Mamata Di and Abhishek Banerjee, both are in clash to open a quagmire

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March 31, 2023

mamata banerjee, mamata, abhishek banerjee, tmc, trinamool congress, west bengal, wb, tmc politics, west bengal politics — Mamata Di and Abhishek Banerjee, both are in clash to open a quagmire 2

The riots in West Bengal can be directly attributed to the frustrations of people on both sides and also to political plots to fuel them further. In the recent past, there has been no sign of development in the state. Goons are allowed to loot, minorities are given all sorts of advantages, and Muslim migrants choose the state for safe haven. Education and health prospects are meager. Apart from this, they are being radicalized by fundamentalist elements of their community. If it were not for this reason, there would not have been a communal riot for just a Facebook post, and that too by a juvenile.

Earlier, it was the BJP that used to play the communal card. The minority religious fundamentalists of west Bengal are followers of Trinamool, and less action is taken against them (since they are TMC’s vote bank). The kind of appeasement politics has long been a source of irritation for Hindus dwelling there, which made the situation blow out of proportion. The situation should be brought under control through proper law and order. Using communal riots as a case for gaining votes is the biggest curse. The real reason for the violence in West Bengal is that politics has captured every aspect of life. Say jobs, construction, education, everything, and event cinema. That is the reason whoever is in power gets the power to rule these sectors as well.

It is sad to say, but it is the Bengalis themselves who have brought politics into everything. Politicians just used them to their advantage. This political culture must be stopped. Whoever forms the government should pull politics out of every part of life. People get very serious here with politics, and this is the reason for violence. Violence broke out between two groups when a Ram Navami procession was taken out in West Bengal’s Howrah city, where several vehicles were torched and shops were ransacked if something was not planned. The police detained many youths in this connection. Both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP have shared videos as evidence to show who is responsible for the violence.

A large police force was deployed following the violence between two groups. They had gone on a rampage, burning vehicles, throwing stones, and damaging shops. The BJP shared videos showing some men vandalizing shops and throwing stones at the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and the police. In the videos shared by the Trinamool Congress, the party of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, red circles are drawn over some men to highlight them as they are seen holding guns and other weapons at the Ram Navami procession, which allegedly took an “unauthorized route to target and attack one community, according to her. She believes the BJP is instigating violence in Bengal.

Meanwhile, Bengal BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari meets the Union Home Minister in Delhi and then returns to Kolkata. He holds a public meeting the next day and says, “Watch TV tomorrow.” The next day there were riots again. The BJP approaches the high court seeking a probe by the National Investigation Agency, a central body, as they want to avoid being investigated in the state to “escape action”. They know they will be caught if the probe happens here. Whereas the BJP says if the probe happens in a state, then the ruling party will try its best to blame the BJP and its workers. Frankly speaking, at this hour, there is no point in talking about investigations because this is not the first incident of communal violence. And there has been no concrete investigation of previous violent incidents.

The Home Minister called Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose and state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar to assess the law and order situation after the Ram Navami clash, but he did not have any dialogue with the state government or its CM. The governor, who will soon be visiting the riot-hit areas, is believed to have given Shah details about the violence and the present situation. But how these visits are going to solve the burning communal issues in the state, no one knows.

On the other hand, Mamta Banerjee has accused the BJP of trying to stoke communal tension during the procession. She alleged the BJP had hired goons from other states to orchestrate communal riots. The BJP slammed Banerjee, stating that the “Hindus in Bengal are under threat,” and accused Ms. Banerjee, who is also the state’s home minister, of appeasement politics.

Currently in India, in the name of secularism, only appeasement and further communal politics are being played, and Didi is no different than the herd. She has been walking along the same path of secularism, or shall I say pseudo-secularism,” ever since she became the Chief Minister of the State. She has been trying to woo the Muslim voters by making symbolic gestures rather than any substantial improvements. She is afraid that if arrests are made and Muslim rioters end up in jail, she may see her “cherished” vote bank drift away from her. The situation has further worsened because of the continuous influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Mamata knows that the key to retaining her chair for the coming term is to have the Muslim voters on her side, and hence she comes up with different ideas to attain her objective. It has further enhanced the polarization of the state. When the nation has already witnessed a partition along communal lines where Bengal was ripped apart, is it really wise to air the communal feelings? India is already facing problems due to overpopulation. Is it smart to allow illegal immigrants to settle in India and lay claim to our resources? On the other hand, the BJP is also aiming to gain power in West Bengal, and they will never allow the state to settle in peace.

