Home Blog Page 2614

‘Don’t read Quran after my death’: Iranian protestor in his will before execution

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘Don’t read Quran after my death’: Iranian protestor in his will before execution

Amidst protests against the authoritarian Islamic regime in Iran, on Monday, December 12, a 23-year-old anti-government protestor was publicly executed. Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged in public in the city of Mashhad. 

Rahnavard was executed after a revolutionary court convicted him of ‘waging war against Allah’ by allegedly stabbing two members of the Basij Resistance Force to death. 

Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, Director of a Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, shared the video of Rahnavard before he was executed. 

When asked about what he wrote in his will, Rahnavard said, “I don’t want anyone to pray, or to cry, I want everyone to be happy and play happy music.”

A Twitter user who goes by the username @1500tasvir_en and who has been monitoring the protests in Iran ever since the tragic death of Mahsa Amini said that Rahnavard’s family was informed about his execution only after it was carried out. 

It posted the picture of the last meeting of Majidreza Rahnvard with his mother and said that his mother had no idea about the court orders to execute her son. She left hoping that her son will be released soon unbeknownst of the terrible fate awaiting her son. 

In another tweet, the Twitter user said the residence of Rahanvard’s grandmother was attacked on December 12 while his uncle and brother were arrested. “Last night (Dec. 12) the brutes of the Islamic Republic attacked #MajidrezaRahnavard’s grandmother’s residence, arresting his uncle and brother for a few hours. They took away all the banners and flowers for the ceremony and then forcefully evicted the family from their own home,” 1500 Tasvir tweeted.

On December 12, Rahnavard’s mother arrived when the authorities were burying Rahnavard’s body alone. 

Rahnavard’s execution comes a week after a 23-year-old anti-government protestor Mohsin Shekari was executed for allegedly attacking a Basij force member with a machete. He too was accused of ‘waging war against Allah.’

On October 26, a 19-year-old celebrity chef Mershad Shahidi was beaten to death by Iranian security forces after he was detained for participating in the protests in Arak city.

Iran saw a wave of protests after a 22-year-old girl named Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran’s Morality Police that detained her for improperly donning her headscarf. Several Iranian citizens hit the streets in solidarity with Amini. In support of the victims, a number of women, including schoolgirls, burnt their hijabs, and women everywhere chopped their hair in protest. Protests broke out in hundreds of places around the nation after her death.

Pakistani foreign minister makes a personal attack on PM Modi to counter India’s terror charge against Pakistan, repeats false and baseless allegations

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Pakistani foreign minister makes a personal attack on PM Modi to counter India’s terror charge against Pakistan, repeats false and baseless allegations

A day after external affairs minister S Jaishankar slammed Pakistan at the UN for supporting terrorism, Pakistan’s foreign minister resorted to personal attacks on PM Narendra Modi. Using the language of Indian left-liberals and the Congress party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called PM the‘ butcher of Gujarat’, in response to the Indian foreign minister pointing out how terrorist Osama Bin Laden was found living in Pakistan when US was looking for him everywhere.

In his address at the United Nations Security Council, S Jaishankar reminded the world how Pakistan had hosted Osama Bin Laden and is sponsoring terror activities in India including the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.

“While we search for the best solutions, what are those that we must never accept include the normalisation of such threats. The question of justifying what the world regards as unacceptable should not even arise. It certainly applies to states’ sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Nor can hosting Osama Bin Laden and attacking a neighbouring Parliament can serve as credentials for sermonizing before this council,” S Jaishankar had said in his address, directly slamming Pakistan for being a pro-terrorism country.

The Indian foreign minister also said that the effectiveness of the United Nations depends on its capacity in facing key challenges of our times – be it pandemic, climate change, conflicts or terrorism.

Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressed a press conference in New York later in the day, where he made personal attacks on the Indian prime minister while responding to a question on S Jaishankar’s criticism of Pakistan. Rejecting that Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism, Bhutto claimed that Pakistan is a big victim of terrorism, and alleged that India is trying to paint all Muslims in the world as terrorists.

