On Friday (September 9), an unidentified man breached through the security cover of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and tried to snatch away his mike in Hyderabad. As per reports, the incident took place at the MJ Market area in Hyderabad city of Telangana. The Assam CM was scheduled to address a public gathering on the occasion of Ganesh Visharjan.
When a BJP leader was speaking ahead of Assam CM’s speech, all of a sudden, a man wearing a pink scarf climbed onto the stage and got in close proximity to Himanta Biswa Sarma. The heckler made some remarks addressing Sarma and tried to snatch the mike.
#WATCH | Telangana: A man tried to confront Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma by dismantling the mike on a stage at a rally in Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/HFX0RqVEd8
He was soon overpowered by BJP workers and taken off the stage. The man was heard raising the slogan of ‘Ja KCR’.
All this while, the Assam Chief Minister maintained his composure and was seen smiling at his supporters. The episode was followed by chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ by members of the Bhagyanagar Utsav Committee.
Himanta Biswa Sarma later delivered his speech wherein he defended his decision of demolishing madrassas in Assam for promoting terror activities.
Utterly shameful to see that an unlawful Telangana govt under @TelanganaCMO KCR Garu indulged in providing an evil exposure of security breach of HCM @himantabiswa sir in Hyderabad today! Is this your govt’s culture to treat another state’s CM??
While reacting to the incident, Assam Minister Pijush Hazarika said, “Utterly shameful to see that an unlawful Telangana govt under @TelanganaCMO KCR Garu indulged in providing an evil exposure of security breach of Himanta Biswa sir in Hyderabad today!”
He further asked, “Is this your govt’s culture to treat another state’s CM?? Highly condemnable!!”
There seems to be no end to the cancellation of stand-up comedy shows by comedians over protests by Hindu organisations for their Hinduphobic comments. In the latest such incident, a bar in Gurgaon has cancelled a show by Kunal Kamra which was scheduled to be held on September 17 and 18.
Studio Xo Bar in sector 29 in Gurgaon has informed that they have cancelled Kunal Kamra’s show titled Kunal Kamra Live, after members of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad protested against the scheduled show. The members of the organisations had the management of the bar asking to cancel the show, and had said that they will hold protests at the bar if the show goes ahead. The organisations had also written to the administration seeking to cancel the show. Kunal Kamra’s shows are facing opposition from Hindu organisations because of his jokes insulting Hindu gods.
Announcing the decision to cancel the show, Studio Xo Bar’s general manager Sahil Dawra said that they decided to cancel the show to avoid any trouble. He said, “We have decided to cancel the show. I do not want any trouble. Two men from Bajrang Dal had come and they threatened to disrupt the show. They objected to the show and said that they will not allow the show to happen. I spoke with the owners, police, and the comedian and I don’t want any risk to my company and organisation, so we have decided to cancel it.”
Dawra said that they have not lodged any complaint with the police regarding the matter. The bar has written to BookMyShow informing the decision and initiated the process to cancel the show.
On Wednesday, several members of VHP and Bajrang Dal visited the bar and asked the management to cancel the show. Bajrang Dal’s Praveen Hindustani said, “We met the management of the bar and told them to cancel the show. This comedian has repeatedly insulted Hindu gods and goddesses in his shows and videos. We showed the organisers the videos of his acts on YouTube. Such artistes, who attack Hindu faith, will not be allowed to perform in Gurgaon and any such insults will not be tolerated. We handed over a memorandum to a magistrate and requested them to cancel the show as it could disturb communal harmony and create a potential law and order situation.”
Earlier on August 29, Studio Xo posted a poster on social media announcing the Kunal Kamra Live on the 17th and 18th of September at the bar. The tickets for the show were available on BookMyShow.
On 9th September 2022, the Gurugram district unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) wrote a letter to the deputy commissioner seeking the cancellation of the show. The national spokesperson of Vishwa Hindu Parishad Vinod Bansal shared this information from his Twitter handle.
Sharing the letter submitted to the deputy commissioner by the VHP activists and Bajrang Dal members, Vinod Bansal wrote in his tweet, “VHP today gave a letter to the Deputy Commissioner Gurugram to cancel the show of AntiHindu Kunal Kamra scheduled in Gurugram on 17th of this month. These hatemongers must be booked under penal provisions of law. Can’t be allowed to perform in public. The Gurugram police should take action.”
