Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda described Khap Panchayats as “NGOs” and a part of Indian culture, unfazed by his Congress party’s condemnation of the village councils often accused of dispensing medieval-style justice.
“Khap Panchayat is an NGO. It’s like if you go to Gurgaon there is a welfare association,” said Mr. Hooda.
Two days ago, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said it was “appalling” to see anybody say that khap panchayats are a part of Indian culture, a direct reference to Arvind Kejriwal’s comments in their support. “(There are) many forces (like Khaps) that spread poison. How can someone tell a young girl or a boy what to wear or not? People know what they are expected to do. Who is this khap panchayat to say, do this or do that?” he said at a gathering of Delhi college students.
Mr. Kejriwal was criticised for saying that he saw no reason to ban these councils, as they serve a “cultural purpose”. His Aam Aadmi Party had to clarify that they didn’t support any decision that violates law. “All castes tend to have their social organisations, which do internal dispute resolution. We certainly acknowledge the right of all such organisations to exist,” senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav had said.
Khap panchayats, which are all-male unelected village bodies, are notorious for issuing extra-judicial diktats in parts of rural India, especially in northern states, and enjoy immense political influence. The Haryana chief minister and other politicians in the state have rarely spoken against these bodies, no matter what their parties say.
Two women of a family are in a hospital in West Bengal after being allegedly gang-raped by eight men in a village in the Howrah district, neighbouring Kolkata, on Tuesday.
The women looked like “dogs had attacked them”, according to people of their village.
The alleged assault apparently had political overtones; the women are from a family of CPM supporters and the alleged rapists, seven of whom have been arrested, are said to be linked to the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress.
An eighth person named in the FIR, Barun Makal, is reportedly an election agent of a Trinamool legislator. He is still missing.
The women were attacked in their home in village Muktirchak that is said to be dominated by CPM supporters. The older woman, who is in her 40s, is the younger woman’s husband’s aunt. Their husbands had reportedly fled about a month ago after a fight with Trinamool supporters, so no one was around to help on Tuesday night when the attackers allegedly barged in after cutting off power to the village and allegedly took turns raping the women.
Villagers have said the attackers “punished” the women as their husbands are Left supporters.
“This is completely political and barbaric, the message the Trinamool Congress is sending is those who have not voted for them will be targeted like this,” said Politburo member Brinda Karat.
Trinamool MP Mukul Roy was furious when asked if those arrested for the double gang rape were supporters of his party. “The rapists have no caste or colour. I know you are from a specific news channel (24 Ghanta) because you are holding a logo. Were the arrested men carrying Trinamool ID cards? What you are doing is paid journalism,” he shouted.
The Congress is in the dock in Jammu and Kashmir, after one of its leaders was accused by a woman doctor of molesting her in his office.
Health Minister Shabir Khan has been accused by the woman doctor of calling her to his office on the pretext of some official work and then molesting her.
The BJP is carrying out protests in the state demanding action against him.
The Congress has asked him to step down. Former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, while condemning the incident, said the claims needed to be verified first.
“I read the news. I am not aware of this. I will go to Jammu and find out. We are all against any such act. In all circumstances, it needs to be proved true. If true, then action must be taken as per law,” Abdullah said.
The opposition PDP has demanded a probe into the claims while the CPM has demanded Khan’s resignation.
“Where is the safety of the women in this state? This is a last nail in the government’s coffin,” PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said.
The police have registered an FIR against Khan.
The Kerala government’s decision to bring a bill to curb expensive and lavish wedding ceremonies in the state is laudable. The parents of the girl who cannot afford to spend lumpsum money are made to feel inferior. Obnoxious display of wealth is anti-social. On an average, even a middle class family has to shell out ten lakh rupees for arranging a wedding ceremony. It is a huge sum for a middle level officer, if he works honestly. The situation worsens further if a family has two girls and the father is nearing retirement age. Dowry and expensive wedding celebrations are responsible for increasing corruption besides being a social evil.
It is also reported that an MP who is associated with cricket board, had acquired expensive land in Mumbai and is unwilling to part with it. The malady with most of us is that we want to make hundred crores very soon and then try to double it in the next couple of months. Kanimozhi and Raja are good examples besides Narain Sain. We blindly follow superstition pertaining to a dead “Maharaj” being considered alive and various theories are being discussed on television.
Someone also said that caste based reservation is ultra-virus to the concept of equality in the constitution. The anchor quickly interrupted and said that now we are facing a dangerous situation.
