Home Blog Page 3605

‘He kicked our mother out of the house for money and left her to die unattended at railway station’: NRI sister levels serious allegations against Sidhu

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘He kicked our mother out of the house for money and left her to die unattended at railway station’: NRI sister levels serious allegations against Sidhu

With Punjab assembly elections approaching, State Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu has found himself embroiled in a family feud after his sister, Suman Tur, accused him of kicking their mother out of their house after their father’s death in 1986 to “quench his insatiable lust to usurp family property.”

Tur, who was in Chandigarh, addressed a press conference on Friday, in which he alleged that Sidhu had thrown her and their mother out of home in 1986 after their father died. Weeping inconsolably, Tur revealed the heart-rending tale of how their mother was “left to die unattended by her son, after the demise of her beloved husband.” Their mother died at Delhi railway station unattended in 1989, Tur claimed.

“We have endured harsh situations. My mother was in the hospital for four months. I have documentary evidence to back my claims,” Tur said.

Calling Sidhu a “cold-blooded person”, Tur, an NRI and US citizen, alleged that her brother did not even bother to offer condolences after the tragic death in an accident of his eldest sister and other family members. She urged the public to seek answers from Sidhu on the matter.

Suman reveals Sidhu lied about separation of their parents

In the press conference, Tur said their nightmare started after her father Bhagwant Sidhu’s death in 1986. Shortly after the ‘bhog’ ceremony, revealed Tur, Sidhu had her and their mother out of their house. He was so rude to them that they were forced to walk to the bus stand, she claimed.

“Navjot Singh Sidhu deserted our mother for the sake of money. We do not want any money from Sidhu,” she said.

Suman also accused Navjot Singh Sidhu of lying about the separation of their parents in an interview with India Today in 1987. She demanded evidence from her brother to prove that their parents were indeed divorced.

“Our mother had approached the court after Navjot Sidhu had claimed that there was a judicial separation between her and our father. He should furnish evidence to prove that our parents had separated,” Tur said.

Sidhu refuses to meet me, he has blocked me on Whatsapp: Suman Tur

She further added that when she went to meet Navjot Singh Sidhu on January 20, he refused to meet her and didn’t open the door. She even tried to contact him on Whatsapp and through phone calls, but he seemed to have blocked her, Tur claimed.

Tur said because of Sidhu’s refusal to talk to her, she was compelled to convene a press conference. “I was compelled to address a press conference after attempts to contact Navjot Singh Sidhu failed. He has blocked me on his phone. His servants also do not open doors. I want justice for my mother,” Suman Tur said.

The explosive allegations against Sidhu come at a time when he is vying for the coveted post of Punjab chief minister in the all-important assembly polls that are scheduled to take place on February 20 for all 117 assembly seats.

Delhi: 11 including 9 women of a family arrested for kidnap, sexual assault, had beaten and paraded a woman on the streets

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Delhi: 11 including 9 women of a family arrested for kidnap, sexual assault, had beaten and paraded a woman on the streets

The Delhi Police has nabbed 11 persons of a family for the kidnapping, rape, and assault of a woman on Republic Day in the national capital’s Vivek Vihar area. 9 of the arrested persons are women.

The 21-year-old woman was reportedly abducted, gang-raped, and paraded on a street in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar area on Wednesday. She had been hiding for the last one and a half months, after a juvenile who stalked her committed suicide and the latter’s relatives began threatening her.

Several videos showing the woman being paraded around in a humiliating condition circulated on social media. The accused cut the woman’s hair, garlanded her with shoes, and paraded her on the street.

The woman is married and the mother of a child. As per reports, she was being stalked by a local adolescent who eventually committed suicide in November last year. The woman was blamed by the youth’s relatives for his suicide. After constant harassment by the family, the woman had shifted to another house and had not shared her address with anyone except her sister and a visually impaired uncle.

On Wednesday, the victim’s sister had arrived at her new address to deliver some groceries when she found out that the accused family had followed her. The accused persons then grabbed the victim and forcefully took her to their house. When the sister had reached near the accused persons’ house she witnessed her sister being assaulted and paraded by the accused persons.

