On Thursday (July 21) night, a scuffle broke out between two factions of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party during which they hurled bombs at each other. The incident took place in Balundi village in Arambagh municipality in Hooghly district of West Bengal.
As per reports, the TMC workers were returning home after attending the Martyrs’ Day rally in the Dharmatala neighbourhood in Central Kolkata.
It is alleged that at about 8:30 pm on July 21, a faction led by TMC (Arambagh) Youth President Palash Roy came under attack from another TMC faction led by area Deputy Head Alok Santra.
Alok is the brother of former TMC legislator Krishna Chandra Santra. While recounting the incident, a TMC worker narrated, “We were returning from the meeting when goons of Alok Kumar Santra began assaulting us. Three of our workers were beaten mercilessly.”
An aide of Palash Roy, Rakuri Santra, stated, “I was en route to the party office when we were gheraoed by the men of Alok Santra. We were then assaulted with sticks and other weapons. We are TMC workers and were beaten for attending the party meeting in Kolkata.”
Several people were injured during the attack, post which they were admitted to Arambagh Sub-Division Hospital. A local TMC office was also vandalised during the incident.
As per allegations, the two factions hurled crude bombs at each other during the scuffle. A TMC worker is said to be missing since the incident. A contingent of Arambagh police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) was called in to pacify the situation.
In his defence, Alok Santra claimed, “We had gone to Dharmatala. They (faction led by Palash Roy) carried out vandalism and abducted one of our men. We have informed the cops. Some women are witnesses to the incident. We will take them to the police and register our complaint with the Inspector-in-Charge (IC).”
“They (Palash Roy’s men) claim to be TMC workers. If it was so, then, why would they vandalise the TMC office? These goons are led by Palash Roy. We had booked 2 cars to go to Dharmatala. They were hardly anyone in their car. They have done all this out of anger over marginal support received by their faction.”
Meanwhile, the Arambagh police have launched a probe into the matter.
3 TMC workers killed by a party member in Canning
On July 7, TMC (Gopalpur) gram panchayat member Swapan Majhi was killed by a group of 6 people near Peer Park in Canning in South 24 Parganas district. Besides Majhi, two TMC workers, namely, Jhantu Halder and Bhootnath Pramanik were also murdered.
Reportedly, the assailants first hurled a crude bomb at the trio. Swapan Majhi was shot twice while Bhootnath Pramanik was shot only once. After the accused ran out of bullets, they hacked Jhantu Halder to death.
Then, they also tried to behead the three victims. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered by the Canning police based on a complaint by Madhu, the elder brother of Swapan Majhi.
Six people, namely, Rafiqul Sardar, Basir Sheikh, Bapi Mondal, Ebayadullah Mondal, Ali Hosain Naskar and Jalaluddin Akhand were named as accused in the FIR.
It later came to light that the primary accused in the triple-murder case, Rafikul, was a worker of the Trinamool Congress. The revelation came at a time when the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal was trying to pin the blame for the gruesome murders on the Opposition.
After Rafikul’s mother claimed that her son was part of the TMC, the party went into a defensive mode. Local TMC leader Saikat Molla claimed, “There is no party worker by the name of Rafikul in Canning. Anti-social elements can’t be members of our party.”
The Meerut police Thursday attached property worth Rs 1 crore belonging to a drug mafia in the district. The land that was seized, under the supervision of Vivek Yadav, the Additional Superintendent of Lalkurti police, belonged to the notorious drug dealer Haji Tasleem. It is located in the Macheran area in Meerut.
According to reports, the ASP used a microphone after the seizure to alert the neighbourhood’s residents about it.
The Meerut police took to Twitter on July 22, Friday, to share the information about the seizure.
With this seizure, the Uttar Pradesh police have now taken possession of Haji Tasleem’s properties estimated to be worth a total of approximately Rs 3 crore.
Prior to this, in May 2022, the Meerut police had seized the house of Haji Tasleem in Lisari Gate area. The property was seized under section 14 (a) of the Gangster Act. This seized property was also worth Rs 1 crore.
Lalkurti police station in charge Atar Singh had then said that the action was initiated after identifying the properties of Haji Tasleem who accumulated money through the illegal trade of drugs.
