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CPI-M leader equates RSS to ISIS

By
Afternoon Voice
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A senior CPI (M) leader on Friday equated RSS with terror outfit Islamic State, alleging that Sangh was “targeting Hindus” criticising its ideology like ISIS which attacks Muslims who are opposing it in Iraq and Syria.

CPI(M) Kerala state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said recent incidents targeting writers, including Sudheendra Kulkarni, former BJP leader and aide to former deputy prime minister L K Advani, over a book written by former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri in Mumbai were clear indication of “growing intolerance” under BJP-rule in the country.

“Secularism is facing a grave threat in our country. RSS is working like an Indian form of ISIS… RSS is targeting the Hindus propagating progressive ideas in the country. All such things are happening after BJP government came into power in our country,” Balakrishnan told reporters here referring to the ISIS attacks on Muslims in Iraq and Syria.

The CPI(M) politburo member alleged that people belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the backward communities will be the next target of RSS.

Accusing the RSS of attempting to push forward through the BJP-led government at the Centre, its plans to scrap the reservation system, Balakrishnan said CPIM was of the view that the present reservation for jobs in the government sector and admission in educational institutions for SC, ST and Other backward sections has to continue.

He also said the economically weaker sections in the forward community also should be given reservation in jobs so that all the poor in the country would get social justice.

Balakrishnan flayed organisations like Sree Narayana Dharam Paripalana Yogam, an outfit of numerically strong backward Ezhava community and Indian Union Muslim League for “being silent” on the reservation issue.

Repeat of Dadri? Mob lynches alleged cow smuggler in Himachal Pradesh

By
Afternoon Voice
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At a time when the whole nation is debating on lynching of a man in Dadri, a truck driver in Himachal Pradesh was allegedly killed by a mob on Friday on suspicion of smuggling cattle.

The trucker’s four accomplices were apprehended by the Himachal Pradesh Police with the help of local people after nearly four hours of chase in the forests in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh.

DSP Pachhad, Yogesh Rolta, said that five cow smugglers, who were attacked an injured by local people, were arrested and admitted to hospital.

A truck carrying five cows and 10 oxen was spotted by local people who chased the vehicle. Sensing trouble, the truck driver allegedly tried to smash one of the vehicles by hitting it from the rear, Rolta said. But when the police and people kept up the chase, the truck driver stopped the vehicle at Lawasa Chowki square and allegedly threw some cows out of truck, he said. One cow died on the spot while five others received grievous injuries.

Abandoning the truck, the five alleged cow smugglers took shelter in a nearby forest at Lawasa Chowki adjacent to Sarahan-Chandigarh road, said the DSP.

The police, with the help of local villagers, arrested all the five cow smugglers, after several hours of chase in the forest.

The villagers, who far outnumbered the policemen, beat up the alleged cow smugglers after they were overpowered, police sources said.

One of the arrested persons identified as Noman (28), a resident of Rampur village of Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, succumbed to his injuries in Sarahan hospital where he was taken.

A case of murder under Section 302 of IPC was registered on the complaint filed by one Imran, a relative of the deceased, by Pachhad police. The body of Noman has been sent for postmortem.

Bajrang Dal’s involvement is suspected in the lynching. An FIR has been registered and probe is on.

Rolta said that other four accused of cow smuggling, Mohd Nishu (37), driver of the truck, Guljar (22), Salman (20) and Gulfam (24), all residents of village Rampur of Saharanpur district, would be produced in a local court.

Muslim man worships Goddess Durga after being blessed with girl child

By
Afternoon Voice
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It’s not so long ago when some fringe elements had demanded to keep one community away from the Garba pandals during Navaratras, citing religious affiliations. Little did they know then that true devotion sees no such bars.

Breaking all man-made religious barriers, a Muslim man in Bhawani Mandi of Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur region has been worshipping Goddess Durga by keeping traditional Garba and organising bhandaras in his area.

The reason behind his devotion towards Goddess Durga is the wish he had made in one of her temples which later came true.

45-year-old Altaf Khan has two sons and ten years back he wished for a baby girl to complete his family. He visited Dudhakhedi Mata temple and made the wish. Soon he was blessed with a girl child.

Since then, Khan, a practising Muslim, has been celebrating Navratras with full devotion. The local Hindus also assist him in following this tradition.

Khan has named his daughter Nagma which he believes has three meanings.

