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High powered committee comprising of PM Modi, SC Judge and Kharge sacks CBI Director Alok Verma

OpIndia Staff
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High powered committee comprising of PM Modi, SC Judge and Kharge sacks CBI Director Alok Verma

A day after CBI director Alok Verma resumed his duties after Supreme Court had reinstated him putting aside the decision of the union government to send him on leave, the high powered committee constituted to look into his fate has decided to remove him from the post.


In October last year, the government had removed Verma and CBI special director Rakesh Asthana from duties after both had made serious allegations against each other publicly. After CBI vs CBI fight had become a public spectacle, the government had sent them on leave to ensure a fair probe into the allegations and also to restore public confidence on the premier investigation agency.

After the order, Alok Verma had moved the Supreme Court against the government order. During the hearing, the court had asked CVC to submitted its probe report against Verma in sealed envelope. On January 8, the court had said that the process in which Verma was removed was not proper, and reinstated with a condition that he can’t take any major policy decision.

The Supreme Court had ordered that a High Power Committee will have to decide on fate of the CBI director, comprising the prime minister, leader of the largest opposition party and the Chief Justice of India. This is the same committee that selects the CBI director, and the court had said that only this committee can remove the director, the government can’t do that on its own. The court had not made any comment on the allegations against Verma, and did not quash the charges against him.

Alok Verma order
The appointment committee of cabinet transferring Alok Verma from post of CBI Director

Accordingly, the Committee comprising PM Narendra Modi, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Justice A K Sikri met on 9th January and the today. CJI Ranjan Gogoi had nominated Justice Sikri in his place. The committee took the decision to remove Verma from his post of CBI director. This decision implies that the charges against Verma are serious enough to merit removing him from the post. According to reports, he has been appointed as DG or Fire Sevices, Civil Defence & Home Guards. M Nageshwar Rao has been appointed as acting director of CBI, who was doing the same duties when Verma was on forced leave.

NGO ‘Youth for Equality’ files petition in SC against Constitutional Amendment for 10% reservations

OpIndia Staff
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NGO ‘Youth for Equality’ files petition in SC against Constitutional Amendment for 10% reservations

A PIL has been filed against the Constitutional Amendment that granted 10% reservations to economically weaker sections from the General Class. An NGO, Youth For Equality, has filed the petition in the Supreme Court.


In its petition, the NGO has claimed that the amendment violates “several basic features” of the Constitution. It further stated that “such a manifest and obvious violation of the Constitution ought to be prevented.

The NGO further claimed, “In Indira Sawhney vs Union of India, 1992 Supp. 3 SCC 217, the Constitution bench specifically stated that the economic criteria cannot be the sole basis for reservations under the Constitution.”

Source: Utkarsh Anand, Legal Editor, CNNNews18 (Twitter)

“By way of the present amendments, the exclusion of the OBCs and the SCs/STs from the scope of the economic reservation essentially implies that only those who are poor from the general categories would avail the benefits of the quotas. Taken together with the fact that the high creamy layer limit of Rs.8 lakh per annum ensures that the elite in the OBCs and SCs/STs capture the reservation benefits repeatedly, the poor sections of these categories remain completely deprived. This is an overwhelming violation of the basic feature of equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution and elsewhere”, the petition states.

The basis on which the NGO is challenging the 10% reservations for the General Class may not stand in Court. The Narendra Modi government has bypassed the Indira Sawhney judgment through its Constitutional Amendment by adding provisions for an entirely new class of reservations that the Court will have to review independently without considering caste and the 50% cap on reservations.

Youth For Equality (YFE) is an NGO that claims to have been formed in the aftermath of the 27% OBC quota bill in educational institutions mooted by the UPA government in 2006. ‘Casteless Society’, ‘Education for All’ and ‘Good Governance’ are some of the ideas that the NGO claims to aim at.

