Bollywood star Aamir Khan has registered a complaint with the Mumbai police in the wake of a defamatory campaign against him on social networking website Facebook. The “malicious messages are wrong and baseless”, he has said.
Aamir met Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria and Joint commissioner (law and order) Sadanand Date on March 8. The officials have assured swift investigation and action. The Cyber Cell of the Crime Bureau will investigate the case, said an official statement.
Aamir made his TV debut with Satyamev Jayate in May 2012 and the show, dealing with sensitive social issues like female foeticide, domestic violence and child abuse, received a warm welcome from the TV viewers after it went on air. Some of the episodes dealing with female feticide and malpractices in medical field recorded the highest ratings.
He launched the second season on March 2 with a sensitive issue of rape, and the second episode, beamed Sunday, talked about police force.
It has been alleged in the messages on social networking site facebook.com/AwakIND that when at the end of the show, Aamir asks for donations for Humanity Trust, the money is used for masjid construction assistance and placement assistance for Muslim youth.
Aamir took to his Facebook page and clarified that he is associated with Humanity Trust, Hanspukur, West Bengal, not the other Humanity Trust.
“False and malicious messages are circulating through various electronic media, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks, alleging that donations are being sought in my television program Satyamev Jayate Season 2, in relation to an entity by the name of Humanity Trust, which is claimed to be working in the field of Masjid Construction Assistance and placement assistance for Islamic youngsters. This is entirely false,” Aamir said in his March 7 post on Aamir Khan.
“I would like to clarify that Satyamev Jayate, in Season 1 was associated with Humanity Trust, Hanspukur, West Bengal, a charitable hospital run by Ajoy Mistry and his mother Subhashini Mistry. Humanity Trust, Hanspukur, West Bengal, is doing excellent work in the field of health care and provides free medical facilities to the poor.
“Please note that Humanity Trust, Hanspukur, has nothing to do with Humanity Trust referred to in the malicious messages. I would like to clarify that all donations sought in SMJ are used and channelized for entirely deserving and secular causes, contrary to the content of the highly mischievous/malicious insinuations in the messages, being circulated by vested and unscrupulous interest.”
“These malicious messages are entirely false, wrong and baseless. I categorically deny that SMJ has anything to do with Humanity Trust as stated in the malicious messages or that we have called for donations in the name of the said entity. I urge the members of the public to disregard the said malicious message,” he wrote.
Refusal to have sex with a life partner during honeymoon does not amount to cruelty, the Bombay High Court has ruled while setting aside a family court judgement dissolving the marriage of a couple on this ground.
The court also ruled that a wife donning shirts and pants to office occasionally and going out of town for office work soon after marriage also would not amount to cruelty towards her husband.
“The married life should be assessed as a whole and a few isolated instances over certain period will not amount to cruelty”, observed justices V K Tahilramani and P N Deshmukh in an order early this week.
The ill-conduct must be preceded for a fairly lengthy period where the relationship has deteriorated to an extent that because of the acts and behaviour of a spouse, one party finds it extremely difficult to live any longer with the other party (which) may amount to mental cruelty”, the bench said.
Mere trivial irritations, quarrels, normal wear and tear of married life which happens in day to day life in all families would not be adequate for grant of divorce on the ground of cruelty, the judges further said.
“Only sustained unjustified and reprehensible conduct affecting physical and mental health of the other spouse may lead to mental cruelty. There is no evidence to that effect in the present case”, the bench noted.
The court was hearing an appeal filed by a 29-year-old wife who was aggrieved by a family court order of December 2012, passing a divorce decree on a plea made by her husband on the grounds of cruelty.
“We have already verified all the allegations made in the petition, written statement as well as the evidence of both the parties. On going through the same, we are satisfied that on the basis of such instances, the marriage cannot be dissolved. In this view of the matter, the appeal is allowed,” the judges observed.
Authorities will maintain a strict vigil on candidates campaigning and canvassing for votes in four Parliamentary constituencies in Mumbai Suburban district, with an electorate of over 73 lakh, to check any irregularities.
District Collector Shekhar Channe told three video surveillance teams will cover each assembly segment in all the four constituencies.
“The teams will be assisted by flying squads and also by static surveillance teams. They will track any illegal activities like distribution of cash or liquor and will have the powers of seizure. The flying squads will include a special executive magistrate and three police officials,” Channe said.
The parliamentary constituencies are Mumbai North, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North West and Mumbai North Central.
These constituencies, along with Mumbai South and Mumbai South Central, will go to polls on April 24.
“Preparations for conducting the polls are complete and a special drive tomorrow will enable voters to rectify changes in the voter rolls as well as make additions,” the Collector said.
