Home Blog Page 1004

Shiv Sena makes Mockery of Constitution?

June 12, 2019

Shiv Sena is trying to undermine the Supreme Court of India, while it is glorifying the leaders of its ally the BJP on the Ram Mandir issue in Ayodhya. It may be an endeavour to make the party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s second Ayodhya tour a grand success in the wake of a landslide victory of the Shiv Sena-BJP combine in Maharashtra in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. At the same time, the party wants to gain an upper hand over the BJP on the issue of the Hindutva. At any cost, Shiv Sena is in the search of a favourable ground, before Maharashtra Assembly elections which are due in October this year.

It is notable that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya on June 15. All 18 newly elected parliamentarians from the party will also accompany him. This will be Uddhav’s second tour. On November 25 last year, he had visited Ayodhya and received support of local people and saints. The Shiv Sena and BJP won a total of 41 seats out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The party is going to contest Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP. The seat sharing for the 288 membered Maharashtra Assembly is yet to be decided. Both the parties stake their claim for chief ministerial post. Before the Modi-Shah era, the Shiv Sena was the big brother of the BJP in Maharashtra and retained the post of CM. But after 2014’s Assembly elections, things changed. The BJP emerged as big brother and enjoys the post of CM. As of now, this is one of the major disputes between the two allies.

Actually, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Supreme Court for his party because the country had elected him with an overwhelming majority. Earlier, he had said that courts would not do anything in the Ram Mandir matter. Just before it, the Supreme Court had fixed the hearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi–Babri Masjid land dispute cases for January before an appropriate bench last year. Sanjay Raut said, “We are not paying attention to what the Supreme Court verdict (on Ram Mandir issue) is and what date it gives (for the verdict). We don’t want to pay attention. The court won’t do anything in the Ram Mandir matter. We did not ask the court before demolishing the Babri structure 25 years ago.”

On being asked about the disputed statement, NCP leader and advocate Majeed Memon told Afternoon Voice, “Sanjay Raut appears to be an educated person and he has some knowledge about provisions of the Constitution of India. He must record, just a fortnight ago when the Prime Minister addressed all newly elected parliamentarians in the Central Hall of the Parliament, he first respected and kissed the copy of the Constitution of India. Sanjay Raut should appreciate that the Constitution of India very clearly explains as to the extent and limitation of the power of various constitutional functionaries, no executive is above the law.”

“The Supreme Court has to independently decide the issue on merits. Sanjay Raut also knows that the dispute relating to the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi temple is under active consideration of the Supreme Court. And neither PM Narendra Modi nor Amit Shah nor Yogi Adityanath can claim to be above the Supreme Court. All three of them together also are subordinates to the Supreme Court. Therefore, the statement of Sanjay Raut is not only immature, irresponsible but also ridiculous,” he added.

Shiv Sena leader’s statement has raised a serious question over the party’s faith in the Constitution of India, according to which the Supreme Court is supreme in any dispute. Its ally in Maharashtra and at the Centre, the BJP is also under question. In coming days, both the parties have to make their stand clear on the Constitution and the constitutional organisations.

The Shiv Sena’s all seasoned friend the BJP disowns itself from the disputed statement of Sanjay Raut. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra refused to comment on this issue. When asked whether they are supporting the Shiv Sena leader or opposing him, he said, “I will ask my top leaders, only then I can say anything on this issue.”

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday said that to him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are equivalent to the Supreme Court. He said that the construction of Ram Mandir will start by the end of this year.

Mahila Pradesh Congress General Secretary Manisha Rote said, “It is a shocking statement for the Indian democracy. He has challenged the Constitution of the country.”

Sanjay Raut said, “The decision will be taken by the majority. Don’t the voices of 125 crore people matter? The Supreme Court will continue to do its work. But we have many ways to go ahead. What is the Supreme Court for us? For us, Supreme Court is Narendra Modi ji, Amit Shah ji, Yogi ji and people. During campaigning, main issues including Ram Mandir, section 370 and Uniform Civil Code were raised. These are issues of national interest and people voted for us based on these issues.”

He said, “Under the leadership of Modi and Adityanath, Ram Mandir will be constructed. Ram Mandir will be constructed now. Nobody can stop the construction of Ram Mandir. In 2019, NDA got a huge majority. Ram temple is one of the issues. This is why nobody can stop it neither law nor those who are against the construction. This is the decision of people that’s why they have voted us to power.”

Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said, “It is not a challenge to the Supreme Court. But we are expecting a big step from PM Narendra Modi on this issue like he may come up with an ordinance for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The BJP has said that it will come forward with full strength in this matter.”

Sanjay Raut also said that after country’s first home minister Sardar Patel, it is Amit Shah who has the ability to resolve the Kashmir issue. Amit Shah is a capable Home Minister to resolve the Kashmir problem. He talks about country, Hindutva. There are no two opinions over Kashmir being an integral part of India.

Ram Mandir issue throttling Shiv Sena and BJP

Vaidehi Taman

June 12, 2019

BJP’s alliance party Shiv Sena, which was in a very attacking and aggressive mode till sometime back, all of a sudden, has become very obedient to Modi and Shah. Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena’s senior-most leader Sanjay Raut gave a statement to the media that he feels, Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are equivalent to the Supreme Court and asserted that the construction of Ram Mandir will start by the end of this year and not even law can stop the Ram Mandir construction. Raut further stated that the majority would take the decision.