Notably, Haji Tasleem has more than 53 cases of drug smuggling registered against him in different police stations in Uttar Pradesh. As per reports, Haji Tasleem’s entire family has been involved in running the drugs racket for the last 30 years. They had been running the drug syndicate from the basement of their house located in the Maqbara Diggi locality, falling under the limits of the Railway Road police station area in Meerut. According to Meerut police, the family was dealing in banned substances like ganja, hashish, opium, smack, cocaine and heroin. Their network was spread in Meerut and the neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh.
In August 2021, the Uttar Pradesh police nabbed Haji Tasleem and his entire family. On December 22 2022, the Uttar Pradesh police invoked the Gangster Act against Tasleem, his wife Naseem Bano, sons Shahwaj, Shadab and others. While Tasleem is in jail, some are out on bail while others are absconding and a probe is on against him.
UP Govt’s crackdown on notorious criminals
The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has continued taking tough actions against criminals, gangsters, and mafia in the state. UP CM Yogi Adityanath after returning to power in March had first issued directives to the state administration to display zero-tolerance toward crime and criminals. He had asked the officials on April 8 to roll bulldozers against criminals and mafias and pull down all the illegal properties owned by them. However, he had asked the officials to stay away from the huts or shops of the poor. He had instructed the administration to have sensitivity toward the poor.
Until last year, illegal properties including movable and unmovable assets worth 1128 crores 23 lakhs 97 thousand 8 hundred and 46 rupees, belonging to at least 25 mafias including dreaded gangsters Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari have beenconfiscated by the UP govt under the stringent Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities Act in the span of one year and three months.
ADG Prashant Kumar further informed that between January 2020 and April 2021, 5,558 cases under the Gangster Act have been registered against at least 22,259 associates of these 25 notorious gangsters. Additionally, properties worth crores have been confiscated. The tough zero-tolerance approach of the Yogi Government has demoralized these gangsters and left them entirely paralyzed.
On Friday, the Haridwar Police arrested 8 Islamists for offering Namaz in a public place without permission. The arrested are all small vendors and have been identified as Mohammad Nizam, Naseem, Mursaline, Ashraf, Asghar, Mustafa, Sajjad Ahmed, and Ikram. The police have detained all of them and have charged them under the relevant sections of the IPC.
According to the reports, the incident is said to have happened in Shivalik Nagar in Haridwar’s Ranipura area during the weekly market. The eight accused men gathered in the main market area on the evening of July 21 and offered Namaz. The Police while arresting the accused mentioned that all the accused had made attempt to disturb the peace and law and order of the area.
The local people have expressed an outrage over the incident, video of which went viral over the social media. Accused Nisar’s age is 22 years, Naseem’s 52 years, Sajjad Ahmed’s age is 50 years, Mursaline, 38 years, Ashraf’s age is 45 years, Ashraf Asghar is 37 years old and Mustafa’s age is 35 years. According to the police, all of the accused mentioned are residents of Jwalapur in Haridwar, while 47-year-old Ikram is said to be a resident of Bahadarabad Kotwali area of Haridwar.
The Police also stated that the accused while offering the Namaz in the main market area had blocked the roads for the public, disrupting the peace in the Shivalik Nagar area. Reports mention that the accused were carrying goods on their backs and selling them in the market. After a while, they started offering Namaz in unison.
Inspector Ranipur Amar Chand Sharma while elaborating on the case said that all the accused had offered prayers in a public place without permission, due to which they have been charged under Section 151 CrPC and were presented in the court. Reports also mention that the Police is taking extra precaution to maintain the law and order and security in Haridwar amid the Kanwar Yatra as intelligence agencies have stated the possibility of a terrorist attack on the yatra.
Earlier a similar incident was reported in Uttar Pradesh where 4 Islamists named Mohammad Rehan, Aatif Khan, Mohammad Lokman, and Mohammad Noman were arrested for offering Namaz in Lulu Mall in Lucknow without permission. A complaint had been filed against the four apprehended suspects under sections 153A(1), 341, 505, and 295A.
A Facebook post by a General Manager of the India Today media group that insulted President-elect Draupadi Murmu has gone viral on the internet. The problematic tweet was posted by Indranil Chatterjee, whose Linkedin profile states that he is a Deputy General Manager in the India Today Group.