People who have benefited the most on account of reservations are the one who belong to creamy layer. On the other hand, people belonging to poor financial background have not derived any benefit from reservations. One of my colleagues a retired DDG shipping under the influence of few pegs while walking with me said, “We do not want honest persons in the government”. His confidence and conviction was worth watching. People say lot of middle men exists in Delhi. They are unaware that these people have always existed and will continue to exist.
Have you noticed a picture of Rajiv Shukla and Anuradha Prasad depicting a good level of comfort in daily life but will pull out the daggers while discussing politics on TV. BJP and Congress are equal partners in spreading and patronizing corruption. Excessive concentration of wealth in one hand has also resulted into corruption. Why do you think that a boy or a girl hailing from north east unable to find a role in Bollywood films? We should have a balanced view and not get too much sympathetic to people from north east. We must also ascertain whether they are not attempting to draw unfair advantage because some of them may not be very innocent. Teachers, hostel wardens and principals should remain watchful to check whether these students are really pursuing studies and not engaged in any bad habit. Society should remain vigilant and vibrant in addition to being tolerant and supportive.
The claims by Swami Aseemanand, an accused in the Samjhauta Express, Hyderabad Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Dargah blasts, that the RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat had “sanctioned” these terror acts have sparked off a controversy as BJP and its ally party Shiv Sena has questioned the veracity of the interview. On the other hand, Congress reacted strongly on this issue and if said the allegations might be true.
The Caravan magazine carried a story which mentioned that Aseemanand had revealed that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was involved in terror attack of 2007. Bhagwat had specifically told Aseemanand that the attacks should not be linked to the RSS.
The BJP and its ally Shiv Sena, however, dismissed the media report about Aseemanand’s allegation against RSS as “baseless” and blamed it on the “dirty tricks” department for diverting attention from the real issues before elections.
Atul Bhatalkar, BJP MLA said, “Stories published in the magazine was plotted by the Congress and they won’t derive any benefit out of it. It’s the ploy of the Congress government keeping in mind the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.”
Prakash Javadekar, BJP spokesperson said, “The allegations made against RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is baseless. It’s an attempt made by the Congress to malign the image of RSS.”
Talking to AV, Ram Madhav, RSS spokesperson said, “How can a magazine print such stories without verifying facts. Aseemanand has already clarified that he didn’t issue such a statement.”
When asked whether Congress had planted a story Bhagwat replied without naming Congress that a political party is definitely involved for maligning the image of RSS by performing such ‘Dirty tricks’ because election is just round the corner.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, “Statements printed in the interview are twisted and presented to defame Hindutva organizations. We are questioning the authencity of this interview.”
BJP MLA Gopal Shetty said, “The entire interview was fake. Question are being raised about the veracity of interview. Media is blowing this issue out of the proportion. Once we will come to power then will prohibit electronic media for repeatedly telecasting this issue without verifying the facts.”
Swami Aseemanand has been undergoing jail term since 2010. He had recorded a confession before a magistrate after his arrest, but later retracted it.
As per the magazine, the article was based on a series of interactions held with the blasts accused. The magazine also released audio tapes and transcripts of the interview to prove its claim.
Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, there is shocking news repeatedly telecast by electronic media that Aseemanand, a key accused in several terror attacks between 2006 and 2008, has alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS sanctioned these strikes. The Caravan magazine which has published his interview claims that Aseemanand has said this all to him. Now, the question is, after seven years of arrest, what made Aseemanand to give such interview and other thing is how a journalist was allowed to interview him in jail? Suppose the journalist managed to interview, but is there any recording or proof to his claims? If yes then why those interviews were not aired on television, radio or websites? Right now, Congress supporting media houses are disproved and rejected by Social media and lost its credibility. Tehelka is almost vanished and Cobra Post is just labelled as Congress’s mouthpiece, no one takes them serious today and now another magazine emerges. Anyways this is not the first attempt to connect extreme Hindu organisations with RSS and termed them as “Saffron terror”.
What is the status of police investigations, in three major blasts happened in 2007? After seven years of investigations, some conclusions are surely expected. Days after a magazine quoted him saying that his terrorism acts were sanctioned by the RSS chief, Aseemanand has denied of having given any such interview to the magazine. Delhi-based Caravan Magazine carried a press release in which Aseemanand was quoted as saying that his terrorist acts were ‘sanctioned by the highest levels of the RSS-all the way up to Mohan Bhagwat, the current RSS chief, who was the organisation’s general secretary at the time’.