Then he went on to respond to the Laden comment by Jaishankar by saying, “I will like to remind the honourable minister of external affairs of India, that Osama Bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of India lives. And he is the prime minister of India. He was banned from entering this country until he became the Prime Minister. This is the Prime Minister of the RSS and the Foreign Minister of the RSS. What is the RSS? The RSS takes inspiration from Hitler’s SS.”

He then went on to says that RSS does not believe in the ideology of Gandhi, adding ‘they hero worship the terrorist that assassinated Gandhi’. He then claimed that terrorism in Gujarat and Kashmir are being engineered by RSS and BJP. Bhutto then also claimed that they have proof that India is behind the Johar Town blast in Lahore in Pakistan.

However, the Pakistani foreign minister denied that he was in a war of words with S Jaishankar, and avoided the question on whether it will escalate the tension between India and Pakistan.

The allegations of Bilawal Bhutto against Modi and RSS are the same as the allegations being made by the Congress party and other non-NDA parties in India for a long time, along with left-liberals. In 2014, TMC had targeted Modi by calling him ‘butcher of Gujarat’. These political parties and left-liberals keep alleging that Modi had asked police to not intervene during the Gujarat riots, to allow Hindus to attack Muslims. Many even make the absurd claim that the Godhra train carnage, which had triggered the riots in 2002, was actually a conspiracy by Hindus to start the riots.

However, in multiple investigations and court cases, all these allegations have been proven false. It has been established that police had controlled the riots in a day, and it has also been proved that the people who said Modi had instructed police to stand down were lying.

In June this year, the Supreme Court of India delivered the final judgement in a crucial case that tried to blame Narendra Modi for the riots, ruling that all the charges against the then Gujarat CM were false. The apex court also said that Islamist activists like Teesta Setalvad had fabricated evidence to frame Narendra Modi in a fake case to seek the death penalty for him.

Following the verdict of the Supreme Court, Gujarat police filed a case for fabricating evidence and arrested Teesta Setalvad and others involved in the conspiracy.

The other allegation of Bhutto, that RSS is inspired by the Nazis, is also completely false and baseless. Nazis had run the holocaust to eliminate Jews and other people they didn’t like, and the holocaust was a massive organised mass killing project undertaken by the Nazis under Hitler. Therefore, RSS, or any other organisation, can’t be compared to the Nazis. It has been already proved that the allegation that RSS leaders were inspired by Nazisim is completely baseless.

The RSS’s dream of establishing a Hindu Rashtra is interpreted by Islamists and left-liberals as the dream of eliminating non-Hindus as the Nazis did. But that is a completely wrong interpretation. RSS maintains that every Indian was Hindu in the past, and they, or their forefathers, had converted to other religions from Hinduism in the past. RSS never talked about eliminating anyone, they just want that as the birthplace of Hinduism, the religion must be protected in the country.

Perhaps Bilawal Bhutto has forgotten that his country was once part of India, and after the partition of India, two Muslim countries were born, adding to dozens of already existing Muslim countries. There is not a single Hindu country in the world, but when someone talks about a Hindu Rashtra, he sees Nazism in that dream. In fact, Hindus and other minorities have vanished from Pakistan, while India has world’s second-largest Muslim population, which shows how baseless Bhutto’s allegations are.

Talking about the US rejecting the visa to Narendra Modi when he was Gujarat CM, it is well known that it was the result of intense lobbying of Pakistani and Indian Muslim groups, including the Indian American Muslim Council. Moreover, when the visa was rejected, Modi was facing cases accusing him of inaction in controlling the riots. But since then, courts in India gave him a clean chit, and the US also granted him a visa, after which he has visited the country several times. There is no relevance to that chapter now.