He said booth-level officers from Election Commission will distribute voting slips in addition to the political party workers. There will be 7000 polling staff in the district.
“Out of the 73,11,500 voters, 40,54,347 are men and 32,66,077 are women. While 73 are transgenders. As per the 2009 voter list, there were 72,08,278 voters in the suburbs. Since 2013, there have been 7,38,854 deletions and eight lakh additions in the voter list,” Channe said.
He said new enrolment in suburbs has increased by around 8 lakh in the recent times, which is expected to go up as the registration for new voters will continue till March 25.
The Collectorate has also started new helpline number 1800221952 for complaints regarding violation of model code of conduct which is in force for general elections.
“Apart from this, toll free number 1950 is also functional to guide new voters on how to register with the Election Commission,” he added.
Actress Juhi Chawla’s brother Bobby, who had been in coma since quite some time, passed away on Sunday.
Bobby Chawla had been in coma since April 2010. He breathed his last at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai, sources said.
“This is the perfect screenplay… Look at how my brother timed it… He gave me the biggest gift of my lifetime… Saw its release… And went away…,” Juhi posted on Twitter.
Juhi starrer Gulaab Gang hit theatres two days ago.
He went into coma after suffering a massive stroke in April 2010.
Bobby was the former CEO of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment.
Relatives of five Indian passengers, travelling by the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, are anxiously waiting for any information about the fate of the aircraft and their loved ones.
Samved Kolekar, whose father, mother and brother were travelling by the Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing is waiting patiently along with his wife at a hotel here along with relatives of 154 Chinese passengers.
It is a testing time for the young researcher in Astrophysics as he is waiting to know about his parents and brother who were coming here to visit him.
“They are coming to visit me here,” said Samved, who hails from Mumbai. Considering the tough time he is going through, he was reluctant to interact with the media and provide more details. His father, Vinod Kolekar (59), mother Chetana (55) and their younger brother Swanand (23) were in the plane along with two other Indians Chandrika Sharma (51) and Kranti Pralhad Shirshath, whose husband is based in Pyongyang in North Korea.
Both Samved and Pralhad are put up in a hotel here by the Malaysian airline as search continued to locate the plane carrying 239 passengers and crew amid reports that it may have been crashed off Vietnamese coast on Saturday.
Indian Ambassador to China Ashok K Kantha spoke to both Samved and Pralhad over phone and offered all assistance, while Counsellor Shrila Dutta Kumar met them. M H Pastakia, Head of the Indian Community in Beijing, also called on Samved and offered all support and assistance.
As the search operation made little progress, the Malaysia Airlines meanwhile offered to fly both the families to Kuala Lumpur along with the relatives of 154 Chinese passengers in order to provide them better assistance at the headquarters. They have not yet decided and preferred to wait for the news about the fate of the plane. Family members of Chennai-based Chandrika Sharma, an Executive Secretary in the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) who was also travelling in the same plane on way to Mongolia on official work, were expected to reach here or Kuala Lumpur after an official announcement about the fate of the plane.
Thane police would conduct sessions in schools and colleges to educate the students and their parents about the benefits and hazards of the social media.
Along with the children, their parents need to be educated and warned of the ill-effects of the misuse or excessive use of social networking sites, Thane Joint Commissioner of Police V V Laxminarayana said here yesterday while addressing the police commissionerate staff on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
“I was in the CBI as the Joint Director in Hyderabad for eight years during which I interacted with more than 4 lakh students. My experience there was the youngsters made use of the social networking sites excessively,” he said.
Excessive use of anything and being addict to it is hazardous and brings in ill-effects, the official said.
Citing an example, he said one student there had a record 1,000 friends on the Facebook.
One should use such social network the way one drinks water in small quantities. “If you go deep into the water, you get drowned, in the same manner if you use the social network excessively and become addict to it you are sure to be doomed,” he warned.
For training the parents and students, the police will take assistance from social organisations and NGOs, Laxminarayana said, adding that he has also asked police officers to give proper advice and solve the problems of people who come to them with their grievances.
On the occasion, he felicitated female employees of the police force who excelled in sports and those from the counselling organisations.
A chawl owner from Samrat Ashok Nagar of Kalwa has been arrested by the Kalwa police for allegedly killing a 15-year-old boy and dumping his body in a heap of sand, the police said.
Senior police inspector R D Malekar of the Kalwa police station told PTI that the police spotted the body of the teenager, Bharat Suresh Rathod.
As luck would have it, there was a CCTV camera installed at the location and the police spotted chawl owner Suresh Anandrav Mankawde (47) near the body between 1.20 and 2.30 am in the CCTV footage.
The police has charged him under Section 302 and Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code. Further investigations are in progress, the police said.