Nagma if divided into three parts means: Na for Navaratras, G for Garba and Ma for mother.

He also claims that his financial condition has improved after the birth of his daughter, as per the report.

Supreme Court’s NJAC ruling a setback to parliamentary sovereignty: Government

By
Afternoon Voice
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Hours after the Supreme Court struck down the Constitution’s 99th amendment and the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act as unconstitutional, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday described the decision as a setback to parliamentary sovereignty but not to the government.

“While upholding very dearly the principle of independence of judiciary, I regret to say that parliamentary sovereignty has received a setback,” the Union Communications and Information Technology Minister said at the BJP headquarters here.

The minister maintained that the “NJAC was a part of judicial reforms that was exercised after deep consideration”.

The Supreme Court earlier today restored the collegium system for appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.

“In our view, this exercise was undertaken after deep consideration of more than 20 years, as part of judicial reforms. We will go through the judgment and come out with a structured response,” Prasad said.

“It was a unique moment in the democratic polity of India that all political formations were unanimous that the collegium system needs to be replaced by the National Judicial Appointments Commission,” said Prasad, a former law minister and himself a practising senior lawyer at the Supreme Court.

“Various commissions headed by eminent judges, Administrative Reforms Commission and different parliamentary committees recommended the NJAC,” the union minister said.

“Even former chief justice of India JS Verma had publicly raised misgivings on the working of the collegium system and suggested a serious rethink,” he added.

OMG! Ceiling fan falls on Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar

By
Afternoon Voice
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A hilarious video showing a ceiling fan falling on former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav during an election rally in Motihari district has gone viral.

In the clipping, the fan could be seen suddenly tumbling over the RJD chief, while an announcement was being made for the electrician to fix the fan. Lalu had reportedly complained about the rickety condition of the fan before the rally had begun.

However, there was no casualty in the incident and Lalu escaped unhurt. He did manage to complete addressing the huge crowd gathered.

Navratri: A festival of dance and worship

By
Afternoon Voice
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Durga – the bewitching, radiant ten-armed goddess, the benevolent mother of beings and is the ravaging destroyer of evil. The one, who with her arrival, heralds peace and happiness into the realm of mortals. Durga who is worshipped as a goddess, revered as a mother and feared as the embodiment of anger. The ten-armed Goddess Durga was created as an amalgam of the powers of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar to defeat the water-buffalo demon Mahisasur. It is also celebrated in the north as the triumph of good over evil dedicating it to Lord Ram who defeated Ravana and the tenth day of the festival is known as Dussehra. While in the northern part of the country the goddess is worshipped in a more effeminate avatar, in the eastern and the southern parts, she is invoked more as the warrior-goddess – the destroyer of evil. These nine days people immerse themselves in welcoming Durga to the earth, in her nine forms.

During this period people perform the puja during morning and evening, dress colourfully; most women wear Gujrati chaniya choli’s embellished with beautiful mirror work and the men in churidat kurta’s. They meet up in the evening and perform the ‘garba’ and ‘dandiya raas’ and dance to these beats till the wee hours of the morning welcoming her and celebrating her presence on earth. On the ninth day she kills the demon and is therefore ready to depart on the tenth. They thank her, dress her like a bride so that she my join her husband in her heavenly abode and immerse her in the waters for her journey back.

It may augur well for all of us to remember that she does this so that the world may live in peace, harmony prevails and people live together in unison. She epitomises benevolence and kindness in one of her forms “kushmanda” showering blessings to all like mother to her children and eliminates darkness with her smile.

All around us in various grounds and buildings, wherever this event is celebrated I have seen Hindus and Muslims joining in and tourists from all over the world in numerous parts of the country dancing the garba and dandiya raas. There is no way to Peace. It is the only way. All forces of Evil are eventually destroyed like she does. Mother nature embodies love and compassion. Mother earth is ours to keep clean and respected so sing and dance and drink in the revelry of colour and she will give back in return.

Russia and USA who are always trying to show one up-man ship and got together to kill the “Mahisasur” – evil demon ISIS only to bring in peace in Syria so that people can have a normal family, home education, development etc. Unity in diversity are the core values as the President Pranab Mukherjee said and Prime Minister Narendra Modi seconded whether in India or abroad. It is the key to economic progress for societies and the world. Some dorky guy shooting students in colleges in America, someone else being shamefully killed here in the village for a rumour of beef consumption, politicizing it to a larger evil by other parties for the sake of vote banks are not what we want to be, really. So in this auspicious season while Goddess Durga is here and on her heels is Goddess Laxmi who is on her way to earth bring us wealth and prosperity for the festival of lights. Let us all pray for more peace and harmony.

