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Myanmar is playing foul with Rohingya issue

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.

West Bengal in turmoil; ruling TMC and newbie BJP in non-stop power battle

Web Team

June 11, 2019

West Bengal has been prone to political violence for nearly 50 years. Power struggles in the state have always been marked by bloodshed. The current violence in West Bengal is battle of power between the ruling party TMC and the newbie BJP. The TMC fought a long and fierce battle with the Left front and came to power in 2011 in the state. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP made inroads in the bastion of the TMC and won 18 seats out of total 42 seats in the state. It is a setback to the TMC, whose tally fell from 34 in 2014 to 22 seats. Therefore, it can be said that the violence in West Bengal is sustained by its history.

Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. He apprised them about the ongoing violence in West Bengal. In post-poll political violence over one dozen people have been killed and several others injured in Bengal. It was apprehended that Keshari Nath Tripathi might recommend President’s rule in the state due to unabated violence. But he said that there was no such discussion during the meetings with PM Modi and Union Home Minister.

In contrary to initial indication, Keshari Nath Tripathi said that it is not demanding President’s rule in Bengal. The party said that it will defy the Mamata Banerjee government’s ban on its political programmes and victory processions. BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said that the ruling TMC took out victory marches in seats where it won in the Lok Sabha polls. The state government prohibited the BJP from doing so by imposing Section 144 of CrPC. Vijayvargiya said, “We want to exercise our democratic rights but the state government has used its powers to target our leaders and workers. We will defy its clampdown on us. It is our right. The BJP has announced a protest in the state on June 12 against the killings of its workers, allegedly by people linked to the Trinamool Congress.” Vijarvargiya alleged that CM Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee duo are behind the TMC workers targeting those associated with the BJP.

On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of provoking violence after clashes killed three BJP workers and one Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker on Saturday. Further clashes followed on Sunday when police allegedly stopped BJP workers from taking away the bodies of the slain party workers. , Mamata Banerjee said, “The BJP is trying to spread unrest in Bengal and is planning to provoke riots. They are spreading fake news on social media. Bengal is not Gujarat. Since I am the only one who is exposing their dangerous game plan, they have started to send advisories. The BJP is trying to sell democracy.” CM Mamata Banerjee was responding to a home ministry statement issued on Sunday that said, “The unabated violence over the past weeks appears to be a failure on the part of the law enforcement machinery of the state to maintain the rule of law and inspire confidence among people.”

Pratap Banerjee, BJP general secretary (Kolkata), said, “The TMC has been trying to subvert democracy in the state. Our protest will continue. The people are defecting from TMC to BJP and she is now on a self-destruct path, where she herself is snuffing out her party’s chances in the 2021 elections.” The state unit of the BJP has set the wheels in motion to prepare for the assembly elections. Buoyed by its recent success in the Lok Sabha polls, the state leadership has also reached out to the central leadership to tackle not just the violence in Bengal, but also the strategy for the forthcoming polls.

Pratap Banerjee said, “The TMC has lost control of its own agitators. She has arbitrarily arrested people. The people are also seeing that BJP is the only alternative. The central leadership is also being kept in the loop. And, if things keep going on like this in the state and elections are declared, then the BJP will definitely emerge as the winner.”

According to political experts TMC supremo, Mamata Banerjee’s actions are harming her. Sabyasachi Dasgupta, professor of history at Vishva-Bharati University, said, “Mamata Banerjee needs to project a face of humility among the public and accept responsibility for the poll debacle. It will be very tough for her in 2021 if she carries on like this,”

It is remarkable that three supporters of the BJP and another from the TMC had been killed in fresh violence on Saturday and at least 18 others were wounded. West Bengal has been on edge since Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP launched an aggressive campaign to win the parliamentary seats last year. Local BJP leader Mukul Roy tweeted three BJP workers were shot dead in Sandeshkhali, West Bengal. BJP’s general secretary in the state, Sayantan Basu said, “The clashes broke out over the hoisting of BJP flags and the putting up of posters. They tried to throw away our party flags and posters and when we protested, our workers were shot from point-blank range.” On the other hand, state’s Minister Jyotipriyo Mullick, who belongs to the Trinamool Congress, said, “One of the party supporters was hacked and shot dead by BJP workers. He said, “When he was on his way to attend a party meeting, he was hacked at first. When he managed to free himself, he was shot dead.”

The BJP won 303 seats in the national parliament, increasing its previous tally of 282 seats in 2014. The party is going to give a very tough fight in ensuing assembly elections in the state in 2021. The Trinamool Congress, which has its stronghold in West Bengal and is led by the firebrand Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly accused the BJP of fomenting trouble in the state. West Bengal has witnessed some of the most violent feuds between rival parties. Last month, a BJP supporter was shot dead in state capital Kolkata and a car belonging to a Trinamool member was pelted with rocks. Last year, a BJP worker was killed and his body was hanged from a tree. Prime Minister Modi had called the killings “shameful and anti-democratic”.

