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‘Shiv bhakts’ would have needed visa to visit Somnath, PM Modi takes a jibe at Rahul Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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‘Shiv bhakts’ would have needed visa to visit Somnath, PM Modi takes a jibe at Rahul Gandhi

While inaugurating the world’s tallest statue, Statue of Unity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took a jibe on Congress President Rahul Gandhi and said had it not been for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, ‘Shiv Bhakts’ would have needed a visa to visit Somnath.

Modi was referring to Sardar Patel’s efforts of uniting the princely states of India after independence. Princely states of Junagadh, Travancore, Jodhpur, Hyderabad and Bhopal had initially turned down the offer to be part of India. Junagadh, one of the most important states comprising of the Kathiawar region was ruled by Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III over the predominantly Hindu population, who chose to side with Pakistan, much to the displeasure of people.

On 16th September 1947, when Pakistan accepted Junagadh’s Nawab’s Instrument of Accession, India was enraged. Sardar Patel was of the opinion that if Junagadh goes to Pakistan, it will flare the communal tension in the state. Junagadh was surrounded by India from all sides and Arabian sea through which it could reach Pakistan.

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By Dr. Andreas Birken at German Wikipedia – Own work (Autor), CC BY-SA 3.0 de, Link

Fearing for his life, the Nawab fled to Karachi, Pakistan, with his family. While Patel offered Pakistan to allow a plebiscite in Junagadh, he eventually sent in troops to force annexation of three of its principalities. Owing to the shortage of funds and forces, the Dewan was forced to accede to the Indian government. Eventually, on February 20, 1948, a plebiscite was held in the state wherein all but 91 out of the 1,90,870 who voted chose to side with India.

Hence, had it not been for Sardar Patel, the Asiatic Lions of Gir and the Somnath temple which is located in Junagadh would have become part of Pakistan and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who has recently discovered his ‘Shiv Bhakt‘ side and often goes on temple runs during elections, might have required visa to worship at Somnath.

Vogue magazine would have advised Priya Ramani that putting my name would invite libel: MJ Akbar in Delhi court

OpIndia Staff
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Vogue magazine would have advised Priya Ramani that putting my name would invite libel: MJ Akbar in Delhi court

Former MoS, External Affairs MJ Akbar had filed a defamation suit against journalist Priya Ramani after the later accused him of sexual harassment. He had resigned from his post after Ramani and several other women accused him of sexual misconduct. The allegations had caused quite a furore in the media in the wake of the #Metoo movement gathering storm in the country.

Appearing in the court today, Akbar reiterated his stand, stating that Ramani had not mentioned his name in her article “To the Harvey Weinsteins of the World” because she would have been advised by the Vogue magazine that including his name would invite libel.


Citing anomaly in Priya Ramani’s conduct, while recording his statement in Delhi’s Patiala House court, MJ Akbar asserted that she had earlier absolved him of any misbehaviour in an article written in the Vogue magazine. Akbar stated that Ramani herself had stated that his name was not there because he did not do anything.


Defending his resignation on the raging #MeToo controversy, MJ Akbar also stated in the court that there was an immediate damage to his reputation because of the obscene nature of the concocted accusations levelled against him and that he voluntarily resigned from the post for seeking justice in his personal capacity.

Akbar stated in court that he had worked for four decades to build a stellar reputation and that has suffered damage because of the “Scurrilous nature of the false and concocted allegations.”

 Ramani was the first woman to name Akbar for sexual misconduct as the #MeToo campaign gathered steam in the country last month. 20 women have pledged to testify sexual misconduct by the veteran editor during his stint in The Telegraph and The Asian Age. The list includes Prerna Singh Bindra, Ghazala Wahab, Shutapa Paul, Anju Bharti, Suparna Sharma, Shuma Raha, Malini Bhupta, Kanika Gahlout, Kadambari M Wade, Majlie de Puy Kamp, and Ruth David.

Many big names have come out in the #MeToo movement in India. Several personalities from media and entertainment industries have been called out for their alleged sexually harassing and predatory behaviour.