“Don’t the voices of 125 crore people matter? The Supreme Court will continue to do its work. However, we have many ways to go ahead. What is the Supreme Court for us? For us, the Supreme Court is Narendra Modi Ji, Amit Shah Ji, Yogi Ji, and people.”

During 2014 campaigning, main issues including the Ram Mandir, Section 370, and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) were raised. These are the issues of national interest and people voted for BJP based on these issues. BJP ruled for five years but none of these promises ever got fulfilled. Even here, after the leaders might claim anything but the construction of Ram Mandir will not be in their hand.

PM Modi has been till now delivered only one promise or unsaid agenda, which is not building a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Modi and BJP are advocating making an ordinance to build a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya but in the same time, they keep elaborating the issue through Shiv Sena, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal (BD) and other BJP leaders.

They are already well aware that the building of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is closing their chapter finally. This issue is like chocking their throats. They neither can openly come to build a Ram Temple nor drop this issue. Hence, indirectly, they are provoking this issue among the Hindus. As the upcoming state assembly elections too are very crucial for these parties.

Everyone expected that the Mandir could be built before the general elections of 2019, but BJP did not utter a single word on the same. Now, we can see the starting of discussion on Ram Mandir before the upcoming assembly elections. Meanwhile, Supreme Court was hearing Ram Mandir issue on a daily basis without any interruption and ordered a court-monitored mediation in the Ram Janmabhoomi–Babri Masjid land dispute case to arrive at a “permanent solution” to the politically and religiously sensitive issue. The court also said that the mediation proceedings are to be kept confidential. The decision regarding this issue can come as expected and we know that there are no powerful evidence favouring Babri Masjid.

To bypass the judiciary, BJP needs a 2/3rd majority in both the houses, which they now possess. An out of court settlement is also possible. The Shia Waqf Board agreed for Ram Mandir in the disputed land while the Sunni Waqf Board didn’t. If the Sunni Waqf Board also agrees to it, then the Mandir can be built.

Other than the court, the pressure tactics from various forces already built on these communities who are against making of Ram Mandir; so, whether Modi, Shah, and Yogi are greater than the Supreme Court or not, Lord Rama is greater than all these people because he has given grounds to BJP politics in India. Without him, BJP has no vote bank. It is a very important issue for them (and Hindus) both culturally and ideologically.

It is not some temple at the end of the street; it is a fight for the Birthplace of Lord Rama. This issue is no illusion; imagine a church being built by the Christian crusaders by demolishing the Mecca Masjid. As soon as the Muslims get back in power, they would have demolished it and try to build an even grander Masjid. However, here, even after 70 years of independence and Muslims getting their separate country, No Mandir has been constructed. The entire politics is revolving around Hindu and Muslims and their respective sentiments.

Now, if this issue gets resolved, BJP will go out of topic. They will have nothing to play their cards other than communal riots. On the other hand, Congress leader Kapil Sibal (a Hindu) is fighting against Ram Mandir and had asked to postpone the hearing till after 2019 elections. They were afraid if the judgement comes, one way or the other, Hindus will consolidate with the BJP.

A Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will boost BJP’s credentials. However, these don’t make the Ram Mandir issue any less important. Ram Mandir is not for Ram anymore. It’s more associated with Hindu domination over Muslim tyrants of the past 1000 years (700–1700AD). BJP found an ideal issue, which can provide them a big chunk of 79 per cent voters of this country. If you visit the site, you will find that the bricks with ‘Ram’ imprinted are now stolen by the local priests to build their own homes. All the excavations have resulted in no proof of a Ram Janmabhoomi.

Now comes the question! Once in an election after 1992, when asked by a journalist, is Ram Mandir going to be an issue, Sushma Swaraj said, “Ek Cheque Ko Kitni Baar Encash Kar Sakte Hain?” (How many times can one cheque be encashed?). You can simply imagine what Ram Mandir issue does for BJP.

Before this issue, BJP had only two seats. After their huge effort in erecting this issue, they won 85 seats and carried on, and now they have crossed 300. Ram Mandir is a golden eggs laying goose. Building the temple will be like killing the goose. Keeping people expecting is a better idea. Most of the people are convinced that BJP only can build a Ram Mandir and it is working in their favour. Why build it if the people are anticipating and are sure that they are for the cause, maintaining the status quo is more fruitful for the future.

In my opinion, BJP will just create a feeling of closure before the 2024 elections and not push for a final decision. If they win, they will push for it and if they lose, they will try everything that the government in power doesn’t take a step towards it. In that case, they will have to play dirty games like buying the opposing parties of Ram Mandir and make them oppose hard on every platform. The non-right alliance will have to appease the minority. There are good chances that they will foolishly ignore the issue and give advantage to BJP.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

‘Sooryavanshi’ gets relieved from the biggest clash

Web Team

June 12, 2019

Salman Khan on Wednesday took to Twitter to announce the new release date of Sooryavanshi with a heartwarming quote – ‘I always thought of him as my younger brother and today he proves it…@itsrohitshetty

Sooryavanshi releasing ‪on 27th March, 2020’.

I always thought of him as my younger brother and today he proves it… #RohitShetty

Sooryavanshi releasing on 27th March, 2020. pic.twitter.com/KGHsej3Bow

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) June 12, 2019

Sooryavanshi directed by Rohit Shetty stars Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif along with others.