The motive behind the killing is yet to be known, the police said.
The Nashik Lok Sabha constituency will witness a multi-cornered contest in the upcoming polls where NCP stalwart and Maharashtra PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal is pitted against AAP’s Vijay Pandhare and Shiv Sena, BSP, MNS and CPM nominees.
Aam Aadmi party nominee Pandhare, a retired chief engineer of Nashik’s Maharashtra Engineering training Academy (META), was the whistleblower of alleged irregularities in various irrigation projects.
Pandhare, who is contesting Lok Sabha elections from Nashik for the first time, is hopeful of a win on the back of issues like corruption, development, his party’s impact in Delhi elections and several corruption charges levelled against Chhagan Bhujbal by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and others.
Shiv Sena’s candidate Hemant Godse had contested the last Lok Sabha elections on MNS ticket against NCP’s sitting MP Sameer Bhujbal, the nephew of Chhagan Bhujbal.
Godse is the son of Sena’s former MP Rajabhau Godse and a sitting municipal corporator and zilla parishad member too.
Also in the fray is sitting CPM corporator Tanaji Jaibhave.
Congress party’s rebel corporator from Nashik Dinkar Patil recently announced his candidature on Bahujan Samaj Party’s ticket.
Congress had on Friday issued a show cause notice to him for anti-party activities. As per the notice issued by Nashik city Congress observer Bhai Jagtap, Patil is supposed to explain why he held a press conference and declared that he would be contesting the Lok Sabha election on the BSP ticket.
Meanwhile, MNS declared Pradeep Pawar as its nominee from the Nashik seat.
The Nashik parliamentary constituency has a total electorate of 15,45,564, including 07,20,601 women voters, spread in six Assembly segments of Sinnar, Nashik-east, Nashik-central, Nashik-west, Devlali and Igatpuri.
Today, #RSSKilledGandhi was trending on Twitter. Why? Arre Baba! Congress supporting group was irked by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS because they filed a complaint with the Karnataka Election Commission against Rahul Gandhi for his comments blaming it for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. The complaint was filed by RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav. Rahul Gandhi has criticised the BJP at Bhiwandi rally, when he referred to the Opposition party’s ideological mentor, the RSS. Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead on January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu activist. Sardar Patel, India’s first home minister, had then banned the RSS but revoked it within eight months, stating that the organisation had nothing to do with the killing. Rahul Gandhi had last month said Modi believed in an organisation like the RSS, whose “poisonous mentality” killed Gandhi.
The question is that, what is wrong if somebody is a RSS member? What is wrong in Modi following RSS ideology? RSS is not a terror outfit; they are patriots and volunteers to protect the nation. Most of the time, RSS is engaged in doing social work. Their members are the best contributors who volunteer to help during calamities within the nation. Let it be manmade disaster or natural calamity, they have always rendered their helping hand in serving people. BJP is their political wing and is one of the largest national parties in India. I bet, no one can give a single case where any allegation has been proven against RSS or any terror link established with this organisation. I know, you will cite only one example and that is Nathuram Godse. Nathuram Ghodse is often a misunderstood personality. He is referred to as a Hindu fanatic. It is often hard to understand Godse because the Government of India had suppressed information about him. His court statements, letters etc. were all banned from the public until recently. If you judge him from his writings, one thing becomes very clear that he was not a fanatic. His court statements are very well read out and indicate a calm and collected mental disposition. Godse had been working with the Hindu refugees fleeing from Pakistan. He had seen the horrible atrocities committed on them. Many women had their hands cut off; nose cut off, even little girls had been raped mercilessly. Despite this, Godse did not harm even a single Muslim in India which he could easily have. So, it would be a grave mistake to call him a Hindu fanatic. He very well knew that he would be hanged and his name would be disgraced as Gandhi was considered a saint. And again Godse could have ran away and escaped punishment. But he did the reverse. He called a police officer and courted arrest. Before we proceed, it would be wise to understand the backdrop of the assassination. Unfortunately, there are many allegations against RSS, without any evidences or proof, perhaps that is the reason, frustrated secular parties and their supporters just expand their vocal chords and misguide people about Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. If Government really has any concrete evidence of RSS indulging in terror activities or antinational activities, they should make those evidences public and have guts to ban RSS or prove who killed Mahatma Gandhi and why? If you want then organise a debate on this topic. Unnecessarily, commenting on the issue and creating chaos should not be done.