VHP today given a letter to the @DC_Gurugram to cancel the show of AntiHindu Kunal Kamra scheduled in Gurugram on 17th of this month. These hatemongers must be booked under panel provisions of law. Can’t be allowed to perform in public. The @gurgaonpolice sud take action. pic.twitter.com/jbLWPX4IRU
In the letter given to the deputy commissioner, the VHP activists said, “A show is being organized in Studio Xo Bar on 17th September 2022 by Kunal Kamra. This person mocks Hindu Gods and Goddesses in his comedy shows. There are cases already registered against this person for the same. Therefore, this program can cause tensions in Gurugram. We request you cancel this show with immediate effect otherwise the VHP workers and the Bajrang Dal activists will protest against this. Therefore we request you cancel this program immediately and share the information of the proper action with us.”
Vinod Bansal further explained in his subsequent tweets why comedians like Kunal Kamra should not be spared. He wrote, “It is necessary to boycott and oppose such Hindu traitors. By adopting cheap tactics in the name of freedom of expression, such people are out to kill art. Hindu community will not forgive them.”
हिंदु द्रोहियों का बहिष्कार व विरोध जरूरी है। अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता के नाम पर ओछे हथकंडे अपना कर ऐसे लोग कला की हत्या पर उतारू हैं। हिंदू समाज इन्हें क्षमा नहीं करेगा..
He wrote in the next tweet, “How can the blatant ridicule of the symbols of Hindu pride be part of an art or culture? The Hindu community is tolerant, but not cowardly. The Hindu community knows well how to deal with such alleged artists in a democratic manner.”
हिंदू मान बिंदुओं का खुल्ला उपहास किसी कला या संस्कृति का हिस्सा कैसे हो सकता है? हिंदू समाज सहिष्णु तो है किंतु, भीरू नहीं। ऐसे कथित कलाकारों से लोकतांत्रिक तरीके से कैसे निपटा जाए, अच्छी तरह जानता है।
Vinod Bansal said in his last tweet, “Haryana police should immediately take cognizance of this matter and announce the cancellation of the program, otherwise the Hindu society will be forced to protest.”
हरियाणा @police_haryana@anilvijminister को इस मामले में तुरत संज्ञान ले कर कार्यक्रम निरस्त करने को घोषणा करनी चाहिए अन्यथा हिंदू समाज प्रदर्शन को मजबूर होगा।
Propagandist Kunal Kamra often makes political comments in his so-called comedy shows. He is known for insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses in his performances.
Before this, several comedy shows by Munawar Faruqui in several cities were cancelled for the same reason.
The issue of beautification of the grave of the 1993 Mumbai bomb blast convicted terrorist Yakub Memon is getting traction among Maharashtra’s political parties. The BJP claims it is a disgrace that the grave of Yakub Memon, a Dawood Ibrahim aide convicted in the Mumbai bombings, was decorated like a mazar and that the government allowed it.
In a press conference, Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar wondered whether the ‘Penguin’ army had become the guardian army of the terrorist’s grave. Amidst the war of words between BJP, Congress, and Shiv Sena, then Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar is news as her old pictures with Yakub Memon’s kin Rauf Memon have gone viral on social media.
मुंबईकरांचा जीव घेणाऱ्या अंडरवर्ल्ड दाऊदच्या हस्तकाला याकूब मेमनच्या कब्रिला फाईव्ह स्टार ट्रीटमेंट देण्याचं कारण काय @mybmc ?
According to Ashish Shelar, the Thackeray government was pro-Dawood Ibrahim at the time. Nawab Malik retained his position as a minister. Now, Uddhav Thackeray’s side has emerged as a Dawood Ibrahim supporter. BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule questioned, “when the tomb of terrorist Yakub Memon was being adorned, where the Shiv Sena’s bow and arrow and mace went.”
Uddhav Thackeray compromised with Hindutva to retain the chair: BJP
According to the state president, Uddhav Thackeray made a deal with Hindutva to keep the chair. BJP MLA Ram Kadam has also asked how the grave became a tomb while Uddhav Thackeray was the Chief Minister. According to Ram Kadam, Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar should repent while assuming responsibility for beautifying the terrorist’s tomb. BJP MLA Nitesh Rane also questioned the Thackeray government, claiming that cemetery beautifying would be permitted in 2021. How can Uddhav Thackeray’s BMC deny this?