HC quashes CIC order asking Gujarat varsity to give information on PM Modi’s degree; imposes Rs 25,000 cost on Kejriwal

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Web Team

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March 31, 2023

gujarat high court, modi, narendra modi, degree, gujarat university, gujarat, kejriwal, modi's degree — HC quashes CIC order asking Gujarat varsity to give information on PM Modi's degree; imposes Rs 25,000 cost on Kejriwal 4

The Gujarat High Court on Friday set aside the seven-year-old order of the Central Information Commission (CIC), asking the Gujarat University to provide information on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Allowing the Gujarat University’s appeal against the CIC order, Justice Biren Vaishnav also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on Kejriwal and asked him to deposit the amount within four weeks with the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority (GSLSA).

Justice Vaishnav also refused to stay his order as requested by Kejriwal’s lawyer, Percy Kavina.

In April 2016, the then CIC, M Sridhar Acharyulu, had directed the Delhi University and the Gujarat University to provide information to Kejriwal on the degrees that Modi received.

Three months later, the Gujarat High Court stayed the CIC order after the university approached it against that order.

The CIC order came a day after Kejriwal wrote to Acharyulu, saying he has no objection to government records about him being made public and wondered why the commission wanted to “hide” information on Modi’s educational qualifications. Based on the letter, Acharyulu directed the Gujarat University to give records of Modi’s educational qualifications to Kejriwal.

During the past hearings, the Gujarat University vehemently objected to the CIC’s order, saying the “irresponsible, childish curiosity” of someone cannot become a matter of public interest under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. During the last hearing held in February, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the university, claimed that there was nothing to hide in the first place because information about PM’s degrees is ”already in the public domain” and the university had also placed the information on its website on a particular date in the past.

Citing exceptions granted under the RTI Act for not complying with the order of the CIC, Mehta had also argued that the RTI Act is being used for settling scores and to make “childish jabs” against opponents.

Citing some past judgments of the Supreme Court and by other high courts about the exemptions granted under Section 8 of the RTI Act, Mehta also said that one cannot seek someone’s personal information just because one is curious about it.

Petra Kvitova edges Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach Miami Open semifinals for first time

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ANI

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March 31, 2023

Petra Kvitova, Tennis, Miami Open, Ekaterina Alexandrova — Petra Kvitova edges Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach Miami Open semifinals for first time 6

The No.15 seeded Petra Kvitova reached the Miami Open semifinals for the first time in her career after a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 triumph against No.18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova on Thursday. Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, was in her fourth Miami quarterfinal, but up until Thursday, she had never advanced past that round.

Strong forehands from Kvitova gave her an early break in the first set, and on her third set point, she converted an ace to seal the victory. However, Alexandrova improved in the second set, hitting numerous smashes on the line and breaking the tiebreaker with a spectacular backhand crosscourt service return. From that point on, Alexandrova held on to square the match at one set apiece.

Kvitova saved a break point in the decisive game of the third set, holding for 4-3. From that moment on, she fought back. Kvitova won the match by converting her second match point in the following game as she cracked a crosscourt forehand to force a mistake and break for 5-3. Both players had an equal number of winners and unforced errors. Kvitova made 19 unforced errors while Alexandrova had 26 wins to 26 unforced errors. In the end, Kvitova’s only additional break in the decisive set proved to be the difference maker that propelled her to victory.

Kvitova’s semifinal opponent will be a familiar foe: Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who earned her career-best win by ranking on Wednesday when she shocked World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals. “I have to say it was a tough one, for sure, especially mentally. Ekaterina played amazing. I would say she was really striking the ball very clearly, and it was really difficult to face some serves of hers,” Kvitova said in her postmatch press conference.

“It means a lot, for sure. It’s a big tournament. I’ve never been in the semifinal here, so it’s nice, especially when I played the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. So I’m happy that the momentum is there,” Kvitova said. “I’m glad that my serve helped me in important moments, especially in the third set. The chance for the break came. I took it, and yeah, it was very emotional in the end. I’m very happy that somehow I found a way to win it,” she said.

