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Congress needs to remember its own legacy of ‘snooping’ before lying about Home Ministry’s order

OpIndia Staff
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Congress needs to remember its own legacy of ‘snooping’ before lying about Home Ministry’s order

The Congress party has lately been using the ‘snooping orders’ issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs as their new tool to slander the BJP government.

On December 20, the government of India issued a notification in the Gazette of India, which seems to give ten investigating agencies sweeping powers to snoop on any computer device.

Compelled by its impulse to castigate the BJP at every given opportunity, Congress, impetuously jumped at a conclusion without doing any homework on the issue. Lying blatantly on the Home Ministry’s decision, they said that India is being turned into a police state by this order.

In a comprehensive report, we had established that the allegations and the outrage regarding the recent ‘snooping’ orders were futile and yet another nefarious attempt by the Congress to malign the ruling government. We verified that the MHA has not issued any new order, rather they had reiterated an order which was already there in the law books for the last decade.

According to section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the authorities will be allowed to intercept any information transmitted through any computer device only in cases of threat to integrity and security of the country, a threat to law and order and incitement to any cognizable offense. This is not a general snooping on all citizens as Congress party and others are alleging.

The order also cites Information Technology Rules, 2009, which were brought in when Congress itself was in power.

Meanwhile, reports have now emerged, which would leave the Congress party quite flustered. Perhaps Congress should now think of getting their information straight before making a mockery out of themselves by spreading lies that are so easily caught.

A reply to RTI query in 2013 has revealed that almost 9,000 orders for interception of phones and 500 emails were issued every month during the UPA rule.


The RTI was filed by one Prosenjit Mondal and the response was given by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on August 6, 2013.

The RTI reply states, “On an average, between 7,500 to 9,000 orders for interception of telephones and 300 to 500 orders for interception of emails are issued by Central Government per month whereas.”

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, took this opportunity to call out at Congress’ hypocritical standards by tweeting,


This is not the first time the Congress is found guilty of maliciously lying to further its rhetorics. The party has even scored self-goals many times in the past in its hurry to attack the NDA government.

Efforts to create an anti-Congress, anti-BJP Federal Front threatens Rahul Gandhi’s dreams of Mahagathbandhan

Devanshu Rajput
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Efforts to create an anti-Congress, anti-BJP Federal Front threatens Rahul Gandhi’s dreams of Mahagathbandhan

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao today paid a visit to Biju Janta Dal supremo and Odisha Chief Miniter Naveen Patnaik, and discussed forming a ‘Federal Front’ ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The front is proposed to counter not only BJP but also Congress-led Mahagatbandhan.

The motive of the ‘Third Front’ or ‘Federal Front’ is to form a regional alliance and fight against national Parties like Congress and BJP, and to empower regional satraps.

“The discussion to forge a new front has begun. Efforts are being made to bring like-minded parties on the same platform, however, nothing significant has materialised yet. We will meet again in a few days,” KC Rao said after meeting with Patnaik. CM Patnaik, who has so far maintained an equidistant position from Congress and BJP, also hinted towards the formation of an alliance of like-minded leaders.

This is seen as one of the first concrete steps taken by KC Rao to enter the national stage in politics after the recently concluded assembly elections in Telangana, where his party TRS retained throne with a thumping majority, giving a jolt to Congress-TDP alliance in the state.  Following the win, KC Rao’s daughter K Kavitha had reiterated the party’s decision to form ‘Federal Front’, that is free of either Congress and BJP.

“A federal front is being floated. We believe that a neutral platform should be established which is free of both BJP and Congress. Our agenda is to address the people of this nation. There have been various political groupings in the country which failed while few succeeded.” K Kavitha had said.

Before Karnataka assembly elections, KC Rao had pledged support to Janta Dal (Secular) of Deve Gowda in elections, against BJP and Congress. He had also met with DMK’s leader Stalin, to cobble up a ‘Federal Front’ against BJP and Congress. However, JD (S) allied with Congress after elections, to prevent BJP from coming to power. DMK’s Stalin, also announced support to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, to be PM face for Mahagtabnadhan.

KC Rao will also meet Bengal Chief Minister this week, to receive her support for the Federal Front. Both in past have met and discussed Federal Front, while Mamta Banerjee never discarded the idea, she also, however, has not expressed willingnesses for it.

He reportedly will also meet Uttar Pradesh party leaders, Mayawati of BSP and Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party to persuade them to join the front. According to reports, SP and BSP have reached an agreement on seat-sharing to forge an alliance, while keeping Congress at bay with two seats (Rae Bareilly and Amethi).