The hubbub around the releasing date of the Rohit Shetty directorial started with the report that eminent director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Inshallah’ starring Salman Khan and Alia Bhatt would be clashing with Rohit Shetty’s ‘Sooryavasnhi’ starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. Bollywood superstar Akshay and Salman clashing on the box office was being considered as one of the biggest of its kind.

Both the films were initially scheduled to release on Eid 2020. However, finally, putting all the rumours to rest, ‘Sooryavanshi’ team has decided to shift the release date of the film to March 27, 2020.

In April, in an interview to a portal, Salman said that he will begin working on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film after he wraps up Dabangg 3. At that time, the 53 year-old actor said, “I’ll start Dabangg 3 first and then Sanjay will release his film after that. So, Dabangg will release in December and we will come on Eid, next Eid (2020).”

With ‘Inshallah’, Both Bhansali and Khan are coming together on a project after long 20 years. On the other hand, Akshay Kumar is all set take forward Shetty’s cop story universe ahead.

As per box office report card, Khan’s latest Eid release ‘Bharat’ is making fireworks at the box office. It has become the biggest opener of Salman Khan’s career and has broken all box office records.

Uttar Pradesh most dangerous place for journalists!

Web Team

June 12, 2019

journalist attacks 1 — Image Courtesy: catchnews.com

Probably, Uttar Pradesh will be listed as the most dangerous place for journalists. Within hours after the Supreme Court ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to release journalist Prashant Kanojia, another journalist was not only beaten but treated inhumanly, too, in the state. The police personnel even urinated in his mouth. Besides Kanojia, Ishika Singh, head of a Noida-based news channel, and Anuj Shukla, one of the editors of the channel, were arrested for allegedly making objectionable comments and propagating defamatory content against the UP chief minister. These incidents will malign the image of India, which was judged fifth-most deadliest place to be a journalist in 2018.

According to reports, journalist Amit Sharma went to cover a train derailment in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh. He was thrashed by a group of GRP personnel on Tuesday night. He was beaten up on camera by a group of GRP personnel led by SHO Rakesh Kumar. The group was seen repeatedly slapping and thrashing the journalist while he tries to reason with them. Later, the journalist alleged that he was subjected to torture.

The journalist associated with a news channel, said, “They were in plain clothes. One hit my camera and it fell down. When I picked it up they hit and abused me. I was locked up, stripped and they urinated in my mouth.” The incident took place when he was covering a train derailment incident in Dhimanpura on Tuesday night.

The journalist was locked up in the GRP station. He dubbed the attack as a retaliation for a negative story. Accused inspector/SHO Rakesh Kumar sat on chair and kept confronting other journalists protesting against the incident. The journalist was reportedly dragged to the Government Railway Police (GRP) police station in Shamli and put behind the bars. He remained detained for the night while an order has been issued to release him on Wednesday morning.

Several local journalists rushed to the police station on learning about the incident and put the video footage of cops beating up Amit Sharma on social media. The journalists also reportedly contacted senior officials at the police headquarters. Videos of this incident were circulated on Twitter and social media. After this, DGP UP OP Singh ordered for suspension of SHO GRP Shamli Rakesh Kumar and Constable Sanjay Pawar. The UP police said that strict punishment shall be accorded to policemen misbehaving with citizens. The Uttar Pradesh police tweeted, “We have come across a video where a journalist has been beaten up & put up in a lock up. DGP UP OP Singh has ordered for immediate suspension of SHO GRP Shamli Rakesh Kumar & Const. Sanjay Pawar.”

The journalist told his colleagues who were protesting at the police station that he was being subjected to this torture because of a negative story he did on the railway police force. This incident took place just few hours after the Supreme Court slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for arresting journalist Prashant Kanojia for posting a video on CM Yogi Adityanath. Kanojia was arrested by the UP police on charges of defaming the chief minister of the state.

It is notable that Prashant Kanojia was in jail for over three days. He was not produced before any Magistrate to seek a transit remand. No arrest memo was prepared and neither Kanojia nor his wife was told of why he was being taken and who the arresting officials in civil dress were. An FIR was registered against Prashant Kanojia at Hazratganj police station on last Friday night in Lucknow. UP Police alleged that the accused made objectionable comments against the CM and tried to malign his image. Prashant Kanojia had shared a video on Twitter and Facebook where a woman is seen speaking to reporters of various media organisations outside the CM’s office, expressing her desire to marry Yogi Adityanath and claiming that she had sent him a marriage proposal. Kanojia had shared a video on Twitter and Facebook where a woman is seen speaking to reporters of various media organisations outside the CM’s office, claiming that she had sent a marriage proposal to Adityanath. She claimed in the video that she had been conversing with the chief minister for a long time over video chat, and that now she wanted to know if he was willing to spend his life with her.

According to Jagisha Arora’s petition, the FIR against Kanojia has been filed under Sections 500 of the Indian Penal Code and 66 of the Information Technology Act, both of which are bailable offences. It is strange that the police filed a case against Section 500 (defamation), since the law requires the concerned person (in this case CM Yogi Adityanath) to file a complaint himself. There are procedural lapses on the part of the police, including not presenting Kanojia before a magistrate and no arrest memo being prepared. Two sections were later added to the charges, which were not on the original FIR – IPC Section 505 and IT Act Section 67.