MP: Damoh Police move to Kerala to nab Christian missionaries booked in forced conversion, molestation case, NCPCR seeks action

OpIndia Staff
-
0
MP: Damoh Police move to Kerala to nab Christian missionaries booked in forced conversion, molestation case, NCPCR seeks action

On Thursday, the Madhya Pradesh Police left for Kerala to arrest six Christians accused of performing religious conversion in the Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh. Out of the eight accused persons, the Police have already arrested two persons from New Delhi and are now searching for six accused who reportedly have absconded to Kerala.

According to the reports, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) last month paid surprise visits to a few places in Damoh. It also visited a Christian missionary from Kerala named Ishu Sansth in Damoh and revealed that the authorities there were engaged in luring Dalits and converting them to Christianity. The authorities at the missionary have also been accused by locals of molesting the minor girls and threatening them to convert their religion.

The Madhya Pradesh Police took action on a complaint that was filed by Rajesh Ahirwar, a resident of Bhairavbihar village in the district, and booked eight persons in the case including the Pastor. The complaint stated that the accused were running a religious conversion drive in the village and were also sexually assaulting the minors.

Also, some local Hindus told the Police during the investigation that they had been converted to Christianity in 2013 and narrated their story. They also stated that the missionary authorities molested minor girls after converting them to Christianity. The police then registered a case under various acts, including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused booked in the case have been identified as K Bijju, Philip Mathew, Renu Mathew, Thomas, Nainan Thomas, Sajan Ibrahim, Nidhi Thomas, and Appu Thomas. Reports mention that the accused fled from the city to Kerala knowing that they had been booked in a case and that the Police were searching for them. However, two, K Bijju and Philip Mathew have been arrested by the Police from New Delhi.

Meanwhile, NCPCR in the update has served the notices to the district collector and the Superintendent of Police in Damoh and demanded an action-taken report from them. The panel has also urged the government to launch a cyber forensic investigation against Mid India Christian Services, as well as disciplinary action against the chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, Damoh.

Notably, this is not the first incident of religious conversion reported from Damoh, Madhya Pradesh. Earlier on November 18, it was reported that a Dalit couple and their families were forcefully converted to Christianity by Bishop Dr Ajai Lall and were being harassed by the Church authorities. The Dalit victim woman alleged that the Church authorities threatened them and demanded four times as much money as they had given earlier during the time of conversion.

Also, in another such case, NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo had filed a complaint against ten members of a Christian organization named Mid India Christian Society in Damoh. Kanoongo in the complaint had said that several Hindu minor students residing in the children’s home of Mid India Christian Society were converted to Christianity and were forcefully being kept away from studies. They were being lured by the missionary authorities to become a pastor in the future.

The Police then had registered an FIR under sections 42 and 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act and 3 and 5 of the MP Freedom of Religion Act, along with 370 of IPC against the 10 members.

Elon Musk joins Twitter Spaces to inform journalists that they are no different from regular people: What he said

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Elon Musk joins Twitter Spaces to inform journalists that they are no different from regular people: What he said

On Thursday (December 15, US local time), the new Twitter owner Elon Musk hopped on a ‘Twitter Spaces’ discussion and informed that journalists would not be treated differently if found guilty of doxxing (revealing private information) about people.

“Well, I am sure that one who has been doxxed would agree – Drawing real-time information about somebody’s location is inappropriate and everyone…will not like that to be done to them,” Musk was heard as saying.

He further added, “There is not going to be any distinction in the future between journalists and regular people. Everyone is going to be treated the same. There are no special privileges for journalists.”

“You doxx…You get suspended. End of story,” Musk emphasised. He also warned those who try to evade suspension by posting links, containing information about the real-time location of individuals.

The matter came to light when US-based journalist Jack Posobiec posted a 59-second-long audio clip of Musk’s remarks on Twitter. Jack wrote, “Elon Musk just hopped on Spaces with a group of journalists and informed them the same doxxing rules apply to them and they aren’t special.”