The victim’s complaint has mentioned that was sexually assaulted by men of the accused family while the women watched and was later beaten, humiliated and paraded on the street with her face blackened and a garland of shoes put on her neck.

Accused family is involved in illegal liquor business

As per reports, the accused family who committed the crime is involved in a business of illegal liquor and many members have multiple cases lodged against them. One of the assaulters is also a history-sheeter and habitual offender. The criminal activities of the family was the main reason nobody in the neighbour tried to stop them, as per the reports.

Swati Maliwal, chairman of the Delhi Commission for Women, took cognizance of it on Thursday morning and filed a complaint with the police, demanding serious punishment.

“Illegal liquor vendors gang-raped a 20-year-old lady, shaved her head, garlanded her with slippers, and blackened her face. I’m sending a notification to the Delhi Police to arrest the culprits and provide security to the victim’s family…, “Swati Maliwal, the chairperson of DCW, stated in a tweet.

Among those who criticized the horrific event and ensuing public shaming were Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir.

“Have spoken to DCP Shahdara over barbaric assault on the 20-year-old woman. Some arrests have been made & more will follow. I assure you that these animals (men & women) will not be spared. Every kind of support will be provided to the survivor,” Gautam Gambhir tweeted.

Officials said that during their interrogation, those accused in police custody stated that they committed the sexual assault and subsequent public humiliation in order to slander the woman.

‘Wine not liquor, sale will benefit farmers’: Sanjay Raut defends Uddhav Thackeray govt’s decision to sell wines at supermarkets

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘Wine not liquor, sale will benefit farmers’: Sanjay Raut defends Uddhav Thackeray govt’s decision to sell wines at supermarkets

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut Friday defended the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s decision to allow the sale of wine at supermarkets and walk-in shops in Maharashtra by claiming the “wine is not liquor”.

Speaking in favour of the Uddhav Thackeray govt’s decision Sanjay Raut reportedly told news agency ANI that the decision has been taken to double the farmers’ income in the state. “Wine is not liquor. If wine sale increases, farmers will get benefit from it. We’ve done this to double farmers’ income,” said the Shiv Sena MP.

The Shiv Sena leader hit out at the opposition BJP for slamming the Uddhav Thackeray-led government’s decision. “BJP only opposes but does nothing for farmers,” Sanjay Raut said. He insisted that the decision of the state government is in the interest of the farmers as it would increase their income.

Sanjay Raut’s remark came in response to former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ criticism that the Shiv Sena-led coalition administration in Maharashtra is trying to turn the state into a “Madya-Rashtra (liquor state).”

“And now the sale of wine from supermarkets/Kirana shops! We won’t allow Maharashtra to become ‘Madya’Rashtra, Fadnavis wrote on Twitter. He was surprised that Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi administration had closed schools and colleges, as well as religious sites such as temples, in order to limit the pandemic, but had allowed liquor shops to remain open.

Maharashtra govt led by Uddhav Thackeray allows sale of wine at grocery shops and supermarkets

It may be noted that the Maharashtra cabinet stated on Thursday that wine will be available in every supermarket in the state. According to the new liquor regulation, wine bottles will be sold in grocery stores and department stores throughout the state. Previously, only liquor stores were permitted to sell wine.

The “shelf-in-shop” method can be used by supermarkets and businesses that have 1,000 square feet of space or more and are registered under the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Act, according to a statement released by the Chief Minister’s Office.

The maximum shelf size allowed in stores would be 2.25 cubic metres, and the annual licence price will be Rs 5000.

In December 2021, the All India Wine Producers’ Association (AIWPA) had requested that wines be sold at grocery stores to make them more accessible. For the past 20 years, Maharashtra, the origin of the country’s wine industry, has provided wine with an excise exemption to aid the budding industry’s growth. However, in the meeting held on Thursday, the state’s cabinet decided to impose a minimal excise levy of Rs 10/litre on bulk wine.