In a FB post, he writes, “Few Chairs are not meant for All…Do we allow a sweeper to perform Durga Puja…we have humiliated not only the Chair of Raisina Hills but also a few great souls…” pic.twitter.com/CrOtkzfnXe
In the post, Indranil wrote, “Just as I don’t support Gay marriage, similarly I don’t support an Adivasi President.” Insulting the president-elect, he wrote, “Few chairs are not meant for “All” & have a dignity attached to them. Do we allow a sweeper to perform Durga Puja? Can a Hindu teach at a Madrasah? These are nothing but cheap socio-political gimmicks of the ruling party in creating a Rubber Stamp Constitutional Head, so that laws can be passed easily showing middle finger to the Opposition parties.”
The Facebook post.
Referring to the post of President of India, Indranil wrote, “Today, we have humiliated not only that Chair of Raisina Hills but also few great souls like APJ Abdul Kalam, Pranab Mukherjee, S. Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, Rajendra Prasad & the likes.”
Indranil deleted his Facebook account after his post became viral on the social media network. According to Indranil Chatterjee’s Linkedin profile, he is a Deputy General Manager and Regional Head, East at India Today Group.
Notably, Draupadi Murmu of the NDA won the presidential election over Yashwant Sinha of the opposition to become the country’s next president. She was born to a Santal Tribal family on June 20, 1958, in the village of Uparbeda, district Mayurbhanj in Odisha. From 2015 until 2021, she served as Jharkhand’s honourable governor. She was the first female governor of the state as well as the first tribal leader to hold the position in an Indian state.
Around 4,800 MPs and MLAs cast their votes in the July 18 election for India’s 15th president. Draupadi Murmu is scheduled to take the oath of office on July 25.
Hours after Gujarat Congress President Jagdish Thakor advocated the Gujarat Assembly election manifesto for the minority communities, the Bajrang Dal members on Thursday night reportedly attacked the Congress office in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad and changed its name to ‘Hajj House’. Workers from the right-wing organization also placed Haj House stickers on the statue of late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Poster released by Bajrang Dal members announcing named change of Congress Bhavan to ‘Hajj House’
According to the reports, ahead of the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022, Thakor on July 21 made desperate attempts to keep its Muslim vote back intact in the state.
While addressing the ‘Sadbhavana Sabha’ held in Ahmedabad, Jagdish Thakor said, “Dr Manmohan Singh said that minorities have the first right over the country’s resources, the Congress is still associated with that ideology.”
Thakor had even promised that Congress will build houses for Muslims when voted to power. “In Ahmedabad, wherever there are slums in the minority areas, that too in a bad condition, write down the names of the areas and make sure that the Congress forms the government in the state and in next one year the Congress will give houses with rooms and kitchens in a 10-floors building.”
Speaking at an event to honor Kadir Pirzada, the newly-appointed working president of the Congress Gujarat unit, party officials advised the Muslim community not to be swayed by the rhetoric of Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM as well. He stated that Congress has always supported minorities and has never changed its principles, regardless of whether it is in power or not.
This is the difference in thoughts & actions..
For BJP & PM Modi – poor have the first right on resources of the nation
For Congress- one community has first right on the tijori / resources! Congress Gujarat Chief explains and elaborates on Dr Manmohan Singh’s statement pic.twitter.com/hzmRq8AvOg
“All of us know who is behind the communal riots happening in the country, and how they benefit from it. We know and still fall prey to it. We should stay cautious about not falling into the trap,” he said. He also added that minorities have always had the first right in the country’s treasury. “Congress knows how much saying so has hurt the party, but it will still not compromise on its ideology”, Thakor was quoted.
Bajrang Dal and VHP rename Congress office as ‘Hajj House’
The Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad members reportedly reached the Congress Bhavan in Ahmedabad on Thursday night and staged a protest against Thakor’s statement. They also changed the name of the Congress Bhavan to ‘Hajj House’ and wrote the same in big black bold letters on one of its outer walls.
Black ink allegedly rubbed on the posters of Congress leaders.
The VHP members also used black ink to color the posters put up by Congress around the Congress Bhavan in Ahmedabad. They allegedly rubbed the black ink on the posters of several Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Raghu Sharma, and more.