The NGO also states that it opposes caste-based reservations. It states on its website, “We oppose caste-based reservation policy which promotes only a very small section of the society while leaving others deprived. Caste-hatred in the country will increase, if the present policy will be implemented, leading to aggravation of tensions as the government itself consistently identifying and certifying who is a lower caste and who is not. The quota system, created to facilitate the poor will ends up wrongly being utilized by children of rich, which includes politicians, ministers, businessmen, landlords and high-class government officers belonging to specified caste.”

The NGO also advocates for ‘affirmative action’ based on factors other than caste. Some of the factors mentioned are the household income, educational status of parents, sex, places of birth and residence and profession of parents.

There appears to be a contradiction in the NGO’s standpoint. The NGO quite clearly supports affirmative action on the basis of economic factors but is opposing a Bill that seeks to provide reservations on the basis of just that. The primary grudge that the NGO seems to hold is that people from the SC, ST and the OBC communities will not be eligible for the 10% reservations. However, these communities already have been provided with reservations by the Constitution, regardless of their economic status.

YFE also strives to strengthen nationhood and says, “Let prejudices, unreasonable jealousies, and local interest yield to reason and liberality. Let us look to our national character, and to think beyond the present period.” “We strive to reduce inequalities in the social, educational, economic and political field and thus aim at a strong nation where all citizen are united with a bond of fraternity,” it adds.

The NGO lists Common Cause, the NGO which filed a petition against the Rafale deal and the CBI controversy in the Court and which has Prashant Bhushan in its Governing Council, as a “Like Minded Organization“. People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), an organization we have reported on extensively for its intimate links to ‘Urban Naxals’, is also listed as a like-minded organization.

Another like-minded organization that is listed is Lok Manch that has “Jesuits in social action” as one of its training partners. Transparency International, India which is an FCRA NGO is also listed as a like-minded organization.

BJP member sends defamation notice to Nidhi Razdan for calling him a liar

OpIndia Staff
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BJP member sends defamation notice to Nidhi Razdan for calling him a liar

NDTV anchor Nidhi Razdan has been again stirred up a controversy, as the former head of BJP’s Delhi IT cell Sumeet Bhasin took to Twitter to call out NDTV and Nidhi’s attempts to spread misinformation on social media.

He, in his Tweet, called out the NDTV journalist, Nidhi Razdan for her reporting and also shared the image of the defamation notice he sent to her regarding the same.


A war of words had broken out on Twitter after Nidhi Razdan in her tweet mentioned, that in an interview to NDTV, the Prime Minister of Norway has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan if both sides are willing to, and that there could be no military solution to Kashmir.

NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan tweeted on January 7

The Norwegian Ambassador, Nils Ragnar Kamsvag, however, countered Nidhi’s Tweet by clarifying that no such assistance was offered or asked for and that NDTV has erroneously misquoted the Prime Minister of Norway.

Screenshot of the clarification given by the Norwegian Ambassador

Soon Twitterati started calling out the NDTV journalist for spreading bogus news, including Sumeet Bhasin, who stated that action should be taken against Nidhi and NDTV for “manufacturing fake news on a daily basis.”


Nidhi Razdan, though it was she who has been caught on the wrong foot, replied by calling Bhasin a ‘Liar’ and stated that ‘the IT cell pays him to lie’.


Offended by the allegations, Sumeet Bhasin then had asked Nidhi Razdan to either substantiate her charges against him or apologize within 48 hours.


And now it so seems that Nidhi Razdan’s reaction on social media might cause her trouble as Sumeet has confirmed filing a defamation case against her.

It is notable here that both NDTV and Nidhi Razdan have been found to be spreading misinformation and fake news on several occasions. NDTV also has often been accused of spreading twisted narratives to further their agenda.

Nidhi Razdan had even conducted an entire debate on NDTV based on fake news. Last year, even EAM Sushma Swaraj had called out Nidhi Razdan for her misleading  Tweet on Kartarpur Saheb Gurudwara.