‘Why open bars and keep temples shut’: Anna Hazare questions Maharashtra govt

Interestingly, the Maharashtra government in its Covid-induced restrictions last year had allowed bars and pubs to remain open in the state while temples remained closed. Anna Hazare, the social activist, had then raised questions over the Maharashtra government’s orders and offered his support if devotees hold protests to lift curbs on the temples in the state.

In his statement, Hazare added that the government seems fine with the big queues outside liquor shops in the state, but they are not okay with reopening the temples. Reportedly, he met a delegation of people demanding the reopening of the temples across the state.

BJP staged protests to reopen temples

On August 30 2021, Chandrakant Patil, state chief BJP, held a ‘shankhnad andolan’ and sought the reopening of temples for the public. Protests were held by the party workers outside temples across the state in cities including Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, Nagpur and Solapur. The party workers marched towards the temples blowing conch shells. Patil said, “The shankhanad is necessary to wake up the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which is in deep slumber. Pleas demanding the reopening of temples have gone unheard for the past 15 months.”

Wuhan scientists warn of a new coronavirus strain NeoCov with high infectivity and death rate, 1 in 3 patients can die: Report

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Wuhan scientists warn of a new coronavirus strain NeoCov with high infectivity and death rate, 1 in 3 patients can die: Report

A group of scientists in Wuhan have sounded alarm bells for a new variant of coronavirus, dubbed as ‘NeoCoV’, which they claim is both highly infectious and virulent, leading to the death of 1 in 3 patients infected by the novel strain. 

Related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-coronavirus, NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV (where one in three infected people die on average) and the high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the researchers have said. 

A research report published in bioRxiv website says COVID-19 vaccinations are inadequate to protect humans from any complications caused by the infections caused by the NeoCoV virus. It is notable to mention, however, that the study has not been peer-reviewed so far and has been released in preprint. 

According to a report published in Sputnik, the new strain of coronavirus was found first in the bat population in South Africa and was then spread to other animal specified. The scientists claim the virus needs just mutation to turn it into a zoonotic pathogen, capable of infiltrating human cells. 

As per research, the strain is significantly more dangerous than other variants because of its ability to bind to the ACE2 receptor differently than the previous strains. As a consequence, the antibodies and protein molecules produced by humans are not immune to fight the respiratory diseases and complications induced by the infection caused by the NeoCoV. 

In response to the findings of the new study, Russian researchers from Vector Russian State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology are believed to be aware of the research conducted by Wuhan scientists on NeoCoV coronavirus. But they added that the new virus at present is not capable of transmitting among thw humans. 

The research findings come at a time when the coronavirus caseloads are once again on the rise across the globe, driven by the new highly infectious variant of the virus, Omicron.

Goa: TMC Vice President Luizinho Faleiro withdraws candidature from Fatorda assembly, says he wants to campaign in the whole state

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Goa: TMC Vice President Luizinho Faleiro withdraws candidature from Fatorda assembly, says he wants to campaign in the whole state

On Friday, ahead of the Goa state assembly elections, Trinamool Congress National Vice-President Luizinho Faleiro announced the withdrawal of his candidature from Goa’s Fatorda assembly constituency. He further handed over the seat to a young, female legal activist Seoula Vas, apparently in a bid to empower women.

Luizinho Faleiro said that if he contests the polls, he will be confined to his constituency, but he wants to campaign all over the state for all the candidates of the party. Therefore he decided to withdraw his nomination. Addressing a press conference in Panaji with TMC’s Mahua Moitra besides, Faleiro, who recently had switched over from Congress, said that he had taken the decision after consulting the party’s national chairman. “I’ve taken this decision after consulting our party’s national chairman because I would like to fight and campaign all over Goa for all the TMC candidates so that they can perform well,” Faleiro said. He added that TMC’s policy has been to empower women and that this was a great move in favour of the party.

“My earlier experience says that when I fought the election last time, we could not do justice to them. To replace me, we have a very able Seoula Vas, who will represent the Fatorda constituency”, Faleiro added.

TMC National Vice-President Luizinho Faleiro had joined the party in the month of September and was elected to Rajya Sabha from West Bengal. He was one of the earliest nine members who joined TMC in Goa in presence of Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.