BMC elections are near, this is a gimmick to spread misunderstanding on the pretext of Yakub Memon – Shiv Sena
In response, previous BMC mayor Kishori Pednekar stated that neither the BMC nor the state government contributed anything to the grave’s adornment. Yakub’s burial is unrelated to the Shiv Sena, BMC, or Mahavikas Aghadi administration. As the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections approach, Shelar and BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule is causing confusion among the city’s residents. The Hindus of Mumbai supported Uddhav Thackeray and would continue to support him, she added.
Former Mumbai mayor denies knowing Yakum Memon’s family when confronted by a TimesNow anchor on a TV debate
‘I do not know Yakub Memon’s relatives. I was a mayor & went there at the request of people. I was not aware that any relative of Memon was present there’, Kishori Pednekar, Former Mumbai Mayor said.
The video of Kishori Pednekar with terrorist Yakub Memon’s kin Rauf Memon are making rounds on social media. However, Pednekar dismissed the questions saying that as a mayor when people invited her, then she had to go. Sh clarified that she does not have any relations with the kin of Yakub and she was unaware that the relatives of Yakub are going to be present at that time. She added that she had gone to meet some citizen representatives when there was a water logging issue at the masjid. She asserted that she was there as a mayor and she had not interacted personally with Memon’s relatives.
She also stated that she was not aware of the beautification work done at the terrorist’s grave.
‘I do not have any relations with #YakubMemon or his relatives. I was a mayor & went there at the request of people. I was not aware that any relative of Memon was present there’ : Kishori Pednekar (Former Mumbai Mayor)@kritsween share the latest update pic.twitter.com/hxIE0wNBRm
Mumbai Police took action and removed LED lighting from the grave
Meanwhile, Mumbai Police has taken action as soon as it was informed that Yakub Memon’s grave was decorated with tiles and LED lights in the big graveyard in the Marine Lines area of Mumbai. Whereas the officials of the administration associated with the tomb say that no decoration of the tomb was done. Whatever the family members do on their behalf, we do not interrupt them for what they used to do. The administration related to the grave does not interfere in this nor has any kind of help been given.
Several recent reports have shown that demography is changing rapidly along India’s border with Nepal. The number of mosques and madarsas is constantly increasing. From August 20 to 27, 2022, an OpIndia team visited several areas in Nepal bordering India to observe the ground situation. What follows here is thefourth episode of the series of reports documenting the steady Islamisation of the border noticed by the OpIndia team.
Shravasti district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh. Shravasti was the capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kosala where Gautam Buddha spent most of his time after attaining enlightenment. It is near the Rapti river in the northeastern part of Uttar Pradesh India, close to the Nepal border. We learned during our visit to the area, that in Shravasti, it is very common to find mosques and madarsas next to Buddhist temples and places of faith. The majority of the settlements near Angulimal Cave are predominantly Muslim.
Semi-constructed Mazar and Idgah in Purainiya village
As our team toured the area, we discovered a semi-constructed Mazar in a garden in the Purainiya village, around 100 metres away from the highway on the Bhinga road and about 1 kilometre from the Angulimal cave. Purainiya is a small hamlet in Hariharpur Rani Block in the Shravasti District of Uttar Pradesh. The structure’s construction was completed, but the plastering was still not done. There was no one to be spotted on the site to answer who was carrying out the construction.
The semi-constructed mazar in Purainiya village
As we moved ahead, we spotted an Idgah, located around half a kilometre away from the aforementioned Mazar (shrine). This Idgah was located near the road that connected the village to the main highway. The Idgah could accommodate a crowd of approximately 200 individuals. An iron gate guarded the main entrance to the Idgah, which was surrounded by a pucca (brick) border.
The mazar spotted at a distance of 1 km from the Idgah
We noticed that the Mazar was built on a pond in Katra village, Ikauna Tehsil, Shravasti district, created for water harvesting under the central government’s MNREGA scheme. The Mazar had been carved into the dam of the pond in the shape of a Karbala and cemented. There were Islamic flags hoisted at the same location.