This third alliance is not going well with leaders of Congress led Mahagatbandhan. Recently, at India Today conclave Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu criticised KC Rao for forming Federal Front and said that it will only to help BJP in elections by splitting votes.

At the conclave, Naidu reiterated said that regional forces can only choose between Congress and BJP, and there is no other way around. He asked KC Rao to make a choice and become part of Congress alliance.

“Who is KCR? He was part of TDP, a minister in my government. He parted ways. He can always come back.” Naidu said referring to the fact that KC Rao was once a part of TDP, which he joined under the leadership of founder NT Rama Rao. Rao had left TDP in 2001, and formed his own party to bolster demand of separate state of Telangana.

The dialogues initiated by KC Rao and acknowledged by regional parties can materialise into a big blow to aspirations of the Mahagatbandhan forged by Congress. The decisions of leaders like Naveen Patnaik, Mamta Banerjee, Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav will ascertain the winds of Lok Sabha elections depending on whether they will go for Congress Mahgatbandhan or the KC Rao led Federal Front.

Don’t make a fool of yourself Imran Khan, first read the legacy of your parody nation Pakistan

Ashish Shukla
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Don’t make a fool of yourself Imran Khan, first read the legacy of your parody nation Pakistan

Mr Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan,

Please don’t make a fool of yourself.

You want Pakistan to be a shining light of example for India in its treatment of minorities. It must be the cruellest joke not only on Hindus, Sikhs and Christians of whosoever are left in Pakistan but also on fellow Muslims such as Shias and Ahmadiyyas in the persecution of which you’ve played your hand. And should I remind you of what Pakistan has done even to Sunni Muslims, nearly 2.5 million now, whom you left to their own fate in Bangladesh after agreeing to repatriate them?

I would not even get into the basic fact of only 2 percent of 23 percent of Hindus/Sikhs/Christians at the time of Partition are now left in Pakistan. Or that correspondingly, India’s 8 per cent of Muslims minority in 1947 has now ballooned to nearly 20 per cent. Let me begin by showing you the mirror on your act both as a Prime Minister and as a politician.

Isn’t it a fact that soon after you became the Prime Minister, you removed Dr Atif Mian from the Economic Advisory Council only because he is an Ahmadiyya and in protest of which two other economists in the panel, Dr Imran Rasul and Dr Asi Ijaz Khwaja resigned? Do you need be reminded that a Punjab minister Salman Taseer was assassinated in 2011, being blamed for blasphemy as he advocated a fair trial for Christians even as you were flourishing in your political career? Or that a Sunni terrorist group called Sipah-e-Sahaba which targets Shias is said to enjoy the state patronage?

Do you need be reminded that since your Constituent Assembly in 1949 declared Pakistan to be an Islamic State, Kafirs include both minorities and even fellow Muslims? Shias may number 20 per cent of the population but violent extremist action against them is routine. Ahmadiyyas have been declared non-Muslim by a writ of the state. There are forced conversions to Islam. Their houses of worships are bombed frequently. Pakistan’s pro-Wahabi/Saudi leaning against anti-Shia/Iranian is known to all but to you. The concept of a minority is alien to Pakistan. They have no future in Pakistan. The religious cleansing is consistent with the state philosophy. As Justice MC Chagla wrote in Roses in December: “To Pakistan, everything is communal.”

The constitutional amendment in the 1980s included in non-Muslims not only Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Parsi or Buddhist community, but also anyone of the Qadiani/Lahori sect, a Bahai or a person belonging to any of the scheduled castes. Ahmadiyyas are already declared non-Muslims. Campaigns are on to condemn Shias to a similar fate.

Around a million, Muslims from Bihar opted to go to East Pakistan in 1948 because they believed in Qaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and in the concept of “Islamic Pakistan.”  They were the ‘Urdu” speakers to “Bengali-speaking” inhabitants of East Pakistan. They overtly supported West Pakistan during the turbulent year of 1971 when a successful revolt against the repression, death and rape of Pakistan’s army culminated in India’s intervention and creation of Bangladesh.

It unfolded a nightmare for these Bihari Muslim migrants. First Mukti Vahini and then Bangladesh state systematically targeted and killed them. Everything they owned was taken away from them. The glamorous sounding “Geneva Camp” near Dhaka is a living hell for these Bihari Muslims to this day.