According to report of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), there had been an increase in the number of journalists killed in 2018. Total 80 journalists were killed. Of these, 63 were professional journalists, compared with 55 professional journalists killed in 2017. RSF said 348 others were detained, 60 were held hostage and 3 were missing. Of the 80 killed, 49 were deliberately targeted because their reporting threatened the interests of certain people in positions of political, economic, or religious power or organised crime. The report said 15 journalists were killed in Afghanistan in 2018, making the nation the deadliest place to report from, 17 years after the US-led war began. 11 were killed in Mexico, 8 in Yemen, and 6 each in India and the United States. The positive news was from Iraq, where RSF reported no journalist was killed for the first time since the US-led invasion of 2003.

Myanmar is playing foul with Rohingya issue

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

June 12, 2019

Rohingya refugee, rohingya muslims — Image Courtesy : Twitter

As part of her relentless efforts of resolving the long-standing Rohingya refugee issue with Myanmar, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to visit China during the first week of July. Earlier on June 9, 2019, during her press conference, Bangladesh Prime Minister accused Myanmar of being reluctant in repatriating their over a million Rohingya nationals defying their promise and feared that some international aid agencies to tend to keep the crisis alive.

The Rohingya is an ethnic minority group in Myanmar. Being denied citizenship, thousands of Rohingyas have crossed into neighboring Bangladesh, putting unbalanced pressure on its scarce resources. While most studies explain why and how insecurity produces refugees, the opposite process – how refugees produce conflict, dilemma, and insecurity in their host country – is also worthy of study.

Asked for comments about a perception that three major countries – China, Japan and India – took Myanmar’s side in the crisis, the premier said Dhaka separately held talks with these countries when they all acknowledged Rohingyas to be Myanmar nationals and agreed should return there.

How the Rohingya crisis is affecting Bangladesh?

As of February 2018, the United Nations estimates that almost 1 million Rohingya refugees have fled Burma’s violent campaign of ethnic cleansing. Almost universally, they’ve moved into refugee settlements in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Rohingya refugee camp,Cox's Bazar Bangladesh — Rohingya refugee children flying improvised kites at the Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh | Image Courtesy : Reuters

That is straining Bangladesh, which has absorbed a remarkable number of people in just six months, leading to desperately cramped conditions in the camps. Bangladesh is small, low-lying, under-resourced and overcrowded. And its leaders and citizens are growing impatient with the fallout of Burma’s purge of the Rohingya.

In 2017, due to massive violence and genocide committed by the Myanmar army with the help of radical Buddhist populace, hundreds and thousands of Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh thus creating a massive refugee crisis. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, being sympathetic to the repressed and persecuted Rohingyas has ordered to open country’s borders with neighboring Myanmar.

On the Rohingya crisis, unfortunately, China and India are clearly standing behind Myanmar, which has possibly forced Bangladesh government into reaching a controversial arrangement with Myanmar. Diplomatic analysts are seeing this written arrangement are suicidal, as the terms are ambiguous and impractical as Dhaka is insisting repatriation of the refugees within 24 months.

Security concerns:

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an Islamist militancy group, whose attacks on Burmese security posts triggered the Myanmar army’s indiscriminate “clearance operations,” has already pledged to continue its insurgent campaign against what it calls “Burmese state-sponsored terrorism.” The Bangladeshi security establishment is concerned both that ARSA will try to recruit within camps, and that it will use the camps as a base for cross-border fighting.

There had always been a big question about any connections between ARSA and regional or international terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) etc. On January 23, 2017, Al Qaeda is the subcontinent issued a declaration urging Bangladeshi Muslims to mount an armed rebellion in support of the Rohingyas. Similar statement had also been repeated by other militancy groups.

The United Nations termed it as “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya in Myanmar while the Army over there said that military action is against terrorists and that they are not averse to civilians. Unqualified Rohingya refugees are unacceptable as they are regarded as a burden on the economy. A majority of the Buddhist community in Myanmar considers Rohingyas as illegal Bengali migrants. No citizenship rights were given to the Rohingyas and numerous restrictions were imposed on them.

What is ARSA?

Rohingya Muslims have also constituted a few terrorist organizations, including the Rohingya Solidarity Organization, the Harkat-al Yaqin, the Arakan Rohingya and Salvation Army (ARSA) to wage war and establish an independent Muslim state. Unfortunately, a few Muslim terrorist organizations, especially in Pakistan, started assisting these terrorist outfits.

ARSA was formed by Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, a Rohingya man born in Karachi, Pakistan and grew up in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Jununi, in a video posted online stated, “Our primary objective under ARSA is to liberate out people from dehumanizing operation perpetrated by all successive Burmese regimes”. Although the groups claim themselves as ‘ethno-nationalist’ and denied allegations of being Islamists, it follows many traditional Islamic practices such as having recruits swear an oath to the Quran, referring to the leader as emir and asking for fatwas [sermons] from foreign Muslim clerics.

The Islamic State (IS), which has put a massive hate material on the Internet, was able to recruit a few Rohingya Muslims who went to Syria and Iraq to fight in conjunction with the IS. There are also reports that the IS and the Lashkar-e-Taiba are trying to recruit Rohingyas staying in Jammu while the Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent has also supported the Rohingyas.

AqaMul members, the terrorist outfit of Rohingya Muslims, has links with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

A large number of NGOs, working with the Rohingyas, especially funded by Iran and Turkey, have Islamic extremist leanings and inculcate radicalism in them.