If you delve into history, you will know that the then RSS chief, M.S. Golwalkar, was arrested after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. On February 4, 1948, the government banned the RSS alleging that, contrary to its professed ideals, the RSS members had carried on violent activities, collected illicit weapons and exhorted people to violence. Rejecting the allegations but respecting the law, Golwalkar suspended the work of the RSS. Six months later, he was released but interned in Nagpur. On August 11, he wrote to Pandit Nehru that despite the “hasty and unbalanced action” against the RSS by those in highest authority, he offered to cooperate with them as the times were critical. Nehru, cleverly or properly, sent Golwalkar’s letter to Patel for response because just before Gandhiji’s assassination; speaking in Lucknow, Patel had warned “those in power in the Congress” against efforts “to crush” the patriotic RSS. Patel replied to Golwalkar recalling his positive views on the RSS and lauding the young RSS workers who served the Hindu society and protected women and children. But he also charged them with targeting “Mussalmans” in “burning revenge” to avenge “for the sufferings of the innocent” Hindus, and accused them of spreading “communal poison” that cost Gandhiji’s life. Still, Patel advised the RSS to “carry on” its “patriotic endeavour by joining and not opposing the Congress.”
Surprisingly, this letter did not reach Golwalkar. On September 24, Golwalkar again wrote to Patel — also Nehru — demanding that the allegations and the ban be withdrawn because countrywide searches and investigation had yielded no proof against the RSS. He also wrote to Patel trashing the allegations. On Patel’s suggestion that the RSS join the Congress, Golwalkar replied that the Congress in the political field and the RSS in the cultural domain could compliment and converge. And despite Golwalkar’s open challenge, no evidence was forthcoming. Nehru’s letter to Golwalkar (November 10) again asserted that the government had a “mass of information against the RSS.” Accusing Nehru of a closed mind, Golwalkar responded that to talk of “mass of evidence” without disclosing it amounted to convicting a person without evidence — like in the “Dark Ages.” His strong words obviously put off the government. On November 13, the Home Secretary refused to lift the ban and asked Golwalkar to go back to Nagpur. Golwalkar exploded and replied that such “arbitrary acts fit with autocratic rule” in “barbaric ages,” not “a civilised state.” Either prove or drop the charges, he challenged Patel. Refusing to leave Delhi, he asked the RSS workers to restart the suspended Shakas. In one month, some 80,000 RSS workers were arrested. However, Congress government has not proven against RSS. Later the ban was lifted unconditionally. Here is the proof. In a written statement to the Bombay Legislative Assembly on September 14, 1949 (Proceedings p2126), the Home Minister Morarji Desai admitted that the ban on RSS was no longer considered necessary; it was lifted unconditionally; and the RSS gave no undertaking. If no undertaking was indeed given in 1949, where is the question of reneging on it in 2014?
This edit is with reference to the sedition charges slapped on sixty seven Kashmiri students from Meerut. Since the allegations against them are pretty serious, one has to scrutinise what this law actually states and whether these students be held guilty for breaching this law. Article 124A.1 of the constitution describes this law stating (“ Sedition.– Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, 2[ the Government established by law in 3[ India], a 4[ shall be punished with 5[ imprisonment for life], to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine. “).
Now one might say that their act hurt the sentiments of many and they triggered the hatred or excited the disaffection of people. However, what was the cause or action which can be comprehended as anti-national? Did they insult the Indian Flag? Did they betray their country?
Did they do anything to trigger the wrath of the people to such an extent that sedation charges be slapped on them? They merely cheered the Pakistani team during the Asia cup. One needs to look at the issue from a bird’s eye view for unbiased introspection.
Since decades, India and Pakistan have been proving their mettle in the field of cricket. Everytime there is an India-Pakistan match, it looks like as if a war has broken out. The crowds cheer with passion; if their side scores, they get a rapturous applaud. Similarly, when their side gets dismissed, the spectators often resort to violence.
Besides, Kashmiris have to encounter huge discrimination. Law and order is deteriorating in the state. People live in constant fear and insecurity. There is lack of development in that region. So living in such harsh conditions one is bound to feel a sense of betrayal and alienation. Also due to cultural roots, Kashmiri Muslims can feel a sense of favour towards Pakistan. Is it right for Indians born and brought up in other countries to stop supporting their motherland in sports or during times of war?
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah intervened and expressed his discontent on this issue. He stated that such an action could jeopardise their career and “further alienate them.” Akhilesh Yadav lent him a ear and the sedition charges against them were dropped.
People talk about the mistreatment of Hindus in Pakistan. Hafiz Saeed has invited the boys to complete their studies from Pakistan. Such moves further triggers India’s wrath. However, lets not shift from the focus. What was the problem? Young guys cheering for Pakistan? Why so much hue and cry over such a trivial issue? Let us not make mountain out of molehill.
Bollywood star Aamir Khan has registered a complaint with the Mumbai police in the wake of a defamatory campaign against him on social networking website Facebook. The “malicious messages are wrong and baseless”, he has said.