The Uttar Pradesh Police has lodged as many as 32 FIRs in the last 72 hours for spreading hateful on the social media, following the murder of Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari.
According to the reports, the Uttar Pradesh police have arrested 10 people and filed FIR against people from different communities across the state for hateful, objectionable and discriminatory comments on social media following the killing of Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari.
The police added that they have also started the process to block 178 social media accounts. In the last 24 hours itself, the police have lodged seven FIRs on serious charges, including promoting enmity on grounds of religion and trying to disturb communal harmony. The police also initiated the process to block 28 social media accounts.
Of the total 32 cases, two FIRs each were lodged in Auraiya and Prayagraj, three each in Lakhimpur Kheri and Kanpur, and one each in Hardoi, Ambedkar Nagar, Pratapgarh, Deoria, Saharanpur, Hameerpur, Rampur, Sitapur, Jalaun, Gonda, Ballia, Jhansi, Aligarh, Balrampur, Bulandshahr, Barabanki, Varanasi and Banda districts. Additionally, four cases have also been lodged by the Cyber Crime Unit.
The Uttar Pradesh police have lodged cases under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 295A – deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, Section 153A – Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.
Further, cases have also been registered under Section 295 – Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class and Section 505(2) – Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.
Inspector General (Law and Order) Praveen Kumar said that there had been a surfeit of hate posts on the social media after 18 October when Kamlesh Tiwari was killed.
“We have got 178 social media accounts blocked. The social media monitoring cell at the DGP headquarters has been regularly keeping a watch on social media. We cannot allow outbursts that can disturb social harmony,” a senior police official said.
Earlier yesterday, the Uttar Pradesh had registered an FIR against ‘journalist’ Ali Sohrab spewing venom against Hindus after the brutal killing of Hindu leader Kamlesh Tiwari. Following Kamlesh Tiwari’s murder by radical Islamists on Friday, 18th October, Sohrab had posted a tweet expressing delight. In his tweet, Ali Sohrab went on to wish the deceased Kamlesh Tiwari on the occasion of Diwali despite knowing that he is not alive anymore.
Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, the Mahant of Dasna Devi Mandir, was also booked by UP police for an alleged hate speech after meeting the family of Kamlesh Tiwari in Sitapur.
Kamlesh Tiwari, the Hindu Samaj Party leader was assassinated in Lucknow on October 18 when the assailants came to meet him on the pretext of working for his outfit. He was murdered at his home in Naka Hindola area in Lucknow. The post-mortem report in the Kamlesh Tiwari murder case had revealed that Kamlesh Tiwari was stabbed 15 times and was also once by the Islamists, reports India Today.
Following Kamlesh Tiwari’s death, Islamists had celebrated the brutal murder of Kamlesh Tiwari on social media. Islamists expressed their jubilation over the grisly murder of Tiwari and shared the photo of his murdered dead body, hailing those who committed this horrendous crime.
Coming as a big victory for India, Jammu and Kashmir police chief, Dilbag Singh today informed that the Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind (AGH), the Al Qaeda-linked terror group that was headed by Zakir Musa, has been wiped out. The AGH is supported by the Al Qaeda and is regarded as its branch in Kashmir.
“As of now, Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind group has been wiped out,” he told reporters in Srinagar, though he didn’t completely rule out the possibility of the re-emergence of the terror group in the future.
Terror group Ansar Ghazwat-ul Hind has been wiped out, says Jammu & Kashmir DGP
This news came a day after Zakir Musa’s successor and chief of Kashmir’s al-Qaeda unit, Hamid Lelhari, was gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir’s Awantipora district. He was amongst the three terrorists shot dead in an encounter with security forces in Awantipora on Tuesday. Lelhari was heading Al-Qaida linked Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. All three terrorists were working in coordination with Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Dilbag Singh informed that the operation against terrorists has been speeded up in the Valley. “In Tral, three local terrorists associated with Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind were killed yesterday. You would recall that when Zakir Musa was killed, the command of this group was handed over to Hameed Lelhari,” Singh said.