Two days after the Supreme Court of India granted bail to Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in 6 cases filed against him across Uttar Pradesh, it has come to light that senior NDTV journalist Sreenivasan Jain furnished a surety bond on his behest.
The development was confirmed on Twitter by political commentator Abhijit Iyer Mitra. He tweeted, “Confirmed! Mr Jain did indeed furnish the bond of “close friend” Mohammad Zubair.”
As per the documents, Sreenivasan Jain coughed up ₹50000 for Mohammed Zubair whom he described as a ‘close friend.’ The bond paper read, “I, Sreenivasan Jain, hereby declare myself for Mohammed Zubair that he shall attend the Officer-in-charger of Special Cell Police Station…”
“…Or the court of LD CMM, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi every day on which any investigation in the charge is made or any trial on such charge is held, that he shall be and re-appear before such officer or court for the purpose of such investigation to answer the charge against him (as the case may be) and in the case of his making default herein, I have bind myself to forfeit to Govt. the sum of ₹50000,” it further stated.
Abhijit Iyer Mitra pointed out, “This is literally how NDTV avoids getting ‘fact-checked’. Provides surety and coverage. This is the AltNews extortion model and the NDTV “channel of record” model”
.presiding judges son on NDTV, NDTV editor furnishes bail bond of “close friend”. pic.twitter.com/7Su4JGHteN
Last week, Mohammed Zubair filed a petition with the Supreme Court requesting that six FIRs filed against him in Uttar Pradesh be dismissed. His plea challenged the FIRs recorded in Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, and Hathras.
On June 27, Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police over a complaint filed by a social media user over his old tweets, where he insulted Hindu Gods and Goddesses. He was booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 153 and 295A.
Two persons in Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh have been arrested after a video went viral showing them teaching how to operate firearms to youths, including minors. The two arrested has been identifed as Intajar Hussain and Gulzar Hussain, who are brothers. The rifle used for the training also has been recovered by the police.
Confirming the development, Pratapgarh ASP Dr. SP Singh informed, “Today, on 21st July 2022, a video went viral on social media. The video is from the Ibrahimpur Gopalpur area under the Kandhai police station in the district Pratapgarh. In this video, it is seen that certain rounds are fired from a 315-bore rifle owned by Intajar Hussain and Gulzar Hussain. Taking immediate cognizance of the video, the station in-charge reached the spot and arrested Intazar Hussain and Gulzar Hussain. The 315-bore rifle was also recovered from the spot. Legal steps are being taken.”
जनपद प्रतापगढ़ के थाना क्षेत्र कंधई के ग्राम इब्राहिमपुर, गोपालपुर में हवाई फायरिंग के वायरल वीडियो के संबंध में पुलिस अधीक्षक प्रतापगढ़ @satpal_IPS के कड़े निर्देशन में थाना कंधई पुलिस द्वारा की गई त्वरित कार्यवाही।
The police took swift action after a video showing some teenagers firing a rifle in a training camp went viral on 21st July 2022. The viral video was from the village called Ibrahimpur in the Gopalpur area of the Pratapgarh district. This place comes under the Kandhai police station. In this video, it was seen that some teenagers are being trained by a few adults to fire a rifle. All the people seen in this video are Muslims. While adults and teenagers are seen learning to fire the rifle, children were also seen among them.
Video of Weapon training centre in village Ibrahimpur, Gopalpur, Pratapgarh where teenagers can be seen firing in air.
After the video emerged on social media, the police reached the spot and arrested the two brothers. An investigation was launched in this regard by the police.
According to a report by Amar Ujala, it was found that a person named Habibi was training these youngsters how to load the cartridges in the 315-bore rifle and how to fire it.
As expected, NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu has won the election to become the next president of India, defeating opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha by a wide margin.
After the end of counting that spanned four rounds, Draupadi Murmu received 2,824 votes, the value of which is 6,76,803. Yashwant Sinha won 1877 votes valued at 3,80,177. She needed total 5,28,491 votes in terms of value, which she had already crossed after the third round of counting. The Secretary General of Rajya Sabha informed that total 4754 votes were polled, out of which 4701 were found valid and the rest 53 were invalid.