Various heads of Pakistan have visited “Geneva Camp” over decades. In the 1980s, Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq assured these “stranded Pakistanis.” Later Nawaz Sharif made similar promises during the 90s. Benazir Bhutto, who belonged to Sindh, earlier had made it clear that there was no space for them in Pakistan. During his 2002 trip to Bangladesh, then Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf said he couldn’t allow Biharis to emigrate to Pakistan. This is the fate of nearly 2.5 million Urdu-speaking outcasts rotting in Geneva and other camps around Bangladesh.

Their loyalty and belief in the concept of Pakistan have resulted in a terrible fate for nearly three generations of these Bihari Muslims. Only 1.7 lakh have been repatriated so far. The rest have been stalled. Those who have been repatriated are experiencing a living hell.

Most of those repatriated are crammed in a slum in Mian Channu in Punjab, Pakistan. During the 1980s Karachi riots, the ethnic Sindhis targeted them with impunity. Their schools are bombed. Then there is Orangi town in Karachi which houses Biharis in a pathetic condition.

This is the price of fellow Muslims who believed in the idea of Pakistan have paid over generations. The medal of destitution is all they have got for their loyalty.  But look at the gall and cheek of Pakistan’s Prime Minister and his copious tears on minorities.

PM Modi to inaugurate India’s longest railroad bridge Bogibeel, connecting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi to inaugurate India’s longest railroad bridge Bogibeel, connecting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh

16 years after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced its construction, PM Modi will mark the completion of India’s longest railroad Bogibeel bridge. The railroad bridge will be dedicated to the public on former Prime Minister Vajpayee’s birth anniversary. The 4.94 km long double-decked railroad bridge which spans Brahmaputra river will play a strategic role in reducing connectivity time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The lower deck of the bridge river are equipped with two railway lines, which will cut-short travel time between Tinsukia in Assam to Naharlagun town in Arunachal Pradesh by 10 hours. It will also help curb the ‘tyranny of distance’ between Delhi and Arunachal Pradesh, as it will reduce the travel time of 37 hours to 34 hours. PM Modi will also inaugurate Tinsukia-Naharlagun Intercity Express, which will run five days a week.

The upper deck will connect the south bank of the Brahmaputra river in Assam’s Dibrugarh district with Silapathar in Dhemaji district, bordering Arunachal Pradesh. The railroad bridge can easily withstand the defence logistic transport towards the Arunachal Pradesh border with China.

The railroad bridge will bolster infrastructure development of Dibrugarh and Dhemaji. Major hospitals and colleges are situated in the Dibrugarh district and are set to become a big business hub after Guwahati. Connectivity with Dhemaji will give people access to premium health services in Dibrugarh.

This project completion missed several deadlines, and incurred expense more than the initial estimates. The Bogibeel bridge was initially granted the sum of Rs 3230 crore for construction of a 4.31 km long bridge. But, later the length was extended to 4.94 km. The increase in length and other factors increased the budget to Rs 4857 crore. The construction of the bridge was heavily hampered by severe rainfall, mostly throughout the year. The construction majorly took place between November and March.

“Bridging the Brahmaputra is in itself is challenging. It is a high rainfall area and falls in the seismic zone. This is a bridge which is unique in many ways. It is the longest in the country,” said Pranav Jyoti Sarma, CPRO of Northeast Frontier Railways.

The inauguration of rail-bridge on 25 December will also coincide with the ‘Good Governance Day’, celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away in August this year.

Prime Minister Modi will also flag off India’s fastest self-powered engine less train called Train18 on 29 December from Varanasi.

Notorious serial petitioner ML Sharma files another petition, this time against 10 agencies authorised for surveillance

OpIndia Staff
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Notorious serial petitioner ML Sharma files another petition, this time against 10 agencies authorised for surveillance

Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, who is notorious for filling frivolous Public Interest Litigations (PIL) and earning court’s wrath and had to pay fines several times, has come out with yet another petition. This time he has approached the Supreme Court with a PIL against the recent Home Ministry specifying which agencies can intercept electronic devices on people under surveillance for security reasons.


On December 20, the ministry of home affairs had issued a gazette order under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Information Technology Rules 2009, which specified 10 investigating agencies which are authorized to monitor and intercept messages in computer devices. After the notification, opposition parties made a huge and cry alleging that the government has allowed the agencies to snoop on common citizens. But a careful reading of the order made it clear that the agencies are authorized to ‘snoop’ only on select cases of threat to integrity and security of the country, a threat to law and order and incitement to any cognizable offence.

