoes from India via satellite.
@fawadchaudhry How about stealing ?”timatar” via satellite too from India?? Thanks for being one of the best entertainer for India … STOMACH ACHE HO JAATA HAI TUNHARE JOKE SUN SUN K — Fawaa dhhh???@tarej@AartiTikoo@Payal_Rohatgi@arifaajakia
A mortified Pakistani who could not hide his embarrassment ridiculed Hussain for being a federal minister and yet unaware of the spelling of “SUPARCO”. The Pakistani user said that leaders like Hussain have damaged the narrative of “new Pakistan”.
What a shame this dull mind person is the federal minister of science & technology.This jerk & so called Arasto even don’t know the correct spelling of SUPARCO he mentioned SPRACO.These kind of Crooks badly damaged IK govt & his narrative for new Pakistan.
Another Twitter user reminded Hussain that India has the capability of ASAT(Anti Satellite Weapons) and is fully capable of destroying enemy satellites lurking around its region.
He should understand concept of this Achievement & Capability ..
A rational Pakistani Twitter user, though it’s an oxymoron, suggested Hussain to instead provide free Internet services to Pakistanis at railway stations, bus stands and shopping centres.
Let’s not talk about Kashmir anymore because we have seen too much talk and too little mitigation. Instead, go and work on providing free broadband to Pakistanis at railway stations, bus stops, airports, IT parks and shopping centres.
This is not the first time Hussain has regaled users on Twitter and those attending his rallies. The low IQ Pakistani minister had fallen for pranks many times. Indian Right Wing meme makers have time and again played pranks on the poor Pakistani minister.
Even in his own country, Fawad Choudhry often becomes the butt of jokes and insults. A fellow parliamentarian had once called him a dog that was tied in his house inside the national assembly.
The Delhi High Court has dismissed yet another bail application of senior Congress leader and accused in INX Media scam P Chidambaram. The bail has been denied in the case filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the INX Media transactions.
In a scathing statement, the Delhi High Court, while dismissing P Chidambaram’s bail plea said that prima facie, the allegations against Chidambaram were serious in nature and that there is evidence to show that he played a ‘key and active role’.
Observing that grant of bail in the case would send a wrong message, Court states that it is not inclined to give any relief to P Chidambaram.
Court clarifies that its observations are not conclusive in nature. #PChidambaram#INXMedia
While the Court did say that Chidambaram is not at flight risk and since the case is already being filed, he cannot tamper with witnesses either, the High Court went on to dismiss the bail plea saying that Chidambaram is accused of serious financial wrong-doing and such cases need to be dealt with strictly by the Court.
Interestingly, the High Court observed that granting bail to senior Congress leader and scam accused P Chidambaram would send the wrong message to society. The High Court observed that the entire community would be aggrieved if such serious offenders are let off by the Court.
While the bail proceedings were on, SG Tushar Mehta presented a letter given by one of the witnesses, in a sealed cover. Justice Kait had asked the SG to show statements of witnesses that suggest Chidambaram tried to influence the witnesses.
SG Mehta also said that there are three other witnesses whom Chidambaram tried to influence and ‘win over’.
While SG Tushar Mehta made these arguments, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that accused tampering with witnesses while in custody is a ‘rarest of rare’ case.
The court cited arguments made by SG Tushar Mehta on shell companies abroad, generation of fake invoices by the companies controlled by Karti and layering of money in bank accounts, to opine that the allegations against the Petitioner are prima facie serious, hence relief in the form of bail cannot be warranted.
On October 18, the CBI had submitted charge sheet against Chidambaram, his son Karti, former INX Media head Peter Mukherjee and eleven others for offences of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy under Sections 120B, 420, 468, 471 of Indian Penal Code and offences under Sections 9 and 13(1) (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act.
Banaras Hindu University has been lately embroiled in various controversies, with one being over the appointment of a Muslim professor in the Sanskrit department. For the last week, students of the Sanskrit literature department at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) have been protesting against the appointment of a Muslim assistant professor.
The professor, one Firoze Khan, has been appointed in the literature department of the faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharm Vigyan (SVDV) of the BHU.