Villagers mourn death of crocodile in a village in Chhattisgarh, more than 500 people attend last rites

OpIndia Staff
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Villagers mourn death of crocodile in a village in Chhattisgarh, more than 500 people attend last rites

A rare but beautiful example of human-animal coexistence was witnessed in a village of Chhattisgarh where the villagers mourned the death of a crocodile. In Bawa Mohtara village in Bemetara district, a 130 year-old crocodile died in the village pond on Tuesday.  After the reptile died, the villagers took out a funeral procession of the crocodile. The mournful people of the village did not even cook food on the of the crocodile’s death.

The 3.4 metre-long crocodile was found dead on 8th January in the village pond, after which the villagers had informed the forest department and the carcass was taken out of the water. The animal died of natural causes, which weighed around 250 kg. More than 500 villagers took part in the funeral procession.

Funeral procession of Gangaram the crocodile
Funeral procession of Gangaram the crocodile

The villagers had named the crocodile as ‘Gangaram’ and used to worship him as a deity. According to the village Sarpanch, the villagers are considering to build a temple in the memory of the crocodile. A memorial is also decided to be erected on the bank of the pond where the crocodile was buried. The villagers also performed the last rites of the crocodile whom they considered their protector.

“The villagers had so much affection for the reptile that many of them did not even cook food the day it died. Locals had long back named it ‘Gangaram’. They used to worship it as a deity and the protector of the village,” told village Sarpanch Mohan Sahu. He said that crocodile had been living in the village pond for more than 100 years and had never harmed the villagers including children who used to bathe in the pond. “In the past, the crocodile had crawled over to some nearby villages couple of times and we had to bring it back to the pond,” Sahu said.

R K Sinha, Sub-divisional officer of forest Bemetara appreciated the love of villagers for the crocodile. He said that the villagers have set a good example of human-animal coexistence. “After getting information about its death, the forest personnel went there and a post-mortem was conducted by veterinarians. After the autopsy, the carcass was handed over to the villagers as they wanted to perform it final rites,” he added.

‘Will Rahul Gandhi make a good Prime Minister?’: Here is how ‘non-pliant’ media can get the crowd to shout ‘yes’

Sanghamitra
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‘Will Rahul Gandhi make a good Prime Minister?’: Here is how ‘non-pliant’ media can get the crowd to shout ‘yes’

Bhubaneswar is soon going to be labelled a Sanghi, communal city full of Hindu terrorists. Not that Odisha does not receive its share of ‘secular, liberal’ flak, but its citizens have just given a hearty, full-throttled answer to the looming question in the minds of ‘non-pliant’ media.


In an event titled ‘Mindrocks Bhubaneswar’, organised by the India Today group, the anchor, displaying the Gandhi family’s version of ‘fierce journalism’ in a debate between Congress’ Sushmita Dev, BJP’s Nishikant Dubey and BJD’s Kalikesh Sighdeo, asked the audience “Will Rahul Gandhi make a good Prime Minister? He even emphasized, “Yes first”.

But the young crowd did not wait long before roaring a reverberating “NO”.

The crowd sternly ignored his nudgings to say ‘yes’.

As if to drive the ‘NO’ home, the young students gathered started a loud sloganeering chorus of “Pappu, Pappu, Pappu”.

The resounding “NO” which followed his question seemed to have rattled him, as he proceeded nervously to say, “No, no that was not the question, first say YES,”

He asked again, “Will he make a good Prime Minister”?

But the crowd was too smart to fall for the trick. A smirky silence followed the anchor’s question.

When the anchor proceeded to ask finally, “Now, who says no, he will not make a good Prime Minister?”, there followed such a loud “NO” that filled the venue from all directions.

The anchor was not done yet though. He furthered, “Now who says yes, he will make a good Prime Minister?”

