The lawyers in Delhi appear to be on a violent rampage as they indulged in yet another scuffle with a policeman near the Saket district court in Delhi. A shocking video showing the lawyers assaulting an on-duty bike-borne policeman is now doing the rounds on the Internet.
In the above video, the lawyers can be seen unleashing crude hooliganism against the police official by slapping him and later throwing a helmet on him. The unfortunate policeman, in a bid to save himself from further beating at the hands of the lawyers, takes a u-turn on his bike and escapes away.
As per latest reports, clashes between lawyers and police has now reached another court premise in Delhi. On Monday, lawyers at Delhi’s Karkardooma court reportedly beat up a policeman and have misbehaved with a woman journalist. Social media posts also say that common men, including litigants and some court staff members, have been attacked by the lawyers too.
The incident happened a day after another appalling video of a fight between lawyers and Delhi police personnel had emerged. Earlier yesterday, a fight broke out between lawyers and policemen near the premises of Tis Hazari court, with lawyers reportedly taking law into their own hands and beating up policemen. In response, the policemen also unleashed violence against the lawyers injuring two of them.
According to the reports, the incident began around 3 pm on Saturday when a policeman of the Delhi Police got into an altercation with a lawyer over parking his car outside the jail lockup, a space reserved for jail vans. However, the argument flared up when a group of lawyers who were campaigning for the bar council elections got into a heated exchange with the police.
This was not enough. The lawyers also manhandled a journalist when they were asked about the incident. When questioned about their behaviour with the policeman at Tis Hazari court, Delhi lawyers got into a verbal spat with ANI news agency journalist Aiman at St Stephen’s hospital. Some lawyers even pushed and shoved a woman journalist when she tried to ask questions to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who had gone to meet the injured lawyers at the hospital. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met the lawyers at the hospital who were injured and said that the Delhi Government will bear the expenses of their treatment.
The Congress party’s attack on the proposed RCEP agreement continued with former president Rahul Gandhi tweeting an article by The Wire alleging that the FTA will flood India with cheap goods. He tweeted that this will result in millions of job losses and will cripple the economy. Before this Sonia Gandhi had alleged that the RCEP deal with China will deal a body blow to the Indian economy. “We can ill-afford to become a dumping ground. India being made a dumping ground of Chinese goods is catastrophic. In the past 72 years, no country has signed FTA with China,” she had said.
The government, on the other hand, is denying these allegations and said that the proposed agreement will be beneficial to India. The central government has also said that India’s trade deficit with other countries has been increasing as a result of various Free Trade Agreements (FTA) signed by previous UPA government. The FTAs signed with most countries have proved to be unfavourable for India, as a result of which India’s trade deficit doubled since 2011 to ₹12.86 trillion in 2018-19.
Government claims that the RCEP agreement will be far better placed to protect domestic interests than the previous deals signed by the Congress government with ASEAN bloc, and interest of domestic industry and the people of India will be protected before entering into any free-trade agreement.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and its six FTA partners. The ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the six FTA partner states are India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Map of RCEP member countries
The negotiations for the formation of RCEP had started in 2013, and India had joined the discussions at that time itself. This means that the preparations for joining the RCEP had started during the Congress-led UPA government. Then prime minister Manmohan Singh had attended the ASEAN summit held in Cambodia in November 2012, where the RCEP negotiations were formally launched.
All sixteen members of the RCEP aim to finalise the RCEP deal by November this year, for which Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is in Bangkok for the eight RCEP ministerial meeting.
When formally finalised, the RCEP will be world’s largest economic block, covering nearly half of the global economy. It is estimated that by 2050, the GDP of RCEP member states is likely to be around 250 trillion USD, with the combined GDPs of India and China making up more than 75% of the amount. The RECP is planned to create an integrated market which will make it easier for trade in products and services among the member countries. The RCEP’s objective is to remove trade barriers and improve market access for businesses in the region.
The proposed RCEP would cover almost every aspect of the economy such as goods, services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property rights (IPR), rules of origin, competition and dispute settlement.
The RCEP will provide the Indian industry with a large market with low trade barriers. Industries that are competitive will certainly benefit from it.
As the RCEP, like any FTA, involves removing trade barriers, several domestic industries in India are worried that there will be a negative effect of the agreement on them, as they expect that goods from the member countries will be available at cheaper rates in India due to this. Several sectors like dairy, steel, automobile, textile etc are worried about the deal. Most apprehension is the result of China being a part of the RCEP, the global manufacturing powerhouse with whom the Indian manufacturers can’t compete.