On November 8, a large group of students staged a sit-in protest outside the vice chancellor’s house to demand that the decision to appoint Firoz Khan as an assistant professor in the department be revoked.
Meanwhile, the administration has been adamant on its decision to appoint the professor saying that it has appointed the ‘most qualified candidate’ for the position. The university maintains that they had selected candidates after a transparent process and the appointments are unanimously decided.
According to sources no classes are being held in the department since Dr Firoz Khan’s appointment on November 6. Fearing protests from the students, Khan too has not yet visited the faculty premises since his appointment.
“It is written on the plaque that the entry of non-Aryans is prohibited in the department. The plaque was installed by BHU founder Madan Mohan Malaviya Ji in 1916 when the university was established. The entry of Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists is allowed, but other non-Hindus are prohibited from entering the department,” said Shubham Kumar Tiwary, a PhD student at the Sahitya department of the faculty echoing the mind of many protesting students who believe that appointing a Muslim would be against the values of Madan Mohan Malaviya, the founder of BHU. Some also believed that corruption and bribery were involved in hiring Khan.
The students, who have been protesting the appointment, met Vice-Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar and the Head of Department Umakant Chaturvedi on Thursday and demanded the immediate cancellation of Khan’s appointment. However, the VC and the head of the department, in the meeting which lasted over 3 hours, made it clear that management is not willing to rescind the professor’s appointment.
“We have been told that the matter will be discussed with a legal expert in the future. We will continue our protest till he (Khan) is removed,” Tiwary said.
On the other hand, Professor Chaturvedi said that Khan was appointed by due process. “What is written on the plaque can’t be followed because the university comes under the UGC and we have to follow the rules and guidelines of the UGC,” the professor said.
This controversy had not yet simmered down when an additional controversy erupted in the University on Thursday after students of Birla and Lal Bahadur Shastri hostel in BHU got into an ugly brawl over an old dispute. Police had to intervene and resort to lathi-charge to calm down the situation which went out of control with students pelting stones and assaulting each other.
After the police intervention, students have now sat on a dharna (sit-in-protest) demanding legal action against the policemen. Several students who thronged to the campus and blocked the main gate of the university demanded that police forces, which have been heavily deployed in the university premises to maintain law and order, be sent back immediately. The students also demanded that the vice-chancellor and the chief proctor should resign taking moral responsibility of the lathi-charge and assault on students at the hands of the police.
In what transpired, two groups of students had got into an argument over something at the Birla hostel intersection on Thursday morning. This dispute turned ugly after the students went back to their hostels. Students of the LBS hostel allegedly threw stones and petrol bombs from their roof at students of the Birla hostel.
After receiving the information the police had reached the premises and searched the hostel rooms. Police recovered several stones and a pistol from LBS hostel’s terrace. They also detained 15 students who did not belong to BHU and were allegedly there to fan tensions.
While SP City Dinesh Singh said that students are being questioned and security has been tightened in the camps, the chief proctor said that action would be taken against those found guilty.
The Supreme Court on 14th November 2019 dismissed the review petitions filed against its verdict on the Rafale case where it gave the deal a clean chit. The review petitions were filed by Advocate Prashant Bhushan, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie. Post the verdict, Congress took to lying profusely and the media played Nero’s guest.
Several news agencies misrepresented the verdict and the separate note by Justice KM Joseph that spoke about a technicality to insinuate that Justice Joseph gave a dissenting view of some sort, indicating wrong-doing.
The Media headlines after Rafale verdict
PTI had the following headline
CNN News 18 headline (PTI story)
Business Standard had the following headline. The story was written by Ajai Shukla who claims to be a defence analyst.
Business Standard headline
Following is the headline by ANI:
ANI Headline
The sheer misrepresentation of the verdict in the media is staggering if not unexpected. Considering the conduct of the media during the Rafale controversy and how it played the role of a propaganda tool in the hands of Congress, is not surprising that even today, the media would mislead the masses.
Nexus between Rahul Gandhi and Media?