Seoula Vas, who will now contest from the Fatorda assembly, is an advocate activist specializing in Criminal Law and Company-commercial matters. According to her profile on Kanoon.com, she has 6 years of experience in her bag and has counselled before the High Court, NCLT, District courts, trial courts and major tribunals like DRT and Consumer.

As reported earlier, the Mamata Banerjee-led party has declared a total of 24 candidates for the upcoming polls. It had declared its first list on January 19, the second one on January 22 and the third on January 25. The party has given opportunities to many leaders who have recently hopped in from other parties to TMC.

The party has nominated former Goa Forward Party (GFP) working president Kiran Kandolkar from Aldona instead of Tivim. Also Jagdish Bhobe, who switched allegiance from GFP to the TMC after being denied a ticket from St. Andre has made it to the list. The TMC has further given the opportunity to former Congressman Saifulla Khan to contest from the Vasco Assembly seat, whereas Tarak Arolkar, who recently quit the Congress to join the TMC, has been given a ticket from Mapusa Assembly constituency.

Luizinho Faleiro meanwhile said that, he would fight and campaign all over Goa for all the TMC candidates so that they can perform well in the elections. The TMC is fighting the polls for the 40 member assembly in alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). The election for the 40 seats will take place on February 14, and the votes will be counted on March 10.

Samajwadi Party uses Allahabad for Prayagraj and Faizabad for Ayodhya in candidate list, had renamed 9 districts when in power

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Samajwadi Party uses Allahabad for Prayagraj and Faizabad for Ayodhya in candidate list, had renamed 9 districts when in power

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has changed the names of several places in the states, where the names given by Mughals were removed and renamed to ancient names of various places and districts. However, it seems the Samajwadi Party is not being able to accept these changes, because the party is still using the old names.

Yesterday the Samajwadi Party announced its third list for the Uttar Pradesh elections, containing 56 names. In this official list, the party used the district names Allahabad and Faizabad, which are old names of the districts and are no longer the official names. The new names of the districts are Prayagraj and Ayodhya, but the party refused to use the new official names.

In October 2018, the UP government had announced that Allahabad will be renamed to Prayagraj, which was subsequently approved by the centre. The place, which hosts the Kumbh Mela, was named as Prayagraj till 1575, when it was changed to Allahabad during the rule of  Mughal emperor Akbar.

Similarly in November 2018, the Faizabad district in UP was renamed as Ayodhya by the Yogi Adityanath Government, before the historic Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya title suit. It may be noted that the Ayodhya city is located in the Faizabad district, and various organisations were demanding to rename the district as Ayodhya.

But even three years after both the districts were renamed, it seems Samajwadi Party is not able to accept the new names. They obviously love the Mughal given names, and therefore using them in their official documents.

It is notable that while SP does not accept the new names given by the BJP government, the party had renamed much more districts when it was in power. While the BJP govt has renamed only two districts, with demands for renaming more districts still not met, the Akhilesh Yadav govt had renamed as many as nine districts during its tenure.

The SP govt had renamed Prabhuddh Nagar to Shamli, Bhim Nagar to Sambhal, Panchsheel Nagar to Hapur, Mahamaya Nagar to Hathras, Jyotiba Phule Nagar to Amroha, Kanshiram Nagar to Kasganj, Chatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar to Amethi, Ramabai Nagar to Kanpur Dehat and Sant Ravidas Nagar to Bhadohi. SP didn’t rename a single place renamed by Mughals, but had renamed districts that were named after famous personalities etc.

While everyone now uses the new names assigned by the SP govt, now the same party refuses to accept and use new names given by the BJP govt.

The party has released three lists so far, with 159, 39 and 56 names.

Bihar: POCSO court completes trial in 4 days, gives death penalty to Mohammad Major for raping a 6-year-old Dalit girl in Araria

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bihar: POCSO court completes trial in 4 days, gives death penalty to Mohammad Major for raping a 6-year-old Dalit girl in Araria

A special POCSO court in Araria, Bihar completed the trial in a rape case involving a six-year-old in 4 days and awarded the death penalty to accused Mohammad Major (48) on Thursday. Besides handing over the death sentence to the convict for rape, the Araria POCSO Court special judge Shashi Kant Rai also directed the District Legal Services Authority to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the victim from the Victim Compensation Fund.