Indian industry was not able to take the benefit of the previous FTAs that India signed with other countries, leading to India importing more than its exports to the FTA partners. India’s trade deficit with several countries went up after FTAs were signed with them. And that’s why several industry players are not very optimistic about the RCEP deal.
Due to such apprehensions, India is seeking several changes to the deal, which is delaying the formal signing of the RCEP. It was supposed to be finalised during the ongoing ASEAN meet in Bangkok where PM Modi is present, and while the rest 15 nations are ready with the agreement, India is not ready to sign it yet. According to reports, India is particularly not ready to reduce or eliminate the tariff on several items, fearing threat of cheap imports from China.
India also wants that the base year for determining tariff should be 2019, the year when the deal is going to be finalised, but other nations want it at the 2013 level, when the RCEP talks had started. India had raised tariffs on several items in 2014, which means if 2013 levels are accepted, India will have to accept lower customs duties.
India also wants an auto-trigger mechanism, where in case of a sudden surge in import from a particular country due to the agreement, it can decline the concessions on tariff for some products as per its decision.
There are several other issues where India is seeking modifications of the terms of the agreement, and that’s why more rounds of talks will take place before a final decision is arrived at.
According to some reports, the RCEP members are split over India, while some want to conclude the deal without India, others don’t want a RCEP without India. Malaysia, which is had criticised India over the Kashmir issue, wants to finalise the deal, but the key countries in the ASEAN bloc are not willing to form the RCEP leaving India out.
If India fails to agree with the terms, the rest 15 countries may move ahead and sign the deal without India. That will mean that India will not have to lower tariff for these countries, but it will also mean that Indian industry will not have easy access to this huge market as there will be high trade barriers for India’s exports. So, it is a decision India has to make, whether the country wants access to a huge international market, or whether it wants its domestic market remains protected.
Defending the RCEP, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India cannot stay isolated in a globalised world and that it cannot stop its engagements and trade with the rest of the world. “If India remains out of RCEP, we will be left isolated from this large trading bloc. The trade among RCEP countries is about $2.8 trillion. If India sits outside RCEP, whether it is in our interest or against our interest, it is also the responsibility of the government to see. You will want us to engage to find solutions which is in national interest,” he said.
Tension has gripped the area after an alleged group of land mafia began some construction work in a particular cemetery, belonging to the Mansoori community, near the Idgah (the place where mass prayers are offered by the Muslims) in Ansarganj locality falling under Kaushambi district in Uttar Pradesh, which had been forcefully occupied by them a few days ago.
This cemetery, which is believed to be the ancestral graveyard of the Mansoori community was forcefully occupied by the land mafias a while ago. The Mansoori community, spread across several villages like Purva, Turtipur, Rahimpur Molani uses the Ansarganj cemetery.
Tension arose when the intruders allegedly started some construction work on the land two days ago. Local residents belonging to the Mansoori community, namely Aashiq Ali Mansuri, Hasan Ali Mansuri, Rafiq Ahmad Mansuri, Mushtaq Ahmad Mansuri, Hasim Ali and Ahmed Ali have begun protests against this alleged forceful occupation and illegal construction in what they believe to be their ancestral property.
They have approached higher officials with complaint letters wherein they mentioned that the cemetery land has belonged to the community for several generations. The community has claimed that the graveyard also finds mention in local revenue records as the property of the community.
The community has alleged tha the land mafia has occupied the land by force and have now started construction at the site.
Judging by the tensions that gripped the area following the illegal occupancy and alleged construction in the graveyard, SDM Rajesh Chandra has ordered to maintain status quo until any further notice.
As we stand at the cusp of the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict, it is important to recall what happened 29 years back and how Hindus fought for Lord Shri Ram. The incidents that happened in Ayodhya in the last days of October and the 1st four days of November 1990 have left an indelible mark in the history of India.
The incidents of October 1990 made Mulayam Singh and his administration jittery. Despite all his efforts, thousands of Karsewaks reached Ayodhya. Over 2 lakh Karsewaks were arrested in various cities, on the way to Ayodhya. All borders to Ayodhya and even neighbouring districts were sealed. The annual Panchkosi and Chaudah Kosi parikrama were stopped by the administration despite orders of the High Court which said parikrama should be allowed. These are the most important pilgrimage in the city where millions come every year. All big Sadhu-Sants along with many BJP, RSS and VHP leaders including Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth were arrested on way to Ayodhya.