As the camera spanned the venue, two persons on the front row were saying yes, but they soon laughed themselves, then came a loud roar of laughter that must have made Odisha’s thoughts of Rahul Gandhi pretty clear to the anchor and the politicians present there.

Twitter users were not going to miss it.


India Today anchor’s constant attempts to steer, even trick a positive reaction from the crowd was not missed by anyone. We do feel for the journalist, but sadly, Odisha has been in a different league altogether as far as politics is concerned. The state had rejected Congress a long time back and has been virtual ‘Congress Mukt’ since almost two decades. Just yesterday, CM Naveen Patnaik even announced that the ruling BJD will not support the proposed Mahagathbandhan.

Seeing the way the crowd in Bhubaneswar responded with ‘NO’s and an even more assertive laughter at the mere suggestion of Rahul Gandhi as the PM of the country, here are some honest suggestions by this Odia author for future journalists to better ‘trick’ and confuse the crowd into saying ‘Yes’ to the suggestion of Rahul as the PM.

  • If Rahul declares to proclaim Rasagola as an Odiya sweet which the Bengalis have stolen, will you accept him as your Prime Minister?
  • Between Lingaraj Lassi and Alu ki factory, will you still prefer the lassi if Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister?
  • Rahul Gandhi thinks ‘Pakhala’ with fish fry is much better than cold drinks in summer, will he make a good Prime Minister?
  • Rahul Gandhi claims he can pronounce ‘Bhubaneswar’ correctly fifteen times in under a minute, will he make a good Prime Minister?
  • When Queen Elizabeth digs into a nice prawn dish, Rahul Gandhi wants her to see ‘Made In Chilika’ written on the prawn’s fried belly. Will he make a good Prime Minister?

We wish the free, fearless and ‘non-pliant’ journalists better luck the next time.

Working like a clerk and not like a CM due to Congress interference: Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy

OpIndia Staff
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Working like a clerk and not like a CM due to Congress interference: Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy

After facing severe criticism for failing to stop farmer suicides in the state, the Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka seems to be heading south as Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has complained to his party that he is functioning not as a CM but as a clerk due to Congress interference, reported News18.

According to the reports, Chief Minister Kumaraswamy while addressing JDS MLAs and MLCs meeting became emotional and said to the party colleagues that he was functioning like a clerk and not like a chief minister because of Congress’ interference in the functioning of the government. Kumaraswamy was also reportedly heard complaining that he is working under “tremendous pressure”.

“He is sad. He almost cried. Told us that the Congress was behaving like a big brother. Forcing him to sign all kinds of orders. They forced him to expand the Cabinet and even appointed chairpersons to government-run boards and corporations without his approval. He feels that it is getting tougher with each passing day,” an MLA present in the meeting was quoted as saying.

The rift between Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) has been widening recently as both parties have tried to outdo each other to grapple as much as power in the coalition government. The recent cabinet expansion has further widened the rift, with leaders from both the parties are openly conspiring against each other.

However, JDS supremo and former Prime Minister HD Devegowda seem to be tolerating the Congress assertion as a compromise for a better seat share in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The opportunistic alliance of Congress-JDS are planning to contest as a coalition against the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and most of the senior leaders of the JDS including HD Revanna has been reportedly advised not to comment against the Congress party.

The JDS has been demanding 12 seats out of the 28 seats in the state, while Congress is reportedly not willing to give that many numbers of seats to its coalition partner, as JDS is still considered to be their principal rival in most of the seats of old Mysore region. The Congress leadership thinks that offering 12 seats would weaken their own organisational structure in many influential regions.

The JDS may strike a deal with the Congress as a compromise and contest 6 to 8 seats as a part of the coalition leaving the rest to the Congress party. The JDS is expecting to contest more seats from Old Mysore region, where it anticipates to perform well. It is reportedly eyeing Hassan, Mandya, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Kolar, Chickballapur, Bengaluru North, Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Raichur, Vijayapura and Bidar.

