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Battle-line drawn between BJP and Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur after Congress withdraws from the race

OpIndia Staff
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Battle-line drawn between BJP and Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur after Congress withdraws from the race

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday formally announced that she will contest Bhabanipur assembly by-election as the candidate of the Trinamool Congress. The Trinamool Congress had on Sunday officially announced her candidature for Bhabanipur which is home borough of Mamata Banerjee. Mamata Banerjee has to win the by-election to retain her position as CM as she had the Nandigram constituency to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari during the assembly polls.

Bhabanipur is a cosmopolitan space within Kolkata where around 40 % of the population is Marwaris, Gujaratis, Punjabis and other non-Bengali communities.

Bhabanipur along with two other constituencies namely Jangipur and Samserganj of West Bengal will go for poll on September 30.  Counting of the votes will be held on October 3, as per the notification of the Election Commission of India. Bhabanipur seat was vacated by West Bengal Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in May for Mamata Banerjee to contest.

With this announcement, she also started election campaigning against her chief rival; the BJP which had thrown a very tough fight during the recently held eight-phase assembly elections in Bengal.

In this by-election, the BJP will be her chief rival as the Bengal unit of the BJP had sent six names to central leadership to pick any of them as candidate against the chief minister including former governor Tathagata Roy, Priyanka Tibrewal and Biswajit Sarkar. Sarkar is the brother of BJP worker Abhijit Sarkar who was allegedly murdered by Trinamool Congress workers in Kolkata on May 2.

Mamata Banerjee had accused the BJP and the Narendra Modi government for using central agencies to target leaders of the Trinamool Congress. Nevertheless, the Bengal government and her party have been facing probes over allegations of post-poll violence including rape and murder. The CBI is investigating these cases under judicial supervision on the orders of the Calcutta High Court.

In the assembly election she retained Bengal for the third consecutive term but this time she lost the Nandigram seat to her BJP rival Suvendu Adhikari. She took oath as chief minister of Bengal after the election but it was very much required for her to get elected within six months after taking oath as per rules.

Now it seems that the BJP; the principal opposition party in Bengal assembly, will be the only challenger to this fresh bid of Mamata Banerjee

The Congress party has withdrawn from the fray even if very recently the Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had said that his party will contest Bhabanipur. The party has announced that it will not field any candidate against Mamata Banerjee. Earlier on Monday, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had said that the Congress would field a candidate against Banerjee in Bhabanipur. However, on Tuesday he said that the AICC has decided not to field any candidate opposite Banerjee for the September 30 bypoll.

The Congress which has been completely washed away in Bengal doesn’t want to annoy Mamata Banerjee so that the party can piggyback on Mamata Banerjee in the 2024 parliamentary election.

Cabinet approves purchase of 56 C-295MW military transport aircraft from Airbus for IAF, 40 of them to be made in India

OpIndia Staff
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Cabinet approves purchase of 56 C-295MW military transport aircraft from Airbus for IAF, 40 of them to be made in India

The Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday approved the purchase of 56 C-295MW military transport aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space in Spain for the Indian Air Force. Of the 56 aircraft, 16 will be purchased in flyway condition from Spain, while the rest 40 will be manufactured in India under the Make in India initiative by a consortium led by Tata Advanced Systems Limited in collaboration with Airbus.

C-295MW aircraft is a twin-turboprop transport aircraft of 5-10 Tonne capacity with contemporary technology that will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of IAF. The aircraft has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para dropping of troops and cargo. IAF currently operates 57 Hawker Siddeley HS 748 aircraft, originally designed by British company Avro and manufactured by HAL under licence in India, which are being retired.

HAL had offered to upgrade the HS 748 Avro fleet to modernise it, but the IAF had rejected the proposal. The lack of a rear ramp door in the Avro aircraft means that it can’t be used to transport military equipment for logistical support, and has largely been used for troop and VVIP movement.

According to a statement issued by the ministry of defence, 16 aircraft will be delivered in flyaway condition from Spain within 48 months of signing of the contract, and the rest 48 aircraft will be manufactured in India by TATA Consortium within ten years of signing of the contract.