The tallest statue in the world should serve as a reminder: It is time to reclaim our History

Sharanya Shetty
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The tallest statue in the world should serve as a reminder: It is time to reclaim our History

V.P. Menon wrote his book “The story of the integration of the Indian States” in 1961, narrating the story of how modern India was crafted. The magnum opus of a retired civil servant, which spoke about the merger of 565 princely states into the Indian Union. Inexplicably, for many decades, it was difficult to find this book in bookstores across the country.

In no other nation would a stalwart be relegated to the past in this manner. One would imagine that a book that lauds an unmatchable hero like Sardar Patel and his superhuman effort to craft the map as it stands today would be read by every Indian. Instead, as India walked on the path of altering-history soon after the Independence, Menon’s book became more and more difficult to find. This changed only in the last two decades, as electronic copies of the book surfaced and were widely circulated.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Statue of Unity to the nation on Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary, there is no better time to read what Sardar Patel achieved for India, creating a modern nation from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Junagadh to Assam. The unification of Hyderabad would remain the most glorious of these hundreds of stories, which Sardar Patel helmed.

The unification of Hyderabad with the Republic of India was so glorious; it continues to hurt the modern day political considerations.

Hyderabad state, ruled by the Nizam, preferred to stay independent. As India started taking shaping up, with princely states signing the Instrument of Accession, the Nizam instead appointed diplomats to European countries. Nizam tried to persuade the Portuguese to sell him the Goa region, then controlled by the Portuguese. This would have given naval access to the Nizam.

Hyderabad was not an insignificant state. With an area of over 82,000 square miles, it was home to more than 17 million Indians. An overwhelming 87% of them were Hindus, though the state was ruled by Nizam Osman Ali Khan, and seen as close to Pakistan. Sardar Patel knew Hyderabad was non-negotiable – it was the link between North and the South, between what was known as Hindustan and Deccan in the centuries gone by.

Nizam found support in Razakars– a ragtag army of locals, owing allegiance to the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen. This army plundered the state as voices in the run-up to the unification with India started to rise. From 1946 to September 1948, when Hyderabad finally acceded, this army continued to commit unthinkable atrocities in the Nizam’s territory against an unhappy citizenry.

This is the army Sardar Patel destroyed as part of Operation Polo, which resulted in Hyderabad becoming an integral part of India. Between September 13 and September 17 in 1948, Indian Army fought with the Razakars, a battle which culminated in the Nizam receiving a firm and tall Sardar Patel with folded hands and a bent back at the airport. Unfortunately, thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the ensuing battles, before Sardar Patel got his job done in Hyderabad.

V.P. Menon has described these events candidly and vividly. The modern-day Hyderabad, however, does not celebrate September 17 as the Telangana Liberation Day. There are two reasons.

Firstly, any such celebration would bring forth the glory of Sardar Patel, and match him in the official historical pantheon of exclusive heroes of Indian Independence – Gandhi and Nehru.

Secondly, the All India Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) is now a political force to reckon with in Telangana, especially in Hyderabad. The party has controlled the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat uninterrupted since 1984.

No government in Telangana and in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh wants to upset either the Nehru-Gandhi clan or the Owaisis of the All India Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen. This is also true of the current Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government.

When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah raised the issue of the Telangana Liberation Day in an election rally in the state earlier in the week, he was not just talking about important symbolism but also about honouring the real legacy of Sardar Patel and of celebrating his heroics.

The Telangana BJP leader G. Kishan Reddy recently wrote about the need to celebrate the historical events of September 17, 1948. He wrote – “In September 1948, Sardar Patel sanctioned Operation Polo and ensured that Indian troops freed millions of patriotic Hindus and Muslims from the whimsical tyranny of the Nizam. Seventy years later, it is to appease the political inheritors of the Nizam’s legacy that the people of the modern-day state of Telangana are not allowed to celebrate the Hyderabad Liberation Day.”