Hamid Lelhari, a native of Pulwama and member of Islamist organization Jamait-Ahl-e-Hadith, was announced Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) chief two weeks after Zakir Musa was gunned down by security forces.
Singh said Lelhari became active in 2016 and was involved in several terror attacks.
The dreaded terrorist, Zakir Musa was the former chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind who was killed in May 23, 2019, in an encounter in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2017, he had threatened to liberate India from the Hindus.
Putting speculations to rest, Dilbag Singh also confirmed that the pace of recruitment to terror groups has been comparatively slower during this time, contrary to the claims that after August 5, more youths will join terrorist ranks.
Moreover, the security forces have also killed another three Jaish terrorists in an encounter in Pulwama yesterday. The terrorists were the ones who had kidnapped and killed two brothers f the Gujjar community in August.
The US House Foreign Affair’s Committee Hearing on South Asia Human Rights unfolded along expect lines. As has become the norm in the United States of America, such hearings are not conducted with the intention of uncovering the truth of matters but are seen as an opportunity for moral grandstanding with an eye on gaining political mileage from them. Amidst all of this, the most disgraceful part of it all was the manner in which alleged Hindus, Aarti Tikoo Singh, Nitisha Kaul and Angana Chatterji, capitulated before the corrupt Democrat party while India was being demonized for its justified actions in Jammu & Kashmir.
The USA wouldn’t tolerate an Islamic state in its territory and yet, the very same expect India to tolerate one in ours. Through all of this, the ‘Hindus’ who participated in this charade only served as a controlled-opposition whose sole objective from the very beginning was to give the preordained conclusion an air of legitimacy.
Aarti Tikoo Singh, Nitisha Kaul and Angana Chatterji, two of whom are Kashmiri Hindus, disgraced their community and their people during the hearing. Ravi Batra, a community leader and chair of the National Advisory Council for South Asian Affairs, displayed the moral and intellectual fortitude that is necessary on such occasions. Despite the presence of Kashmiri Pandits in the hearing, the genocide that the community of Hindus suffered was allowed to be whitewashed without any rebuttal. The entire process was an exercise in consolidating the Radical Islamic voter base of the Democrat party and little more than that.
Shocking statements by Aarti Tikoo at the US House Foreign Affair’s Committee Hearing
Aarti Tikoo Singh said, “Although I am one of the persecuted Kashmiris who grew up in destitution as a refugee in my own country, I do not represent my community here today. I am here as a conscientious journalist who believes that the role of a journalist is to be a watchdog of society and a voice for the voiceless and powerless.” What we see here is essentially an abdication of responsibility.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnRW6Bj3UAc]
In order to compensate for this abject abdication, Singh takes on completely different mantles of responsibilities upon herself. ‘Watchdog of society’ and ‘voice for the voiceless and powerless’ are hollow words to fill the vacuum of moral integrity that the mainstream suffers from. If a ‘journalist’ does not have the courage to speak truth to power even after receiving an invitation to do so, when can she be ever expected to speak truth to power?
In her opening statement, Tikoo mentioned various victims of terrorism. But she could not bring herself to mention even a single Hindu victim of terrorism in the state, which has been many even apart from the Kashmir Pandit genocide. So much for being a ‘voice for the voiceless’, it was all about moral grandstanding from the very beginning. Empty words.
There were numerous other extremely problematic statements that Tikoo made which shows that she was trying too hard to appear neutral. In her written statement to the House for the record, she said, “What the foot-soldiers of the Pakistani military and ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) have done to ordinary Kashmiri Muslims in the last 30 years, pales in comparison to the human rights violations committed by the Indian state.
Aarti Tikoo has issued a clarification on this statement in her written statements. She said the last line of the paragraph was a ‘typo’. Following is the updated statement which she has submitted a correction. However, one wonders how the statement is better since she is still talking about ‘Indian state atrocities’.