This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. All 56 aircraft will be installed with the indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite. The project will give a boost to the aerospace ecosystem in India wherein several MSMEs spread over the country will be involved in the manufacturing of parts of the aircraft, said the ministry.

The deal is reported to be worth around $2.5 billion, which will be signed among the Indian Air Force, Airbus and the Tata consortium. This deal marks the end of the monopoly of state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in the defence aircraft sector. The Tata group company already has joint ventures with global defence majors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Sikorsky etc for manufacturing crucial parts for defence aircraft.

The programme will provide a major boost to the `Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ of the Government as it offers a unique opportunity for the Indian Private Sector to enter into a technology-intensive and highly competitive aviation Industry. The project will augment domestic aviation manufacturing resulting in reduced import dependence and an expected increase in exports.

According to the ministry, a large number of parts, sub-assemblies and major component assemblies of aerostructure are scheduled to be manufactured in India. The programme will act as a catalyst in employment generation in the aerospace ecosystem of the country and is expected to generate 600 highly skilled jobs directly, over 3000 indirect jobs and an additional 3000 medium skill employment opportunities.

Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti bat for Taliban, say they hope Taliban will run govt as per Islamic sharia laws

OpIndia Staff
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Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti bat for Taliban, say they hope Taliban will run govt as per Islamic sharia laws

As the Taliban has formed an interim government in Afghanistan ahead of constituting a final government, National Congress Chief Farooq Abdullah, NC leader Omar Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti talked in favour of the Taliban. In separate statements, the three leaders batted for the Jihadi regime in Afghanistan and ‘hoped’ the Talibs would be able to ‘change the perspective of the world’ towards them.

Senior Abdullah believes that the Taliban translates to good governance. He said, “Afghanistan is a separate country. Now those who have come to power need to run the government. I hope that they will do justice to everyone and run a good government in which they will respect human rights and run the government in accordance with Islamic laws. I would like to add that they should try to maintain friendly relationships with all nations.”

Amit Malviya, BJP IT cell head, objected to the comments and said, “Abdullah should realize that comment on international relations and to comment on affairs of other countries is not the job of a former chief minister. It is the job of the Ministry of External Affairs,” and urged him to restrain from making any such comments.

Omar Abdullah had recently slammed the government for holding talks with the Taliban to facilitate the evacuation of Indians from Afghanistan. “You cannot have different yardsticks for different organizations. If they are a terror organization, why are you talking to them? If they are not a terrorist organization, why are you banning their bank accounts? Why are you not recognizing their government? Make up your mind what it is. I am not the decision-maker.” He urged the Modi government to move to the UN to end the Taliban’s blacklisting if the government does not consider them terrorists.

PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti had earlier threatened the government of India using the Taliban’s name. She had said that the Taliban forced a superpower like the US to leave Afghanistan and demanded the Indian government to hold talks like Vajpayee did.

On September 8, she rooted for the Taliban government in Afghanistan and said, “Taliban is emerging as a reality. They should work on their image of anti-human rights, and if they want to run the government in Afghanistan, they should run it according to the real Sharia according to Quran Shareef, in which women and children have rights. If they follow the real Sharia, they can become an example for the world. Only then they would do business with them.” She further added if they ran the government according to the way they did in the 1990s, it would not be a good sign for Afghanistan and the rest of the world.

Taliban announced first interim cabinet

Recently, the Taliban has announced its first interim cabinet that would start functioning from September 11, 2021. Hasan Akhund has been named as the Prime Minister, while Sirajuddin Haqqani has been appointed as the internal minister in the 33-member cabinet. Both PM and Internal Minister have been designated as terrorists by the UN.  