Talking about her upcoming clash against Cirstea, Kvitova said, “It’s nice to be playing somebody who is in as good form as me, so it will be a great matchup, for sure. We played a few battles already during our years. We practiced here before the tournament started as well.” “It’s kind of nice, I have to say, that somebody [else] over 30 as well is playing so nice. It’s nice, it’s fun. I’m happy for Sorana, how she’s playing, with the run she has. Definitely would be nice to face her again,” she added.

Criminal acts like fraud, cheating could not be decided by consumer forum: Supreme Court

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Afternoon Voice

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March 31, 2023

supreme court of india, supreme court, sc, uapa, uapa offence, 2011 verdict — Criminal acts like fraud, cheating could not be decided by consumer forum: Supreme Court 8

The Supreme Court has remarked that cases involving tortious acts or criminality like fraud or cheating cannot be decided by the Consumer Forum, and deficiency in service has to be distinguished from criminal acts. A bench of Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi passed these remarks on March 27 while setting aside an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Circuit Bench at Chennai, dated February 1, 2007.

The Chairman and the Manager of the City Union Bank Limited have preferred the present appeal against the judgment and order dated February 1, 2007 passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Circuit Bench at Chennai, in which it upheld the order dated December 23, 2004 passed by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chennai. “The proceedings before the Commission being summary in nature, the complaints involving highly disputed questions of facts or the cases involving tortious acts or criminality like fraud or cheating could not be decided by the forum or commission under the said act,” the top court said.

“The “deficiency in service”, as well settled, has to be distinguished from criminal acts or tortious acts,” the top court said. “There could not be any presumption with regard to the wilful fault, imperfection, shortcoming, or inadequacy in the quality, nature, and manner of performance in service, as contemplated in Section 2(1)(g) of the Act. “The burden of proving the deficiency in service would always be upon the person alleging it,” the top court said.

The complainant in the case has alleged that City Union Bank had transferred two demands totaling Rs 8 lakh to the wrong account in the year 1996. The top court noted there were certain disputes going on between the directors of the said company. “Some disputes were going on amongst the directors of the company, and if one of the directors allegedly had committed fraud or cheating, the employees of the bank could not be held liable if they had acted bona fide and followed the due procedure,” the top court said.

The top court said the complainant had miserably failed to discharge his burden to prove that there was a deficiency in service on the part of the employees of the appellant bank within the meaning of Section 2(1)(g) of the Act and that his complaint deserved to be dismissed. “The impugned orders passed by the State Commission and the National Commission are therefore quashed and set aside.” The appeal stands and is allowed accordingly,” the top court said.

Former US Prez Donald Trump denounces his indictment as ‘political persecution’

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PTI

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March 31, 2023

us, usa, donald trump, president, us president — Image: Reuters

Donald Trump issued a scathing response to his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury, describing it as “political persecution” and “election interference at the highest level in history” and warning that the “witch-hunt” will backfire massively on US President Joe Biden.

The former US president was indicted on Thursday in a case involving alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The historic indictment is the first time a president has been charged in a criminal matter and comes as 76-year-old Trump is mounting his third bid for the White House.

After it was reported that the Manhattan grand jury had voted to criminally indict him, Trump, a Republican, issued a wrathful response, denouncing it in a lengthy statement as “political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history.” “From the time I came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower, and even before I was sworn in as your President of the United States, the radical left Democrats — the enemy of the hard-working men and women of this country — have been engaged in a witch hunt to destroy the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement.”

”You remember it just like I do: Russia, Russia, Russia; the Mueller hoax; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; impeachment hoax 1; impeachment hoax 2; the illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid; and now this,” the 76-year-old former president said in a statement.

Trump alleged that the Democrats have ”lied, cheated, and stolen” in their obsession with trying to ”get Trump”.

”But now they’ve done the unthinkable by indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant election interference,” he said.

Trump called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg a “disgrace.”

”Rather than stopping the unprecedented crime wave taking over New York City, he’s doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders, burglaries, and assaults he should be focused on. “This is how Bragg spends his time!” he said.