Edited copy by Aarti Tikoo
“While they are rightly highlighting the instances of violations committed by the Indian security, the story is often presented without context and historical understanding and it also carries a lot of certitude and self-righteousness of a narrative that helps the perpetrators and not the human rights abuse in Kashmir,” she added.
After losing the battle in the hearing, Tikoo found the courage again to indulge in moral grandstanding on Twitter. She claimed that she was silenced for 30 years by ‘Hindu India’, whatever is that supposed to mean. She did say in the tweet that ‘Pakistani Islamists’ drove her and her community out of Kashmir in 1990. This is a complete and utter lie.
Pakistani Islamists drove me & my community (Kashmiri Hindus) out of Kashmir in 1990, Hindu India denied me voice for 30 years & Islamist @IlhanMN gagged me today under the chairmanship of Democrat Congressman @BradSherman. Is this democracy? No, it’s IslamoCapitalism talking.
“I will speak here nothing but the complete truth,” Tikoo said at the hearing. Well, she did not speak the complete truth at the hearing and on Twitter, she lied outright. It was not ‘Pakistani Islamists’ who committed the Kashmiri Pandit genocide, it was the Kashmiri Muslim community who did that. Again, so much for being the ‘watchdog of society’.
When attacked by Islamist Ilhan Omar, who allegedly married her own brother and committed adultery with her married campaign aide on the side, Tikoo in her attempt to prove her neutrality claimed that she was spoken out against ‘beef lynchings’ in India. Expecting her to provide proper context to the lynchings which occur against the backdrop of rampant cattle smuggling would have been too much given how she conducted herself in the hearing. Not a word was mentioned about cattle owners being killed, police personnel being killed by smugglers, or about the motivated ‘hate crime trackers’ that have now been pulled down after creating an international narrative based on dubious data. Beleaguered farmers, quite clearly, do to come under Tikoo’s definition of ‘voiceless and powerless’.
Tikoo didn’t stop there to prove her neutrality. She also said, “In confronting the Pakistan sponsored militancy, the Indian army and state police have also committed grave human rights abuses.” Unfortunately for her, she didn’t realize it didn’t matter how much concessions she made, she was always going to be slandered by the Democrats for it. She did slam the Pakistani establishment severely but she went the extra mile to confirm the prejudice of the Democrat establishment on numerous issues. Interestingly enough, Tikoo’s written submission did include the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in the valley, however, she seems to have lost her moral fortitude when it came to the actual hearing.
Nitisha Kaul at the US House Foreign Affair’s Committee Hearing
If Tikoo was bad, the others were even worse. Nitasha Kaul, Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Westminster, claimed that there was a “humanitarian crisis” in Kashmir. She blamed the Indian state for the “mass migration” of Kashmiri Pandits, thereby, whitewashing the genocide by believers of Radical Islam.
“Indian state which has claimed sovereignty over Jammu and Kashmir singularly failed to protect the minorities while suppressing the majority,” she said. “The denial of democratic rights in Indian-Administered Kashmir affects not only the residents but also those living outside in India and overseas,” she added.
In her written submission, Kaul stated, “Elections in Indian Administered Kashmir are deeply divisive with many people boycotting it since electoral participation is represented as the consent of Kashmiris to being ruled by India and thus making redundant the promise of the plebiscite that India and Pakistan made through United Nations Resolutions of 1947 and 1948. However, some Kashmiris do participate in elections since they believed in working within the Indian system. Even those pro-India leaders are now under indefinite arrest. This illustrates that the Indian government is fully aware of the erasure of autonomous statehood as being deeply unpopular and thus its action lack democratic consent. To repeat, an imposition of a landmark change in governance while keeping the entire population locked is a sign of authoritarianism and not democracy.”
Apart from referring to Jammu & Kashmir as Indian Administered Kashmir, Kaul also accused India of acting like a ‘colonial power’. She went further and said, “BJP is avowedly Hindu nationalist and its leaders and activists have repeated their resolve to convert India into a Hindu nation where Hindu supremacism will reign. While the Indian government pays respect to Mahatma Gandhi when in the West, the ruling party has senior politicians who celebrate the murder of Gandhi and valorise the assassin, Nathuram Godse.”