How was former Mumbai University student Prashant Kanojia’s three days in jail?

Web Team

June 11, 2019

The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for arresting journalist Prashant Kanojia and ordered to release him immediately. Journalist Prashant Kanojia was arrested by the UP police for posting a video on Twitter and Facebook on CM Yogi Adityanath. The Supreme Court asked the UP government why was he arrested and under what provisions. A vacation bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi was hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by Kanojia’s wife Jagisha Arora. According to the verified Twitter handle of Kanojia @Pjkanojia, he is a former student of Mumbai University.

It is notable that Prashant Kanojia was in jail for the past 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 Friday night in Lucknow. The 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. Jagisha Arora said in her petition that neither of these sections are prima-facie made out. The malice is evident from the manner of the arrest.

Prashant Kanojia was unceremoniously taken away by men in a civil dress on June 8, 2019, from his Delhi residence. The police officials of Lucknow had lodged an FIR against him under Sections 500 IPC and 66 Information Technology Act, 2000 both of which bailable offences. Actually, the police can have no role whatsoever to lodge an FIR in a case under Section 500 IPC, which is criminal defamation, and requires under Section 199, CrPC that the person aggrieved alone may file a complaint before a Magistrate. Section 66 of the Information Act carries a maximum sentence of 3 years which is bailable in terms of section 77 B of the Act. The police was bound to release him in Delhi itself in terms of Section 436 CrPC which mandates release on bail in bailable cases but this statutory mandate was not even considered by the police.

The Supreme Court bench took note of the submission of the lawyer Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Jagisha Arora that the plea needed urgent hearing as the arrest was illegal and unconstitutional. The Uttar Pradesh government opposed the bail application filed by Kanojia’s wife. The UP government said that the high court should have been first approached. The Supreme Court does not ordinarily entertain writ petition unless the high court has first been approached. The Supreme Court slammed the UP government and said, “Have you ever come across remand for 11 days in such a case? The Supreme Court bench also made it clear that the court does not appreciate the tweets posted by Kanojia but those cannot be grounds to send him behind bars. The bench said, “We need not comment on the nature of the posts/tweets for which the action has been taken. The question is whether the petitioner’s husband ought to have been deprived of his liberty. The answer to that is prima facie in the negative. We find that the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India and particularly under Articles 19 and 21 are non-negotiable.”

The UP government said, “They have checked Kanojia’s Twitter profile and observed that he has been posting inflammatory content against God and religion. He has also tweeted about politicians and other public personalities.” The Supreme Court said, “A citizen’s right to liberty has been infringed. We have gone through the records. Opinions may vary, this sort of thing should not have been published. But why arrest?”

A group of journalists and activists held a protest in Delhi on Monday over the arrest of journalist Prashant Kanojia and the editor and the head of a Noida-based TV channel by the Uttar Pradesh police, alleging that it is an attack on the freedom of expression. They demanded the immediate release of Kanojia, Anuj Shukla, who is the editor of Noida-based TV channel Nation Live, and its head Ishika Singh, who have faced police action over the release of alleged objectionable content against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Another person was arrested in Gorakhpur on Sunday for ‘defaming’ Adityanath, making it the fourth such arrest in the last three days. Earlier, 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.

Chronology of the case

June 5: A lady calling herself Hema Shrivastava addressed a group of persons/reporters in Lucknow claiming to be in love with the CM Yogi Adityanath. A video clip of this was uploaded on YouTube and some other portals by the next day and these are still accessible.

June 6: Prashant Kanojia posted a video on Twitter and Facebook saying “ Ishq Chupaye Nahin Chupta Yogi Ji”

June 6-7: Some newspapers also published this news.

June 7: An FIR was lodged by Hazratganj PS Lucknow

June 8: Prashant Kanojia was arrested and sent to Lucknow Central Jail.

June 9: The Editors Guild of India condemned the arrest of Kanojia.

June 10: His wife Jagisha Arora filed the habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court.

June 11: The Supreme Court ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to release Prashant Kanojia immediately.

Population Control: Learn From China

R K Sinha

June 11, 2019

All process of General Elections to 17th Lok Sabha is complete. The NDA government at the Centre has begun working once again. Although the government has to take many important decisions in the interest of the country the government should come forward with a policy decision on how to control the population in the country. It will receive all-around support. Time has come to take a decision on population control without any further delay. Already we are running late in reducing our birth rate or bringing population explosion under control. Vote bank politics of the ruling party is responsible for not enforcing drastic measure to check population growth in the country. In order to get votes of a particular community previous governments never gave any thought to check population. This led to rising in backwardness and poverty in society. We were left behind in growth and prosperity.

In the meantime, Yoga Guru Ramdev has come out with suggestions that a third child in the family should be barred from contesting elections, no right to vote and other governmental facilities should be withdrawn. All citizens of the country who love the nation will stand with one voice in favour of Baba Ramdev’s policy on population control.

I have a caveat to this proposal of Ramdev. Why debar a third child of a family from exercising his or her right to franchise. Instead, parents of the third child should be debarred from casting vote and contesting polls.