The ultimate consequence:

Clearly, Myanmar is playing an extreme nasty game centering the Rohingya refugee issue, while the world seems to be almost silently witnessing such notoriety. What no one possibly is realizing is – further delay in resolving the crisis may generate huge frustration within those over one million refugees and it would possibly push them towards becoming exposed to militancy groups such as ISIS in particular. And in that case, the ultimate result would be absolutely catastrophic. If the Rohingyas go into the grips of ISIS or other militancy groups, Myanmar, China and India will be the hugely affected and such rage may even cross beyond South Asia and get expanded up to the West. People need to remember, re-emergence of ISIS within the Rohingyas would actually be a much biggest challenge than ISIS in Iraq or Syria.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)

Yuvraj Singh: One of the greatest match winners

C K Subramaniam

June 12, 2019

Players will come and go, but players like Yuvraj Singh are very rare to find. Gone through many difficult times but thrashed disease, thrashed bowlers and won hearts. He inspired many people with his fight and will-power. Son of former India pace bowler Yograj Singh, Yuvi came to prominence as a left-handed genius. He hailed from Punjab and played the game with a purpose. When he came to know that his services are no longer needed for Indian Team he called it a day.

India has been blessed with a number of superstars over the years. One of them is undoubtedly Yuvraj Singh, the warrior who has weathered all the storms to script a glorious career. He made his debut way back in 2000 versus Kenya but came into the limelight after he scored a magnificent half-century against Australia. In that game, he took on bowlers like Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath pretty efficiently.

There was no stopping the southpaw thereafter and he kept on flourishing in limited-overs cricket. Back in the 2007 T20 World Cup, the left-hander smacked Stuart Broad for six sixes in one over in the game against England in Durban. Yuvraj followed it up with another masterful fifty against Australia at the same venue. However, his best performance came in the 2011 edition of the World Cup.

He scored 362 runs in nine matches at a stupendous average of 90.50. Moreover, he also picked up 15 wickets. India won the World Cup after 28 years and Yuvraj was named the Player of the tournament for his incredible all-round show. Nevertheless, the future had something ruthless in store for him as in 2011, he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his left lung and went through chemotherapy treatment.

After a long tussle with the deadly disease, the southpaw made a comeback and weaved his magic. He also played the 2017 Champions Trophy on England soil. Thereafter, he travelled to the West Indies and that turned out to be his final appearance in national colours. A quite remarkable career with plenty highs and some pretty brutal lows he carried on with wisdom and his six sixes in one over of Stuart Broad showed resilience, courage and pure brilliance wearing blue.

Yuvraj is one of the greatest match-winners in the history of the game, and a sheer fighter to the core, who built an extraordinary career through hard work and came out a winner every time. Go well, Yuvraj Singh. May your second innings be as swashbuckling as the first one. We expect to see you as a coach or commentator in the cricketing field. It is time to see your biopic and say good bye to a great career full of confidence and enthusiasm.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: 12 June, 2019

Web Team

June 12, 2019

Failure is the stepping stone to success

SSC pass percentage dips across state and is the lowest in Mumbai since 2009 but failure is the stepping stone to success and we need reformation in our education system than preparing students for marks and grades. Marks and grades have no meaning when they cannot guarantee jobs and source of livelihood. We need an education system that identifies hidden talent in students which then prepare him to excel in a field he has interest and skills. Some may be good in sports or academics, art or physical skills which needs proper encouragement and coaching in a professional manner for our country to grow faster and progress.

Low pass percentage is not a sign for worry and parents should identify the skills of their wards and groom them in a field of their interest. Bill Gates failed in his graduation and so did other great personalities including the great Sachin Tendulkar. Their life story should inspire those who are unsuccessful at academics to do well in life with hard work and honest approach in whatever they do in life.

S.N. Kabra

Delimitation of constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir

It refers to welcome news-reports about the possible delimitation of constituencies to be done before next elections to state-assembly which will be based on realistic aspects not only according to population in different regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh divisions, but will also incorporate provisions of reserved seats for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes (SC and ST) like exists in rest of India.

Wrong policies of first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is responsible for Kashmir problem resulting in heavy annual expenditure on defence of the country. Practical delimitation of constituencies in the state will pave way for permanently shutting down terror-shops of separatists and terrorists apart from bringing national parties on political screen of the state diluting dominating role of regional parties of the Kashmir valley. Such a step with possibility of next state-assembly dominated and ruled by a national political party will pave way for next state-assembly itself passing resolution for abolition of articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution which is the only solution for permanent resolution of Kashmir-problem.

Madhu Agrawal

Work of ECI should be applauded

Post the jubilant poll results announcement of the 17th General Elections for Lok Sabha in 2019, the Election Commission of India which was at the forefront spearheading the consistent show needs to be applauded. ECI ensured that it was up and running to meet the increasing challenges to ensure a free and fair election.

The logistical and security arrangements made to ensure smooth and free and fair elections has emulated the voters expectations time especially at the ground level. This comes at a time when ECI witnessed high level differences in the board rooms including speculations related to the appointment and tenure of CEC, dissent owing to Model Code of Conduct breaches, VVPAT challenge posed by the opposition parties, effective EVM management till the end of polling process etc.

Several firsts were witnessed, amongst them being the formation of media monitoring committees, extensive voter grievance redress mechanism, consistent voter awareness drives including the launch of CVIGIL app and running of special Voter Express trains, launch of PwD friendly initiatives for special voters etc to name a few.