India today bows its head in deference to the great Sardar Patel. India today takes price in the Statue of Unity. One can only hope that the tallest statue in the world can serve as a permanent reminder to our citizenry about the importance of reclaiming Sardar’s legacy. One can only hope that the imposing Statue of Unity can also remind us, that it is time we reclaim the History of various parts of the country, especially, Hyderabad.

Amit Shah has already hinted that the BJP will make reclaiming of Hyderabad pride as a poll issue. Even if it does not manage to generate enough interest in the 2019 assembly election, focusing on September 17 celebrations will eventually be a true tribute to Sardar Patel.

Statue of Unity is not just a great symbol for generations to come, but it is also a great opportunity to amplify individual works of the Sardar. Hyderabad is a great first candidate.

Two JeM terrorists killed in Tral encounter, one believed to be Masood Azhar’s nephew

OpIndia Staff
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Two JeM terrorists killed in Tral encounter, one believed to be Masood Azhar’s nephew

Two terrorists from the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) outfit were killed in an encounter by security forces Pulwama’s Tral on Tuesday. Media reports have claimed that one of the slain terrorists, Usman Haider, was the nephew of Jaish-e-Mohammad head, Masood Azhar.

According to reports, a group of terrorists were tracked to a residential house in Chankitar area of Tral on Tuesday. The terrorists reportedly opened fire at the security forces, leading to an encounter. The security forces had also reportedly cautioned the locals to stay away from the encounter zone.

Swayam Prakash Pani, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, had later confirmed that the bodies of the two terrorists have been recovered. He also reportedly added that the killed terrorists were a part of the module responsible for recent stand-off attacks in and around Tral.

Reports say that while the house the terrorists were hiding in was reduced to a rubble following the fierce encounter, the recovered bodies were charred. It was also claimed that one UGBL-Barrel rifle has also been recovered from the encounter site.

As per reports, security forces in the area were concerned about repeated sniper attacks by JeM terrorists which had claimed the lives of 3 security personnel and injured 5. The forces had reportedly stated that a team of 4 snipers had infiltrated across from the LoC and were carrying out the attacks in Tral area. Usman Haider was reportedly the leader of the group.

Although the identity of the killed terrorists was not revealed initially, today the Jammu and Kashmir police have reportedly confirmed that one of the terrorists was in fact, Usman Haider, Masood Azhar’s nephew. Haider’s pictures released in the social media by the terror outfit picture him carrying an American M4 rifle, a sophisticated weapon used by the NATO forces in Afghanistan. Police statements have stated that they are yet to recover the M4.

As per reports, Haider is the second nephew of Masood Azhar killed by Indian security forces. His other nephew, Talha Rashid was killed by security forces in an encounter in Pulwama in November last year. An M4 carbine rifle was also reportedly recovered from Rashid’s person. According to reports, the terrorist outfit JeM had released a statement late on Tuesday confirming that Usman Haider and another terrorist have been killed by Indian forces. The encounter was carried out by a joint team of Rashtriya Rifles, SOG and CRPF.

South Korea President thanks PM Modi for sending customised ‘Modi vests’, usual suspects see red

Jinit Jain
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South Korea President thanks PM Modi for sending customised ‘Modi vests’, usual suspects see red

In a major endorsement to ‘Make in India’ initiative, the President of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in has taken to his Twitter account to laud Indian traditional wear and thanked Modi for the kind gesture of sending customised ‘Modi Vests’, meticulously tailored to fit him. He also said that the Modi vests conform with the Korean dressing sense and can be worn easily in Korea.


During his official visit to India, President Moon Jae-in was particularly impressed by the vests worn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had complemented PM Modi for the same. Taking bonhomie to another level and acknowledging Moon Jae-in’s complement, PM Modi gifted him a few customised Modi vests, all scrupulously tailored to fit him.

President Moon Jae-in was also touched by PM Modi’s thoughtful message in Korean on Twitter after winning the Seoul Peace Prize. He congratulated PM Modi on this accomplishment.