“As 1st preference votes secured by Draupadi Murmu were greater than the requisite quota, I in my capacity as Returning Officer declare that she has been elected to office of President of India”, declared PC Mody, secretary general of Rajya Sabha.
Presidential Election concluded with declaration of result…4754 votes polled, out of which 4701 valid & 53 invalid…The quota (for a candidate to be elected the President) was 5,28,491. #DroupadiMurmu secured 2824 first preference votes-value of which is 6,76,803: Secry Gen,RS pic.twitter.com/Tg0pbuHbGu
After the 3rd round, she had got 2161 votes, which translates to 5,77,777 in terms of the value of the votes. As the total value of valid votes polled in the parliament and in state assemblies was 10,56,982, Draupadi Murmu had already crossed the 50% mark. Yashwant Sinha had own 1058 votes after third round, value of which was 2,61,062.
So, upto this round, the cumulative total is – total valid votes is 3219 with total value of 8,38,839 of which Droupadi Murmu gets 2161 votes of the value of 5,77,777. Yashwant Sinha get 1058 votes of the value of 2,61,062: PC Mody, Secretary General, Rajya Sabha pic.twitter.com/nMfhwu16um
After the first round where the votes of the parliament were counted, Murmu had won 540 votes with a value of 3,78,000, and Yashwant Sinha won 208 votes with a value of 1,45,600. The votes of MLAs were counted from second round onwards in alphabetical order. In the second round, Murmu won 809 votes valued at 1,05,299 and Yashwant Sinha got 329 votes valued at 44,276. Similarly in third round, they received 812 and 521 votes respectively, which included votes of Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha and Punjab.
It is notable that the result of the presidential election in India is determined by the value of the votes, not by the number of votes. And the value varies from voters of different lawmakers.
While the value of a vote of a MP, both from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, is 700, the value is different for each state assemblies, depending on the population. Value of a vote of an MLA from Mizoram or Arunachal is 8, while the same for an MLA from Uttar Pradesh is 208. The total value of MPs and the total value of MLAs is roughly same.
MLA vote value is calculated by dividing the population of a state or UT by the number of assembly seats multiplies by 1000. While for MP, the formula is total value votes of MLAs of a state/UT divided by total number of MPs in both houses of parliament.
Draupadi Murmu becomes the first tribal woman to hold the country’s highest constitutional position.
According to the reports, the process of counting ballots began at around 11 am on Thursday. Ballot papers from all jurisdictions had arrived at Parliament House by 11 am and election officials began the counting in Chamber 63, Parliament’s secure room where the boxes are secured around the clock. NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu had a clear edge over Opposition Yashwant Sinha in this election as several political parties including the Janata Dal United (JDU), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and 40 others had extended support to Murmu.
However, while a total of 44 political parties supported Murmu, opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha had 34 political parties standing behind him. The parties that supported Sinha included the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kerala Congress Jacob (KCJ), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Communist Party of India (CPI), INC, AITC, and more.
Political career of Draupadi Murmu
As reported earlier, Murmu has a political career spanning over 20 years. Hailing from Odisha, she was born in a Santal Tribal family on June 20, 1958, in village Uparbeda of district Mayurbhanj. She attained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ramadevi Women’s College in Bhubaneswar and then worked as a Junior Assistant in Irrigation and Power Department from 1979 to 1983 in the Odisha government.
In 1994, she joined as a teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur, and continued serving at the institute till 1997. Murmu was later elected as a councilor in 1997 and became the vice-chairperson of the Rairangpur NAC. She also became the MLA from the same constituency.
Further in the year 2000, she became Minister of State (Independent Charge) at the Transport and Commerce Department in the Odisha government and served till 2004 when BJP was in a coalition government with Naveen Patnaik’s BJD. During the same period, she also handled the Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries as Minister of State. From the year 2002 to 2009, Murmu was a national executive member of BJP’s ST Morcha. She served as state president for the same between 2006 to 2009.
From the year 2013 to April 2015, she served as a national executive member of ST Morcha. And later from the year 2015 to 2021, she served as Honorable Governor of Jharkhand. She was the first woman Governor for the state and the first female tribal leader to serve as a Governor in any Indian state. In 2007, Murmu was awarded the ‘Neelkanth Award for Best MLA by Odisha Legislative Assembly.