Aseemanand is incarcerated in Ambala Central Jail for abetting terrorist attacks on various targets between 2006 and 2008 Samjhauta Express (February 2007), Hyderabad Mecca Masjid (May 2007), Ajmer Dargah (October 2007) and two attacks in Malegaon (September 2006 and September 2008) which together took the lives of 119 people. Aseemanand’s lawyer has come up with a press release, terming the interview ‘a bundle of lies’. The press release says that the content of the article are false and baseless and Aseemanand has denied of having given any such interview. Aseemanand, in the press release, has challenged the magazine to prove the truth of the allegations or apologise. The interview, published with a caption ‘The Believer’ in the magazine’s February edition, is a compilation of four interviews taken during various occasions in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 at Ambala Jail.
Whenever something goes wrong in any part of the country, the first target will be the minorities and attack will be at Hindus. Whenever Hindu’s are targeted then, no matter whosoever are the terrorists, they are labelled as Pakistani and Indian minorities are protected. Somewhere something is unfair. Protecting the rights of minority may be on priority for each and every government but accusing Hindus is also not fair. Terrorist is terrorist, they have no religion then why fingers are raised against Hindus? Investigation agencies always suspect, and suspect comes out clean? Are their sources authentic or they knowingly do this thing? Can’t they have neutral approach to investigations with not just one dimension but from different dimensions? In this way, many innocent lives will be saved and investigations will bring culprits to their dues.
Terrorists have no religion; irrespective of the religion, culprits must be punished as per the law of the country. But, many of the people arrested in Mecca Masjid blasts are implicated in other blasts like Gokul chat, Lumbini park etc. It is a fact that majority of the terrorists acts are committed by misguided youth. Till to-date, Hindu terrorists are in fraction when compared with Muslim terrorists. Police have rights to investigate but without torture. They must be treated as per the law, but they must not be let free with hefty compensation. Justice should be speedy; punishment given by the courts should be implemented fast. Terrorists like Afzal, Rajiv killers etc are still not punished as per the court’s verdict due to vote bank politics. This shows how our police work.
After Malegaon blast, there was appeal to ban Abhinav Bharat, the home ministry wrote to the state government opposing proscribing of Abhinava Bharat — accused of launching bomb attacks at Mecca Masjid, Malegaon, Samjhauta Express and Ajmer Shariff — under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). According to sources in the MHA, there wasn’t substantial material at hand to establish Abhinav Bharat’s “terror activities” over the last two to three years. Also, there was no clear information available on the organizational structure of the Hindutva outfit, including its leadership and cadre still at large, or its infrastructure such as offices and hideouts. The security agencies also had no track of its continued terror funding.
Swami Aseemanand, Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan, Sunil Joshi (now dead) and Rajendra Choudhary are some of the Abhinav Bharat leaders already arrested for their role in various blasts, including the 2007 Samjhauta train blasts and Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Shariff explosions. But, nothing has been proven against them, till today. The National Investigation Agency has filed charge-sheets against Aseemanand but not named any prominent RSS leader. Sources in the agency say they are not sure how the Caravan magazine’s revelation can change anything. Ahead of the national election, due in May, these allegations are likely to take a political turn.
It is noteworthy that Shrikant Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya etc. have been behind bars for years and are in no position to interfere with the evidence gathering, the Police have not been able to charge them in the court of law. Then ATS Chief Hemant Karkare was under tremendous pressure from the NCP bosses including the Home Minister R R Patil to fabricate evidence against them. Now, Congress is already in deep trouble for trying to frame Col. Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya, Aseemanand and other Hindu members despite clear intelligence input even from US that all these blasts have been carried out by LeT. Congress badly failed to frame and charge sheet these people in any of the cases but still keeping them behind bars for over a decade to defame Hindu outfits and attack BJP for petty political gain. That is why; Congress does not want to invite further trouble by banning Abhinav Bharat and polarize votes. Now, they again played dirty by ‘imaginary’ interview of Aseemanand. Everyone knows, the RSS is the ideological mentor of the BJP, and is the fountainhead of a grouping that calls itself the “Sangh Parivar.” If they manage to damage the image of RSS, Congress may retain power after general elections in centre. But, I think this time it won’t happen.
Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe has approached the Bombay High Court seeking invocation of Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, Environment (Protection) Act and Benami Transaction Act against the persons accused by CBI in the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
Interestingly, her petition mentions Abhay Sancheti, an alleged “close associate” of BJP leader Nitin Gadkari, named by the two-member judicial commission which probed the scam.
“The commission in its final report has clearly mentioned that the society had not sought clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to construct in a Coastal Regulation Zone II area. This amounts to violation under the Environment (Protection) Act,” the petition states.
It further adds that the commission had pointed out that 22 out of the 100 flats are ‘benami’. “The commission in its report said that out of the 22 benami flats, eight are in the name of Abhay Sancheti who is said to be a close associate of former BJP president Nitin Gadkari. Investigation must be conducted under Benami Transaction Act against the accused persons,” the petition said.