He said that he believes this ”witch hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden”.

”The American people realize exactly what the radical left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our movement and our party — united and strong — will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said.

“Never before in our nation’s history has this been done.” The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be the President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for president, has never happened before. “Ever,” he said.
The details of Thursday’s indictment have not been released, with Bragg saying that it will remain under seal for the immediate future. Al Mason, a real estate businessman from New York and co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian-American Finance Committee, told PTI, ”It is 100 per cent political. Trump will emerge even stronger after this witch hunt. Never underestimate him.

Death toll in Indore temple tragedy rises to 35, search on for one missing person

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PTI

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March 31, 2023

indore temple tragedy, indore, army, indore incident — Death toll in Indore temple tragedy rises to 35, search on for one missing person 11

The death toll in the Indore temple stepwell roof collapse incident rose to 35 on Friday, and a search operation is currently underway to trace one missing person, an official said.

The slab constructed on top of an ancient ‘bawdi’ or stepwell collapsed during a ‘havan’ program held on the occasion of Ram Navami at the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in the city on Thursday, plunging several devotees into the water reservoir below. The temple located in Patel Nagar, where the tragedy took place, had been constructed after covering the square-shaped stepwell of around 20 ft x 20 ft size about four decades ago.

“Our search operation, being carried out with the help of the Army, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), is nearing completion. So far, 35 bodies have been recovered from the well,” Indore District Magistrate Dr Ilayaraja T told reporters at the site of the incident.

The bodies of all persons, except one, whose names were mentioned in the list of missing persons, have been recovered so far, he said. There is a lot of silt in the well, and it is being removed to trace the missing person, Illayaraja said.

Earlier, Indore Divisional Commissioner (Revenue) Pawan Kumar Sharma said that 16 people injured in the mishap have been admitted to a hospital, while two others were sent home after receiving first aid.

Eyewitnesses said that after 11.30 pm on Thursday, the process of recovering bodies from the well and sending them to a hospital for post-mortem intensified.

A joint team of the Army and the NDRF descended into the well with the help of a crane and trolley to recover the bodies.

The rescue operation was initially hampered as the temple was built in a narrow space and a wall was broken to lower a pipe to pump out water from the well, officials said.

An eyewitness said that during the religious program, there was a huge crowd of devotees at the temple, and its floor caved in as it could not bear the load. Local residents said that the temple was built by laying a slab over the ancient stepwell.

Savarkar vs Gandhi storms Maharashtra politics

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Vaidehi Taman

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March 29, 2023

veer savarkar, rahul gandhi, gandhi, savarkar, indira gandhi, congress, bjp, britishers — Savarkar vs Gandhi storms Maharashtra politics 13

Recently, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis responded to Rahul Gandhi’s mindless statement “I am not Savarkar” by changing their display pictures to “I am Savarkar.”

Meanwhile, BJP MPs also protested against Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Savarkar. Rahul Gandhi, during a press conference after his disqualification from the Lok Sabha, said that his name is not Savarkar but Gandhi, and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone. His statement came in response to the BJP’s repeated requests for an apology on a variety of issues, including the 2019 criminal defamation case.

Rahul Gandhi’s persistent attack on Savarkar looks shocking. Savarkar was never a competitor for the Congress post-Independence. Rahul’s great-grandfather, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, had a towering presence over Savarkar’s, if any, in a newly independent India’s politics for the remaining years of the Hindutva icon’s life. Nehru died in 1964; Savarkar in 1966. Even Mahatma Gandhi never scorned Savarkar. In fact, in one of his letters, Mahatma Gandhi addressed Savarkar with the polite term “Bhai,” meaning brother.

After Savarkar’s death in 1966, late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi paid tribute to him, saying that he was a great Indian patriot and the epitome of valor. She also donated Rs. 11,000 from her personal bank account to the Savarkar National Memorial, Dadar. She issued a postal stamp in his name. The Government of India published a documentary on his life, which earned various international awards. Above all, when she was writing letters, she wrote his name as Veer Savarkar, while today Rahul Gandhi has a problem calling him Veer Savarkar.