But this seems to have not gone down well with the known Modi detractors. Omar Abdullah, fuming at the name of ‘Modi vests’ tweeted that Modi had usurped Nehru jacket’s name and has started calling it Modi vests. Clearly, those who have attributed every small thing that the country did since independence to Gandhi-Nehru dynasty are fazed by an outsider who is making India proud with his sense of diplomacy and realpolitik.


Ashok Swain, a congenital Modi hater, and a known dynasty supporter undermined PM Modi by saying that he can never be Nehru and took a cheap jibe at him. Evidently, the tweets by Korean President expressing gratitude to the PM Modi for sending him ‘Modi Vests’  have rubbed a section of self-proclaimed intellectuals the wrong way.


President of Korea, Moon Jae-in was on an official 3-day visit to India in July this year. The two leaders had bilateral talks on a wide range of issues and later delivered a joint statement. The two leaders also addressed India-South Korea CEOs and held extensive talks at the roundtable.

PM Modi asserted that South Korean companies are not only strengthening ‘Make in India’ initiative but are also generating employment opportunities in India. He thanked the South Korean president for his cooperation.

Modi was one of the few world leaders to congratulate Moon on his election last year.

While criticising the Statue of Unity, ‘liberals’ indulge in blatant lies and whataboutery

Raju Das
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While criticising the Statue of Unity, ‘liberals’ indulge in blatant lies and whataboutery

As prime minister Narendra Modi officially dedicated the Statue of Unity to the nation today, a section of people, mostly from the left-liberal group, intensified their criticism of the iconic project. In attacking the statue, they also indulged in whataboutery, reminding how ‘bhakts’ had criticised statues that Mayawati had built as UP chief minister and memorials of Gandhi-Nehru family members.

They also say that the statue cost too much money which could have spent better some other welfare project. The liberals also complain that BJP is trying to appropriate the legacy of Sardar Ballavbhai Patel, who was a Congress leader, and who ironically had banned RSS at one point in time.

It is unfathomable how can someone compare statue of the iron man of India built almost 70 years after his death to the dozens of statues that Mayawati had built during her own lifetime. And no, people didn’t attack Mayawati for building B R Ambedkar statues, most of the criticism was aimed at statues of Mayawati herself, and her party’s election symbol, the Elephant. And it was not that only ‘bhakts’ criticised the Mayawati statues, it was criticised by people from all political ideologies, including prominent journalists.

In fact, those ‘bhakts’ and eminent journalists shared the same feelings, no problem with parks and Ambedkar statues, but why build your own statues, that too so many?


However, Rajdeep has sung a different tune day, perhaps because it is the Modi government that has built and inaugurated the statue of liberty.


It is actually unbelievable that someone would compare Statue of Unity with Gandhi-Nehru family memorials. The criticism for the later is that there are too many of them. During Congress government, all government programs, schemes, institutions, infrastructure were only named after someone or other from the family, other than Mahatma Gandhi. Even though Congress party itself had several tall leaders in its long history, they were always ignored.

We had an IIM named after Rajiv Gandhi, we have national parks named after persons of the family. We have so many Nehru stadiums in the country that it actually gets confusing. There are thousands of statues of the Nehru family members in the country. Liberals also say that bhakts complain about Teen Murti Bhawan made Nehru memorial, which was Jawaharlal’s Nehru’s house. But the fact is, it was not an ancestral property of Nehru, it was built by British India government using public money, which was made official residence of PM after independence.

The cost argument is the most ridiculous one by far. It is argued that too much money is being spent on the statue. Well, this argument is made every time a big project comes up, not just a statue. Be it a high-speed train project, a space exploration program, or something else, there will always be someone who will say that it is a waste of money which would better be spent on building hospitals and schools. The sectors like health and education, that liberals say should get all the money, are not suffering due to lack of money. The combined budget of central and state governments in public welfare projects are enormous, and it’s not that government has deducted money from other essential sectors for the statue.

Majority of the cost of the statue is borne by the Gujarat government, as around ₹2400 crore has come from the state, out of total ₹3000 crore total cost. The project is not just a statue, there are several tourist attractions included in the project. In includes convention hall, amusement park, visitor centres, memorial garden, hotel, research centre, library etc.