The Background of the Controversy

On Wednesday (December 14, US local time), Elon Musk informed that his 2-year-old son named ‘X’ who was travelling in Musk’s car was doxxed by a ‘crazy stalker’. The stalker was seen wearing a black hoodie and recording the incident on camera.

“Last night, a car carrying little X in LA was followed by a crazy stalker (thinking it was me), who later blocked the car from moving & climbed onto the hood,” Musk narrated the ordeal.

He had also posted an 11-second-long video of the alleged stalker and vowed to take action against a college student named Jack Sweeney, who used publicly available data to track the movement of the billionaire’s private jet to ‘raise awareness about carbon footprints.’

Later, Elon Musk announced that the Twitter handles which post the real-time location of individuals and compromise their physical safety would be suspended.

In a tweet, the new Twitter owner said, “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info.”

While responding to a Twitter user, Musk clarified that journalists would not be treated as exceptions for endangering the lives of individuals by posting links to their live location. “Same doxxing rules apply to “journalists” as to everyone else,” he reiterated.

Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Pathaan’ upsets Madhya Pradesh Ulama Board, say won’t let movie release because it insults the Muslim community: Details

ANI
-
0
Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Pathaan’ upsets Madhya Pradesh Ulama Board, say won’t let movie release because it insults the Muslim community: Details

Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Pathaan’ has landed in trouble, with the Madhya Pradesh Ulema Board raising objections to the release of the movie in the state.

Speaking to ANI on Thursday, president of MP Ulema Board, Syed Anas Ali, said, “The sentiments of the Muslim community have been hurt by this film. We will not allow this film to be released, not just in Madhya Pradesh but across the country.” “The Pathans are one of the most respectable Muslim communities. Not just the Pathans but the entire Muslim community is being defamed in this film. The name of the film is Pathan and women are seen performing obscene dances in it. Pathans are being portrayed wrongly in the film,” he added. 

“The makers should remove the name, Pathan. Shahrukh Khan should change the name of his character. After that, do whatever you want. But we will not allow this film to be released in India. We will fight a legal battle and also file an FIR,” Ali said, adding that they have also decided to write to the censor board in the matter. 

They said they would do everyhing in their power to stop the film’s release. 

On Wednesday, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra voiced objections to a song in the movie. 

Mishra told mediapersons, “The costumes in the song are objectionable. The song reflects a dirty mindset.” 

Mishra’s statement came two days after the makers of ‘Pathaan’ dropped the song ‘Besharam Rang’. The song features the film’s female lead Deepika Padukone opposite the protagonist, played by SRK. 

“I advise the makers of the film to fix the objectionable parts of the song. Earlier, Deepika Padukone had stood in support of the ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’ at JNU. Her mentality was exposed. I believe the song’s title ‘Besharam Rang’ is also objectionable. Also, the way the colours saffron and green have been used in the costumes is objectionable. Changes need to be made, failing which we will take a call on whether the film should be screened in Madhya Pradesh,” he added. 

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Chhapra Hooch tragedy: Bihar death toll from toxic liquor reaches 50, issue disrupts Rajya Sabha

ANI
-
0
Chhapra Hooch tragedy: Bihar death toll from toxic liquor reaches 50, issue disrupts Rajya Sabha

The toll of dead in Bihar’s Chhapra Hooch tragedy has soared to 50, with 11 more people succumbing after consuming spurious liquor in the Saran district. 

Masrakh Station House Officer (SHO) Ritesh Mishra and Constable Vikesh Tiwari were suspended immediately after the Tuesday night tragedy on the recommendation of Marhaura Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Yogendra Kumar. Most deaths have occurred over Wednesday and Thursday creating an uproar both at the state and national level as sale and consumption of alcohol have been banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government since April 2016. 

Nitish Kumar’s former ally, BJP, have come down heavily on him with MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party from the state raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, when questioned regarding the Chhapra Hooch tragedy, on Thursday told media that “if someone consumes liquor, they will die”, that has not gone down well with victim families among others.