The voting for the next President of India took place on July 18 with around 4,800 MPs and MLAs casting their vote to choose India’s 15th President. After the ballots have been counted on July 21, the newly elected President Draupadi Murmu is supposed to take the oath of office on July 25, a day after earlier President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to vacate the office.
The government of Rajasthan has finally agreed to declare Adibadri Dham and Kankanchal areas in Deeg, Bharatpur as forest areas. With the announcement, the 550+ days old protest of the saints has come to an end. However, the government woke up only after one of the protesting saints, Baba Vijaydas, attempted to self-immolate while chanting Radhe Radhe. The video of the saint running while flames engulfed him went viral on social media on Wednesday.
3 साल से आंदोलन कर रहे #आदिबद्री के संतों को आज सवेरे आत्मदाह करने की नौबत आ गयी है। सरकार #कृष्णभूमि पर खनन बंद नहीं कर रही है। कल भरतपुर DM से रूबरू मिला लेकिन वो स्थिति की नाजुकता नही समझते- संत के आत्मदाह का जिम्मेदार भरतपुर कलेक्टर व प्रशासन है- @RajCMO आप कब एक्शन लेंगे ? pic.twitter.com/ZmBhkQZ2Ai
The agitation ended after the state government’s assurance
Following the attempt to self-immolate by Baba Vijaydas, the matter gained attention at the national level, and the state government got into action. As per recent developments in the matter, Vishvendra Nath Singh, Minister of State, Rajashtan, met with the saints and requested them to end the agitation. The state government, via the minister, assured the saints that their demands would be fulfilled in 15 days.
Earlier, speaking to OpIndia, Radhakant Tiwari of Braj Parvat Paryavaran Sanrakshan Samiti explained the matter and informed us about the solution that the government had proposed. On Wednesday, Tiwari said, “The agitation against the illegal mining was ongoing for over 550 days. We contacted the state government on several occasions, but they did not pay heed to our demands. We even met Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi and submitted a memorandum with our demands, but no action was taken. Every time we approached the government, we only got assurances.”
He further added, “The illegal mining has been going on for years. The region is sacred to us, our Aradhya Bhagwan Badri is not only living in the temple here, but the whole mountain is living Devta for us. After Baba Vijaydas attempted to self-immolate himself, the government sprung into action. We have been informed that all our demands are being fulfilled, and the area will be declared a forest land within 15 days.” The mining taking place in the area is expected to be shifted to some other place within one month.
Saints had warned of consequences if the government failed to fulfill the demand
The saints tried all possible ways to convince the state government not to allow mining in the area. However, after waiting for over 500 days and countless empty assurances, the saints decided to take the matter forward. Around ten days ago, Baba Hariboldas announced that if the government did not listen to them, he would self-immolate himself in front of the Chief Minister’s residence on July 19. The government had approached them and demanded more time.
Initially, the saints decided to wait, but till July 19, no further action was taken by the government. Baba Narayandas, as a part of the protest, climbed a mobile tower in Pasopa village. As soon as the information reached other saints in the area, they gathered to support Baba Narayandas. Meanwhile, Baba Hariboldas was detained by the Police to stop him from self-immolating.
Authorities tried to convince Baba Narayandas but failed. He was given glucose and food on the tower. He stayed on the tower the next day. While everyone was busy convincing Baba Narayandas to come down, Baba Vijayadas went behind the area where saints were protesting and poured kerosene on himself. He lit himself on fire and ran towards the protest site while chanting Radhe Radhe.
Police and locals rushed to save him. However, by the time they dozed off the fire, the saint had suffered severe burns. He was shifted to the hospital for treatment. Following the incident, district collector Alok Ranjan, IG Gaurav Srivastava, SP Shyam Singh, zonal commissioner Sanwarmal Verma, and many other high-ranking officials reached the spot and tried to calm the situation down.
Collector Alok Ranjan said in a statement, “The condition of Sadhu Vijaydas (who set himself on fire) in Deeg is stable now. The sadhus have ended their protest (on stone mining). The state government will issue a notification declaring it a forest area in the next 15 days. Old mines are located here. These mines will be shifted, and around 2,500 people who will be unemployed will be given employment elsewhere. The state government wants to make it (stone mining area) a religious tourist destination.”