Mazar built on a pond created for water harvesting under the MNREGA scheme
The farm pond in which the Mazar was built was created under the government water harvesting scheme to meet the water needs in the water distressed areas but what we observed was that the water in the pond was negligible and the remnants of many tazias were thrown in it. This pond is located barely 100 metres inside the main highway on the connecting road of Katra village.
Tazia is a replica of the mausoleum of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Hussain, and is made in numerous forms and sizes. Basically, Muslims bring home the Tazia on any day between the eve of the first day of the Islamic festival Muharram and the ninth day. It is buried on the tenth day of Ashura when Imam Hussain died.
Remnants of Tazia thrown in the public pond
Dr Ayub Khan’s posters mounted on electric poles throughout a nearly 20-kilometer stretch
As we progressed, we noticed numerous political billboards along the main highway. The most prominent hoardings were those of the National President and former MLA of Peace Party Dr Ayub Khan. These boards were mounted on electric poles on either side of the highway. There were appeals to join the Sampurna Swaraj Rally on these posters. These boards were found for around 20 kilometres from the confines of the Balrampur district to Bhinga.
Ayub Khan’s billboard
Notably, Dr Ayub, who was elected to the Vidhan Sabha in 2012, was arrested from Gorakhpur on August 1, 2020, for issuing an advertisement with derogatory content in a newspaper after a complaint was filed against him at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. He was granted bail in October 2021.
‘Karbala’ and Islamic flags adorned the main road
We passed by Gopiyapur, a small hamlet in Mahewa Block in Etawah District of Uttar Pradesh, on our way back to Balrampur from Shravasti. There were Islamic flags right next to the road at this location. Some flags were green, while others were red. We spotted at least three pucca structures next to the road that were painted green. The locals referred to these structures as ‘Karbala’.
Islamic flags on homes, mosques and madarsas
Despite the fact that the country was commemorating its 75th year of independence at the time, many roadside houses near Gopiyapur had Islamic flags fluttering atop them. Amen Mobile and Yadav Travels boards were visible beneath these dwellings. In the centre of the green flags, a tricolour was also waving.
Roadside houses near Gopiyapur had Islamic flags fluttering atop them
These areas seemed to have been completely Islamified over the years. A dargah was visible adjacent to the road near Gopiyapur on the main route leading to Shravasti. Dargah Chaddars were being sold and a large conngregation of people was seen roaming around in and around the dargah.
The dargah spotted adjacent to the road near Gopiyapur
While our team was moving towards Shravasti, they noticed a Madarsa, situated just 200 meters away from this dargah. The madrasa had a black gate and some Arabic words written on the outside.
Madarsa situated in Gopiyapur
A person at a tea stall near the madarsa told us that what you see on the road is often what you see inside the villages also. Another person stated that if you travel to the Bhinga area of this district, you will see more mosques and madrasas than this.
A creeping Islamisation of Nepal and its border areas appears to be underway, with Islamists steadily establishing their foothold in distant villages, including those on the Indian border. In the first three parts of this series, OpIndia documented the demography change ongoing in Nepal, as well as the worrying surge in the number of mosques and madarsas in the Himalayan nation’s border villages. Additionally, we also spoke about the rising incidences of love jihad in Nepal, as well as its Delhi connection and smuggling and various other notorious activities that are threatening India’s border with Nepal.
Back-to-back mega flop movies from Bollywood in recent months has resulted in heavy loss for film distributors and theatres, apart from the producers of the films. The latest big-budget Bollywood movie Brahmastra Part One: Shiva was released today with poor reviews from film critics, and it seems the movie has a new victim, the investors of theatres.
Made with an ambitious budget of ₹410 crore, Brahmastra released today with much less than expected advance booking. Ahead of its release to the public, the movie was poorly reviewed by film critics, with Taran Adarsh calling it a ‘king-sized disappointment’, who gave it just two out of five stars.
While the movie did receive some favourable reviews from some critics, the stars given to it range from 2 to 3.5. Most reviewers said that while the VFX and CGI in the movie are good, the story is poor. And moments after the bad reviews of the movie started to appear, the stock price of major multiplex chains in the country started to fall.