The Secret War: How a 2012 documentary revealed Pakistan was supporting Taliban and American soldiers knew it

Jinit Jain
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The Secret War: How a 2012 documentary revealed Pakistan was supporting Taliban and American soldiers knew it

A documentary released in 2012, almost a decade before the fall of Kabul to resurgent Taliban, shed light on the double-dealing of the entities that identified themselves as the allies of the United States but were covertly working to undermine its mission in Afghanistan. Titles ‘The Secret War’, it details how the United States was fighting a losing battle in Afghanistan all these years.

Following the twin tower attacks in September 2001, the United States had invaded Afghanistan and toppled the then Taliban regime from power, in a bid to locate Osama Bin Laden and obliterate the terror network of his organisation, Al Qaeda. Almost 10 years later, Osama Bin Laden was killed in a secret operation carried out by the Special US Forces after his location was traced to a nondescript compound in the backwater town of Abbottabad, Pakistan.

While many imagined that the US would soon end its war in Afghanistan, especially after the elimination of Osama Bin Laden, the American forces on the ground knew the war was far from being over. Against this background, journalists Martin Smith and Stephen Grey of the Frontline visited Pakistan in 2011 to understand the dynamics that were at play in America’s war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The documentary, titled ‘The Secret War’, which was released later, was a culmination of the six-month investigation carried out by Smith and Stephen Grey and provided a window into interminably long-drawn-out war the United States had waged against Islamic terror outfits such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

US soldiers were unhappy about Pakistan’s support to Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists

During the investigation, Smith and Grey found that the American soldiers stationed along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border were unhappy with the latter, for their covert support to the insurgency and terrorism targeted against the United States. One of the US troops, who wished to remain anonymous, confided to the reporters that the ground soldiers manning the border reportedly complained to the seniors about the Pakistani complicity in helping the Talibani and Al Qaeda terrorists cross the border and infiltrate into Afghanistan.

“It could be turning a blind eye as the insurgents launched rockets from Pakistan to the US bases located across the border. It could also be allowing passage to the terrorists, right under their noses, to safely cross the border into Afghanistan. It could be providing insurgents with vital information such as details of our patrol or the Afghan army’s patrol along the border. It was complicity on their part, said Maj Michael Waltz, US Army Forces Reserves, while speaking about Pakistan’s treachery in propping up Al Qaeda and the Taliban terrorists against the United States.

The documentary showed that the Taliban leaders, who had fled Afghanistan in the aftermath of the US invasion, moved freely inside Pakistan. The two journalists met a Taliban commander in the outskirts of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The commander told them how dependent the Taliban was for a sanctuary in Pakistan to continue their war across the border.

“Across the border, our life is very difficult now. But the Pakistanis are helping us,” the Taliban commander told the Frontline scribes. “Pakistan is our nation. They are our people. They help us and support us. They are on our side. Our war is in Afghanistan, and our operations are continuing. But it is not necessary to endanger our lives and live there.”

Pakistan claimed to support the USA, but provided help to its enemies openly

New Yorker journalist Dexter Filkins had called Pakistan a duplicitous country, one that claims to be an ally of the United States but is also known for extending support to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and even to the Haqqani network, one of the deadliest terror organisations operating in Afghanistan.

Amrullah Saleh, the former vice president of Afghanistan, was also interviewed as a part of the documentary to probe Pakistan’s role in supporting the Taliban. Saleh had then concurred with the intelligence assessment that the resilience of the Taliban and its ally, Haqqani Network, in mounting attacks against the US forces in Afghanistan could be attributed to the support they receive from Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.

“ISI knows that they are operating from Pakistani soil to undermine America’s objectives in the region and the ISI is happy that they are doing it because through them(Haqqani network and the Taliban), Pakistan promotes their policy in Afghanistan,” said Saleh, who worked as the Afghan Intelligence Head from 2004 to 2010 before taking a plunge into politics.

Pakistan helped the Taliban in their offensive in Panjshir valley: Reports

Nine years after the documentary was released accusing Pakistan of being in cahoots with the Taliban, Islamabad helped the terror outfit in their fight against the resistance movement led by Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh in the Panjshir Valley.

The last bastion of resistance forces in Afghanistan- Panjshir came under heavy fire on Sunday, September 6. The former Samangan MP Zia Arianjad in a quote to Aamaj News informed that the province was bombed by Pakistani Air Force drones. 