The IT Rules 2009, specified that any agency of the government can be authorized to monitor and collect data, it did not name any agency. This had meant any agency could intercept and collect data, and to correct that situation, the government had specified only 10 agencies to do. The government did not make any new rule or did not change any law, they just specified the names of 10 agencies that are authorized to act as per the Information Technology Act and Rules.

On December 21, the home ministry had released a statement clarifying these points in detail. It said that no new power has been given to any agency, and each case of monitoring has to be approved by Union Home Secretary according to prevalent phone tapping laws.

Advocate M L Sharma was fined ₹50,000 by the Supreme Court earlier this month while quashing a petition by the advocate against finance minister Arun Jaitley. He had alleged plundering of RBI reserves by the government to waive loans of some companies. Reprimanding Sharma for the petition, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had said that the day has come to ban him from filing PILs. The court was making such remark due to the history of Sharma’s petitions. Before this, he was fined ₹50,000 and ₹25,000 by the court on two occasions in 2014 for wasting the court’s time with frivolous petitions.

On 14th this month, ML Sharma had lost another high profile petition, when the apex court rejected the plea for a court-monitored probe in the Rafale deal. Sharma was first to file a petition against the deal, who was later joined by other including Prashant Bhushan and Arun Shourie with similar petitions the supreme court.

Sharma had also angered the Supreme Court for filing a PIL in the Unnao rape case. The court had asked if some relative of Sharma has been raped, as he was not connected with the case. Court had dismissed the petition saying PIL can’t be filed in a criminal case, questioning the locus of Sharma in the case.

ML Sharm has filed petitions in a range of issues like opposing Pratibha Patil’s candidature as president, against Ranbaxy, seeking curb powers of ministers, against the movie Padmaavat, to know the detail on the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose etc, all of which were dismissed by courts.

Apart from petitions, ML Sharma remains in news for his comments also. In 2013, he had told the apex court that a ‘lady never speak the truth, hence their statements can’t be trusted’. Filing a petition against a law intern who made allegations of sexual harassment against a judge, Sharm had written that he has learnt from ancient books that women never speak the truth, and women can go up to any extent for revenge.

Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma also defended one of the persons accused in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. During the case, he had made several bizarre comments as a defence lawyer. He had said that the entire incident was planned by a politician, and the male friend of Nirbhaya who was with her on a fateful day was an accomplice. He had argued that no man can have sex with another woman unless he gets excited. And without the cooperation of the woman, he can’t get excited, essentially saying that all rape charges are fake.

In the past, the courts have threatened to ban Sharma from filing PILs, but every time he has been let off with fines or reprimands. It will be interesting to see the response of the court to this petition, given the fact that CJI Gogoi has already expressed his displeasure with frivolous petitions.

West Bengal: BJP moves SC against Calcutta HC’s order refusing permission for Rath Yatra

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: BJP moves SC against Calcutta HC’s order refusing permission for Rath Yatra

The BJP on Monday approached the Supreme Court to seek its intervention to hold its scheduled rally in West Bengal. BJP had planned to commence the ‘Ganatantra Bachao’ Rath Yatras in the state but the division bench of Calcutta HC had overturned its earlier decision of granting permission to the BJP and put the yatras on hold last week.


The West Bengal BJP unit had moved to the Supreme Court after the proposed plan to hold Rath Yatras in the state hit a roadblock. West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh has claimed that the Mamata Banerjee led government has laid impediments on the path of BJP’s Rath Yatras and is working only on the basis of assumptions.

The BJP was supposed to organise 3 Rath Yatras from different locations crisscrossing in the state before finally culminating in Kolkata. Amit Shah was supposed to flag them off and PM Modi was meant to end the campaign by addressing a rally in Kolkata. The state police and administration had then denied permission citing threats of ‘communal disharmony’ in the state.

The BJP then filed a plea in the Calcutta HC against the state government’s denial and got the permission to hold Rath Yatras in the state. However, the division bench of the court overturned the decision within 24 hours following Mamata Banerjee’s government’s urgent hearing appeal against the judgment.

Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty had on Thursday granted BJP the permission to hold rallies and asked the state police to ensure law and order. But a division bench of the HC overturned the order the very next day and put the Rath Yatras on hold.

Official foreign trip expenses incurred by Modi govt in the last 4 years marks a significant dip each passing year

OpIndia Staff
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Official foreign trip expenses incurred by Modi govt in the last 4 years marks a significant dip each passing year

According to data obtained by the Department of Pay and Accounts Office of the Cabinet Division, there has been a considerable dip each year in the foreign travel expenses incurred by the NDA government in the last 4 years.