According to estimates, PVR and INOX, the two major listed theatre chains, lost over ₹800 crore in market capitalisation today. The stocks had started to gain in recent days, but they crashed today, coinciding with the release of Brahmastra.
The PVR stock, which had reached a high of around ₹2,200 in the beginning of August, had opened at ₹1,942 today at the NSE. But soon after the reviews of the Brahmastra started to arrive in the media, the stock crashed and reached ₹1,829 at around 12 pm, falling by more than 5%, and is currently trading at around that price.
Similarly, INOX had reached a high in the first week of August and had opened at ₹522 at the NSE today. The share price fell by almost 5% to reach around ₹490 at around 12 pm today. It is notable that graphs of both PVR and INOX share prices show exactly the same pattern.
It is being analysed that the poor opening of the movie Brahmastra is the reason for this fall in the share price of the multiplex chains. According to analysts, the movie will do a lifetime business in the range of ₹130-200 crore, which will not be enough to recover the cost of ₹410 crore. This will mean a massive loss for the makers of the movie.
Brahmastra is produced by Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Namit Malhotra, and Director Ayan Mukerji, under the production companies Dharma Productions, Starlight Pictures, and Prime Focus in association with Star Studios, which is a subsidiary of Disney Star. Ranbir Kapoor and Marijke DeSouza are also producers of the movie. Fox STAR Studios is distributing it in India, while Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is handling international distribution.
Brahmastra has Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in lead roles and has big names like Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, and even Shah Rukh Khan. While the makers had high expectations from the movie, they had to face the ongoing general negative outlook towards Bollywood movies among the public.
If Brahmastra fails this weekend, this will be a big loss for all these companies, along with the theatres, and investors in the companies. If the movie flops, it will join the recent big budget flops like Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha, Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan and Samrat Prithviraj, Anurag Kashyap directed Dobaaraa, Ranbir Kapoor’s Shamshera from Yash Raj Films etc.
With very few mega hits in recent times, Bollywood filmmakers have been trying to recreate the success of Southern larger-than-life movies like RRR, KFG, Bahubali etc, and made Brahmastra, Shamshera etc movies on a similar scale, but they have failed to excite the audiences due to poor storylines.
With the massive budget of ₹410 crore, it will be difficult for the makers to recover the cost if the analysts are right that it will collect a maximum of ₹200 crore. If that happens, even revenue from OTT platforms will not cover the costs, because with recent flops, OTT platforms have stopped big money for Bollywood movies, and it is unlikely that any streaming company like Netflix or Amazon Prime will pay big money to acquire the movie.
PVR and INOX head for a merger
In related news, theatre chains PVR and INOX are considering a merger of both companies. PVR has called a meeting of its shareholders and creditors on October 11 to seek their approval for the scheme of merger with rival Inox Leisure. Earlier in June, both PVR and Inox Leisure had said they had received clearances for their merger from exchanges NSE and BSE.
On Thursday (September 8), the Delhi High Court removed the penalty of ₹25000 that it had imposed on M Nageswara Rao in May this year. The former interim CBI director had moved the court, seeking restoration of his verified blue badge on Twitter.
Rao had tendered an unconditional apology before the court. His counsel conceded that his petition breached the boundary of ‘reasonableness.’ “My lords had imposed a cost of Rs. 25,000 on the petitioner. He was just asking for his identity to be secured, I am not on merits. My only grievance is I am a pensioner,” his counsel emphasised.
A single Judge Bench of Justice Yashwant Varma removed the cost, which was earlier imposed by the Court, on the retired IPS Officer. “Bearing in mind the unconditional apology which is tendered on behalf of the petitioner, the cost in terms of the order dated 17 May 2022 shall stand deleted,” he ordered.
Delhi High Court removes costs imposed on former CBI director M Nageswara Rao in his plea for Twitter blue tick
M Nageswara Rao had petitioned the High Court, claiming that the verified badge of his Twitter account was arbitrarily removed by the micro-blogging platform in March 2022.
He had also requested that the Centre designate or earmark one or more Compliance and Grievance officers within the Ministry solely to handle grievances or complaints from users of social media platforms
The Court, in its order on April 7, refused to entertain the petition and asked him to approach Twitter first with his complaint. However, the retired IPS officer re-filed his petition in May, hoping for a different outcome.