The entire process was completed within 56-days. The victim’s mother filed an FIR in the matter on December 2, 2021. A case was filed under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and POCSO Act against the accused. On January 12, 2022, the police presented the charge sheet to the court. The Bihar POCSO court took notice of this on January 20, 2022, and on January 24, 2022, it drafted accusations against the convict. Given the gravity of the act, the court issued its decision within 56 days after the incident.

Mohammad Mejar had raped the little girl brutally

The victim’s mother, in her complaint filed on December 2, said that her daughter was playing near their house on December 1 when she suddenly went missing. She added that around 10 pm her daughter returned home and narrated her ordeal. She revealed how Mohammad Major has asked the girl for a container and some water when she was playing outside the house. When she approached Major with the same, he held her and dragged her into the field where he raped her brutally. Following the incident, the victim’s mother lodged an FIR in the women police station against the accused.

According to reports, Mohammad Major was trying to flee to Nepal when he was apprehended by the district police on December 13 last year.

“Following his arrest, district police proceeded for speedy trial in the court. The investigators have submitted vital evidence including swab and skin tissues reports in court. The court held him guilty of a crime under IPC sections of 376. It has also kept his past criminal record. He was considered a sexual predator of Araria,” said the Special public prosecutor of the case.

“The rape of the child by the man involves extreme brutality, which has always been regarded as an aggravated form of rape. The girl was subjected to inhuman acts of torture and cruelty for the sole motive to commit rape. The rape of the girl who was completely innocent clearly falls in the category of rarest of rare cases,” special judge Shashikant Rai of the Bihar POCSO Court observed in his judgement.

Meanwhile, Araria SP Ashok Kumar Singh said that the convict had kidnapped the minor girl, tortured and raped her. “We have ensured speedy trial in the case. The case was investigated and a charge sheet was submitted within 41 days on January 12,” said Singh.

The death penalty to the convict will send a strong message to the society and create a fear among the wrongdoers,” the SP added.

Shyamlal Yadav, a special public prosecutor for the POCSO, said it was likely the first time capital sentence has been granted for rape on a minor girl from a scheduled caste community.

It may be noted that the Araria POCSO Court has earlier, on two occasions set a national record by delivering rape case verdicts within 24 hours. On December 16, 2021, the Araria Pocso court had beaten its own record of conducting and concluding the trial and sentencing of a rape accused to life imprisonment the same day. The same court of special judge Shashi Kant Rai had earlier set a record of convicting a rape accused in single day proceedings on October 4, 2021.

Communist Kerala govt says ‘no’ to Hijab over uniforms for Student Police Cadets: Details

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Communist Kerala govt says ‘no’ to Hijab over uniforms for Student Police Cadets: Details

On Thursday (January 27), the Kerala government has made it clear that the Student Police Cadets (SPC) cannot wear hijab, scarf or full sleeves over their uniform. SPC Project is an initiative by the Kerala police in collaboration with the government to make children conscious about laws, discipline and civic sense.

The development comes days after an 8th Std student of GHSS Kuttiady named Riza Nahan moved the Kerala High Court, alleging that she wasn’t allowed to take part in the parade for wearing a full sleeve uniform with a hijab. In her petition, she claimed that it was her ‘fundamental right’ to wear hijab and full sleeves. Riza had claimed that she was stopped from participating in the parade due to modifications in her uniform.

The Kerala High Court had sought the response of the State on the matter. The Joint Secretary of the Kerala Home Department informed that the addition of religious symbols to the uniform of SPC would be inappropriate. The official added that religious exemptions in one case would send across a wrong message and encourage similar demands by other groups.

He emphasised, “Combining religious matters with uniforms in the present situation would raise the same demands in other similarly functioning forces, which would question the discipline and secular survival of the forces…Therefore, it is not appropriate to give any indication such that the religious symbols are highlighted in the uniform under the Student Police Cadet project.” It was also pointed out that no such demands were made about such modifications to the SPC uniform in the past 10 years.