The media has almost lifted the exact words that Rahul Gandhi used in his tweet after the Rafale verdict was pronounced. In a tweet, Rahul Gandhi stated that the Supreme Court’s Justice KM Joseph has left open a “huge door” for an investigation into the Rafale deal and demanded that a probe must begin in full earnest. He also called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fighter jet contract.
The Congress in a press conference had said, “BJP is in habit of celebrating without going into details of verdict. The Supreme Court order has paved the way for a probe into the Rafale deal. The verdict has opened a window for a detailed enquiry into the matter, it has said that 14 Dec 2018 or today’s verdict is not an obstacle in way of the CBI from taking action in the case in future”.
One easily notices the eerie similarities between the exact words used by the media and by Congress. However, the Media and Congress are both lying blatantly and misinterpreting the judgement shamelessly.
Understanding the note by Supreme Court Justice KM Joseph in Rafale case
The exact words used by Justice Joseph were “a case MAY have been made out”. If it was the contention of Justice Joseph that the petitioners had already made a case against the Rafale deal, he would not have used the word ‘may’. Justice Joseph essentially said that the petitioners did not approach the right forum for their request.
The import of these words, which @RahulGandhi gleefully quoted, is, even if it is assumed a case is made out, petitioners (i.e., @pbhushan1 & Co) didn’t make the right requests. They basically wanted to bypass legal procedure for corruption cases. How do I say this? Paras 81 & 82 pic.twitter.com/SaYLimySdl
The note by Justice Joseph mentions clearly that the petitioners did not even seek a preliminary inquiry and a direct FIR would mean raising fingers at a public figure without proof.
Interestingly, the Supreme Court judgement and even Justice Joseph’s note clearly stated that there is “absence of any substantial material to show to be a cse of commercial favouritism”. Further, it says that the Court lacks to expertise to judge on a technical basis.
SC judgement
It may be interesting to note here that Congress itself had said that they have no grouse with the Rafale jet technically, and their entire premise of wrong-doing was based on fictitious “commercial favouritism”. The court, even in the words which are being gleefully quoted by Rahul Gandhi has categorically said that there was no proof of commercial favouritism whatsoever.
Lawyer Kartikeya Tanna explained the essence of this in simple language. He said if his wallet gets stolen and he approaches the Homes Minister, the HM may listen to him sympathetically, however, tell him to go file a case in the local police station. When he gets to the police station, he will have to produce enough material for the police to decide what is to be done next. He cannot, however, go to the police station, give no facts and material but scream that the Home Minister opened the door for an FIR to be filed.
So, to get my remedy, I have to go to the thana, recount facts, describe thief, mention contents etc, i.e., give MATERIAL for police to decide what to do next.
But, if I shout that Home Minister of India has “OPENED THE DOORS” for an investigation, I’d be the one looking stupid
Essentially, the door was never “closed” for an enquiry but the procedure was never followed by any of the parties since they had no material evidence to begin with.
Essentially, the separate but concurring note by Justice Joseph clarifies two things. One, the review petition filed by the petitioners has failed to prove any irregularities prima facie in the Rafale deal and hence they are not ordering an investigation pertaining to Rafale deal. Secondly, the order states that an investigation can be still launched but prior permission is needed to do so.
An investigation officer can take up an investigation on any such issues even if the magistrate has dismissed an application for an investigation under Section 156(3). However, the investigation has to take a prior sanction under Section 17(A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which has been clearly stated by Justice Joseph’s order and it has always been the case. Hence, the question of the Supreme Court allowing or not allowing to investigate further on the ‘irregularities’ in the Rafale deal does not arise as there is no bar for any such future investigation even though SC has clarified that there are no irregularities in the multi-crore jet deal.
In fact, the Supreme Court also observed that the petitioners filed the petition knowing fully well that Section 17 (A) would bar any FIR to be filed without prior approval.
SC judgement
It thus makes one wonder if all these court cases are just an excuse to keep an issue alive, knowing fully well that they don’t have the evidence of any wrong-doing whatsoever.