Even now, the ministers and officials of Pakistan are seen openly flaunting their support and help to the Taliban. ISI chief Faiz Hameed had flown to Kabul to meet Taliban leaders just days before the attack on Panjshir.

Several news agencies reported that the Taliban got help from the Pakistani army in their fight against the resistance forces. According to sources close to the resistance forces, Pakistan provided air support to the Taliban in their campaign to lay control of the Panjshir Valley. It is reported to have airdropped special forces to fight along with the Taliban against the resistance forces. 

Assam: Ferry sinks in Brahmaputra River after colliding with another boat near Majuli, more than 50 feared missing

OpIndia Staff
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Assam: Ferry sinks in Brahmaputra River after colliding with another boat near Majuli, more than 50 feared missing

In a horrific incident, one ferry sank in the Brahmaputra River in Assam after it collided with another ferry near the banks of Majuli Island. The capsized ferry, named Maa Kamala, had approximately 120 passengers on it, and several among them are missing. The passenger boat was moving from Nimati Ghat near Jorhat to Kamalabari in Majuli, where it collided with a goods carrier vessel and sank soon after.

According to reports, around 60 to 65 people are missing and are feared to be drowned. According to eyewitnesses, the ferry Maa Kamala was around 100 meters away from reaching the bank at Kamalabari in Majuli when it collided with the other ferry travelling in the opposition. The boat turned over after that, and some passengers managed to climb onto the body of the vessel, who were saved by other boats present at the ghat.

All the people travelling in the other boat have been rescued, as the vessel remained on water and was immediately anchored to the port.

A video of the incident has emerged on social media, showing people climbing onto the outer hull of the vessel even it turns upside down. They were rescued by another boat that had reached the spot to help them.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have already reached the spot and started rescue operations. It is estimated that around 30-35 people have been rescued so far, by both locals and rescue teams. The rescued persons include a 2 months old kid, who was saved.

As the incident happened in the evening, the rescue operations have become difficult due to darkness.

The sank ferry was also carrying 4 cars and more than 20 two-wheelers, all of which are under water now. The capsized boat has been located by the divers, while the other vessel has already been pulled to the river bank.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted that he is “pained at the tragic boat accident near Nimati Ghat, Jorhat.” He informed that he has informed Majuli and Jorhat administration to undertake rescue work, and also asked minister Bimal Borah to rush to the site.

Former Assam CM and union Ayush and Shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who had represented Majuli assembly constituency, also tweeted that he is anguished to learn of the incident. He informed that he has directed the union shipping ministry to provide all necessary support to help the victims.

Due to heavy rainfall in the last several days, the water of the Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger level at various places, including Majuli.

Afghanistan: Taliban flogs, assaults two journalists who were covering women’s protests

OpIndia Staff
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Afghanistan: Taliban flogs, assaults two journalists who were covering women’s protests

Two journalists, Taqi Daryabi and Nematullah Naqdi, associated with Afghanistan newspaper Etilaatroz, were reportedly flogged and beaten up by Taliban. The two were captured when they were covering women’s protests. Bruise marks of cable wires and sticks which were used to hold them and assault them were also found on their bodies.

They were taken to hospital for the treatment.

As per the report, the duo had gone to Kart-e-Char area of Western Kabul to cover the protests by the women. The women were protesting against lack of women representation in the newly announced Taliban government which has names of US designated terrorists in the top echelon.

The captured journalists were released after four hours of captivity. Other journalists were also captured by Taliban and eventually released.

Taliban assaults journalists

Ever since Afghanistan fell to the Islamist group Taliban, there has been an increase in human rights violation. Many journalists have also been attacked by Taliban. A relative of one journalist associated with German broadcaster DW was shot down by Taliban when they went looking for the journalist. Homes of at least three DW journalists in Afghanistan were raided by Taliban soon after they took over Afghanistan. Prior to that, Taliban had attacked journalists covering protests in Jalalabad. Similarly, CNN journalists were also reportedly attacked by Taliban.