This is not the first time Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has lamented over his discomfort to work with the Congress party. Earlier in July, expressing his unhappiness over the coalition government Kumaraswamy had cried saying he was unhappy and swallowing the poison of a coalition government.

We cherish our old friends, and our doors always open for parties: PM Modi on BJP’s alliance in Tamil Nadu

OpIndia Staff
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We cherish our old friends, and our doors always open for parties: PM Modi on BJP’s alliance in Tamil Nadu

Today prime minister Narendra Modi addressed Bhartiya Janta Party workers in by video conferencing. In the Program called ‘Meera Booth Sabze majbooth‘, PM Modi interacted with party Karyakartas of different constituencies and addressed their questions.


PM Modi addressed workers from Arahkonam, Krishnagiri, Cuddalore and Dharmapuri constituencies. He extended his wishes for Pongal to workers and asked them to dispense information related to good governance of Central Government among the people of Tamil Nadu.

A worker from Arahkolam constituency asked PM Modi about the rumour going around that whether BJP will ally with AIADMK, DMK or Rajnikanth’s party. Addressing the question, PM Modi recalled former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s words and asserted that BJP always welcomes its old friends, even though we have a clear-cut majority.


“Even when BJP won the majority on its own, we preferred to run the government with our allies. We cherish old friends, and our doors are always open for parties. It is more important to deal with an alliance with people than parties.” PM Modi answered the question. He also added that strong NDA is an article of faith and not a compulsion.

Another worker asked PM Modi how his government is managing to work free from corruption, while our Former PM Rajiv Gandhi, in his popular statement had said that for every rupee sent from Central Govemnrmt, only 15 paise reach the people.

PM Modi while answering the question said that in the previous Congress-led governments, the corruption was institutionalised. Benefits meant for the poor were transferred to middlemen, which created a great divide between poor and rich. He talked about his government’s emphasize on Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, which transfers money to recipients of welfare schemes directly, eliminating any need for a middleman in between.

PM Modi also slammed the Congress party for its compromise with the national security of India. He alleged UPA of making defence sector a den of middleman and brokers. He also mentioned the investigation going on in the AgustaWestland scam, in which more truth was unearthed after the extradition of middleman Christian Michel to India. PM Modi said that citizens of the country should know that why the deal of Rafale was delayed by 10 years. He hinted that Michel was privy of the official documents related to deal, including its status.


We have reported earlier that, Christian Michel with another middleman Guido Haschke had worked on a plan to lobby for Eurofighter against Rafale in order to win the deal in its favour.  A “strategy paper” which was seized during the raids had revealed that Christian Michel and Guido Haschke had planned to make Eurofighter secure the deal against the French Rafale in the MMRCA bid.

PM Modi said that Michel shared a bonhomie with ‘First Family’ of Congress party. He said that middleman of the country, who has been completely sidelined by his government, is trying hard to malign his and government’s image. He said that they are openly opposing his efforts, even using legal means. He said that, so far 90 thousand crores have been saved by implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer. PM Modi also said that some elements want to peddle a narrative that his government has failed people of Tamil Nadu. However, he stated that facts speak otherwise.

He mentioned that on 29th of this month, he will be interacting with children, parents and teachers in Townhall, and discuss the upcoming board exams of children.

Congress promised quota for economically weaker sections in its 2014 and 2009 manifesto : Why the heartburn now?

Abhishek Banerjee
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Congress promised quota for economically weaker sections in its 2014 and 2009 manifesto : Why the heartburn now?

So both houses of Indian Parliament have now passed the 124th Constitutional Amendment Bill, clearing the decks for 10% reservation to Economically Weaker Sections on top of the existing 50% quota.

While the Congress did “support” the Bill, you wouldn’t think that was the case from the manner in which they behaved over the last two days. They fought and argued and quibbled over every possible little detail.