Of course, the slander didn’t stop there. It continued, “Muslim and Christian minorities are seen as enemies and obstacles in the agenda. Various rights organisations, scholars and news commentators have highlighted the spike in everyday discriminations, prejudices and violence that religious minorities have to endure. The primary focus is on demonising and marginalising the largest religious minority – Muslims. Several Muslims have been lynched and instead of calling for the punishing of the culprits, members of the ruling party have justified the acts and sometimes valorised the culprits.” While the BJP and RSS were slandered, as expected, Kaul totally whitewashed the Kashmiri Pandit genocide.
Angana Chatterji at US House Foreign Affair’s Committee Hearing
Angana Chatterji, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, went a step further and blamed Hindu majoritarianism for it. The BJP and the RSS’ “Hindu majoritarianism — the cultural nationalism and political assertion of the Hindu majority — sanctifies India as intrinsically Hindu and marks the non-Hindu as its adversary,” Chatterji claimed.
The farce of the hearing and the rampant Islamist agenda
All in all, the US House Foreign Affair’s Committee Hearing was an utter disgrace and an exercise in genocide denial and moral grandstanding. People who have been following American politics for some time wouldn’t be surprised by the turn of events at all. The hearing wasn’t a quest for truth, it didn’t even pretend to have an air of objectivity to itself. The objective was simple, to consolidate the Democrat party’s Radical Islamic voter base and slander the Indian state.
Even Kashmiri Hindus did not accurately portray the situation on the ground. When the people whose community suffered most gravely and who personally suffered as a consequence either abdicated their responsibility to bring out the truth or actively participated in the whitewashing of the genocide, there’s hardly any legitimate response to that. We could only perhaps blame it on the susceptibility of such people to western indoctrination and rigid forms of extricating ideological conformism.
What India is fighting in Kashmir is Radical Islamic Terrorism, something US President Donald Trump called out during his address at the Howdy Modi event in Houston. The most hilarious aspect of it all is the fact that the hearing was conducted by the politicians of a country that is guilty of committing a great many human rights violations.
The US does not have a moral authority to pontificate on matters of Human Rights violations. And yet, not a single person had the courage to mention that. India did not kill a million people in the Middle East, or anywhere for that matter. India did not fund Radical Islamic terrorists as tools in regime change wars, the USA did. India is not engaging in a witch-hunt to escalate tensions with a major nuclear power for partisan benefits (the Russian collusion delusion), the US establishment is.
We could go on and on about the numerous human rights violations committed by the USA but that’s beside the point. The so-called ‘watchdogs of society’ who engage themselves in a charade do not have the courage to speak to truth either. Before attaching such lofty ideals to a profession, perhaps people should first prove themselves worthy of it through their actions.
What happened in the House Committee hearing was genocide denial and ‘intellectuals’ and the Democrat establishment engaged in it and yet, that doesn’t seem to cause any concern for the individuals involved. Because it is natural, the conclusion was predecided and the objective was obvious. It is indeed ironical that a hearing on human rights turned out to be an elaborate exercise in genocide denial.
Karnataka Congress leader and MLA DK Shivakumar has been granted bail by the Delhi High Court in connection with the money laundering case.
According to the reports, Delhi Hight Court has ordered that DK Shivakumar cannot leave India without the court’s permission. The Delhi HC also asked him to assist the investigative agencies in their probe. He was asked to furnish a bail bond of Rs 25 lakh plus two sureties to obtain the bail.
The order was passed by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait.
DK Shivakumar had moved the High Court for bail last month after his bail was rejected by a special CBI Court. DK Shivakumar was sent to 14-days of judicial custody on September 17. Later, his custody was then further extended till October 25.