The single-judge bench of Justice Yashwant Varma reprimanded the ex-CBI director for wasting the court’s time. Varma was of the view that a similar plea with identical prayers was disposed of by the Court vide order dated April 7, 2022, by giving liberty to Rao to re-apply for verification.
“We passed an order on 7 April. What has constrained you to approach the court immediately? Your client seems to have a lot of free time. Do you want a return gift from us,” the bench remarked.
Advocate Raghav Awasthi, who represented Rao, argued that Twitter did not reinstate his client’s blue tick verification. The court, however, said that there is no justification for filing the writ petition despite its earlier disposal. A cost of ₹25000 (earlier reported as ₹10000) was imposed on the ex IPS officer.
On Thursday, students at Bangalore University in Karnataka protested against the construction of the Lord Ganesha temple on campus. The protesting students claimed that despite objections from the registrar and vice-chancellor of the University, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) stayed adamant about building the temple on university grounds.
According to the reports, there was already a Ganesh Temple on the university’s Jnanabharathi campus which is on the way to Mallathahalli on Mysore road. However, it was forcefully demolished due to road expansion. It was proposed that the temple be moved to a new place inside the university grounds.
The protesting students however objected to this and attempted to stop the construction of the temple’s foundation inside the University campus. The students maintained that according to guidelines issued by the United Grants Commission (UGC), the university is a place to pursue education and not to practice religion. “The BBMP is trying to saffronize the university and is spending money on the temple”, the students stated.
Reports mention that the BBMP officials allegedly called the protesting students and faculty members as ‘mischiefs’. The University teacher’s council then demanded the suspension of the officers who allegedly insulted the faculty members and also the engineers for carrying out construction work on the campus.
On Friday, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed an FIR against a school teacher named Ishtiaq Ahmed in Muradabad for physically and mentally abusing school-going minor girls. The Police action against the teacher was initiated after the parents of 9 minor girls lodged a complaint against the teacher.
According to the reports, the incident came to light when 9 girls aged between 11 to 13 refused to go to the school fearing the accused teacher. Upon inquiry by their parents, the girls said that teacher Ishtiaq Ahmed physically abused them and touched them inappropriately. The girls also said that the teacher frequently talked to them about their undergarments. The incident is said to have happened in Kala Jhanda primary school, Thakurdwar, Muradabad.
The parents of the teacher expressed anger over the incident and said that the accused does not deserve to be called a teacher and that he should be put behind the bars. “He talks about underwear to girls who age between 11 to 13 and asks humiliating questions. Our children feel unsafe at the school”, one of the parents was quoted.
ठाकुरद्वारा क्षेत्रा0 जूनियर हाईस्कूल काला झंडा में शिक्षक द्वारा बच्चों के साथ की जा रही छेड़खानी के सम्बन्ध में परिजनों की तहरीर पर PS ठाकुरद्वारा पर मुकदमा दर्ज किया गया है,आरोपी शिक्षक की गिरफ्तारी के लगातार प्रयास जारी हैं,इस सम्बन्ध में #SP_RA@moradabadpolice की बाईट। pic.twitter.com/yyR15l3IJP
Meanwhile, an elder sibling of one of the victims noted that the teacher had a habit to sit next to the small girls to explain the topic, and touching them inappropriately, running his hands over their bodies. “He does this to many girls. Girls studying in 6th and also in 8th have complained against him”, the sister added.
According to reports, the girl students who have levelled such serious allegations against teacher Ishtiaq Ahmed are between 11 and 13 years old and study in either class 6 or class 8. SP Rural Sandeep Kumar Meena said, “A case is being registered against the accused teacher under serious sections and efforts are being taken to nab him. We’ll soon arrest him”.
Recently, Justice N.V.Ramana retired as the Chief Justice of India after 16 months of tenure. The English media, which celebrated his multitude of preachy speeches during his tenure, was suddenly very unhappy with his tenure. Working in great tandem, all of them wrote articles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) repeating only one argument – that he resorted to “judicial evasion” by keeping 6 Constitutional cases pending during his tenure.