Rajasthan | These mines will be shifted and about 2,500 people who will be unemployed as a result, will be employed somewhere else…The state govt intends to make it (stone mining area) into a religious tourism spot: Bharatpur DC Alok Ranjan (20.7) pic.twitter.com/0HzXy9yHuR
Gurjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti President and MCB community leader Vijay Singh Bainsla had warned the administration about the possible consequences of taking things lightly. It is notable that some of the saints who were agitating were from the Gujjar community. He had shared a letter dated July 15 with the CM of Rajasthan where the Braj Parvat Paryavaran Sanrakshan Samiti urged him to take action as the saints had decided to self-immolate themselves due to the inaction of the state government.
Speaking to OpIndia, Bainsla, who is the son of prominent Gujjar leader, late Kirori Lal Bainsla, said he was approached by the saints to intervene in the matter.
He said, “These saints have been agitating for over 550 days. The government was sitting idle on it. They were just talking and not doing anything actionable. I went with the concerned people to meet the collector. The collector was talking to others and not to the people who were actually protesting. Had the collector listened to sane advice, the immolation could have been easily avoided. Unfortunately, people take serious things lightly and light things seriously. It should be the other way around. Also, it is noteworthy that the signed agreement is between the administration and the saints. There is no sign of the ministers or any lawmaker.”
The agreement signed by administration and saints.
Upon his request, the agitation ended, and the protest site was cleared.
BJP criticized the state government for taking the matter lightly
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders criticized the state government for inaction and taking the matter lightly. In a video statement, BJP State President Dr Satish Poonia said, “The saints were protesting against the illegal mining for over 550 days. Even after the assurance from the state government, there was no action taken on the demands of the saints. As a result, one of the protesting saints, Vijaydas Ji, attempted to self-immolate himself. It is a clear case of the arrogance of the state government that even though there was a ban imposed on illegal mining in 2005, it did not stop.”
एक लापरवाह, निरंकुश और अहंकारी सरकार का इससे बड़ा गुनाह नही हो सकता कि सत्ता मद में चूर कांग्रेस को जगाने के लिए समाज को दिशा देने वाले एक साधु को आत्मदाह करने का प्रयास करना पड़ता है। pic.twitter.com/zu8U2985d8
He further added, “The whole area comes under Brij 84 region. It is a religious region. The incident has shown the worsening law and order situation in the state. It also shows that the government and administration took the matter lightly.
Speaking to OpIndia, BJP’s District President of Bharatpur, Dr. Shailesh Singh, said, “The protests were happening for the last one and half years. Some time ago, they had met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. He had promised that their demands would be fulfilled. However, even after CM’s assurance, no action was taken. One of the saints had warned of self-immolating a few days back. The administration got active and convinced the saint who threatened to self-immolate himself. Another saint Narayan Baba climbed on the tower, and the administration somehow managed to bring him down. However, in the meanwhile, Vijay Baba attempted to self-immolate himself. I went to meet him. Sadly no one from the government came to meet Vijay Baba. We talked to the doctor and got him referred to Jaipur SMS. I can only say this is an anti-Hindu government. They do not care about the Brij culture.”
कनकांचल और आदिबद्री पर्वत,हमेशा से ही हिन्दू समाज की आस्था के केंद्र रहे हैं लेकिन लंबे समय से यहां अवैध खनन हो रहा है। साधु-संतों ने निरंतर आंदोलन के साथ स्थानीय प्रशासन को आत्मदाह की चेतावनी दी थी, इसके बावजूद प्रशासन ने संतों से किसी प्रकार की कोई सकारात्मक वार्ता नहीं की। 2/3
— Dr Shailesh Digamber Singh (@DRSHAILESHBJP) July 20, 2022
BJP has constituted a 5-members inquiry committee that will visit Bharatpur to take stock of the matter.