ECI’s move to conduct smooth elections was otherwise overshadowed by controversial speeches and actions by political stakeholders, owing to which ECI remained a mere mute spectator. The desperateness was to such an extent that it led to dissent amongst the three Election Commissioners instead of voicing out a unanimous decision. Finally ECI and its team at the ground level need to be appreciated for having conducted such a mammoth democratic exercise in the world.

Varun Dambal

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Mumbai advocates demand to free Punalekar

Suraj Chandran

June 11, 2019

Samast Adhivakta Maharashtra held a protest outside Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh on Tuesday to voice against the arrest of advocate Sanjeev Punalekar. They demanded to release him. The Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested advocate Sanjeev Punalekar in connection with the murder of Pune based rationalist Narendra Dabholkar. Punalekar has been the counsel for the right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha. Advocates association stated that investigating agencies have totally failed in probing the Dr. Narendra Dabholkar murder case. They stated that the court has admonished investigating agencies time and again on this issue in quite harsh words. Therefore, they are making Punalekar and others scapegoat to cover their failure. Advocate Bharadwaj Chaudhari, advocate Suresh Kulkarni, and advocate Vivek Bhave of Sambhajinagar Bench of High Court and advocate Santosh Mahamuni of Bombay High Court were present on this occasion.

Advocate Balakrishnan of Bombay High Court said, “The arrest of Punalekar by CBI in an unjust manner has created displeasure amongst advocates in Maharashtra and other states. The act is like throttling of all legal practitioners.”

Supreme Court advocate Bharadwaj Chaudhari said that there seems to be something fishy in the arrest of advocate Punalekar by CBI. He stated, “After spending a long time in CBI’s police custody the accused Sharad Kalaskar had confessed before the Karnataka Police in October 2018 which was later withdrawn by him, then how could advocate Punalekar be arrested? It is like throttling of legal rights of advocates.”

Advocate Vivek Bhave said that the arrest of advocate Punalekar after eight months since the accused gave confession itself is creating doubt over the investigations. He said, “The investigation agencies have not been able to produce any concrete evidence even after 15 days since the arrest of Punalekar. Police claim that weapons were destroyed at certain places but these agencies have not even tried to search for those weapons. When it has not been proved that those weapons were used for committing the crime, still it is unfair to accuse Punalekar of assisting in destroying such weapons.”

Advocate Santosh Mahamuni of Bombay High Court said that the discussion held between the accused and his advocate is considered to be sensitive and secretive in nature. He said, “It is neither recorded nor discussed openly. Despite this, advocate Punalekar has been arrested based on the point discussed by Sharad Kalaskar and Punalekar. In the future, an accused and advocate could be falsely threatened that he had given confession. It is a breach of the legal right conferred by the judicial system to advocates as ‘Officer of the Court’.”

Advocate Suresh Kulkarni said that advocates from Goa, Karnataka, and Pune had held press conferences to express their stand on condemning the unjust arrest of advocate Punalekar. Advocates from all over India also came together and held meetings and representations have been submitted to the Maharashtra and Goa Bar Council.

Punalekar is the fourth arrest made by CBI in the case. The investigating agency had stated that Punalekar had asked Sharad Kalaskar one of the shooters of Dabholkar to destroy the weapons.

Dabholkar was killed outside his residence on August 20, 2013. He was murdered by two bike-borne assailants while he was on a morning walk on Omkareshwar bridge in Pune. The Pune city police had registered a case of murder. Initially, the case was investigated by the crime branch, but later it was transferred to the CBI in May 2014. The central agency had filed chargesheet against two more Sanatan Sanstha members Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar as assailants in the case. As per the chargesheet, the conspiracy to kill Dabholkar was hatched due to ideological differences between the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) formed by Dabholkar and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.

Spiritual Sanatan Sanstha targeted for Political motives?

Vaidehi Taman

June 11, 2019

From the past 10 years, I have been seeing how the establishment is going staunch against Sanatan Sanstha; here, in Mumbai, under the UPA rule, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar gone to an extent of demanding a ban by coining them as saffron terrorists. Then home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde too attacked the organisation by terming them a threat to the society. When the Congress was still in power, former ATS chief Rakesh Maria had been one of the many to put forward an appeal to ban the Sanatan Sanstha.

Then BJP came to power with its nationalist leader Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of the country; every Hindu was happy because they felt a sense of belongingness for the first time. However, the fate of Sanstha has not changed much.

No support from authorities, aggressive media trials, attacks by so-called liberals, and selective seculars have brought the Sanstha at stake. Sadhaks (followers), sympathisers, critics, and opponents give multiple clarifications for the remarkable growth of the Sanatan Sanstha and its network across the globe. Preaching of Sanstha spiritually channelises them and the Sanstha comprises people who are harmless devotees.

Several arrests, many raids, and much more than the harassment in the name of investigations are a daily routine but no single conviction so far. ATS has randomly grabbed many alleged accused in the pretext of having their links with Sanatan, some are actual members too but most of them have no association with Sanatan Sanstha. Sanstha members are engaged in harmless social and spiritual activities and they come from the oppressed, lower, and lower-middle-class strata to the elite educated class. In fact, that is how they have grown by reaching out to the lower economic class and the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and addressing their need for emotional security.