If there is any definition of patriotism, the life of Veer Savarkar is it. He was a patriot and the epitome of valor. Two of the three Savarkar brothers were sent for life-saving transportation to the Andaman cellular jail. The third was working with Congress. In one of his poems, he says to the Bharat Mata, “What three? If we were seven brothers, we would have laid down our lives for you. The whole family gave their lives for the freedom of India.

Veer Savarkar was imprisoned from 1910 to 1937 in various prisons. He was arrested in 1910 and sent to Andaman. He was sent to mainland India in 1923–24, and from 1936–37 he was imprisoned in Ratnagiri. Even in Ratnagiri, he was given harsh punishments; they may not have been like Andaman, but Britishers were never kind to Indian patriots. and he was not released until 1937. The British India Government imprisoned him for more than 13 years.

Savar was the leader of an espionage agency called Abhinav Bharat. It was the greatest underground network that pre-independence India had ever seen. He was of the opinion that the enemy should always be fooled, and victory should always be achieved by any means and at any cost. If mindless people are talking about Savarkar’s petitions by ridiculing him, then they should know that Savarkar filed 10–11 petitions in the span of 12–13 years. But not even a single one of them was only for him. In all of his petitions, he urged the British government of India to grant amnesty to all of his fellow political prisoners, not only in the cellular jail in Andaman but also in England and other European countries.

In his petitions of 1914 and 1917, he had insisted to the government of British India that “if my release has become an obstacle in the release of all of my fellow political prisoners, then you can abandon my name and release them, which will give me the same satisfaction as my own release. You can go through all the petitions, which are easily available on the Internet. Savarkar’s younger brother, Narayan Savarkar, was a congress activist. And he was advised by Mahatma Gandhi that he should tell his brothers, i.e., the Savarkar brothers in cellular jail, to file a petition first for their release. It never seemed to be a cowardly act. Veer Savarkar was one of India’s greatest revolutionaries, visionaries, historians, linguists, and social crusaders. Then the pro-independence and post-independence Congress leaders knew his worth and vigor. The modern Gandhi and failed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi really need to ponder history.

However, Rahul Gandhi should know that Gandhi and Savarkar are different individuals. If you are a fervent supporter of one, demeaning the other becomes a must. But in doing so, these disciples tend to forget that both of these men of great accomplishments achieved unimaginable feats in comparison to all of us. Both of them went through unfathomable pain for the sake of winning freedom for their motherland. We surely have the right to say why we may not concur with either of them, but only after we make efforts to understand what each man stood for and actually did.

Veteran BJP leader and MP Girish Bapat passes away due to liver ailment

By

Web Team

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March 29, 2023

girish bapat, bapat, pune, kasba peth, bjp leader, bjp senior leader — Veteran BJP leader and MP Girish Bapat passes away due to liver ailment 15

A BJP veteran leader and Member of Parliament from Pune, Girish Bapat, passed away on Wednesday due to a liver ailment.

“Girish Bapat is admitted to the ICU at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital. He is critically ill and presently on life support treatment. “A team of doctors is monitoring him very closely,” a hospital release said, as quoted by PTI.

The 72-year-old BJP leader, suffering from breathing problems for the past few months, has been undergoing dialysis at the hospital.

During the Kasba Peth Assembly bypoll held recently, Bapat had guided BJP workers. He had visited a polling booth to cast his vote sitting in a wheelchair with a nasal cannula.

Bapat had served as the MLA five times from the Kasba Peth constituency. He became Pune MP in 2019.

Atique Ahmed, a gangster turned politician now become VIP in jail

By

Vaidehi Taman

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March 28, 2023

atique ahmed, atiq ahmed, prayagraj, gangster, up, yogi, umesh pal, umesh pal case — Image: PTI

Mainstream media went bizarre when Atique Ahmed was shifted from one jail to another. In the race to broadcast the breaking news, some TV channels showed him taking a break to urinate live on their channels. Several clips from Aaj Tak’s live reporting of the “event” went viral on social media platforms. Though the particular segment has been removed from the report on Aaj Tak’s YouTube channel, the clips are already viral and are making the rounds on social media. This news questioned the credibility of Aaj Tak’s journalism, and at the same time, it brought the gangster turned politician into the limelight.