 “The liquor ban has benefitted several people. A large number of people have given up alcohol…This is good. Several people have happily accepted this. But there are some troublemakers. I have told officers to identify the actual troublemakers and nab them,” Kumar told the media in Patna.

 Bihar Excise Minister Sunil Kumar has also promised stringent action against the culprits responsible for the deaths. “Process of filling an FIR is underway. I have spoken over the phone with SP,” Sunil Kumar said on Wednesday. 
Hours after the first few deaths were reported from Chhapra, the opposition had on Wednesday attacked the Bihar Chief Minister in the state assembly leading Kumar to lose his cool and scream back at the BJP leaders.

 The Chhapra Hooch tragedy was one of the issues raised in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, leading to the adjournment of the House thrice within a short span of 40 minutes as both the Treasury benches and the opposition raised their issues together with the commencement of the Zero Hour.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

“Kasab was smiling, did not have iota of remorse”: What Indian nurse Anjali Kulthe who saved many during 26/11 said at UNSC

OpIndia Staff
-
0
“Kasab was smiling, did not have iota of remorse”: What Indian nurse Anjali Kulthe who saved many during 26/11 said at UNSC

Anjali Kulthe, the nurse who rescued several people during the dreadful Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks, stated on Thursday that when she identified Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab in prison, he was smiling and had no sorrow or regrets. Kulthe revealed her statement while she addressed the ‘UNSC Briefing: Global Counterterrorism Approach: Challenges and Way Forward’ via video conferencing.

“Kasab didn’t have an iota of guilt or remorse, his sense of victory haunts me even today. We, the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, continue to wait for justice as the sponsors of the attack remain free even after 14 years,” Kulthe was quoted as saying.

She stated that a month after the massacre, she was summoned to verify one of the terrorists involved. “Although my family was scared, I chose to be a witness. When I identified Kasab, he smiled sarcastically and said that I had identified him correctly,” Kulthe added. Kasab was hanged to death on November 21, 2012.

The nurse on December 15 briefed the United Nations Security Council about the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Kulthe, who was working as a staff nurse at the Cama and Albless Hospital for Women and Children at the time, witnessed Kasab and another terrorist attack the hospital and murder the guards.

“On November 26, 2008, I had the night shift in the antenatal care unit from 8 pm. 20 pregnant women were under my charge that night. An hour later we were informed that the city’s main railway station around a mile away from the hospital had been stormed by terrorists. Our senior officials called and asked us to prepare for an emergency. While we began preparing, we heard gunshots being fired at around 10:30 pm from behind the hospital. My helpers and I quickly moved to the window of my wards. We noticed two persons with guns entering the hospital after jumping over the walls. One of them fired at our window, and we closely escaped the bullet which hit a helper’s thumb,” she said.

“I informed the Chief Medical Officer of the hospital that terrorists have entered our hospital and are firing. As I rushed to the first floor of the ward I saw the same two terrorists shooting the two security guards of the hospital. Both of them fell on the floor with their bodies heavily bleeding, I was extremely scared, but I gathered courage and rushed to the first floor. I closed the main iron door and shifted all the patients to the pantry with the help of another staff. I locked the door and switched off the lights so that the shooter could not see the patients. At all costs, I wanted to protect my patients,” she added.

She requested the international community to put the perpetrators to justice and provide closure to the victims’ families. She recounted the terror that the victims of the terror attack experienced on that terrible day, when ten Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists from Pakistan launched synchronized shooting and bombing operations in Mumbai at five key places, killing 166 people and wounding over 300.

Terrorists from the LeT targeted five significant Mumbai locations: the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, the Nariman House commercial complex, Cama Hospital, the Leopold Cafe, the Oberoi-Trident Hotel, and the Taj Hotel and Tower.

Reportedly, Kulthe’s narrative had a significant impact on the Council members, touching several of them. Her acts were described as ‘inspiring and moving’ by UAE minister Noura Bint Mohammed Al Kaabi. Meanwhile, EAM S Jaishankar also lauded the nurse for her courage and said, “Her testimony today is a stark reminder to the Council and the international community that justice is yet to be delivered to the victims of several terrorist incidents, including the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.”