The blatant lies by Business Standard’s Ajai Shukla on Justice Joseph’s notes
Section 17 (A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act requires the government to accord prior permission for prosecuting an official for an offence carried out in the discharge of his duty.
Playing the quintessential Nero, Ajai Shukla in his Business Standard article lies blatantly regarding Justice Joseph observations with regards to this section.
Ajai Shukla in Business Standard
Ajai Shukla lies blatantly in his article when he claims that Justice Joseph in his note “recognised” that “attempting to obtain government permission would be futile exercise” and the “the petitioners cannot succeed”.
Ajai Shukla essentially said that Justice KM Joseph told the petitioners that they would not succeed in getting permission from the government under Section 17 (A) and their attempt would be futile, insinuating that even Justice Joseph meant that the government has something to hide.
The note of Justice Joseph said no such thing. Justice Joseph actually said something completely different.
SC judgement
Justice KM Joseph said that even IF the court accepted the premise that on the bases of the petitions, an FIR must be registered, it “will be a futile exercise” since Section 17 (A) is in place.
SC judgement
Further, Justice Joseph said that “more importantly, Section 17 (A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, in aa Review Petition, the petitioners cannot succeed”.
Essentially, Justice Joseph was enumerating the provisions of Sectio 17 (A) and in no way insinuating that the government would not approve. In fact, the government was not even a point of discussion. Justice Joseph was enumerating hypothetical scenarios to explain all positions vide Section 17 (A).
Justice Joseph said that EVEN IF the court had accepted the petition and ordered an FIR, Section 17 (A) would have come into play and thus, it would be “futile”. Secondly, Justice Joseph said that due to the existence of Section 17 (A), the Review Petition ‘cannot succeed’.
Ajai Shukla twists Justice Joseph’s words to write, “Joseph’s judgment recognised that attempting to obtain government permission would be “a futile exercise” and that “the petitioners cannot succeed”. A complete misrepresentation that would ideally amount to contempt of court.
The 2018 Supreme Court judgement dismissing petitions for inquiry into Rafale deal
In the 2018 judgement, the Court had made it amply clear that the allegations were baseless. SC had reasserted that the allegations made by the petitioners were inadequate. The Supreme Court had observed that after going through all the material carefully and after interacting with several airforce officers, there is no occasion to doubt the process. In fact, in the judgement, the court has mentioned that it has even gone through material etc regarding the pricing of the deal.
The court has said that broadly the processes have been followed and that the long negotiations in the MMRCA (Congress regime negotiations) did not procure any results.
The court also said that the wisdom to cancel the defunct MMRCA cannot be questioned since our defence capabilities were being diminished after our enemies have acquired 5th generation aircraft and we had none.
The Court had also revealed that the government had shared the pricing details with the court.
The Supreme Court Rafale judgement, in para 22, states clearly that the pricing is not in the public forum (other than base price) even though the petitioners based on news articles have asserted escalation of price. The pricing has been shared with the CAG and the CAG report has been examined by the PAC. The Chief of Air Staff too said that sharing the pricing would result in a breach of national security and that the pricing details have been mentioned in Article 10 of the contract between India and France. In the end, the court says that “despite this reluctance, the material has still been placed before the Court to satisfy its conscience”.
The Court was slightly on the secretive side while talking about the pricing, obviously, for national security concerns. The court, however, did say that it was compared the price of the previous deal and current deal and suffices to say that the official respondents say there is a financial benefit to the country.
Further, the court had said that “mere press interviews or suggestions cannot form the basis for judicial review by this Court”. The court said that there is “no material on record to show that this is a case of commercial favouritism to any party by the Indian government” to choose offset partner.
Essentially, the material evidence was already examined by the court and the petitions for inquiry dismissed with scathing observations that there was no wrong-doing in the case. In the review petition too, that there is no evidence of commercial favouritism has been reiterated.
It thus suffices to say that the Media, hand in gloves with Congress, is not only trying to help one political side form a narrative to undermine a duly elected government but also, severely undermine national security.
Update: After the OpIndia article, Business Standard updated its headline from “SC junks Rafale Review pleas, but keeps doors open for a CBI probe” to “SC junks pleas seeking review of verdict absolving govt in Rafale deal case”.