This isn’t a militant class but the patriots who love their religion and beyond that the nation. They crave for Hindu Rashtra, an independent nation for Hindu, but they never want other citizens born here to be discriminated. This is one of the largest organisations of the Hindus that have suffered harassment and bans. Political treachery hatched by the so-called liberals creates a climate in which pro-Hindutva organisations could be banned. Ever since 2008, the Sanatan Sanstha has been charged with involvement in seven cases but nothing has been found against them. The investigations are being carried out but the decision made beforehand to implicate the Sanatan Sanstha. The direction of the investigation needs to be altered. The Media trials need to be stopped; forming an anti-opinion for the Sanstha is extremely wrong.

Well, there are many arrests and so the theories behind the arrests. One recent development is that Sanjeev Punalekar, an advocate associated with the Sanatan Sanstha, has been arrested in connection with the murder of Narendra Dabholkar, along with his close associate Vikram Bhave. The CBI in Pune believes that Punalekar had helped to destroy the weapons used in the crime.

Vikram Bhave was convicted for the 2008 Gadkari Rangayatan Theatre bomb blast in Thane. He spent five years in jail and was released on bail by the Bombay High Court in 2013 because nothing could be proven against him. The CBI imagines that Sharad Kalaskar, one of the shooters of Dabholkar, visited Punalekar’s Mumbai office in June 2018 and informed him about his role in the murder. Vikram Bhave was also present at that time. Punalekar asked Kalaskar to destroy the arms used in the murders of Dr. Dabholkar and Gauri Lankesh. On August 23, 2018, Kalaskar dismantled four country-made pistols and threw them from a bridge in the Thane Creek when he was returning to Nalasopara from Pune.

To my surprise, the National Investigating Agency and the Central Bureau of Investigation were given pictures of the five suspects in the Gauri Lankesh murder case. The photographs of five people were being telecasted on the television channels too. They have reached to maximum people through the medium of social media. Then, how did no one see these five who reached Bengaluru in the evening and killed someone? If those pictures were fake, then why did police circulate them?

The CBI has been aware of it for over eight months and since then, they haven’t made any new allegations. Then, why is CBI arresting Punalekar and Bhave now? Did CBI arrest Punalekar just because he is the lawyer of the accused in Dr. Dabholkar’s murder case? Kalaskar had told the Karnataka magistrate on October 18, 2018, about sharing information with Punalekar. The Karnataka Police is investigating Gauri Lankesh murder, the CBI is investigating Dabholkar’s murder case, and the Maharashtra Police is investigating Govind Pansare’s murder.

All these police departments also announced bounty if someone shares any information about the shooters. There were many arrests and confirmations, then what made the police to announce the reward? Police, CBI, and ATS always exchange information with each other; so, what went wrong all of a sudden?

Kalaskar was in the custody of CBI for 18 days in September last year and the CBI would have got this information at that time. Punalekar has been available for the last six months. However, the CBI did not investigate or arrest him earlier. The high court had put pressure to arrest Punalekar and Bhave after reading the sealed report submitted by the CBI.

The CBI had interrogated Bhave in September last year for two days. He is an assistant of Punalekar. The CBI had all the information about Bhave since September last year. Why is he being arrested now? The CBI in 2016 had said that Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar were shooters. Now, they and their same witnesses say that the shooters are Sharad Kalaskar and Sachin Andure. Is this investigation not fair and forward?

Dr. Dabholkar was shot dead at Omkareshwar Bridge in Pune in the morning of August 20, 2013. The CBI had filed a chargesheet against Tawde in the murder of Dabholkar in September 2016 and he was the first to be arrested in this case. That year, CBI had told the court that Vinay Pawar and Sarang Akolkar had fired shots at Dabholkar. Last year, the CBI arrested Kalaskar, Andure, Rajesh Bangera, Amit Degvekar, and Amol Kale, alleging their involvement in the murder.

In February, the agency filed a supplementary chargesheet against Kalaskar and Andure naming them as shooters in Narendra Dabholkar’s murder. Punalekar is the fourth arrest by the central agency in the case. The accusations hurled at Sanatan Sanstha in the Gauri Lankesh murder case are absolutely illogical.

Till date, all the murders in the country have been committed using 7.65 0r 7.32 mm revolvers as these two types of firearms are cheap and they are easily available. An AK47 or an airgun is not used for any kind of murder. Perhaps, now ahead of the elections, the ATS, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the Dabholkar, Lankesh, and Kalburgi murder cases. New theories are coming up years after year and the target is only Sanatan Sanstha; many contradictions and many explanations but the motive behind these killings is yet to be established and some conclusion has to be drawn. Arresting a lawyer means discouraging the other side and making the case one way. In such a scenario, the wisdom to analyse the crime and nab the real culprit are needed the most.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Why is Defence Ministry under attack after wreckage of missing AN-32 aircraft spotted today?

Web Team

June 11, 2019

Timeline of missing AN-32 aircraft

June 3: AN-32 aircraft with 13 aboard went missing; aircraft took off from Jorhat 12.27 pm for the Menchuka advance landing ground in Shi-Yomi district in Arunachal Pradesh. It lost contact with the ground control at 1 pm.

June 3: The IAF deployed C-130J and AN-32 aircraft besides two Mi-17 choppers while the Indian Army pressed into service advance light helicopters to locate the missing aircraft.

June 5: Two Sukhoi-30 were added to the fleet of C-130J and AN-32 planes and two Mi-17 and two ALH helicopters.

June 8: Air Force announced Rs 5 lakh reward for information on missing AN-32 aircraft.

June 8: Air Chief BS Dhanoa took stock of search operation, ISRO resources brought in: CARTOSAT and RISAT satellites of ISRO were also being used to capture images of the area.