The lowest point was when the Congress (along with many other opposition parties) protested against the extension of the Rajya Sabha session in order to debate and vote on the all-important Constitutional Amendment Bill.

Untitled.png

Now, this can only be seen as an insult to Mahatma Gandhi and the people of India. We have here representatives of the people protesting because they have been asked to work for ONE extra day! That too, members of the Rajya Sabha!

Presumably, the Congress realized soon enough that it would be hard to get the public to feel bad for poor Rajya Sabha MPs having to work for one extra day! And that Rajya Sabha wasn’t going to be adjourned without debate and voting on the bill. So they finally came back into the house, where they kicked and screamed till the very last moment.

From the conduct of the Congress on the floor of the House yesterday, you would never guess that PM Narendra Modi was merely fulfilling a promise/demand that the Congress had been making for years now. Please take a look at this, right below the “detailed action plan” proposed by Congress in its manifesto for the 2014 General Election.

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There you have it:

“The Indian National Congress is committed to finding a way forward for introducing reservation in education and employment for economically weaker sections of all communities without in any way affecting existing reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.”

As clear as could be. Yet, we did not see very much of this “commitment” on the floor of the House yesterday.

The interesting thing is that the exact same promise appears in the manifesto of the Congress Party for the 2009 General Elections as well. Here it is:

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The exact same promise in almost the exact same language! The issue of providing quota benefits to economically weaker sections must have been very close to the heart of Madam Sonia Gandhi, don’t you think?

Now, this raises all manner of interesting questions. The first is why the Congress played such a negative role yesterday when Narendra Modi actually moved ahead and did something the Congress itself had been trying to do for at least 10 years now.

Another question that must be asked is why members of the liberal intellectual ecosystem, who double up as unofficial Congress spokespersons on mainstream and social media, had no problem with the idea back when Congress proposed it? For the last two days, these people have been whining openly about the concept of reservation for Economically Weaker Sections. Some have gone to the extent of saying that it undermines the spirit of the Constitution. But why did these people not express such fears when Congress Party included this in its manifesto? Did they say at the time in 2009 and 2014 that the Congress Party under Sonia and Rahul Gandhi might be trying to undermine the Constitution of India?

But the biggest question is why the Congress itself did nothing about this promise after it won the General Elections in 2009. This was a manifesto promise, made in writing, wasn’t it?

Was it supposed to be just another of the Congress promises that are meant to merely string people along, preferably for decades? Something on the lines of Gareebi Hatao, made in 1971. A promise that was supposed to remain permanently in future, for the purpose of harvesting votes in the present?

Recently, we have seen the Congress ecosystem, overtly or covertly, put its hand into the cookie jar of all sorts of reservation lollipops for all sorts of people. Be it in Gujarat with Patidar agitation or in Haryana with Maratha agitation. The Congress ecosystem and the various quota agitation leaders knew full well that nothing could really be done about the 50% cap unless the Constitution is amended.

And so PM Modi did go ahead and amend the Constitution. Why all the complaints now? It has now become clear that these movements had the sole objective of harassing BJP governments in various states and little more.

Economic backwardness can exist within every community. And thus, the BJP government has actually gone ahead and done something concrete that will help deserving people from every community. The only losers here are those who were planning to slowly milk this issue by keeping it going for decades. Hence the heartburn.

Army Chief General Rawat: Army is the facilitator of peace in the valley

OpIndia Staff
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Army Chief General Rawat: Army is the facilitator of peace in the valley

Addressing the annual press briefing in New Delhi, Arm Chief General Bipin Rawat spoke on a legion of issues concerning the Army. General Rawat said that the Army worked as a facilitator of peace and is committed to bringing normalcy in the Kashmir valley while pinning the blame of increasing violence in Jammu and Kashmir to a section of its own population.