Gujarat is already a top tourist destination in the nation with its historical monuments, and it is expected that the Statue of Unity will become a must visit place in the schedule of tourists. Over time, the statue will recover its cost, and due to the visit of both domestic and international tourists, the local economy will also flourish. The project will also provide direct and indirect employment to hundreds of people.

During its long rule, Congress failed to appropriately honour the great leaders of the country who brought us independence. Congress prime ministers were busy giving Bharat Ratna awards to themselves, so it was left to BJP government to honour non-Nehru family leaders of the freedom struggle. If people argue that other leaders our nation need not be honoured, then we have nothing to say.

The contribution of Patel or Bose was no less than the contribution of Nehru and Gandhi in the freedom struggle, and the current government is also only doing what should have been done decades ago.

Some also argue that why ‘bhakts’ hate Nehru but love Patel, both Congress leaders. There is a probable reason for that. There is a perception that just after independence while forming our country, Patel did a much better job than Nehru. It is argued that Sardar Patel integrated Hyderabad into the union of India smoothly, while Nehru blundered in Kashmir, the consequence of which is still being suffered by the country.

Why is ‘liberal’ ecosystem so disturbed by the Statue of Unity?

Abhishek Banerjee
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Why is ‘liberal’ ecosystem so disturbed by the Statue of Unity?

Why is the liberal ecosystem in such a foul mood over the inauguration of the Statue of Unity as a tribute to Sardar Patel on his birth anniversary?

Take, for example, this tweet from an eminent historian:

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Or this, which made me burst out laughing.

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They actually found that four members of Patel’s family *contested* Lok Sabha elections! Oh no! Let me know how many of them went on to become Congress President, Prime Minister of India and self-crowned Bharat Ratnas riding purely on the strength of their last name.

Why this sudden need among liberals to tear down Sardar Patel, one of the tallest leaders in the Congress pantheon?

Are Congress sycophants worried that a 182-meter tall statue of Patel could damage the monotheistic cult of the Nehru-Gandhi clan that the Congress has transformed itself into?

Even more pathetic are the repeated references to the fact that Sardar Patel played a key role in putting a ban on the RSS. Like this, for instance.

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What is the point that is being made here? The Sangh Parivar has never hidden its ideological differences and a long history of political disagreement with the Congress Party to which Sardar Patel belonged.

And yet, Narendra Modi has not let political bitterness come in the way of recognizing Sardar Patel and his contributions to the nation.

Ask the Americans. Does anyone care any more which political party Lincoln or Roosevelt belonged to?

Why is the Indian liberal stuck in the swamp of pettiness, reminding the Sangh Parivar of unpleasantness between two rival political parties 70 years ago? Why are Indian liberals feeling so insecure?

Or is it that the mere mention of the word “unity” is making liberals uncomfortable? Does it remind liberals of which family was the No. 1 beneficiary of the Partition of India?

Today the liberal ecosystem speaks of dividing India with every breath they take. Some make it official with their “Bharat ke tukde” slogans. In Haryana, they are about inciting Jats. In Maharashtra, they are about inciting the Marathas against the Dalits and then the Dalits against the Marathas. A few months ago, the Congress Chief Minister of Karnataka referred to India’s Prime Minister as a “North Indian import.”

In Sardar Patel’s Gujarat, the liberal today speaks the language of ethnic hatred against a poor labourer from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh. When at all the liberal mentions Sardar Patel, it is to incite members of Sardar’s own caste, the Patidars, against everyone else. Then the liberal goes to town distributing “I am Patidar” caps, encouraging young people to walk around with their caste written on their heads.

To such people, the name “Statue of Unity” is likely to be anathema.

Then, there are “arguments” against the statue that are such junk that it becomes harder to imagine good faith on part of the editor who allowed them to be published. Take this:

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The “argument”? That the Taj Mahal earns Rs 25 crore of tourist revenue per year. So how long would it take for a 3000 crore Statue of Unity to pay for itself?