‘Overflowing vanity of a failed crown prince’: Edu Minister Dharmendra Pradhan slams Rahul Gandhi’s rant to postpone NEET

OpIndia Staff
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‘Overflowing vanity of a failed crown prince’: Edu Minister Dharmendra Pradhan slams Rahul Gandhi’s rant to postpone NEET

On September 8, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for trying to stir up protests against the government of India to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) that is scheduled for September 12, 2021. In his tweet, Gandhi had written, “GOI is blind to students’ distress. Postpone #NEET exam. Let them have a fair chance.”

Pradhan quoted Gandhi and said, “Rahul Gandhi perceives himself to be an expert on everything without having an iota of knowledge. Overflowing vanity & misplaced sense of entitlement of a failed crown prince is no alibi to meddle into the schedule of examinations, give undue stress & make the students suffer.”

Pradhan further added that the Supreme Court of India already refused to entertain pleas to reschedule the exam and questioned what made Gandhi an expert on the issue. He said, “Even the Hon’ble Supreme Court has not entertained the plea to reschedule the #NEET examination citing the deferment as being unfair to a large number of students. What makes Rahul Gandhi the ‘pseudo expert’ question the collective wisdom of the bench and actual experts?”

He asked Gandhi not to interfere in matters that he had no understanding of. He said, “Yuvraj should stick to his expertise of concocting lies, peddling half-truths and being the antagonist to anything progressive, rather than issuing sweeping statements on matters he has no understanding of.”

The issue of NEET exams

National Testing Agency (NTA) has scheduled NEET-UG 2021 for September 12, 2021. NEET has been delayed due to the pandemic situation in the country. A section of students and parents had objected to the date and demanded to postpone the exams.

A group of students and parents had submitted a plea in the Supreme Court to get the exam postponed. A bench comprising Justice AM Khanwilkar, justice Hrishikesh Roy and justice CT Ravikumar refused to entertain the plea and said if the students want to appear in multiple exams, they have to prioritise and make a choice for which exam they would want to appear. The court added that there might never be a situation where all students would be satisfied with the date of the exams.

The court, however, allowed the petitioners to make a representation before the competent authorities on the issue that can decide on the dates as per the law. The bench further told the counsel representing the students, “The arguments which you (counsel for petitioners) are canvassing may not be relevant for 99 per cent candidates. For one per cent candidates, the entire system cannot be put on hold.”

As per the report published in ANI, around 25,000 students were scheduled to appear in improvement or compartment exams for class 12, the bench noted that only one per cent of the students are expected to opt for these exams. The counsel, however, claimed that NEET should be postponed as many other exams were scheduled on or around September 12, not only compartment or improvement exams.

The court said, “If you are to appear in multiple examinations, then you need to make a choice. You have to prioritise. You must also be conscious that any deferment is likely to clash with some other examination.” The court refused to interfere in the functioning of different boards and said that it would allow them to do their job. The court said if it postponed NEET, it might affect the next course, and everything would get prolonged.

Several groups had tried to postpone NEET last year too

In 2020 too, several groups and political leaders had tried to postpone the NEET and JEE exams. Rahul Gandhi was one of them. Others included Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Aaditya Thackeray and Subramanian Swamy. Co-ordinated protests, hiring professional ‘protestors’ like the propped up ‘child activist’ Licypriya, were planned in Delhi to demand the postponement of NEET.

Pune gang rape case: Minor girl sexually assaulted by over a dozen men for days at multiple locations. Details

OpIndia Staff
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Pune gang rape case: Minor girl sexually assaulted by over a dozen men for days at multiple locations. Details

On Tuesday (September 7), the police apprehended 6 people for the abduction and gang rape of a 14-year-old girl at multiple locations in and around the Pune railway station in Maharashtra. A day earlier on Monday, the Pune City police had arrested 8 other men involved in the heinous crime.