As per reports, the Home Department also stated that it was not compulsory for the students to join the police cadets. It highlighted that allowing exemptions in uniform will interfere with the secular nature of the institution. One of the objectives behind the creation of the Student Police Cadets Project was to nurture a generation that placed nation over the religious background.

Bangladeshi woman Roni Begum was living in Karnataka for 15 years as ‘Payal Ghosh’, had fake voter ID, arrested

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bangladeshi woman Roni Begum was living in Karnataka for 15 years as ‘Payal Ghosh’, had fake voter ID, arrested

The Karnataka police have arrested a 27-year-old Bangladeshi Muslim woman who was living in India for 15 years pretending to be a Hindu. The woman has been identified as one Roni Begum, who was living in the outskirts of Bengaluru. The woman was arrested on the inputs given by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). She is reportedly from Bangladesh’s Narail district and was arrested on January 25 from her rented house in T Nethaji Nagar, T Dasarahalli, Northwest Bengaluru, according to Byadarahalli police.

According to reports, Roni Begum was living for 15 years pretending to be a Hindu woman called Payal Ghosh. She was married to a delivery executive called Nithin Kumar from Mangaluru. After the arrest of the woman, her husband has been absconding and a manhunt is on to locate him.

Roni Begum had snuck into India from Bangladesh when she was 12-years-old and had stayed on in the country. Once in India, she had also worked as a bar dancer in Mumbai to make ends meet.

It was reportedly during her stint as a bar-dancer that she had claimed she was a Bengali woman whose name was Payal Ghosh.

Roni Begum had fallen in love with Nitish Kumar and got married to him. The couple settled in Anjananagar, Bengaluru, in 2019 after their marriage. The woman worked as a tailor. During their stay in Mumbai, the couple were able to obtain a PAN card, and Nithin acquired an Aadhaar card with the assistance of a friend in Bengaluru. 

It was when the woman’s father passed away that this 15-year-old charade started to unravel. For the funeral of her father, Begum had to travel to Bangladesh. She had planned to travel to Bengal and from there, travel to Dhaka. During her travel, immigration officers had gotten suspicious and confiscated her passport. During this incident in 2020, they had launched an investigation and recorded her statement but had not arrested her. It was during the ensuing investigation that it was discovered she was an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant.

While the investigation was on, however, Roni Begum had already travelled back to Bengaluru. The FRRO had informed the Bengaluru Police Commissioner that she was an illegal immigrant and a case was registered against her by the Byadarahalli police. It took the police 3 months to track her after questioning the places where the couple had worked and lived.

Sanjeev Patil, the DCP West, said an investigation is underway to track down the people who helped her get a PAN card, an Aadhar card, and a voter identification card.

Bihar: ‘Khan Sir’ disappears after FIR as protests by Railway job aspirants gathers political support, read details

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bihar: ‘Khan Sir’ disappears after FIR as protests by Railway job aspirants gathers political support, read details

A clutch of student protesters organising ‘Bihar Bandh’ today across the state have blocked roads in Patna and set public properties, tyres on fire.

As per reports, popular private instructor ‘Khan Sir’ went underground after the Bihar Police has registered an FIR against him for inciting violence in the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) examinations case. Khan has locked his coaching centre ‘Khan GS Research Centre’, turned off his mobile phone and has disappeared since last 24 hours.

The Bihar Police had on Wednesday arrested 4 students involved in the vandalization of trains in Arrah and Patna while protesting against alleged irregularities in the RRB-NTPC exams. According to the Police, the 4 arrested students further mentioned 12 protesters and names of teachers who allegedly motivated them to create violence.

The Bihar Police then is said to have registered an FIR against 16 student protesters and teachers named Khan Sir, SK Jha Sir, Naveen Sir, Amarnath Sir, Gagan Pratap Sir and Gopal Varma Sir. These teachers operate private coaching centres and prepare students for competitive exams.