Earlier in the day, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi had visited the accused DK Shivakumar in the Tihar Jail. Reportedly, Sonia Gandhi assured DK Shivakumar that the party is with him and will stand in his support. Sonia Gandhi told him this is a case of “political vendetta” and other Congress leaders are also being targeted by the BJP government at the centre.
Congress troubleshooter DK Shivakumar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 3 after undergoing four days of interrogation in relation to the case. The ED had cited Shivakumar’s non-cooperation during the questioning as the reason for his arrest.
The alleged money laundering by DK Shivakumar came to light after raids by the tax officials on August 2, 2017, on Shivakumar’s residence in New Delhi, which led to the seizure of unaccounted cash worth Rs.8.59 crore without evidence of its source of income.
The tax agencies had filed cases against Shivakumar and four other persons associated with him under Sections 277 and 278 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and Sections 120(B), 193 and 199 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to grant the status of “state fair” to the upcoming festival of Deepotsav in Ayodhya. It has decided to sanction a budget of Rs 1.33 crore to organise the event.
UP Government press release on Deepotsav
In a cabinet meeting chaired by CM Yogi Adityanath, the government also decided to run an audit of the entire event, including the tableaux, in order to stop the misuse of state funds. A budget of Rs 132.7 lakh has been sanctioned for the same.
The three-day Deepotsav is celebrated in Ayodhya during Diwali. The city is decorated with lights, earthen Diyas and artists are invited from all over the nation to display their art.
The Uttar Pradesh government plans to light 5.5 lakh Diyas in the festival which will be celebrated on October 26, a day before Diwali.
Minister and government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma informed the media that the proposal to declare Deepotsava a state festival was given by the Ayodhya district magistrate (DM) twice in the past, on January 15 as well as July 3.
The Cabinet minister and government spokesperson Srikant Sharma said: “At present, the Deepotsava is organised by state Tourism Department, but considering the international stature of the fair, the Chief Minister has announced to make it a state fair for its successful organisation,” adding the management of the event would be under the District Magistrate. He informed that the Ayodhya district magistrate (DM) has twice in the past given a nod to the proposal of granting “state fair” status to this festival.
Sharma furthered that “The expenses will be borne by the government as per the availability of the funds. A notification for the same has been approved by the Cabinet. The Chief Minister has also ordered that an audit of the event, including the tableaux, will be conducted in order to ensure that there is no misuse of funds.”
Last year too, Deepotsav was celebrated in Uttar Pradesh with great zeal and grandiosity. Three lakh ‘Diyas’ were lit on the banks of holy river Saryu to create a new world record. All prominent buildings, temples and ghats in the city were decorated while many cultural programmes were organised for the grand event. The first lady of South Korea was the chief guest on the occasion.
Yogi Adityanath had started the grand official Diwali celebrations in Ayodhya in 2017. In that year, the Sarayu ghat and the temples were all lighted with 1.5 lakh Diyas to mark the Hindu festival of lights.
Note: The above report has been updated with UP government’s press release on the Deepotsav sanction.
The man who had taken over Saint Raphael Museum in South France and wrote threatening messages in Arabic on the walls has been arrested by the French Police. As per initial investigation, the police has ruled out terrorism as motive. Police believes that the man is ‘mentally unstable’.
A siege had taken place at Saint Raphael Museum in South France after at least one man had holed himself up inside the museum. He has allegedly written threatening messages on the building walls in Arabic.
According to the reports, the French police officials had surrounded the archaeology museum in the Mediterranean town of Saint-Raphael after a man, possibly with an accomplice broke into the museum last night.
The French police were alerted by a housekeeper, who found an Arabic inscription on the wall upon her arrival for work. One of the inscriptions written in Arabic is understood to have said ‘the museum will become a hell.’
The housekeeper arrived at work this morning to find she was unable to access the building. Later, she called the police. The police had advised people to avoid the area if possible. It is unclear whether the man is armed or he has an accomplice.
Saint-Raphael is a cultural and historical centre near the France-Italy border. The small museum includes a medieval church, insights into underwater archaeology and various crypts.