After passing through different states, Atique Ahmed’s cavalcade entered Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning and stopped at Jhansi police lines. The convoy is being followed by media teams, Ahmed’s sister, and lawyers. Earlier this month, Atique Ahmed moved the Supreme Court for protection, claiming that he and his family had been falsely implicated in the Umesh Pal murder case in Prayagraj and that he may be killed in a fake encounter by the UP Police. The Uttar Pradesh police chose a road route that passes through Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri and Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi to bring back the gangster. Gangster Atique Ahmed and two others were held guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case. Atique Ahmed was brought to court from a jail in Gujarat in a police van and produced in court amid tight security.

Earlier, Atique Ahmed’s car almost overturned after hitting a cow on the road. Sadly, the cow died in the accident. Before getting onto the van for the journey, Ahmed expressed his fear that he would be killed by the UP police team. “Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)… Mujhe inka program maloom hai.” Hatya karna chahte hain (I know their program)… “They want to murder me,” he was heard saying.

Atique Ahmed a dreaded gangster turned politician is a former member of Indian Parliament and Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Samajwadi Party. He was elected as a member of the legislative assembly from the Allahabad West seat for 5 consecutive terms, which is a record. From 2004–2009, he was elected as a Samajwadi Party candidate for the 14th Lok Sabha from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh. Between 1999 and 2003, he was the president of the Apna Dal, founded by Sone Lal Patel. He has more than 100 criminal cases registered against him and has been in jail since 2019. Ahmed has fought several elections from jail while being lodged under various charges. In the 2009 General Elections, Atique Ahmad was allowed to run for election (since he had yet to be convicted in any case. However, the Samajwadi Party expelled him in 2008, and Mayawati refused to give him a ticket under the BSP. Later, he ran in elections as a candidate from the Apna Dal party from Pratapgarh, only to lose the election.

In the 2012 Uttar Pradesh elections, Ahmed ran under the Apna Dal banner from the Allahabad (West) constituency. He filed his nomination from jail. He appealed for bail in the Allahabad High Court, but 10 judges refused to hear the case. The 11th judge finally took up the matter, and he was released on bail before the elections. However, the seat went to Raju Pal’s widow, Puja Pal. In 2014, he was taken back into the Samajwadi Party and fought the National Elections from the Shrawasti (Lok Sabha constituency). He managed to secure a quarter of the votes but lost by nearly a lakh votes to Daddan Mishra of the BJP.

Atique Ahmed was shifted to Bareilly jail after being accused of kidnapping and assaulting businessman Mohit Jaiswal in Deoria jail. Mohit told the media that Atique Ahmed’s gang was asking him to pay extortion money. He was taken to the Deoria jail later for not paying the extortion money. Mohit was beaten up by the jail police guards and other goons. After the news was spread, the Uttar Pradesh government shifted Atique to Bareilly Jail and suspended the accused jail guards immediately. A recording of a phone call was also released, in which Atique threatened Mohit to pay extortion money or else he would be attacked.

Two other businessmen also accused Ahmed of kidnapping and assaulting them in Deoria Jail. Ahmed was shifted from the Prayagraj Central Jail to the Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad in June 2019. On February 24, 2023, Umesh Pal, a prime witness in the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal, was killed. Ahmed is the main accused in the Raju Pal and Umesh Pal murder case. Overnight he came to limelight when Uttar Pradesh Police went to the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad to bring him back to Prayagraj. Atique Ahmed was shifted to Sabarmati jail following a Supreme Court order in 2019 after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on a real estate businessman, Mohit Jaiswal, while in prison in UP.
Atique, along with his gangster brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, who was brought from a Bareilly jail, and another co-accused, Farhan, were kept in separate barracks of the jail. Atique’s first night in the Prayagraj jail kept officials on their toes as they were tasked with ensuring safety and security.

Unbiased media is a Myth in India; if there are BJP workers there are Congress stooges too

By

Vaidehi Taman

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March 26, 2023

media, bjp, congress, indian media, godi media, rahul gandhi, modi, narendra modi, rahul gandhi press, press conference — Unbiased media is a Myth in India; if there are BJP workers there are Congress stooges too 18

The media was never biased towards BJP; rather, there is a big social media and mainstream media group that impatiently attacks BJP and its leaders. The media was always biased towards the ruling party of the time. Since the BJP is ruling India now, the media naturally supports it. The BJP does not control “all” media. That can never happen in a democratic country like India. If it did, you would be living in a dictatorship. If we believed we were living under a dictatorship, I wouldn’t be writing this editorial.