Khan had yesterday posted a video for all his students and warned them that no one would support them if they continue to protest against the irregularities in RRB-NTPC exams. In a 7-minute long video, Khan said that the students will be labelled as ‘terrorists’ if they create violence in the society and then no one will support or help them.

He also held Railway Board responsible for the violence and assured the students that the government will definitely fulfil the demands and Prime Minister’s Office has taken cognisance of the matter. “The mistake was committed by RRB and hence it has been sidelined now”, he stated reiterating his request to cease the violence in Bihar.

What has happened?

Thousands of RRB-NTPC aspirants in Bihar initiated the protest on January 24 against the alleged confusing schedules of Railway exams. During the protests, they created a disturbance in the passenger train schedules in Patna, Arrah, Gaya and many other cities of Bihar.

On January 25, ‘student protesters’ set a train on fire in Arrah and pelted stones at the train. The very next day, citing the occasion of 73rd Republic Day, they gathered at the Gaya Railway station and repeated the drill. This time they torched an empty, stationary compartment of Shramjeevi Express and pelted stones at another moving train.

The videos of the episode went viral on social media. The protesters had also sat down on the railway tracks threatening to kill themselves and complained about the RRB exam mess.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also extended his support to the protesters and had said that these students are the ‘hope’ of the country. “I am against the policies of the BJP government and will be with you in favour of truth but violence is not our way. If you can take freedom from non-violent protest then why not your right?”, he had tweeted.

Cancellation of Exams by Railways Board–

Following the heavy violent protests by the aspirants, the RRB on January 26 formed a high power committee and decided to suspend the NCPT Level 1 exams. Railways also issued a public notice against the students involved in vandalism and unlawful activities and noted that they might face lifetime debarment.

The high power committee has, however, opened a window to listen to the grievances and concerns of the students. In an official notice, the Board has invited suggestions and complaints from the aspirants by February 16 and has assured to resolve the problem.

Who is Khan Sir?

Khan Sir is a private coaching teacher who is quite popular for his instruction videos on YouTube. In the video that he posted on January 18, he had highlighted the irregularities in the RRB exams. Khan alleged that RRB had ruined the lives of around 3,80,000 students.

He added that exams were held in 2019, but no results were declared since then. “We had to protest in 2020, 2021 and finally when results were out in the year 2022, the board failed 3,80,000 students. What kind of drama is this?”, he said.

He had questioned the Railway Recruitment Board saying that the government had assured 20% result but had settled at only 11%. Addressing his 14.5 million viewers he said that ‘farmers in Delhi were heard after they protested for one long year, students must protest at least for a week to raise voice against the RRB’. He specifically mentioned taking the help of the teachers and playing no politics in the matter.

According to the reports, before an FIR was filed against him, Khan had said that he should be arrested if he was wrong and had a ‘role to play in the violence’. The real name of Khan is however not revealed yet. Reports mention that his full name is Faisal Khan but some know him also as Amit Singh who belongs to Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Khan had earlier said that the coaching institute in which he teaches had asked him to keep his name a secret.

Former Bihar Chief Minister, Jan Adhikar Party supporting Khan Sir and the protests-

It is pertinent to note that Khan is being supported by the Jan Adhikar Party’s leader Pappu Yadav. He had said in a tweet that the oppression of students and teachers must stop. Yesterday, posting another tweet, he alleged that politics was being played in this case in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

“The investigation committee of rigging in the restoration of railway, NTPC is only an attempt to postpone the issue till the UP elections. Why not investigate within 15 days?”, he asked raising the slogan of ‘Bihar Bandh’ on Janary 28.

In support of Khan, Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi also said that the time had come for the government to talk about employment. “The situation can become worse than this. The cases against teachers, including Khan Sir, can further incite violence in the protest”, he tweeted yesterday.

It is further worth noting that the Rashtriya Janata Dal has also asked its leaders to support students’ unions call for Bihar Bandh today over alleged discrepancies in RRB NTPC results.

The Railway Job aspirants are to hold protests today across Bihar as Mahagathbandhan parties including RJD and Congress has announced their support for a ‘Bihar Bandh’.

1...3,6043,6053,606...7,678Page 3,605 of 7,678