(The story has been updated with relevant information. This is a developing story. We will update the report as more information regarding the incident is available.)
Gurmehar Kaur, the poster girl of Indian liberals who shot to fame during Ramjas violence, has now stoked another controversy by showering praises on controversial Canadian lawmaker – Jagmeet Singh, who is known anti-India and pro-Khalistan.
Expressing her admiration for Khalistani supporter Jagmeet Singh, self-proclaimed activist Gurmehar Kaur on Tuesday said that the NDP leader was an inspiration for her.
Gurmehar Kaur’s praise for Jagmeet Singh comes after his New Democratic Party won 24 seats in the Canada general election, making them the second-largest opposition party in the country.
Who is Jagmeet Singh that Gurmehar Kaur now considers an ‘inspiration’
Jagmeet Singh, also known as Jimmy Dhaliwal, was born in 1979 to immigrant Indian parents in Canada. A lawyer-turned-politician Singh is currently serving as leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) since 2017 and as a Member of Parliament since 2019.
However, Jagdeep Singh is known for his support for Khalistani terrorists and has openly voiced his support for the anti-Indian Khalistanis in Canada, earning him the tag of being ‘Pro-Khalistan’.
In 2014, the Indian government had denied Singh a visa to visit India for criticising human rights record of India. Denying him a visa, the Indian government had accused him of misusing the human rights cause to pursue his “insidious agenda of disturbing the social fabric of India and undermining the peace, harmony and territorial integrity of India”. He also became the first western legislator ever to be denied entry into the country.
In June of 2015, Singh, who was then just an NDP member of the Ontario legislature, appeared on stage at a Khalistan rally in San Francisco which had featured a large poster of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani terrorist, who led an armed movement against India and had occupied the Golden Temple.
In 2016, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had participated in a pro-Khalistani seminar and had even endorsed the use of political violence as a “legitimate form of resistance” to achieve an independent Sikh homeland in India.
Shockingly, in his speech, Singh had even accused India of committing “genocide” against Sikhs in the Golden Temple assault. In April 2017, Jagmeet Singh was also responsible for passing a motion recognizing the 1984 Sikh riots in India as a “genocide”.
The anti-India propaganda of Jagmeet Singh does not end just there. Following the abrogation of Article 370 by the Narendra Modi government, Singh had even expressed his support to pro-Pakistan propaganda on Kashmir. He had made public statements against India and accused the country of human rights violations in the region.
“The Indian government shut down telephones, cellphone communication, and blocked media. Anywhere in the world, if the cellphones are being blocked, the telephones are being shut down, and the media is not allowed to go there, I can assure you, there are human rights violations going on,” Singh had said to his audience.
“I want the people of Kashmir to know that I stand with you, I stand against the injustices happening, and I denounce what India is doing to the people of Kashmir,” he added.
Gurmehar Kaur shot to fame after the 2017 Ramjas college episode, in which the left-wing students had vandalised and attacked the ABVP students after the latter had protested and forced the college to withdraw its invitation to Umar Khalid, who is accused of shouting anti-national slogans at JNU.
Following that incident, Gurmehar Kaur, a daughter of an army martyr who lost his life in a terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir, had released a video holding placards where she, rather naively, declared that “Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him”.
For her gaffe, she was trolled on social media, giving her an opportunity to claim victimhood. Later, the left-wing intelligentsia and “secular-liberal” media turned her into a ‘hero’ through constant coverage to defame ABVP and other nationalists.
Later, eight months after the Ramjas episode, Gurmehar Kaur – an icon for free speech and young India, was exposed after she accused of doing exactly the same thing she complained of – issuing threats to young social media users just because she did not like something posted online.
It is rather tragic to see that the so-called peace activists and liberals of the country supporting anti-India elements under the garb of peace activism. Gurmehar Kaur’s love for anti-India is not surprising as in the past she has actively stood in support of anti-India elements, who had raised anti-India slogans inside JNU campus.