Baba Ramdev has come out with a proposal on population control at a time when the country is struggling to bring down the rate of birth. In fact, the burgeoning population in India is eating into the vitals of economic growth like a termite. How any government can give the benefit of development to a fast-growing population? The population has always emerged as a stumbling block in the overall development and growth.

It is difficult to believe when the country is facing the problem of the overgrowing population which stands today at 130 crores a leader like Assaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM has reacted to Ramdev’s suggestion in a negative way. The newly elected MP from Hyderabad has said, “There is no law to stop people from saying something which is unconstitutional. Why we should give any attention to what Ramdev has said. He can practice Yoga but how come Narendra Modi would forfeit his right to vote just because he is the third child of his parents”.

You can judge the political motive of Owaisi. He can stoop to any low to politicize issues. He has said something which is pedestrian in nature.

Does Owaisi not see how the uncontrolled population growth in India is ruining our pace of development? Had he got any concern for the nation he would not have uttered these words. Does not Owaisi see crowds all over in the country?

At Railway Station, in bus stands, in bazar, in a shopping complex, in malls, and on roads, it is a sea of humanity everywhere. If Owaisi is not serious about population explosion it is a matter of grave concern. It is because of a leader like Owaisi that Muslims in India are compelled to live in the dark-age.

Baba Ramdev has said something about controlling our population growth that China has done many years ago.

Long back China had stopped giving governmental facilities and other benefits to its citizens who went to go for more than one child. The one-child norm in China helped the country not only to check the population but to revive its economy. Today China is one of the most economically powerful countries of the world.

Baba Ramdev is also saying that all government benefits to be withdrawn from a family who go for more than two children.

When the country is concerned about population growth there are some ‘vidvans’(Learned) class of people who see population as a blessing. They believe that more the people there would be more work with the corresponding rise in income. This argument is totally illogical. Those seeing opportunities in population explosion are not aware of the realities of ‘heaven’. Unemployment, illiteracy, and crime are directly related to fast-growing population in the country. If we look at the ground reality, it is increasingly getting impossible to manage and control our population. The problem of unemployment is so acute that highly educated people are ready to teach for a paltry amount of rupees three to four thousand a month. An engineer should consider himself lucky if he gets Rs 15,000 a month. Labourers and farmers are forced to live in ‘inhuman condition’. We invite foreign investment by telling them about ‘cheap labour’ in India. Child labour is rampant. The condition of illiteracy and lack of education is horrifying.

In the last census conducted in 2011, our population had crossed 120 crores. We were only next to China in the world’s most populated nations. If drastic steps are not taken immediately we will surpass China by 2025 in terms of population. Another problem we face is large scale illegal migration in West Bengal and Assam from Bangladesh which has a four thousand long kilometer border with India. According to one estimate over 3 to 4 crores Bangladeshis have already settled in India. These migrants can be seen in India doing odd jobs in towns. You may recall that criminal elements of Bangladesh origins who are settled in Delhi’s Vikaspuri had brutally murdered Dr. Pankaj Narang a few years ago. Dr. Narang’s mistake was that he had tried to stop some youths from driving motorcycles at breakneck speed.

This is time to prepare a broad policy to check the population growth in India. It can be done only when we rise above religion and community. One must remember that religion will survive only when India survives.

(The writer is a Member of Rajya Sabha)

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.

Letters to the Editor: 11 June, 2019

Web Team

June 11, 2019

R.I.P Girish Karnad

In the death of Girish Karnad our country has lost an actor par excellence, activist and one of Indian theatres finest personality. He was an award-winning filmmaker who was bestowed the Jnanpith award apart from Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. He was a friend, philosopher and guide for many apart from being humble to the needy. Girish Karnad fought for liberal values as he spoke passionately on subjects and causes dear to him.

Girish Karnad was the doyen of not just Indian cinema but the world of Indian literature as well. He was often in the news for his liberal views which resulted in controversy but he was never afraid to speak what he felt though he received threat to his life at times. The void created by his death will be difficult to fill.

R.I.P Girish Karnad. May his soul rest in peace!

S.N. Kabra

Girish Karnad was one of the best actors

Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan actor Girish Karnad will always be remembered for his roles in Bollywood films. No other actor could play the roles he played. He was one of the best actors. I’ve seen most of his films and I liked his acting very much. May his soul rest in peace.

Jubel D’Cruz

Marine Drive-Juhu Beach tragedy an eye-opener
Whatever said and done drowning incidents have crippled the city and neighbourhood. This incident had happened in the rough sea before the monsoon rains and it is an eye opener. People lose their composure and sea water is most dangerous during the time when high-tides takes place. Tragedy at Marine Drive and Juhu beach accounted for two and miserable drowning deaths sends wrong signal to people going to sea. By ignoring warnings and signals people venture into the sea face the music. They throw caution to the wind by entering the choppy sea and invited trouble. Let us take care to save human life from drowning.

Jayanthy Ramaswamy

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

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