Yes, the BJP influences some media outlets that toe its line. Media, whether print or electronic, is a costly proposition that requires a lot of resources. So when they do not toe the line of the ruling party of the day, the government can and most of the time does try to block the flow of these resources, mostly in the form of advertisement revenue, directly by stopping government advertisements to these non-compliant media and indirectly by inciting other private industries and trade to follow suit. No media house wants or can withstand this for long. When the government changes, even the media changes. But in the near future, Congress will have no such privilege; they really need to fight for their existence by all means.

Most media moguls also have many other business interests, for which they must always need some obligations or support from the governments of the day. So it goes against their grain not to be supportive of the ruling party in their media presentations. Same goes with most of the journalists, who feel it convenient to fall in line either to enjoy some inducements or at least to avoid any harassment in the discharge of their journalistic activity. This applies to all ruling parties, whether the present BJP or the Congress in earlier decades. Only the inducements and threats might be sometimes overt but most of the time more covert and subtle.

Very few media houses and journalists show some spine to stand up for their professional independence and courage of conviction. If the BJP has dedicated media barons as their flag bearers, then we should know that the nexus of Congress is also very strong, as you can’t imagine. They have their people everywhere; even the paid historians who have written the history in the NCERT children’s books are in their favor. They too have their nexus with editors and writers who threw the word like ISI for RSS in the media when Congress was at high pitch.

When Congress was in power, almost all pro-BJP (or even centre-right ideologues) journalists were thrown out of their jobs due to pressure from the ruling party. Many journalists were arrested for their anti-Congress voices. No opposition was ever kind to the media because they blamed them for being the ruling party’s lap dogs. Remember the great venerable Ramnath Goenka, frustrated and broken by repeated I-T raids and ED investigations, who ultimately had to fire Arun Shourie twice from the Indian Express, which was once the best Indian newspaper in the 1970s and 80s? That was the team — Goenka the owner, Shourie the editor, and S. Gurumurthy the fearless journalist—that brought political heavyweights like Indira Gandhi down on her knees and even took on corporate honchos like Dhirubhai Ambani.

Very little centre-right ideology then existed in Indian media, and that too in minor publications. Almost all the mainstream media houses were thoroughly infiltrated and coerced into towing the Congress’ line, sometimes just through ideology and relationships and not even money power.

The Congress party owned and controlled virtually every mainstream media outlet in India, including the Hindustan Times, The Times of India, NDTV, CNN-IBN, The Hindu, Tehelka, Outlook, and others. When the BJP came to power, the first thing they straightened out were anti-BJP campaigners. I have a small media house, which is considered to be a parallel media. We don’t fit into mainstream media either by our reach or by our size, but still, the constructive criticism we make is accepted by the BJP and its leaders. We were never under pressure to speak the truth, be it against the BJP. PM Modi rather volunteered, saying the media should offer constructive criticism so that the ruling party can improvise on various fronts.

There is a stark gap in trust among supporters of political parties in news outlets. Patterns of news consumption differed among supporters of the ruling BJP and opposition parties. It is claimed that most readers of English newspapers support the Congress, while consumers of Hindi news seem to lean towards the BJP. The proportion of individuals that mostly read the newspaper in English is around 3%, but among this tiny segment, the Congress enjoys the most support. This is not the case among readers who read newspapers in other languages.

We have to believe that the Modi government is well received in the Indian news media. The media is made up of people who deal a lot with politics or politicians. And it’s natural that they are still toward one or the other ideology. We are in a very complicated political environment where deciding what is right and what is wrong is difficult. Every event has multiple facets, and it depends on the reporter as to what he sees and what he wants to show. But calling journalists “prestitutes,” “bazaru,” “bikau,” “darbaari,” or party workers is not new in Indian politics. What people need to understand is that they are served what they want to buy, and the media needs to realize that they still need a balance.