The government of India has issued a travel advisory for travellers visiting Turkey, asking them to exercise utmost caution while travelling to the country amidst the deteriorating Turkey-Syria offensive. The embassy has also furnished helpline numbers for those who might need assistance.
Soon after the US proceeded on a hasty and unexpected withdrawal of its troops from northern Syria, Turkey began its offensive against the Kurdish fighters who had been until then in alliance with the United States to fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).
Turkey treats Kurdish fighters as terrorists and to ward them off, they recently agreed on a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, aimed at keeping Kurdish fighters away from Syria’s borders with Turkey. The deal comes at a time when there is a pause in the Turkish offensive after a fragile ceasefire was agreed with the intervention by the US. According to the deal, Syrian and Russian forces will immediately oversee a withdrawal of Kurdish forces and set out plans for joint Turkish-Russian patrols along the border next week.
A ceasefire mediated by the US was set to expire on Tuesday evening, following which Ankara had issued a fresh threat of re-launching its offensive against the Kurdish fighters. It said there was “no need” for ceasefire now.
Amidst this worsening situation, the Indian government had preemptively issued a travel advisory for its citizens to either avoid travelling to Turkey or exercise extreme caution while travelling to the country engaged in war.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah took to Twitter today to slam the Free Trade Agreement that the government has decided to sign with ASEAN countries under RCEP.
.@narendramodi govt’s proposal to sign free trade agreement of dairy products under RCEP is against the interests of our farmers and this shall be vehemently opposed.
Siddaramaiah, using the hashtag #IOpposeRCEP said that the Modi government’s proposal to sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of Dairy products under RCEP is against the interests of farmers and it shall be vehemently opposed by Congress.
“More than 10 crore farmers are dependent on dairy farming for their livelihood. Import of cheap products will hurt them and inturn cause rural distress. Karnataka alone produces more than 86 lakh litres of milk and other dairy products. Under Ksheera Dhare, we had increased the subsidy to producers to ₹5 per litre. We also launched Ksheera Bhagya to ensure full utilisation of excess milk & address malnourishment issues in Children. FTA will only nullify all these. Dairy products of Australia & New Zealand are much cheaper which will make it difficult for our farmers to compete in the market. This will perish their livelihood which was strengthened after the White revolution. The objective of Int’l relations should be to enable domestic transformation by accelerating growth, preserving autonomy &protecting our people’s interests. Unfortunately, under Narendra Modi, it is collusion with cronies, submit to foreigners & kill common man”, said Siddaramaiah.
He also said that he thanks Sonia Gandhi for deciding to join the fight against RCEP and raise the issue in the parliament.
The RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ( Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its six FTA partners (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand).
RCEP is the world’s largest economic bloc, covering nearly half of the global economy and is estimated that by 2050 the GDP of RCEP member states is likely to amount to nearly 250 trillion USD with the combined GDPs of India and China making up more than 75 per cent of the amount.
The previous FTA agreements and the cost to India
It was in 2009 that India had signed a multilateral FTA with the ASEAN bloc under the Congress government. The current negotiations for RCEP were necessitated after the revenue department of the government found that India’s trade deficits owing to its various FTAs were far greater than the trade it brought in.
It was found, that India’s major FTAs constituted only 11 per cent of the total trade and up to 23 per cent of trade deficit.
Officials have pointed out that India’s trade balance is turning more unfavourable for most FTAs. It has doubled since 2011 to Rs 12.86 trillion in 2018-19.
Among the current FTAs with significant trade deficits for India, five are with countries from the 10-nation Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc. In 2009, India had signed a multilateral FTA with the ASEAN bloc itself, which has seen imports go up at a much faster clip than exports. Exports to the 10 economies stood at $37.4 billion in 2018-19, up by 9 per cent year on year. On the other hand, imports were higher at $59.31 billion, up by 25 per cent from the previous year’s $47.13 billion.
Earlier this month, India and the ASEAN agreed to review the pact amid criticism from the domestic industry.