In addition, General Rawat also expressed the need to have better control of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that though they have adopted the hard and soft power approach to deal with the situation, the offer to terrorists to come over and surrender is always there. Answering a question regarding talks with Hurriyat, General Rawat asserted that the talks can happen only if they shun violence and stop seeking support from Pakistan. He further emphasised that J&K is a bilateral issue and there is no scope for 3rd party intervention. “The discussion will happen as per our terms and conditions,” he said.

Refuting the allegations that the Indian Army targets civilians across the border, General Rawat said, “Indian Army is a professional unit and it doesn’t target civilians intentionally. When there are terrorists operating on the other side who attempt to cross LoC, it becomes difficult to identify between a terrorist and a civilian. There are about 300 terrorists lurking around on the other side of the border, waiting to infiltrate.”

General Rawat also outlined the Army’s approach vis-a-vis Afghanistan and defended his proposition of having talks with the Taliban. He contended when a majority of countries involved in Afghanistan peace talks consider Taliban as a stakeholder, we should also join the bandwagon.

General Rawat also described the procurement of advanced missiles and rockets from the DRDO. He revealed that the tests carried out by DRDO were fairly successful, though certain objectives are yet to be fulfilled, once DRDO achieves them, missiles and rockets will be inducted in the Army. “There are definite timelines given to DRDO, if they fail to deliver them within those timelines, we will go in for import mechanism,” he added.

Congress leader attacks Modi govt over resignation of IAS officer who called India ‘Rapistan’

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader attacks Modi govt over resignation of IAS officer who called India ‘Rapistan’

Senior leader of the Congress party and former Union Finance Minister of India, P. Chidambaram, took a dig at the NDA government over the resignation of Kashmiri IAS officer Shah Faesal.

Chidambaram saluted Faesal and dubbed his resignation an “indictment of the BJP government.” He said in a tweet, “Though sad, I salute Mr IAS (now resigned). Every word of his statement is true and is an indictment of the BJP government. The world will take note of his cry of anguish and defiance.”


Referring to the statements that Faesal had made, Chidambaram stated, “Not long ago, Ribeiro, the legendary police officer, said the same thing, but there was not a word of reassurance from the rulers. Such statements from our fellow citizens must make us hang our heads in regret and shame.”

It is of great concern that such a senior of the biggest Opposition party has chosen to side with a man who called India ‘Rapistan’ merely to oppose Narendra Modi. In fact, a departmental inquiry was initiated against Faesal for his remark. It was said that the ‘officer has failed to maintain absolute honesty and integrity in discharging his duties’.

In his post on social media where he announced his resignation, Faesal alleged that his decision to quit the services has been provoked by the “unabated” killings of Muslims in Kashmir and mainland India at the hands of “Hindutva” forces. Faesal contended that the absence of any political initiative to restore normalcy back to Kashmir valley had motivated him to leave the administrative services.

Faesal has also alluded that the democracy in the country is in danger as ‘subversive’ forces are presiding over the democratic institutions and are bent on altering their nature and functioning. He has also mentioned that he will be revealing about his future plans at a press conference this Friday.

It is rather disheartening to see that senior politicians in the country are choosing to side with people of questionable character to merely score political brownies. Chidambaram himself is going through a rather torrid time. On the 7th of January, he was interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate in the INX Media case.

Both P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram are accused in the INX Media scam which involves charges of bribery and lobbying in granting foreign investments worth Rs 300 crores to INX Media. INX Media was later known as NewsX, it was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee of the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. ED had initiated a probe on the basis of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s FIR. Chidambaram is accused of misusing his power as the finance minister to grant INX Media an FIPB clearance.

Meanwhile, the CBI and other agencies are also probing a similar case involving Chidambaram and his son, the Aircel-Maxis scam. The CBI is probing alleged irregularities in grant of FIPB approval in Aircel-Maxis deal, while the ED is probing alleged money-laundering related to the deal.

In retrospect, a politician under investigation for his alleged involvement in scams siding with a man who called India ‘Rapistan’ does not come across as all that shocking after all.

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