Seriously? Is that how you count the economic value created by the Taj Mahal?  You don’t just add the ticket sales for the monument; you count the entire impact of lakhs of tourists from India and abroad coming and spending in Agra each year. Are you saying that the world famous Taj Mahal brings only Rs 25 crore into the city’s economy every year? What about every travel company that runs tours to Agra, every hotel where the tourists stay and all the people who work for them? Would these have existed without the Taj Mahal?

But such junk arguments are being allowed to enter the discourse and disseminated by so-called news websites.

Speaking of expensive statues and whether they bring economic value, remember when Mayawati built statues of herself with public money all around Lucknow?

Don’t forget that the Congress-led UPA was supported in Parliament by the Bahujan Samaj Party all through the ten years that Dr Singh was Prime Minister. Wonder what Rahul Gandhi thinks of that?

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Brace yourselves, folks. So if the Opposition gets its way in 2019 elections, it could very well be that the next Prime Minister of India will be unveiling statues of herself all over the country.

The liberals would rather have that than Narendra Modi inaugurating a statue of Sardar Patel.

I sense some guilt and some shame on the part of Indian liberals. Which is a good beginning for them? Meanwhile, as Narendra Modi proves himself to be the bigger man, Indian liberals are looking like they are less than an inch tall.

Telangana Congress Chief promises ‘Jesus rule’ if voted to power, offers concessions to Christian community

Shashank Bharadwaj
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Telangana Congress Chief promises ‘Jesus rule’ if voted to power, offers concessions to Christian community

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Capt. N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday promised to bring ‘Jesus rule’ if the Congress were voted to power in the upcoming state assembly elections.

Addressing a meeting of All India Christian Federation at YMCA, Secunderabad on Monday evening, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that ‘Jesus willed Governance’ will come in Telangana only if Congress is voted to power by defeating both TRS and the BJP.


Reddy went on to claim that caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held a secret meeting in Delhi ahead of Telangana state elections. “Voting for Mr Rao is nothing but voting for Modi. This is the reason why Mr Rao rushed to Delhi,” said Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress will provide Scheduled Caste (SC) status to Dalit Christians and give importance to Christians, unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also promised to give free education to children of pastors, priests and Imams along with health and accidental insurance up to five lakhs.

Reddy further added that if Congress is voted to power in Telangana, they will give an honorarium to pastors and priests along with free houses and provide free electricity to the places of worship. The Christian Corporation will be provided with funds to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees for their development, said Reddy.

He also promised of hostels, skill development centres for Christian students, loans for self-employment scheme, 3,000 monthly unemployment allowance, land for new churches. Addition to this, Reddy promised the All India Christian Federation of a CBI investigation into alleged encroachment of properties belonging to churches and also a judicial commission to study socio-economic status of the Christians.

A Christian Study Circle for students and subsidy for those going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem will be introduced after Congress coming to power in the state of Telangana, said Uttam Reddy. He said the next Congress government would strengthen the Christian Minorities Finance Corporation by giving adequate funds.

Meanwhile, Telangana BJP on Tuesday urged the State Election Commission to take action against TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy for violating the Model code of conduct by using religious appeasement to garner votes in the upcoming elections. The BJP alleged that Congress was provoking the religious and regional sentiments by luring the Christian community.

Capt. N Uttam Kumar Reddy, a former IAF fighter pilot, is currently an MLA from Telangana and has also been elected thrice to the Andhra Pradesh state assembly. His wife Nalamada Padmavathi Reddy is also a Congress MLA from Telangana.

Yogi Adityanath bats for women empowerment, wants more women to join the police force

OpIndia Staff
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Yogi Adityanath bats for women empowerment, wants more women to join the police force

Speaking at the concluding session of the Working Committee of the BJP Mahila Morcha, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that he wants more women to join the police as they could beat up the goons well.

He said that he supports 50 per cent reservation for women. “We want women in an adequate number in the police force but unfortunately we are not able to find them,” Yogi said.  He added that while the state government had initially added 33 per cent reservation for women in UP Police, the same was later decreased to 20 per cent. However, the state government would begin the process of recruiting as many as 50,000 police constables by March next year. He even urged the BJP Mahila Morcha members to convince women to join the police force.