As per reports, the 6 accused arrested on Tuesday include Meerawali Shaikh, Mahboob alias Gaus Shaikh, Asif Pathan, Shahjur alias Siraj Chhaparband, Sameer Shaikh, Firoz alias Shahrukh Shaikh. Akbar Amar Shaikh, Noib Naim Khan, Asif Feroz Pathan, Rafik Murtaja Shaikh, Mashak Abdulmajid Kanyal, Azharuddin Islamuddin Ansari, Prashan Samuel Gaikwad, and Rajkumar Ramangina Prasad were arrested on Monday.

The 14 men were booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 34 (common intention), 363 (kidnapping), 376-da (gangrape of women under 16), 377(unnatural sex). Besides, Sections 4(2), 5(g), 12, 8, 6 of the POCSO Act 2012 was also invoked against the accused. The police had informed that the 5 of the accused arrested on Tuesday were accomplices of the earlier 8 accused. The group of 8 men were produced before a special court on Monday and remanded to 10 days in police custody till September 16. Two of the accused worked as Class IV employees at the Pune railway station while one of them was an air conditioning repairman.

About 6 of the accused men were autorickshaw drivers. One of the accused was an acquaintance of the victim, who took her to Chandigarh despite knowing that she was a minor. After the matter came to light, the Pune railways administration suspended the two employees from service. While speaking about the matter, a police inspector informed, “We have arrested five accomplices of the eight perpetrators arrested earlier. We have also arrested a 20-year-old acquaintance of the girl with whom she had travelled to Chandigarh after being released by the other accused.”

The Background of the incident

The rape victim is a 14-year-old girl and a student of Class VII. On the night of August 31, she had gone to the Pune railway station at around 10:30 pm to meet a friend. At this point, it remains unclear as to how she reached the station from her residence. Reportedly, her friend could not come to the station and the victim began looking for an autorickshaw to take her home. One driver offered her a ride but instead took the auto in a different direction.

Along with his aide, the accused sexually assaulted the minor girl in a ‘secluded spot.’ While threatening to harm the victim’s family, they took her to different locations in and around the Pune railway station. The autorickshaw driver and his accomplices then took turns to rape her between August 31 and September 1. After the girl went missing on August 31, the victim’s family had approached the Wanwadi police station on the following day and had filed a ‘missing person’ complaint. A case of kidnapping was thus registered by the cops on September 1.

One of the initial challenges for the police was to establish the sequence of events and understand how the accused men managed to take the victim to several different. According to an investigating officer, the victim was raped under tree cover, inside a lodge, in autorickshaws and the office premises of the Indian Railways. He added that the accused men would be taken to different locations to establish the timeline of the brutal gang rape.

“We are investigating the possibility of all 13 having sexually exploited the girl at some point of time… we are now trying to exactly establish the sequence of events and how the girl was taken to different places. The arrested accused will also be taken to these places to affirm the timeline that we know as of now. The girl was raped in multiple secluded locations, places with a tree cover or inside a lodge, and even in two auto-rickshaws and on the premises of an office of the Indian Railways. We are examining these locations to build our case.”

Investigation in the Pune gang-rape case

While speaking to the Times of India, senior police inspector Deepak Lagad informed that one of the accused saw the victim crying at the station and offered her a ride back home. “However, he took her to a lodge and raped her. Later, he called his friends, who took turns to rape the girl at various places before they left her on board the Pune-Jammu Tawi Jhelum express train around 5:30 pm on September 2,” Lagad pointed out. According to him, the police investigated the CCTV footage in and around the Pune railway station and was able to identify the autorickshaw driver, who bought the train ticket for the girl and left her on the Pune-Jammu Tawi Jhelum express.

“The police sent wireless messages to all railway police stations along the train route. The Chandigarh railway police found the girl on September 4 and alerted the Pune police. A police team reached Chandigarh by air on September 5 to bring the girl back to Pune. She has narrated her woes to a woman police officer…Based on the girl’s narration and CCTV footage, we took the autorickshaw driver into custody. He admitted to his involvement in the crime and revealed the names of his 12 others,” Lagad added.