I was dismayed reading all these articles. Dismayed not because all of them highlighted the same point, but dismayed because they all were highlighting the least of his failures! CJI N.V. Ramana was definitely a vocal judge occupying the media space quite frequently. The reason he was in the news fairly regularly was that he gave speeches on various topics, almost every weekend. In his farewell speech, he mentions that this frequency was a conscious choice. Why? Because he wanted to bring the courts closer to the people.
Now, that’s a baffling argument to make. Why would mere speeches from the Chief Justice of India (that more often sounded like sermons to everyone in the society) bring the courts closer to the people? He is perhaps the only Judge on record to give a free sermon to almost every institution and every section of the society in the country. Except, of course, the Judiciary! Why would his views on how media should function bring courts closer to people? Why would his complaints about the executive and legislature bring courts closer to the people? Why would he lament that people of our country cannot afford courts to bring courts closer to people? Why would his opinion on investigative agencies like the CBI, bring courts closer to people?
You may now be tempted to ask – but what is it that brings Courts closer to the people? For starters, it will help if Courts start delivering judgments and documentation in regional languages. This is not the intellectual idea that I am flaunting here. According to our very own Justice N.V. Ramana – “I am receiving many representations for introducing local languages in proceedings before high courts”. The next obvious question is what has the mighty and powerful Chief Justice of India done about this? Nothing. As with almost everything, he has only offered his opinion and advice on this matter – “I think the time has come now to revisit the demand and take it to a logical conclusion.” What exactly does he mean by saying “revisit the demand”? If he received “many representations”, then why exactly couldn’t he do anything on this? Doesn’t the CJI has enough powers to at least make a beginning on this front? Aren’t you as baffled as I am?
In his farewell speech, he lamented that he could not solve the problem of listing cases in the Supreme Court. Surely, another thing that can bring courts closer to people. It really begs the question – how can the mighty Chief Justice of India not solve things that he is fully empowered to do? If he is not able to solve matters right under his nose, then what right does it give him to sermonise everyone else in society?
Do you know what else will bring courts closer to the people? “Modernisation of judicial infrastructure as a means for providing access to justice”. Again, not my intellectual idea. He said it. And do you want to know what he did to solve it? In his own words, he “pushed” for it. How did he “push” for it? By proposing a “National Judicial Infrastructure Authority”! In March 2021, the CJI has made a proposal to the GoI. In April 2022, this topic was discussed at the meeting of all the CMs and CJIs of the states and no consensus was reached. The reference to infrastructure is very basic here – not enough complexes have separate toilets for ladies (only 74% of court complexes have them!). It really beats me – since 2014, nearly 5000 crores have been released by the GoI to the states for infrastructure-related works. The state governments also release money for such infrastructure. Can we really not build separate toilets in our court complexes with this kind of money?
One of the important reasons why Courts aren’t perceived to be closer to people is the huge pendency of cases in the courts! And one of the important driving factors behind this pendency is the vacancies in Judiciary. It is here that Justice N.V. Ramana has definitely made a long-lasting impact on the Judiciary. The collegium headed by him was able to clear the appointment of 11 new SC judges and 224 new High Court Judges! These are excellent numbers and Justice N.V. Ramana must be complimented for working closely with the government to close these vacancies, at least in the Supreme Courts and High Courts (he cannot do much about vacancies in the lower courts though, it’s a fact).
But then he also tells us – “I also tried to highlight the difference between the arrears and backlogs to put things in perspective.” Yes sir, for the lakhs of people waiting for their pending cases to close, explaining the difference between arrears and backlogs will come as a huge relief! The problem of Judicial vacancies is being monitored by the Supreme Court itself, since 2018, but we are yet to know of progress (or the lack of it) since.
In his speeches meant to being the courts closer to the people, Justice N.V.Ramana has also focussed exclusively on defending the Judiciary and the ways it functions. He sought to lay the blame for delayed Justice itself at the doors of the executive and the legislature; he repeatedly told us how hard the life of a Judge is and how people don’t understand the sacrifices the Judges make in their family lives. Yes, the violent attacks on some Judges are a matter of concern that needs to be addressed. But for the crores of people in our country, who make countless sacrifices in their lives, it really doesn’t prick their conscience that Judges also make certain sacrifices.
His lament on the disproportionately high costs of working with the courts is yet another thing on which nothing has been done. The legal fees for continuous representation are so high that the undertrials languish in jails for months and years together. You find out that the Judiciary itself called this a “crying shame on the judicial system”, way back in 1978!