The role of Mulayam Singh and his administration has been the vilest and proved to be most brutal over the years. The administration even tried to demolish the Shilanyas mandap at Janmasthan in Ayodhya and even remove the Vigrah of Ramlalla from the place. The role of the Central Ministry of Home Affairs was also suspicious. While a section of BSF and CRPF soldiers deployed in and around Ayodhya came down brutally on Karsewaks, there was a big section which actually was sympathetic towards them. This sympathy was probably one big reason why despite all the bans, Karsewaks and leaders were successful in reaching Ayodhya in such big numbers.
Karsewaks entered the Janmasthan complex on 30th October 1990 and moved towards the dome. Some climbed up the dome and even hoisted the Bhagwa flag on the structure. Two of them were immediately shot at by the forces. Many Karsewaks were murdered by forces during the Karsewa and their bodies were dumped into Sarayu river. Many such dead bodies were discovered by Sadhus and Karsewaks for many following days.
2nd November was the most dreadful day. Almost 40 people were killed in police firing and more than 100 were gravely injured by bullets shot in head or chest. Sharad Kothari and Ram Kothari, the brothers who were part of the team who climbed atop the dome were shot in cold blood after being dragged out from a mandir they were sitting in. Sitaram Kori, a Karsewak from Jodhpur was shot in the head for picking a teargas shell from the road and putting it a drain nearby, according to Hemant Sharma’s book, ‘Ayodhya ka Chashmadid’. Karsewaks was shot in chest and head that too without any provocation. Senior Journalist Hemant Sharma writes in his Book ‘Yuddh me Ayodhya’ how a sadhu was shot when he was throwing water on Karsewaks who were suffering from the impact of teargas.
Jansatta news article after the firing on Karsevaks
Another aspect of the handling of the movement by the government was the brut force by which the government brushed the media aside. Almost no big Hindi newspaper was allowed to publish or distribute in Ayodhya and the neighbouring districts. Those papers which were published, their all copies were confiscated by police from their offices and hence wasn’t allowed to get distributed. Many editors faced police action for publishing newspapers. Cases were filed against them. The Chief Secretary and DGP categorically denied any type of firing in Ayodhya, which was nothing but a plain lie.
3rd November 1990 saw an unprecedented incident, unique in the history of India which has been recorded in the book by Hemant Sharma. Wives and children of administrative and military officers led a big demonstration and did gherao of the residence of the Ayodhya Commissioner. They were demanding that the action against Karsewaks should be stopped immediately. They told their husbands to not follow orders of Mulayam Singh govt and not become part of his evil plan. They were carrying placards ‘General Dyer Mat Bano’ and ‘Karsewako ki Hatya Band Karo’. They sat for hours and finally decided to leave only after assurance that action against Karsewaks will be stopped at the earliest.
In 1990, Ayodhya saw the blood of Karsevaks being spilt and much more. 29 years have passed since then. Now we are looking at the judgement which will be a culmination of a 491-year-long struggle, which started in 1528. A struggle that claimed the lives of many. Many, like the Kothari brothers.
Ahead of the apex court’s judgment on Ayodhya dispute which is expected before November 17, the Ayodhya police have scotched the rumours that are doing the rounds in the run-up to the much-awaited verdict. The police have rejected the claims surrounding the communication regulations being implemented in the city just before the court pronounces the verdict.
Ayodhya Police have dismissed rumours being circulated on social media
Issuing a clarification, the police dismissed the several baseless rumours doing the round on the Internet. Rumours such as communication in Ayodhya will be monitored by the police, phone calls will be recorded, social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook activities of the individuals will be tracked, mobile phones of Ayodhya residents will be connected to Mantralaya system are being passed on to incite panic among residents.
The rumours also declared that police will be closely monitoring the messages being exchanged, videos and audios being shared on Whatsapp and other social media websites and thus suggested the users exercise restraint in sharing any objectionable or contentious content to others.
However, the Ayodhya police media cell has rejected the rumours saying that no such communication guidelines have been issued by the police and the rumours that are being proliferated on the social media websites are completely baseless and entirely misleading. It further warned the people that strong action will be initiated against those who are found sharing lies, rumours, communally sensitive messages, photos or videos.
The hearing of the long-drawn Ayodhya dispute ended on October 16, 2019, after arguments made by all the contending parties concluded in the matter. The 5-judges bench headed by Chief Justice of India- Ranjan Gogoi is expected to deliver the verdict before November 17.
Madhav Godbole, the Union Home Secretary in 1992 said on Monday said that there was a proposal to impose President’s rule and invoke Article 355 in Uttar Pradesh when the Babri Masjid was demolished and protect the mosque. By invoking Article 356, the Central government can take over state government after obtaining consent from President of India. Article 355 of the Constitution of India states that it is duty of the Union to protect every state against external or internal aggression.