As per the data, the NDA government has in totality spent Rs 239.05 crore on official foreign trips, which include Rs 225.30 crore spent by the Cabinet Ministers and Rs 13.75 crore on Ministers of State from April 1, 2014, till March 31, 2018.

The total amount mentioned above is expected to be marginally higher since the 2014-15 bill submitted to the Pay & Accounts Office, Cabinet Affairs could include foreign trips undertaken by the previous UPA Council of Ministers, before the NDA government took charge on May 27, 2014. This remains unclear as the response did not include details or a break-up of expenditure.

Currently, the Council of Ministers comprises of 25 Cabinet Ministers and 45 Ministers of State, including 11 with independent charge.

The data, however, reveals a significant and constant decline in the amount spent on these official foreign trips by the Council of Ministers in the last four and a half years since BJP has been in power.

The figures reveal a constant dip in the travelling cost incurred by the NDA cabinet over the last four years

The Minister of States, External Affairs, V K Singh, in a reply dated December 13 to the Rajya Sabha, had stated that a total of Rs 2,021.58 crore was spent on the Prime Minister’s 48 official trips abroad so far, including for aircraft maintenance, chartered flights and a secure hotline.

Even though the Congress had earlier gone hammer and tongs, accusing PM Modi of going on an exorbitantly high number of foreign trips during his tenure, a report published earlier in July 2018, had proved that PM Modi in comparison to Congress’ Manmohan Singh, has done more trips and spent more days abroad in almost the same cost.

PM Modi until July 2018 had completed 184 foreign trips at almost the same cost as incurred by the UPA to complete 161 abroad trips during its five years of leadership under the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

Though Modi’s foreign trips have often become a point of contention for the opposition to target him, recent reports validate that the NDA government, have been watchful and vigilant.

Pakistan sponsored Hizbul terrorists loot weapons of fellow terrorists belonging to Zakir Musa’s terror group

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan sponsored Hizbul terrorists loot weapons of fellow terrorists belonging to Zakir Musa’s terror group

After facing a severe onslaught from Indian security forces, Pakistani sponsored Islamist terrorists have been pushed into a corner and have resorted to looting weapons of fellow terrorists, reported Times of India.

Reportedly, few terrorists belonging to Zakir Musa‘s Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), an Al-Qaeda affiliate present in south Kashmir had been in contact with Musa’s former group, Hizbul Mujahideen, who had sought a meeting with Musa’s men. Four AGuH terrorists had arrived in Pulwama to meet the Hizbul commanders but later realised that they were fooled as their weapons were looted by Hizbul terrorists.

Zakir Musa, a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander was also a close aide of dead terrorist Burhan Wani. Zakir Musa had left the Hizbul in May 2017 and had claimed to lead Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a local affiliate of Al-Qaeda.

The Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, which is being eliminated by the security forces has been facing an existential crisis. The Indian army has executed six terrorists belonging to AGuH this week which has resulted in only a few terrorists being alive. Facing with severe resource constraint and failure to gain any foothold in Kashmir, Zakir Musa’s AGuH has been incompetent to inflict any terror in Jammu and Kashmir.

The looting of weapons belonging to AGuH by Hizbul Commanders is going to be a setback for them despite the fact that Zakir Musa’s outfit is being supported by few Islamic state-linked terrorist groups. Interestingly, Pakistani backed terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad are averse to the idea of Zakir Musa being the face of Kashmiri terrorism.

“While there is potential for Musa’s outfit to grow in popularity and attract a large number of Kashmiri youth, lack of funding and source of weapons has prevented it from growing into a major threat,” said an army officer.

The security forces have killed most of the terrorists belonging to AGuH, leaving Zakir Musa severely resource constrained, especially weapons. Weapons have also been recovered from the dead terrorists, further restricting firepower of AGuH. Musa has been facing a tough situation as the flow of funds is restricted and sourcing weapons have also become difficult leading him to lay low for a while.

A senior officer said that Musa possibly realises that with little financial backing and weapons, his men cannot make much of an impact on the terror/militancy scene in J&K. “He is believed to be lying low, is possibly not using a phone to communicate for fear of being tracked and may have also disguised his appearance to escape detection by human intelligence assets of Jammu and Kashmir police,” the officer said.