Justice N.V. Ramana hasn’t delivered all these speeches as an individual. He delivered them as the Chief Justice of India. His sermons on what needs to change in Judiciary can only become a reality when the Judiciary feels the exact pressure that our executive and legislative wings feel every 5 years. The Judiciary needs to adopt self-correcting measures on the same line that the executive and legislative wings have done over the years.
Popular uprisings, meaningful debates, social/mainstream media pressure, adaptability to change – these are some of the things that led to both the executive and legislature making far-reaching changes in how they function. We don’t need verbose judgments or rhetorical speeches. We need speedier justice and if the learned Judiciary can’t do what it takes to ensure it, then it is just a matter of time before some of these things will make the Judiciary do it. Is the learned Judiciary really waiting for these to happen?
On Thursday, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed her party workers from Birbhum district to “give a heroic welcome” to TMC leader Anubrata Mondal who has been arrested in a cattle-smuggling case.
“Keshto (Anubrata) is unwell. Every election, they restrict his movement in the hopes of improving their chances. They will fail if they believe that these tactics will help them get even two seats in Parliament. Those who have come from Birbhum should battle three times more until Keshto returns. When he gets out of jail, give him a hero’s welcome. “He deserves it,” Mamata stated during a special TMC meeting here.
“They believe that by arresting certain powerful leaders, district and block-level workers will be intimidated, giving the BJP a chance to win.” A lion that is injured is more dangerous. The BJP and central agencies should step up their attacks, but nothing has been established. Every conflict will be met with another fight. ‘ghaas kaatle aaro baare,’ I tell you (if you cut grass, it grows more). Similarly, the more you use ED-CBI scissors on us, the bigger we’ll get,” Mamata Banerjee said.
AsansolCourt rejects Anubrata Mondal’s bail plea
Anubrata Mondal, Mamata Banerjee’s ‘Bahubali’ leader, has been denied bail yet again. His custody has been extended for 14 days, and his next hearing is scheduled for September 21. “If Anubrata Mandal is granted bail, it will be impossible to conduct the inquiry properly,” CBI counsel Kalicharan Mishra argued in court. Birbhum district lawyer Anupam Adhya and lawyer Malay Mukhopadhyay appeared in the Asansol court for Anubrata and requested bail, which was denied.
Mamata Banerjee rants over ‘media vultures’ for always attacking TMC leaders
To dispel rumours of internal party trouble, the TMC supremo stated that there was no conflict within the party or between old and young leaders. “There are a few nice journalists, but many of them are vultures waiting to attack us.” They refuse to see the positive and continue to defame us. They try numerous methods to cause a schism among us. They occasionally report on disagreements between MPs Satabdi Roy and Anubrata Mondal. They even mention a schism between Abhishek Banerjee and me. They don’t realize that we can never be divided. Lies will never become truth. You tell source-based stories about money, jewellery, and valuables being confiscated from various locations, but has anything been proven yet? ”
Anubrata Mondal and his many ‘achievements’
On 11 August, The CBI arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal in relation to the cattle smuggling case, although this is not the first time the TMC leader has been charged. In truth, Mamata Banerjee’s close assistant has come under fire from the public in a number of previous instances.
He is known for making divisive statements and has threatened the police and incited TMC cadres to ‘hurl bombs’ at them on multiple occasions.
Mondal is also accused of sheltering a large number of goons under his patronage. He is also said to be involved in illegal enterprises such as sand mining, stone quarrying, and cattle smuggling in the Birbhum area.
He has also threatened opposition leaders with violence. During the 2018 Panchayat elections, Mondal informed the press, “When the opposition leaders go to file their nominations, the development would stand by the wayside,” implying that his goons would be waiting for the candidates.
Birbhum Massacre
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned Trinamool Congress (TMC) Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal in June this year as part of its investigation into episodes of violence in West Bengal following assembly elections last year.
The CBI questioned him in connection with the killing of one Gaurav Banerjee in the Birbhum district after the assembly elections in 2021. “The CBI questioned him about his role in the crime,” according to sources.
The TMC leader was also suspected of being complicit in the Birbhum atrocity in West Bengal, in which nine people were burnt to death.