Godbole was speaking about his recently published book which talks about the Ayodhya issue. He said that they had sent a proposal through which Centre, which then had Congress government led by P V Narasimha Rao, would take over the mosque and be in charge of protecting it.
He further blamed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for not having the will to find a solution.
M Godbole: Rajiv Gandhi went to extent of opening locks of Babri masjid, ceremony for laying the foundation stone of temple was done during his time as PM, therefore I have called him 2nd karsevak of the movement, first was the District Magistrate who allowed all this to begin. https://t.co/gEwLCoGiwb
Labelling ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as ‘second Karsevak’ (someone who offers services for religious work) for ordering to open the locks of Babri Masjid in 1986, Godbole said that Rajiv Gandhi was ‘not interested’ and even let the ‘Shilanyas’ (laying of foundation stone) take place. He said that if Rajiv Gandhi was the first Karsevak, the district magistrate under whose watch that happened, was the second Karsevak.
Godbole, whose book “The Babri Masjid – Ram Mandir Dilemma: An Acid Test for India’s Constitution” was released in August his year, is a former IAS officer and home secretary of India. He was part of the team which made a contingency plan to tackle the Ayodhya dispute. In 1993, 18 months before his retirement was due, he took voluntary retirement considering the failure of then Congress government to tackle the dispute.
The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict on or before 17th November on Ram Janmabhoomi case.
The Special Investigation Team which has been investigating the sexual assault case against Swami Chinmayanand has secured more evidence which might be useful to substantiate the charges against him. The SIT has recovered a pen drive and a laptop believed to contain video evidence of the incident from a local BJP leader, DPS Rathore, whom the SIT had been questioning for a marathon 12 hours.
Rathore, who is the chairman of the district cooperative bank was questioned on Sunday for over half a day regarding his suspected role in the extortion bid case lodged by Chinmayanand. It was revealed that the leader was present in Dausa, Rajasthan when the Shahjahanpur crime branch team found the 23-year-old student near Mehandipur Balaji Temple on August 30. The law student, who had accused Chinmayanand of sexual harassment and rape, had gone missing on August 24.
The student had reportedly mentioned in her complaint that one Ajit Singh had taken the pen drive from her, which contained the evidence to prove her claims of exploitation.
Currently, the SIT is working towards uncovering more details and finding out all those who are said to be involved in the case.
DPS Rathore who is the younger brother of BJP state vice-president JPS Rathore said that he was trying to help the authorities in the investigation process in every possible way. “I had gone to Dausa on the request of a few senior cops to provide support in the recovery of the missing woman.”
DPS Rathore said at that time he was accompanied by another BJP leader, Ajit Singh, who is the brother-in-law of Vikram, one of the accused in the extortion case.
Previously, the SIT had dug the drain outside the college to search for evidence in the rape case. The purpose of digging the drains was to look for a spy camera fitted spectacle through which the law student had reportedly made a sting video of her sexual exploitation. The student had thrown off the spectacles in the drains.
DP Singh, a former MLA from Dadraul constituency has also been summoned by the SIT officials.
The Bharatiya Janta Party’ Uttar Pradesh unit had in September distanced itself from Swami Chinmayanand. The former BJP leader who was arrested by the SIT following charges of rape and physically exploitation on September 20 had been expelled from the party. “Chinmayanand isn’t a BJP member anymore,” confirmed UP BJP spokesperson Harish Chandra Srivastava.
After the controversy erupted, no BJP leader has come forward to extend any kind of support to Swami Chinmayanand, who has been in judicial custody since his arrest on September 20.
Chinmayanand was accused of rape by a law student in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur. She had accused him of raping and sexually exploiting her after secretly filming her private videos.
After a huge controversy, Swami Chinmayanand, who was arrested on September 20 from his Mumuksha Ashram in Shahjahanpur, had admitted to almost every allegation levelled against him and had said that he was ashamed of his deeds.
The law student and her associates have also been arrested later on extortion charges.
Amidst the odd-even traffic rationing scheme that kicked in the national capital today, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has claimed that his government will beat pollution like they beat dengue. “The people of Delhi have done commendable work. They have controlled both dengue and pollution” the AAP chief said while addressing the media.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain also said today that Delhi has so far recorded the lowest number of cases of dengue this year, in comparison to the last five years, and appealed to Delhiites to keep up the collective efforts till the next month.
Meanwhile, state minister Gopal Rai claimed: “We will defeat pollution same as we defeated Dengue”.
However, as per an India Today report, recent data reveals that more than 230 fresh cases of dengue have been reported in the past week, the highest in a week so far this year. The recent figures show that 1,069 cases of the mosquito-borne viral disease have been reported in Delhi in 2019 till now.