Gujarat: Surat businessman Mahesh Savani helps 261 couples get married at a mass wedding

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Surat businessman Mahesh Savani helps 261 couples get married at a mass wedding

In a mass-wedding ceremony organised in the city, Surat-based businessman Mahesh Savani got as many as 261 girls, who were orphaned or did not have a guardian, married. Savani started the tradition in 2010 after he got took the responsibility of getting his nieces married when his brother passed away in 2008 right before their wedding.

Surat mass wedding (image courtesy DNA)

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani graced the occasion and blessed the couples. Many gazetted officers, including IAS and IPS performed the ‘Kanyadaan’ of a few HIV+ brides. Many HR heads of corporates, as well as spiritual gurus, also performed the ‘Kanyadaan’ of many brides.

Surat mass wedding (image courtesy DNA)

As of now, he has got as many as 3,172 couples married in last eight years. Of the 261 girls who got married this year, 6 were Muslim brides and 3 were Christians.

The couples were also given Rs. 2 lakh insurance under Pradhan Mantri Bima Yojana along with various gifts to start a new home. The mass wedding is not just limited to Gujarati brides and girls from states such as Rajasthan and Karnataka were also part of the ceremony.

Arrested Naxal NV Rao alias Murthy and Civil Liberties Committee: A long history of links to Naxals

K Bhattacharjee
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Arrested Naxal NV Rao alias Murthy and Civil Liberties Committee: A long history of links to Naxals

Yesterday, OpIndia.com broke the news that Chhattisgarh Police has secured the arrest of Narayan Venkat Rao alias Narayan Murthy, a highly placed government functionary who has been arrested for his connection to Naxals after surrendered Maoist Pahad Singh tipped them off.

OpIndia.com was also told that Venkat Rao’s brother is the President of PUCL, Hyderabad. Although we could not independently verify the claim of his association with PUCL, we learnt that his brother, N Narayan Rao, is the general secretary at Civil Liberties Committee (CLC), Telangana.

The CLC, earlier called the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), has a long history of its members being arrested for links to Naxals. Two of its ‘activists’ were arrested in December 2004 by the Warangal Police after they were allegedly found moving with armed Maoists.

In 2009, an APCLC ‘activist’ was arrested on charges of assisting Maoists in the murder of ZP vice-chairman Samida Ravishankar in 2007. In 2012, Andhra Police arrested 2 APCLC activists along with 18 members of Chetna Natya Manch (CNM), a Maoist ‘cultural’ outfit.

The Police claimed that members of the CNM had arrived at Hyderabad from Khammam on the invitation of the APCLC members to create awareness among people against encounter of civilians by anti-Maoist forces.

In 2003, Andhra Pradesh Police had arrested three APCLC activists in connection with an attack on Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu including the outfit’s Chittoor district president Hari Prasad, a move that was condemned by an organization it is associated with, Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR).

In 2014, the Police in Hyderabad stopped Pratyamnaya Rajakeeya Vedika (Forum for Political Alternative) from holding a meeting, asserting that it’s a frontal organisation of a banned Maoist Party.

Varavara Rao, one of the leaders of the forum, was among the 50 leaders and activists who were arrested by the Police. As per the High Commissioner of Police, the High Court had denied permission to the forum to hold the meeting. In the recent arrest of the government official who was a Naxal, IG GP Singh confirmed that Narayan Venkat Rao was in touch with Varavara Rao.

Chilaka Chandrashekar, the General Secretary of APCLC, and other members of the organization were also detained as per the statement released by the members of various organizations working under CDRO. As per reports, according to Intelligence agencies, Varavara Rao, which the APCLC appears to have links with, attended the funeral of a Maoist killed in Gadrichholi last year and also attended a meeting to commemorate the first death anniversary of slain Maoist commander Kapuka Prabhakar.

The Warangal police in July arrested district CLC Secretary Penta Ramesh Chandar, for allegedly being a ‘courier for Maoists’. For its part, the CLC alleged that police were trying to frame Ramesh.

Controversial author Arundhati Roy attended the CLC’s first Telangana State Congress in April this year. Academic-activist Nandini Sundar, who is an accused in a murder case, also attended the event.

As we have mentioned in our previous reports, the CLC is a coordinating organization working under the umbrella organization, CDRO. The PUCL is also a coordinating member of the CDRO and has intimate links with the arrested ‘Urban Naxals’. It is part of the Right to Food Campaign as well that has launched an attack on Akshaya Patra for the latter’s mid-day meals.

OpIndia has been tracking organisations like CDRO and PUCL for the past few months. All the arrested Urban Naxals have links to these institutions and the details can be read here.

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