He added that over and above the 50,000 vacancies in the police force, the state government will also have as many as 68,500 in the education field.

The CM also asked the Mahila Morcha members to ensure maximum women participation at the booth level. There are 1.60 lakh booths in the state and if the Mahila Morcha prepares five women at each booth, the total number of women participating could reach around 8 lakhs. And if that happens, that will lead to a historic victory for the BJP.

Judiciary sets off fireworks of overreach with the judgement on bursting firecrackers

Karan
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Judiciary sets off fireworks of overreach with the judgement on bursting firecrackers

This may be the third article this year which is trying to reiterate the problems associated with judicial overreach. But then again, what can one do if the saga of judicial overreach refuses to die down. There is a reason why we have a doctrine of separation of power; paramount of them being the need to ensure there is a strong system of checks and balances in place while the second one being to ensure that each institution can specialize within its own field of work and discharge its duties with utmost efficiency.

At the onset, it needs to be clarified that I have enormous respect for Judiciary as an institution and I believe that they attempt to make decisions with the best interests of the society in mind.

The problem, however, is that not all such decisions take popular consensus into consideration. This lack of consensus becomes a contentious issue when decisions are taken on governance matters as the will of people is not represented during the judicial process of decision making. The current article is with respect to the latest judgment that aims at reducing pollution in Delhi by capping the time duration for the bursting of firecrackers in Delhi.

Let me first state that I am against the extensive use of firecrackers during Diwali celebrations as my great-grandfather lost his life due to the rampant pollution that was caused by them. But, over time firecrackers became an integral part of the cultural celebration of Diwali so it must be respected. A lot of sentiment is associated with the practice of bursting crackers in Diwali so capping the time for this seems to be an order that should have ordinarily come from the executive and not the judiciary.

The good thing is that unlike last year, this time the courts didn’t outrightly ban firecrackers like last year. Last year when courts completely banned the sale of firecrackers, traders and the entire economic ecosystem around the economy was severely affected as the traders didn’t expect such an outcome and thus, they could not adjust their inventories. The least, I expected was that this year around Diwali, they’d be certain regulations that would be put in from the start of the year so that traders can form rationale demand projections before adjusting their inventories. Unfortunately, that didn’t take place while what we got is a two-hour window for the bursting of crackers.

Let me ask a few quick questions, will just banning firecrackers solve Delhi’s pollution problem? It will surely help a bit, but it will come at the cost of hurting the cultural sentiments of a significant proportion of people. That said, another major issue worth stressing upon is that the problem of pollution in Delhi requires a concentrated approach towards the improvement of air quality, water quality and cleanliness in India. This approach would require a concentrated approach from all stakeholders, something that only the Delhi Government can initiate and not the Courts.

A similar attempt to address Delhi’s pollution problem was done by the Courts when they ordered that all DTC buses be converted into CNG, however, the impact of such an intervention was only short-term as Delhi’s pollution problem only worsened over the years. This demonstrates why judicial action is difficult to have an impact when it is trying to address an executive or legislative matter.

The recent judgment by the court somehow doesn’t adequately capture the institutional constraints of the executive as it puts the onus to ensure no crackers are burst beyond the desired hours on to the police department. It reads that the Station House Officer (SHO) would be personally liable should there be a violation. This has severe problems as how does an SHO ensure the compliance with Court order as she/he does not have the adequate resources to monitor their entire area.

The judgement despite resolving the key debate that right to life supersedes the right to practice a religious belief puts in front a larger question of how we intend to fight the menace of pollution in our mega-cities and the answer to this cannot come from the Courts.

It is about time the Delhi Government takes cognizance of the need to find a solution to the chronic problem of pollution that the citizens face. Mere photo-ops like Odd-Even are not the long-term solution and there’s an urgent need for an executive intervention to ensure that there’s no governance gap that needs to be filled by a judicial intervention.

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