भाजपा प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री @DrSatishPoonia के निर्देशानुसार भरतपुर में धरना प्रदर्शन स्थल पर संत श्री विजयदास जी महाराज के द्वारा आत्मदाह करने के संदर्भ में जांच कमेटी गठित की गयी है। pic.twitter.com/Jr007GDTlN
The state mining minister had claimed mining was legal
Following the attempt of self-immolation by the saint, State Mining Minster Pramod Jain Bhaya claimed that the mining happening in that region was legal. He said, “The place where the saints are protesting has over 50 legal mining sectors that were given by the government on lease. They have been paying the government on time. It is not possible to move them immediately.”
Multiple meetings and memorandums were given to the state government
The agitation against illegal mining started on January 16, 2021. In April 2021, a delegation of the saints met CM Gehlot, but the meeting did not bring any positive news for the protesting saints. Later, in August 2021, a letter by Braj Parvat Paryavaran Sarankshan Samiti was sent to the CM, Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi and other officials. In the letter, the organization requested them to take concrete action against the illegal mining and declare the region as a forest region so that it can be saved.
The letter read, “It would be very important to mention here that now the agitating saints and villagers have become highly aggrieved, and they are ready to go to any extent. Even many sadhus have decided on self-immolation, while many hundreds of villagers and saints have decided to sit on fast unto death.”
Letter to CM Gehlot, Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi and others.
It further added, “Recently, on August 5, 14 sadhus had sat on a fast unto death in the presence of thousands of villagers for the protection of both the hills of Braj. After about five days, on the initiative of Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi and on the assurance of MLA Wajib Ali Ji, the fast unto death was converted into a gradual fast which is still going on. There has been a situation of tension in the entire area, and in the surrounding region because of mining on both the hills and at the same time, there is a full possibility of unpleasant incidents happening.”
Though the protests have ended, the next course of action by the saints will be decided after a month when the timeline given by the government gets over.
Teesta Setalvad has again been praised by the Congress party for facing charges of trying to dislodge the Gujarat government after the riots that broke out in the aftermath of the Godhra Hindu massacre and conspiring with mala fide conspiracy to implicate innocents, including the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The party’s working president and controversial leader Jignesh Mevani praised Teesta Setalvad at the Sadbhavana Sabha organized by the Congress in Ahmedabad.
Jignesh Mevani heaped praise on Teesta Setalvad and said, “I’d like to open up. I would also like to remember Teesta Setalvad along with Dr. Mukul Sinha. From a public platform, I salute the struggle that this woman fought to bring justice to the Muslims of Gujarat.”
Gujarat Congress working president Jignesh Mevani said this at a Congress event. Other senior party leaders including state president Jagdish Thakor and Arjun Modhwadia were also present in this program.
Congress state president Jagdish Thakor also made a controversial statement at the same event. He said, “Dr. Manmohan Singh said that minorities have the first right over the country’s resources, the Congress is still associated with that ideology. The former Prime Minister of this country (Manmohan Singh) used to say that minorities have the first right over the treasury of India. The Congress Prime Minister of this country spoke this loud and clear. The Congress also knows how much damage it caused to the party.”
There has been another revelation about Teesta Setalvad who was praised by Congress’ Jignesh Mevani. The Gujarat government opposed the bail pleas of Teesta Setalvad and RB Sreekumar and told the court that the accused had used Zakia Jafri, wife of former Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, to make false complaints against Narendra Modi and other leaders. The government told the court that Setalvad, Sanjiv Bhatt, and Sreekumar had used Zakia Jafri’s complaint for their political agenda and they were also helped by Congress leaders.
It is notable that the SIT investigating the case had filed an affidavit in the sessions court against the bail plea filed by Teesta Setalvad and RB Sreekumar and made several major revelations in the court. According to this, Teesta Setalvad and her gang received an amount of Rs. Thirty lakhs from Ahmed Patel, a former Congress leader and an advisor to Sonia Gandhi.
The affidavit quoted witnesses saying that Teesta Setalvad and Sanjiv Bhatt had secretly met at former Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s residence in Delhi after the riots. They used to meet on the pretext of raising funds for those affected by the riots. In the first meet, Teesta Setalvad received an amount of Rs 5 lakhs. The amount was delivered to Teesta Setalvad through a witness on the instructions of Ahmed Patel. Two days later, they met at the Circuit House at Shahibaug, where Teesta received another Rs 25 lakh from Ahmed Patel.