In the previous week ending October 28, data showed that 833 people were diagnosed with dengue in Delhi in 2019, the civic authorities said. The week alone had recorded 189 cases, a municipal report released on October 28 (Monday) said.
According to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), out of the total of 833 cases of the vector-borne disease registered, 551 were recorded in October, 190 in September, 52 in August, 18 in July, 11 in June and the rest were registered between January and May. Similarly, according to the previous data, 2018 had seen 2,798 dengue cases and four deaths while 4,726 dengue cases and 10 deaths were reported in 2017.
These figures come in the middle of the Delhi government’s ’10 hafte, 10 baje, 10 minute’ (10 weeks, 10’o clock, 10 minutes) campaign, which the Delhi chief minister had kickstarted on September 8, 2019, against mosquito-borne diseases by inspecting his home for stagnant water to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases. The campaign was endorsed by many celebrities as well.
Though dengue cases might have seen a slight decrease in the National Capital this year as compared to previous years, the total number still remains on the higher side. In September experts had cautioned that the dengue, chikungunya and malaria cases are rising in Delhi, and the situation may turn worse in the coming weeks, said Dr Rajiv Dang at Max Hospital, Gurugram.
Meanwhile, the Delhi CM was today seen carpooling with his colleagues on day one of the ‘Odd-Even’ schemes that kicked off in the capital today. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was seen riding a bicycle to work as he said the state government’s scheme is for “everybody’s benefit”.
However, despite emergency control measures kicking in on Friday, pollution levels peaked to a three-year high in Delhi on Sunday that made breathing difficult and lowered visibility that affected road and air traffic.
The FIRMS data of NASA has indicated that there have been no severe cases of stubble burning activities in the state of Haryana. Instead, the map indicates several fire incidents in Congress-ruled Punjab, which is one of the main reasons for the sustained pollution in Delhi.
NASA’s FIRMS indicating that fire incidents emanating from Haryana are almost near zero compared to Punjab.
This despite the fact that Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh had announced fines to farmers for violating rules and burning the stubble. In fact, he had also said that putting the blame on his state for the toxic air across the land-locked North India would be incorrect.
Capt Amarinder had instead blamed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and accused the latter of playing politics. He had also termed the ‘anti-farmer’ steps he had to take, like fining them for burning stubble, as being ‘against his conscience’.
Meanwhile, the massive reduction in fire incidents from Haryana comes after Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar had taken several initiatives to combat air pollution menace in the region. To fight the menace of air pollution caused especially by stubble burning, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday had announced cash incentives for those reporting such incidents and directed officials to encourage farmers to opt alternatives.
Delhi has been reeling under the toxic air since a few days because of the poisonous gas emanating from the stubble burning coupled with pollution. This has led to severe health crisis and state government has declared holidays in schools.
A Pakistani court has absolved 3 accused in a murder case after Lashkar-e-Taiba and prominent Pakistani personality Hafiz Saeed intervened in the matter. According to reports, Saeed pressurised the court into exonerating the 3 policemen accused of custodial murder.
Three police officers were held guilty of killing an alleged ATM thief held in police custody. Following Hafiz Saeed’s mediation, the court acquitted all three police officers accused of custodial death of the purported ATM thief. Additional District and Sessions Judge Zahid Hussain Bakhtiar acquitted three police officers, Mahmudul Hasan, Shafat Ali and Matlub Hussain, this week for the murder of alleged ATM thief Salauddin Ayubi. Ayubi, who was purportedly mentally weak, died under suspicious circumstances in police custody. It is believed that he was allegedly tortured to death by police personnel.
As per sources, Saeed played a vital role in arbitrating between the police and the family of the deceased. The mastermind of the Mumbai attacks has apparently been held in the high-security Kot Lakhpat Jail since July 17 on charges of providing financial assistance to terrorism. He met the family members of the deceased and persuaded them to forgive the accused policemen. An official source revealed that the accused policemen, their officers and the relatives of the deceased had several meetings with Saeed in the jail, which eventually led to an agreement between them.
Saeed negotiated with the victim’s family by placing three options in front of them. First to receive monetary compensation from the policemen, the second was to forgive them or else proceed on the legal battle. The family chose to forgive the accused and the same was confirmed by Ayubi’s father who said that he has forgiven the murderers on his own volition, without being under duress. The law of forgiveness as per Islamic laws allow relatives of murder victims to fogive the killers. Even forgiveness against payment of money is also allowed.
This incident reflects how much influence the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed wields in Pakistan.