Rescue, rehabilitation and aftermath

The girl was taken to the Sassoon General Hospital for immediate medical treatment. Her condition is said to be stable. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Namrata Patil said, “The survivor and the suspects are not known to each other. For now, the girl is recuperating at a government hospital. Her medical test report is awaited.” According to the DCP, the victim might reveal a few more names in the upcoming days.

In a press statement, the Pune district information officer quoted Ajit Pawar and remarked, “The incident of rape of minor girl in Pune is infuriating and shameful. The police have taken steps to arrest all perpetrators and the state government will make sure that they receive the maximum possible punishment. Police have been given directions to make sure that such incidents do not happen again. As the suspects in the case include Railway employees, the state will contact the Union Railway Ministry to take necessary steps.”

Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki now demands namaz room in Uttar Pradesh Assembly

OpIndia Staff
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Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki now demands namaz room in Uttar Pradesh Assembly

The decision of the Jharkhand assembly to officially notify a specious room of the assembly as a prayer room for Muslims has emboldened an MLA of Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh assembly Irfan Solanki to demand a separate room for namaz at Uttar Pradesh assembly building too.

The MLA wrote to Uttar Pradesh assembly Speaker Hridya Narayan Dixit and demanded to allot a prayer room for Muslim MLAs. He stated that attending assembly sessions and offering worship both are for him. He claimed that in Bihar a separate room was provided for prayer. Besides, he added that similar demand is being made in Maharashtra also. He said that he is an MLA from the past 15 years and he had a problem in offering namaz during the session of the assembly.

The SP MLA has made this demand ahead of Uttar Pradesh assembly election scheduled the next year. This move comes days after the Jharkhand Assembly made a separate room for offering namaz.

The Jharkhand assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato is still unapologetic that by issuing an official notification to allot a room (TW-348) at the new assembly building for namaz, he might have grossly violated the Indian Constitution. The constitution prohibits any discrimination on the religious line.

The Speaker is defending the indefensible stating that in the old assembly building, too, there used to be a room meant for offering namaaz. Previously, the assembly was operating on the Russian Hostel building of the HEC. But the Speaker has the tough time to substantiate that in the past a space on the assembly premise was officially allocated through the notification. Now the Speaker insists that one should not go to the notification part.    

Speaking to the OpIndia Jharkhand assembly’s first Speaker, Inder Singh Namdhari who remained in chair from November 2000 till 2006 said that no room was allocated to offer namaz till he was the Speaker. The utterly unconstitutional act of the Jharkhand assembly is being backed by Hemant Soren led JMM-Congress-RJD government. Now this has snowballed into a political and legal controversy.

Ranchi resident Bhairav Singh on Tuesday filed a PIL at the Jharkhand High Court. Lawyer Rajiv Kumar appearing on the behalf of Singh confirmed the development stating that they have cited provisions of Indian Constitution to set aside the order of the assembly Speaker.  

Congress party’s ‘agitation committee’ may rope in NGOs, ‘activists’ and ‘intellectuals’ for its fight against Modi govt: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Congress party’s ‘agitation committee’ may rope in NGOs, ‘activists’ and ‘intellectuals’ for its fight against Modi govt: Report

Soon after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) constituted an ‘agitation committee’ to run protests against the Bhartiya Janta Party and the union government, it is now being said that Congress plans to rope civil society organisations, activists and intellectuals to implement this new toolkit. 

As per an Economic Times report, apart from mobilizing its own party, the Congress party could simultaneously reach out to anti-BJP social activists, NGOs and intellectuals who have been perturbed by the Modi regime. 

The source-based report says that Digvijay Singh who has been appointed as the Chairman of the ‘agitation committee, is known to network with civil society organisations and activists opposed to the Sangh Parivar.

One cannot ignore the fact that Singh, soon after the formation of the panel had Tweeted cheering the alleged farmers protesting against the three Farm Bills. 