“A challenge is how do we deal with double standards, both inside and outside this Council. For too long, some have persisted with the approach that terrorism is just another instrument or stratagem. Those invested in terrorism have used such cynicism to carry on,” he said at the ‘UNSC Briefing: Global Counterterrorism Approach: Challenges and Way Forward’.

Tamil Nadu govt’s HR&CE dept has taken over 38,000 Hindu temples, SC seeks response over Indic Collective’s plea

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Tamil Nadu govt’s HR&CE dept has taken over 38,000 Hindu temples, SC seeks response over Indic Collective’s plea

The Supreme Court on Thursday demanded the Government of Tamil Nadu’s statement to a petition alleging that the administration indirectly had taken over the operation of over 38000 temples in the state of Tamil Nadu by recruiting executive officials but without nominating temple trustees. According to the petition, the act has resulted in the mishandling of the finances of large temples. A bench consisting of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha heard the case on December 13 seeking a response from the state government.

The petition which was filed by the ‘Indic Collective Trust,’ urged the Supreme Court to overturn a Madras High Court decision that had dismissed the case earlier. The petition stated that while the Conditions for Appointment of Executive Officers Rules, 2015 limit Executive Officer appointments to a maximum of five years, the Executive Officers recruited by the state authorities were nominated indefinitely with no conditions specified in their appointment orders.

The plea contended that the state had violated the Articles 25, 26 and 29 of the Constitution of India by appointing Executive Officers in the temples of Tamil Nadu. While listing various examples of mismanagement of temples by EOs, the Petitioner maintained that decisions related to projects and activities costing crores of rupees are left to be taken with such EOs, causing tremendous damage to the interests of the Deity and Temple Devotees.

‘It is also a matter of concern that the Respondents have placed EOs in several temples with abysmally low income i.e., where chances of mismanagement are remote. This would show that the Respondents have been indiscriminately taking control of several temples without any valid reason and in complete violation of the law,” the petition read.

Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan, counsel for the petitioner, asserted that the EOs diverted temple cash generated by religious donations from worshipers for their wages and other non-religious uses. He further added that there had been no known incident in the preceding 70 years where the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department has returned a temple to the trustee or the community involved after taking over temple administration.

It is reported that there are 36,627 temples, 57 temples affiliated with the Holy Mutts, and 17 temples affiliated with Jains. 88.22% of these temples are under the authority of the HR&CE Department and have an annual income of less than Rs. 10,000.

The petition asked that the State of Tamil Nadu recognize all Executive Officers who are serving without legitimate appointment orders, who were nominated without valid reasons, or who were hired under Sections 43-A or 45 of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959, prior to the implementation of the Conditions for Appointment of Executive Officers Rules, 2015.

Punjab: AAP govt tells SC that it will offer country liquor in pouches as ‘healthy substitute’ to avoid Bihar-type hooch tragedies

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Punjab: AAP govt tells SC that it will offer country liquor in pouches as ‘healthy substitute’ to avoid Bihar-type hooch tragedies

On Thursday, December 15, the Supreme Court warned Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government against the looming threat of Bihar-type hooch tragedies. The Punjab government asserted that it has already implemented all the court directions to check the manufacture and sales of illicit liquor in the state. The Punjab government informed the Supreme Court that it has planned to introduce ‘country liquor’ as a ‘healthy‘ substitute for illegal liquor.

“Have you seen Bihar today? This is precisely what we want to avoid,” a Bench led by Justice MR Shah told the Punjab Government, referring to the hooch tragedy in Bihar’s Saran district, which claimed the lives of 39 people.

Notably, on December 5, the Supreme Court rebuked the Bhagwant Mann-led government for inaction against rampant production and sales of spurious liquor in the state. The top court noted that the government is only filing cases but is not taking further action and asked to fix responsibility. 