Allka V Aswani

Sharing the stage with the ‘Legend’

By
Afternoon Voice
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It is not very often that you see a legend dance on stage and it further more rare to perform and share the stage with a legend. I have been teaching dance in India for almost fifteen years now, and it was always my dream to be on the same stage with the ‘legend’. It was a dream come true for my team members and me when Sneha charity; an NGO that looks after education of people living in the slums, approached us to dance for their fund raising event. This was the opportunity that none of us wanted to miss. It was because we were to share the stage with the legendary Padma Bhushan Dr. Mallika Sarabhai.

I first met Dr. Sarabhai many years back on a social event and I was awestruck with her persona, grace and beauty. She is a true woman of substance. A dancer par excellence, a theater artist, an entrepreneur, a mother, a film actress, you name it and its on here profile. Even after having so many feathers on her cap she is extremely down to earth and generous. I know many people have done articles on her as a dancer and as a traditionally rich human being. But my story is about feeling the high of sharing the stage with marvel like her.

Our show for Sneha charity was decided for a particular suitable date but due to few unforeseen circumstances the dates kept on changing. We were all sad that our opportunity of a lifetime to dance with Dr. Sarabhai was lost. But god was on our side and a new date was fixed again, it was as if sunshine got back to our lives.

On the day of the show and I was trembling, honestly I was very nervous, as Dr. Mallika Sarabhai was going to open the show with her classical piece and I was asked to close the same show. I was to meet her before the event starts and my anxiety was almost killing me. When I came face to face with her, I froze, she I guess understood my state, she welcomed my partner Jesse Randhawa and me with a warm hug and a big smile and said, “I am proud of your work and I am very happy that finally I get to share the stage with you.”

Her grace and ageless beauty was more than that of a Bollywood or a Hollywood star. It was actually me who should have said words like ‘Maam I am honoured to be sharing the stage with you’ but my nervousness was like a child entering a new school. Her comforting voice made me feel relaxed and soon she introduced me to her son and daughter who also happen to be very talented dancers themselves. She was so kind and encouraging with her words towards my kind of International dance forms, that sometimes I wonder why is it that people feel there is always a cold war or so call under currents between Indian classical dancers and Western dancers. Her words still ring in my mind, ‘Oh how I wish I can learn the Tango from you Sandip’. For me these appreciation words coming from a legend are more than even awards. And honestly I feel in my heart ‘How I wish I was even one percent as accomplished dancer as Dr. Mallika Sarabhai.’ She indeed is a true woman of substance.

Soon the show began and I stopped my make up to watch her dance, every eye in the audience was glued to the stage when she moved, twirled and narrated stories after stories in her ever so dynamic and graceful self. Then was my chance to close the show and when my partner Jesse and me stepped onstage I saw her giving me a thumbs up for her support. A standing ovation is what we got and if it was not for that thumbs up I wonder where my nervousness would have taken the show.

Dr. Mallika Sarabhai is a dancer that every choreographer and a dancer looks’ up to and I am no exception. Today she might find my working with international artists a proud thing but for me sharing the stage with her is more of a memory than even choreographing for Britney Spears video or teaching dance to the ‘Queen of Pop’ Madonna. I am glad that I could be on the same platform as hers and I pray to God that soon we must dance the Tango together too. Amen!!!

Artscape By Sandip Soparrkar

Nights to shine in city bar bar

By
Afternoon Voice
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Supreme Court however added a rider to its interim order and allowed the licensing authorities in the State to regulate indecent dance performances at bars and other places.

Dance-BarMumbai’s night life is all set to become more vibrant after Supreme Court lifted the ban on dance bars in Maharashtra. The apex court stayed the operation of 2014 amendment in the Maharashtra Police Act that had banned dance performances at bars and some other places. The state government had banned dance bars in 2005 saying that these establishments were responsible for rising crime and prostitution activities in the metropolis. During that time around 600 dance bars were functioning in the city. Some of them continued to operate under police patronage, but most gradually shut down.