According to the report, due to its FTAs, India has had to let go of revenue that has more than doubled to nearly Rs 26,000 crore in 2018-19.
As per the agreement signed by India with the ASEAN bloc, it was agreed to open respective markets by progressively reducing and eliminating import duties on 76.4 per cent of all goods.
As seen below, India’s concessions to countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia are disproportionate under the Asean FTA, which is against the principle of equity. While India agreed to eliminate more than 74% of tariff lines, Indonesia agreed to about 50% and Vietnam 70%. Such tilts are the main cause of concern for the Indian industry.
Tariff during Congress rule
Current RCEP
The current RCEP talk has been in the offing since 2012 when the Congress government was in power, but as policy paralysis struck, there was not much progression in the discussions.
During a meeting earlier in October, India had negotiated a 10% advantage over China for tariff removal. This advantage for India will mean that its exporters can access 10% more Chinese product lines without facing tariff barriers.
At that time, officials had said, “India will not repeat the mistakes of the past. The Asean FTA has been tilted in favour of countries like Vietnam and Thailand. India’s trade deficit with Asean has soared since the FTA has become operative in 2010”.
Domestic Interests
Minister Piyush Goyal had just two days ago on 21st October 2019 assured that the interests of the domestic industry will be given priority while negotiating the RCEP. “Every interest of domestic industry and the people of India has to be protected before we execute any free-trade agreement”, he had told reporters.
Government sources have reiterated the same. They said that the previous deals that Congress struck had hurt India and that the current negotiations are going to ensure that domestic farmers don’t lose out. The sources also said that India had lost substantial revenue to the previous agreements with ASEAN bloc and the aim is to get a better deal for India.
Discussion with stakeholders
The government has also held varied discussions with hundreds of stakeholders from the industry with regards to the RCEP negotiations.
A PIB notification from the Government of India read:
Department of Commerce also entrusted three autonomous think tanks viz. Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), IIM Bangalore and Centre for Regional Trade (CRT), New Delhi for making independent studies on RCEP with exhaustive consultations with stakeholders across the country. Stakeholders’ inputs have been received in person from the Industry Associations/individual industries or industry clusters, by post and email.
Piyush Goyal himself tweeted that before entering into any trade agreement, the Modi government will ensure that domestic interests are protected.
Government sources have thus said that the RCEP agreement will be far better placed to protect domestic interests than the previous deals signed by the Congress government with ASEAN bloc and that any decision is only being taken after wide consultations with stakeholders from the industry.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed the Director-Generals of all Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Assam Rifles to ensure that jawans get to stay with their families for at least 100 days in a year.
According to a report in Times of India, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed the CAPFs to undertake a mega manpower planning and ensure that around 7 lakh jawans get to spend at least 100 days with their families in a year.
Reportedly, Amit Shah was given a presentation last month about the functioning of the CAPFs. Following the presentation, the Union Home Minister directed that the deployment details of the troops of these forces should be digitised so that better manpower rationalisation can be done.
The Union home ministry has now asked all the chiefs or Directors General (DG) of forces like CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles to undertake the exercise and implement a plan where a jawan or a constable spend 100 days with his family.
If the new orders are implemented, the jawans will be posted to their nearest units, which will allow them to travel and stay with their families when there are no operational duties, a senior official said.
The senior official added that the force chiefs have been asked to assess and prepare reports of their additional manpower so that the over-all deployment of a CAPF unit is not affected.
The digitisation of data, as compared to the current system of keeping in paper file format, allows the force headquarters to easily rotate and deploy their troops. This system will also help in addressing the grievances of personnel regarding their transfer and posting to a place near to their family, the official said.
Reportedly, the forces have been given a deadline of two months to accomplish the task.
Speaking to the media, KK Sharma, former Border Security Force Chief had said last year that an average jawan of his force only gets to spend about 2.5 months or 75 days in a year with his family and if one has a service of about 30 years, then this figure comes to about five years in the entire job period.