Agitation panel to leverage mobocracy

Reportedly, AICC insiders have hinted at a long-drawn agitation strategy to trigger the citizens on varied issues. This includes monetisation (of national/public assets), inflation and unemployment with a fair chance of going hammer and tongs at Sangh parivar outfits. 

The agitation committee which is to hold its first meeting in the next week will be working with a laser focus to make the best of the ongoing farmers’ protest. Congress is likely to call for nationwide protests against the Centre from September 20 to 30 hand in glove with 18 ‘like-minded’ opposition parties. A Bharat Bandh is also being planned for September 27. 

With Priyanka Gandhi as a part of the agitation committee and general secretary from poll-bound UP,  the agitation committee could look at exercises to stir dissent against the BJP regime. 

Congress has been in the doldrums in almost every state governed by it causing massive embarrassment to the party. It has also been criticized severely for its flailing role as a national opposition. 

In a bid to resurrect itself as a strong national opposition, Congress has been forced to bank on the andolanjeevis, dubious NGOs and outdated activists.

Congress party leaders like Uttam Kumar Reddy, Manish Chatrath, BK Hariprasad, Ripun Bora, Udit Raj, Ragini Nayak and Zuber Khan have already been activated to fuel the Kisan Andolan further under this panel. 

Congress leader Ragini Nayak Re-Tweets several posts on Kisan Andolan

Congress-Soros-Andolanjeevi trio

What one should worry about is George Soros– a Hungarian American businessman and a self-proclaimed philanthropist’s plausible involvement and role in causing an upheaval in India using various networks funded by him comprising of NGOs, media, intelligentsia, etc.

Soros who has vowed to dismantle every ‘nationalist government’ globally has spent two decades lay his ‘democracy death trap’ in India. 

The Media Gang

Journalists like Ritu Sarin, Shyamlal Yadav and P Vaidyanathan Iyer of the Indian Express, Rakesh Kalshian – a former IANS editor who now works for German Channel Deutsche Welle (DW), Murali Krishnan and Yusuf Jameel of the Asian Age are all a part of the Soros media network through the International Committee of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). 

Amartya Sen- a Congress brand promoter, along with George Soros, is part of the advisory council of NGO Namati (funded by Open Souce Foundation) that works for ‘environmental justice’ in India.

Another controversial individual who has done more harm to India than any other person in recent times is none other than Harsh Mander. Harsh Mander, known for his close ties with the first family of the Congress party, has been associated with Open Society Foundations.

His role in instigating the Anti-Hindu Delhi riots, particularly the violence around the Jamia Millia Islamia campus in December 2019, has been under scrutiny for some time now.

The Andolanjeevi Gang

One of the ambassadors of the ongoing farmers’ protest in India Yogendra Yadav also reportedly has Soros links. Yadav, who, as a professor at the Centre for Study of Developing Societies in 2006, had presented a State of Democracy in South Asia (SDSA) study in front of Soros, who was visiting India for the first time. 

Soros and his gang were also severely critical of India’s revised citizenship norms. Some of these anti-Modi activists to have flared the anti-CAA riots include John Dayal, Usha Ramanathan, Umar Khalid and Teesta Setalvad. 

Congress-led Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and its links to Soros-funded organizations are not new either. 

Unearthing the network

One need not go far back in history to map Congress’s role as an opposition. The party’s unwavering support to the anti-CAA protests and now to the Kisan Andolan (especially from Punjab, a Congress-ruled state) has unmasked their toolkit. 

From creating vaccine hesitancy to gawking on the dead as the nation battled the second wave of the pandemic, the Gandhi party has simply added to the woes of the nation. 

Not to forget the farce cases it tried to rake up using its network including the Pegasus snoopgate to the Ghaziabad ‘Jai Shri Ram’ fake crime on which the tallest of Congress leaders tried to gain brownie points. 

Every one of the aforementioned incidents that created a hindrance in India’s growth (or fight against the pandemic) seemed like a well-woven web stitched making use of the extensive network of andolanjeevis, intellects and the media. 

With the network already there, it will be interesting to see how Congress misuses it to push the nation off-track.

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