New Business Standard Headline
While Business Standard changed the headline of the article written by Ajai Shukla, it is yet to amend the blatantly fallacious interpretation of some statements made by Justice KM Joseph.
A case has been registered against an official of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) for forcefully removing a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) flag from its south campus in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district.
According to the reports, a complaint was registered at the Dehat Kotwali police station against BHU south campus deputy chief proctor Kiran Damle for outraging religious feelings. The case against Damle has been filed based on the complaint of RSS office-bearer Chandra Mohan, the police officer said.
On Tuesday, students of Banaras Hindu University’s Rajiv Gandhi South campus in Barkachha had staged a dharna the demanding the resignation of the college’s Deputy chief proctor Kiran Damle alleging that she had uprooted the RSS flag from the campus during a Shakha organised by the students of the college.
As per reports, the resident students of various hostels in the college organise such Shakhas every morning in the playground within the campus. On Tuesday, many students had put up an RSS flag to set up a Shakha.
According to the police officials, Damle had removed the RSS flag and had taken it away while the members of the RSS and ABVP were practising yoga in a ‘shakha’ on the campus. Damle had allegedly said that the flag will not be allowed but members can go on with their yoga practice.
Terming it as disrespect of the flag, RSS members had demanded her removal from the university while alleging that Damle had misbehaved with students. Damle later apologised for removing the flag and resigned from the post.
The deputy chief proctor had said in view of the ‘prevailing atmosphere’ she had asked for the removal of the flag and since it was not done, she handed it to her assistant attendant Satish.
Her resignation has been sent to proctor OP Singh. The protestors got the support of local MLA Ratnakar Misra and RSS leader Sohan who reached the spot soon after. Meanwhile, SP Dharamvir Singh said the removal of the flag has hurt the sentiments of RSS swayamsevaks and Damle should instead have explained and prevailed upon them for getting it removed.
The Delhi Congress on Thursday accused Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party of corruption in the name of controlling air pollution in the national capital and demanded a CBI inquiry.
According to the reports, Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra launched an attack on the Aam Aadmi Party government, accusing them of involving in corruption in purchasing and distribution of masks among school children and also in extending financial benefits to the party volunteers during the odd-even traffic scheme.
Chopra said that Delhi government has spent Rs 10 crore to buy masks, but those masks have not been distributed. He also alleged that very poor quality masks have been procured which can’t be used more than 3-4 hours in such high pollution. He said that they demand CBI inquiry into the matter, and will also approach the Lokayukta.
The Congress party alleged that AAP government collected money from the people in the name of ‘Green Tax’ and instead of spending that money on checking pollution, the AAP government indulged in corruption by introducing the Odd-Even traffic regulation once again in the capital. The party accused Kejriwal government of spending the Green Tax money for its self-publicity.
Chopra said the AAP government, which has collected Rs 1,174.67 crore from the people as ‘Green Tax” since 2015 has spent only Rs 272.51 crore, out of which Rs 265 crore was spent on the orders of the Supreme Court for the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System.
“The AAP government spent only Rs 7 crore for the repair of Delhi roads for pollution control, which was a big scam as the Delhi government has no account of the expenses incurred,” he said, adding around Rs 400 crore were lying with the Central government.
Chopra also said that 63,142 children had died due to air pollution in 2017. He said that according to available statistics, 58 children face death every day in Delhi due to pollution.
He added, “Despite this shocking revelation, the BJP government at the Centre and the AAP government in Delhi have not taken effective measures to control pollution in the Capital.”
Questioning the basis on which the masks were purchased and distributed, Delhi Congress leaders said there were doubts about the manner in which the masks were purchased and distributed and demanded a high-level probe.
Just yesterday, the Delhi High Court had slammed Delhi Government and concerned authorities on the present state of air pollution in Delhi. The High Court had observed that if the government had followed its previous orders, the pollution level would not have reached present levels.
The High Court pulled up the Delhi government saying the problem lies in implementation and not lack of ideas. There is a complete lack of will, observed Delhi HC.