June 9: Aerial search operation could not be undertaken due to bad weather and low clouds.

June 10: Seven mountaineers join search operation; Taka Tamut and Kishon Tekseng have scaled Mount Everest and are well versed with the topography of Arunachal Pradesh.

June 11: Wreckage of aircraft found in Arunachal after 8 days, confirms Air Force.

The wreckage of the Indian Air Force’s missing AN-32 transport aircraft has been found in Arunachal Pradesh, almost a week after it went missing. On Tuesday, IAF confirmed on Twitter that the wreckage was spotted 16 km North of Lipo, North East of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12000 ft by the IAF Mi-17 helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone. What too it so long?

It is notable that the aircraft carrying six officers, five airmen and two non-combatants (enrolled) took off from Jorhat in Assam at 12.27 pm on June 3 for the Mechuka Advance Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh, where it was supposed to reach at 1.30 pm. The weather over the region was turbulent on the day and the aircraft’s last contact with ground agencies was at around 1.00 pm. The Mechuka Advance Landing Ground is located in Mechuka Valley in West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh. It is the closest landing ground to the India-China border nearing the McMohan line.

Search operation launched immediately

Immediate efforts to locate the missing aircraft on June 3 included deployment of IAF aircraft C-130, AN-32, two Mi-17 helicopters and Indian Army ALH helicopters. IAF was joined by the Indian Army as well as government and civil agencies in the search operation. Indian Navy’s Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft P8i carried out the search with Electro-Optical and Infra-Red (EO & IR) sensors in thickly forested areas between Jorhat and Mechuka, where the AN-32 went missing. CARTOSAT and RISAT satellites of ISRO were used to capture images of the area.

As the search operations reached its third day, IAF deployed more resources to locate the aircraft. Two Sukhoi-30 were added to the fleet of C-130J and AN-32 planes and two Mi-17 and two ALH helicopters. The ground forces included personnel from the Army, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and state police. The IAF has also deployed UAVs in the area and foot patrols of the Army, Assam Rifles and the Arunachal police have also been conducting search operations with the help of local villagers. The IAF also announced a cash award of Rs 5 lakhs for the person(s) or group who provide credible information leading to the finding of the aircraft.

Bad weather affects search operations

The total search area for the missing aircraft was more than a 1,000 square kilometres. This is based on where the aircraft was last in touch with the base and its final destination. This is the area formed by an approximate triangle between Along, Payum and Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh. Along and Mechuka are around 45 km away from Payum to the South and West respectively. IAF’s operations took a hit on multiple occasions due to the difficult terrain in the region and poor weather conditions.

According to officials involved in the search mission, the hilly terrain was inaccessible and sparsely populated. To make things more challenging, the ‘Sabre-8’ emergency locator transmitters (ELT) beacon, which sends a distress signal in the event of a crash, only has a battery life of 36 hours and is unlikely to be active. Last Friday, the search operations were halted due to unfavourable weather and low light conditions, while on Sunday, helicopters, UAV and C-130J were airborne for the operation, but landed due to rains. Ground teams, on the other hand, have made considerable headway into the search area, which has been progressively expanded based on inputs from multiple sources, an IAF official said.

Questions over airforce’s ageing fleet

The incident has triggered debate over the IAF’s obsolete fleet. The Congress questioned the Defence Ministry on why it had not allocated resources to replace the AN-32 fleet and also questioned the search operation. The party also sought to know why the AN-32 was flying over treacherous terrain when there are better aircraft to fly the route. The family of an IAF officer who was on board the AN-32 that went missing in 2016, raised similar questions. The father of Flight Lieutenant Kunal Barpatte had said, “The Indian Air Force has been using the same planes since the last 35 years. They claim that they have reconditioned all these aircraft but who is accountable for the numerous mishaps of these planes and the precious lives lost?”

Know about AN-32 aircraft

Antonov AN-32 is a Russian-origin tactical transport aircraft that has been in service since 1984. It is a twin-engined military transport aircraft that can fly up to four hours without refuelling. Having undergone several upgrades, AN-32 has been a trustworthy workhorse for the IAF for many years and is designed for extensive use.

In 2016 An-32 aircraft went missing, it was never found

A similar disappearance from 2016, when an Indian Air Force transport plane went missing over the Bay of Bengal. That plane was an Antonov AN-32 as well. It was never found. On the morning of July 22, 2016, an Indian Air Force Antonov AN-32, with tail/registration number K2743, from the Tambaram Air Force Station in Chennai. There were 29 people, including crew, onboard the transport aircraft, which was on a weekly trip to Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The plane took off from Chennai at around 8am and was supposed to land at INS Utkrosh, an Indian naval air station, in Port Blair. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft lost all contact and disappeared off radars while it was over the Bay of Bengal. The disappearance promoted the armed forces to launch what later became India’s largest search and rescue mission for a plane missing over sea.

More than 200 air sorties, 7.5 lakh square kilometers area searched

More than 200 air sorties were carried out, scouring an area of 2,17,800 square nautical miles (that’s around 7.5 lakh square kilometres or around six times the area of Delhi). Ships from the Indian Navy and Coast Guard searched nearly 28,000 square nautical miles of sea while the eastern coast too was searched for possible debris washing ashore. All these efforts, however, came to nought and the Indian Air Force was forced to presume that AN-32 K2743 had crashed at sea, killing all onboard.

1...1,0031,0041,005...5,577 Page 1,004 of 5,577