Referring to the brief history of judicial pronouncement in the case and subsequent amendment in the State law, a Bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla Chandra Pant said “We think it appropriate to stay the provisions section 33 (A)(1) of the Maharashtra Police (second amendment) Act.”

The court however added a rider to its interim order and allowed the licensing authorities in the State to regulate indecent dance performances at bars and other places.

“However, we have a rider that no performance of dance will be remotely expressive of any kind of obscenity…the licensing authority can regulate such dance performances so that individual dignity of woman performer is not harmed,” the Bench said.

The Indian Hotels and Restaurant Association, welcomed the Supreme Court order staying operation of the amendment.

“The way Maharashtra government had put a blanket ban by sidelining all the rules, we were sure to win and that’s what Supreme Court has upheld our view today,” Indian Hotels and Restaurant Association (AHAR) member Manjit Singh Singh Sethi.

“The attitude of the government towards us was so biased that when in 2014 the ban was lifted, we applied to renew our license but that too was quashed,” he alleged.

When asked what would be his further course of action, Singh said, “First we would wait for the details of the Supreme Court order and then decide. But prior to that, we would reapply before the state government and police authorities for the endorsement of licence to run dance bars.”

Meanwhile, the Bar Girls’ Association cautiously welcomed the decision and said it now hopes for a suitable, quick and positive action from the present state government.

“We have not forgotten that when a blanket ban on dance bars was imposed by flouting all our rights, the present government led by BJP, which was in opposition those days, had supported the ban,” Bar Girls’ Association general secretary Varsha Kale said.

The apex court has now fixed the petition filed by Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association for final hearing on November 5 and said that the matter pertaining to the similar issue had already been decided by this court in 2013.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that his government still favoured ban on dance bars.

Fadnavis tweeted: “Although SC interim order mandates regulation instead of ban on dance bars, government still favours ban. We will examine and press our demand in SC.”

The Maharashtra government had reintroduced the law in 2014 to bypass an SC judgment which had struck down a similar law a year ago. The SC had in April 2013 upheld the right of women bar dancers to follow their profession and dismissed the state government’s appeal to ban them.

Will judgement be delivered in National Herald case?

By
Vaidehi Taman
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People on social media and political rivals are waiting for the day to hear some verdict against Gandhi’s, but there is no progress in this case. The Delhi High Court termed as “infructuous” the applications moved by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and some other party leaders alleging a “different treatment” was meted out to a challenge filed by them in the National Herald case. The Gandhis’ in their application had said their petition challenging a trial court order in the case was transferred in violation of the procedures and practice being followed by the court. The application also said that their challenge petition ought to have been listed before the bench of Justice Gaur before whom the matter was pending for over eight months and was heard by him at length on several occasions.

The National Herald, the Congress party newspaper was the voice of India’s independence movement. Veteran journalist Suman Dubey, a close friend of the Gandhi family, is being consulted on the project. National Herald is a newspaper founded and edited by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in Lucknow on September 9, 1938. The paper carried on its masthead the words ‘Freedom is in Peril, Defend it with All You Might’ taken from a cartoon by Gabriel from Brentford, Middlesex that Indira Gandhi had forwarded to Nehru. Jawaharlal Nehru was an early editor of the newspaper and until his appointment as Prime Minister was the Chairman of the Herald’s Board of Directors. In 1938, K. Rama Rao was appointed as the paper’s first editor. Following the Quit India Resolution of August 1942, the British Raj clamped down on the Indian press and the paper was shut between 1942 and 1945. The Herald reopened in 1945 and from 1946 to 1950, Feroze Gandhi served as the paper’s Managing Director, helping restore its financial health. From 1946 to 1978, Manikonda Chalapathi Rau served as its editor. The paper had editions from Lucknow and New Delhi, the latter begun in 1968. In Delhi, the paper was based out of Herald House on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, known as Delhi’s Fleet Street while in Lucknow it was based out of the Nehru Bhawan and Nehru Manzil buildings. The National Herald also had Hindi and Urdu editions named Navjeevan and Quami Awaz.