Punjab government on Thursday submitted that it has issued a circular that in case any illegal ‘Bhattis’ manufacturing liquor is found, the local police officer will be held accountable. Besides, awareness campaigns are being conducted to inform people about the harms caused by the consumption of spurious liquor. A reward of Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh will be given to the informers depending on the quantity of illicit liquor seized.

The Punjab government offered a bizarre solution to avert Bihar-type Hooch tragedies. It told the Supreme Court that it has decided as part of its new excise policy to provide country liquor having 40 per cent alcohol content as a ‘healthy substitute’ to the illegally manufactured hooch.

“This liquor will be a healthy substitute for illegally made homemade liquor. “The field officers have been tasked with providing their requirement of 40-degree country liquor based on ground inputs so that the same can be made accessible in illicit liquor-prone areas in the near future,” read an affidavit filed in the top court by the state excise and taxation department.

The Bench set the matter for further hearing on February 10th, noting that it would monitor the case’s progress. “Let us see, we will monitor how it progresses,” the bench stated.

The top court was hearing a petition against a September 2020 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court disposing of a petition seeking the transfer of some FIRs registered in Punjab with regard to the alleged sale and inter-state smuggling of spurious liquor to the CBI. The petition was dismissed by the high court after the state assured the petitioners that their concerns would be addressed and appropriate actions would be taken.

The petitioners had referred to the August 2020 hooch tragedy in Punjab in which 112 people had died after consuming spurious liquor. They claimed that illegal ‘bhattis’ and liquor mafias flourished in Punjab.

EAM S Jaishankar gives a reality check to Pakistani reporter who was trying to blame India for terrorism in South Asia, watch video

OpIndia Staff
-
0
EAM S Jaishankar gives a reality check to Pakistani reporter who was trying to blame India for terrorism in South Asia, watch video

On Thursday (December 15), the Indian Minister for External Affairs, S Jaishankar, treated a Pakistani journalist to some brutal reality check for trying to blame India for terrorism in South Asia. He made the remarks while addressing the media at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

“India and Pakistan have been accusing each other of terrorism…My question is: How long South Asia will see this terrorism disseminated from New Delhi, Kabul, and Pakistan? How long they are going to be at war?”, the Pakistani journalist was heard asking Dr Jaishankar.

He also raked up the ‘Kashmir issue’ and asked, “How about UN Security resolutions on Kashmir? Does India abide by it?” S Jaishankar promptly responded, “You are asking the wrong minister when you say how long we will do this…”

“It is the ministers of Pakistan who will tell you how long Pakistan intends to practice terrorism…At the end of the day, the world is not stupid. The world is not forgetful and the world does increasingly call out countries and organisations which indulge in terrorism,” he emphasised.

The Indian External Affairs Minister added, “And by taking the debate elsewhere, you are not going to hide it. You are not going to confuse anyone, anymore. People have figured it out. My advice is, please clean up your act. Please try to be a good neighbour.”

“Please try and contribute to what the rest of the world is trying to do today, which is economic growth, progress, and development. So, I hope through your channel that message goes through,” he reiterated.

S Jaishankar slammed Pakistan in the United Nations

Without naming any country, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar had earlier slammed the neighbouring state after Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari unceremoniously raked up the issue of Kashmir during a UN gathering in New York to discuss the issue of multilateralism.

Speaking in his national capacity, Jaishankar said the credibility of the UN depends on its effective response to the key challenges of our time be it pandemic, climate change, conflicts or terrorism.

He continued saying, “while searching for solutions, our discourse must never accept the normalisation of such threats. The question of justifying what the world regards as unacceptable should not even arise.”

“That certainly applies to state sponsorship of cross-border terrorism. Nor can hosting Osama Bin Laden and attacking a neighbouring Parliament serve as credentials to sermonize before this council,” he said in an apparent reference to Pakistan.

1...2,6132,6142,615...7,600Page 2,614 of 7,600