The paper’s fortunes were closely tied with those of the Indian National Congress. Post-Independence, it was shut down for two years from 1977 following Indira Gandhi’s defeat in the 1977 General Elections that followed the Emergency. By 1986, the paper again faced the prospect of closure but was revived a year later following Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s intervention. The Lucknow operations of the paper were shut down in 1998 and much of its property was auctioned off under court orders to settle outstanding debts. In January 2008 discussions about closure began. On 1 April 2008, the paper’s editorial (of its sole remaining edition, New Delhi) announced that it was temporarily suspending operations. The paper had failed to modernise its print technology and had not computerised at the time of suspending operations and had been making losses for several years owing to lack of advertising revenues and overstaffing. At the time of its closure T V Venkitachalam was its editor-in-chief.

In the recent past Subramaniyam Swamy, in his complaint, alleged that The Associated Journals Ltd.(AJL) was formally closed in 2008 as it was under a huge unpaid debt of around Rs.90 crore. He alleged that on November 23, 2010 under the Companies Act Young Indian Pvt Ltd company was incorporated in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owned 38 per cent shares each. In December 2010, Swamy claimed, YI’s board of directors passed a resolution to “own” AJL’s outstanding debt and “admittedly obtained an unsecured zero interest loan from the Congress party” for an equivalent amount to liquidate the debt. The Congress denies that allegation and says it gave Associated Journals a Rs. 90 crore loan because it was in dire straits.

The court, in its earlier order, said, “From the complaint and the evidence led so far, it appears that YI was in fact created as a sham or a cloak to convert public money to personal use or as a special purpose vehicle for acquiring control over Rs.2000 crore worth of assets of The Associated Journals Ltd.(AJL). It said the accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Moti Lal Vohra, Oscar Fernandes were the office bearers and trustees of the funds of the Congress party and the funds of the party were not the personal property of the accused. The funds entrusted to them by the party were to be utilised to advance the purposes for which the Congress party was formed. These funds could not have been advanced in the form of an interest-free loan to AJL, as no provisions exists in the Representation of the People Acts or the constitution of the party permitting grant of any such loan to a company engaged in commercial activities. In the past two years since the Gandhi-family-led private company called Young Indian took over Associated Journals, four floors of the five-storey building have been let out at market rates.

The ground floor and the first floor are let out to the Passport Seva Kendra of the Ministry of External Affairs and the second and the third floor to IT major Tata Consultancy Services or TCS. While Passport Seva Kendra pays a market rent of about 60 lakh rupees per month, TCS pays 27 lakh rupees. On the top floor is the office of Young Indian, registered under section 25 of the Companies Act, which lists Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as majority stakeholders with 76 per cent stake in total. The rest is divided between Congress veterans Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes. The Congress claims Young Indian is a non-profit company, but questions are being asked about who benefits from Associated Journal’s properties. Like Herald House, Young Indian has also acquired other major properties across the country worth Rs. 5,000 crore, the complaint in court alleges. I doubt this case will ever come to the conclusion.

BJP avoids discussion about snapping ties with Sena

By
Afternoon Voice
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Madhav-BhandariAfter its public spat with Shiv Sena, the BJP steered clear of discussing about ties with the saffron ally at a meeting of party legislators and functionaries where it chose “only” to deliberate upon the achievements of the Fadnavis government over the last year.

Several top BJP leaders had said ahead of the meeting yesterday that the worsening relations with the Sena, which is part of the ruling coalition in Maharashtra, were likely to come up for discussion.

A senior leader had gone to the extent of saying that the meeting would discuss the probability of snapping ties with the Sena, which had on Tuesday said BJP was free to opt out of the coalition if it was bored of its brand of “nationalism” and “patriotism”, raising questions about the continuance of the party in the state government.

However, no such thing happened and BJP spokesman Madhav Bhandari said, “The meeting was only held to discuss various achievements of the state government and how do we put them in front of the people. There was no mention of the Shiv Sena anywhere in the meeting.”

“Last year we won elections on October 19 and took oath on the 31st. Hence, we have decided to hold various programmes from October 19 to 31 wherein we will interact with people and tell them what the government has done,” he said.

Relations between the two saffron allies have come under renewed strain after Shiv Sainiks blackened the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former BJP strategist and organiser of Pakistan’s former foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book launch event on Monday.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had voiced serious displeasure over the incident and said the state would not be allowed to be reduced to a “banana republic”.

Amid the growing unease in their ties, Shiv Sena had, in a snide remark yesterday, sought to remind Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his Godhra past after he termed as “unfortunate” the Dadri lynching incident and cancellation of Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert in Mumbai following Shiv Sena’s threat of disrupting it.

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