However, when the petition came up for hearing before the division bench of Justices N H Patil and V L Achiliya, the judges recused themselves without giving any reasons.
The petition will now be placed before another bench.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key suspect in the murder of RSS Pracharak Sunil Joshi, will be taken to Indore soon for PET scan as part of her treatment for cancer.
Pragya, who was diagnosed with cancer last year and had been undergoing treatment at the Pandit Khushilal Ayurveda Hospital, was briefly shifted to Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital (JNCH) on Tuesday after her condition deteriorated.
“She was brought back to the Pandit Khushilal Ayurveda Hospital last evening”, her relative Bhagwan Jha said.
He said timing of the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan–which is done to find out the stage of cancer and its spread–will be finalised after securing permission from police since Pragya is in their custody.
Pragya was arrested by the Maharashtra police in connection with the Malegaon blasts of 2008. Later, the Madhya Pradesh police had arrested her in February 2011 for her alleged role in Sunil Joshi’s murder.
Joshi was named as an accused in the Malegaon and Samjhauta Express blasts cases, and was found murdered at Dewas in MP on December 29, 2007.
A special MCOCA court today remanded Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his aide Asadullah Akhtar in ATS custody till February 18 in connection with the 2011 Mumbai terror attack case.
The duo was arrested on Wednesday by the Mumbai Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) after a Delhi court allowed its plea seeking their custody, saying their custodial interrogation was required to complete the probe.
Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told judge Y D Shinde that Bhatkal was the key conspirator of the three powerful blasts which ripped through crowded areas in Mumbai on July 13, 2011, killing at least 21 people and injuring 141.
Bhatkal played a very important role in procuring explosives and making Improvised Explosive Device (IED), he said. Nikam also told the court that they want to find out how the money was routed through hawala to execute the blasts.
“The court has allowed us to hand cuff the accused while being transported,” he said. However, defence lawyers told the court that since the ATS was conducting supplementary investigation, the accused should be remanded in judicial custody.
They also told the court that Bhatkal and Akhtar don’t want to make any confessions to ATS about the crime. Meanwhile, before the hearing, the court appointed lawyer V D More from legal aid panel to represent Bhatkal, who wore a smile on his face during the court proceedings while Akhtar had a grim look.
Akhtar’s lawyer Sherif Sheikh and More also moved an application in the court that the accused were detained illegally for a day. Earlier, five accused – Naquee Ahmed, Nadeem Shaikh, Kanwar Pathrija, Haroon Naik and Mohammed Qafeel Ansari were held in the case and are facing trial under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), Indian Penal Code and other laws.
Those wanted in the case are Riyaz Bhatkal, who is also a top operative of the alleged home grown terror outfit, Waqas Ibrahim Sad, Dubai-based Muzaffar Kolah and Tehseen Akhtar Shaikh, the police said. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested Yasin Bhatkal (30), who is wanted in over 40 terror cases and carries a reward of Rs. 35 lakh, as well as Akhtar, from the Indo-Nepal border on the night of August 28 last year.
Bhatkal, who hails from Bhatkal village of Udupi district in North Karnataka, is wanted in a string of terror attacks in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Hyderabad, the agency had said. Bhatkal, who was earlier associated with banned outfit SIMI, is suspected to have allegedly conspired along with others to “wage war against India.”
The Bombay High Court directed the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) to hear the Rs. 3,700-crore transfer pricing tax demand dispute involving Vodafone India Services on a daily basis from February 21.
The division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha advanced the hearing date from March 21 to February 21, and directed the tribunal to hear and decide the matter expeditiously.
The court also asked both Vodafone and the Income Tax department not to seek any adjournments during the hearings.
The order was passed on a petition filed by the IT department challenging an interim order of the tribunal staying the Rs. 3,700 crore tax demand against Vodafone India.
The tribunal, in December last year, also directed the telecom giant to deposit Rs. 200 crore and provide corporate guarantees for the balance tax amount of Rs. 3,500 crore.
The IT department in its petition urged that the amount of Rs. 200 crore to be deposited by Vodafone was too low.
The department slapped a demand of Rs. 3,700 crore on Vodafone for FY08, which was a fall out of an earlier transfer-pricing order seeking to add Rs. 8,500 crore to the taxable income of the company from the deal that involved it selling its BPO unit to an offshore entity. The company challenged the demand before the Appellate Tribunal.
The IT department had in January slapped another Rs. 3,000 crore demand on the company in another transfer pricing case, which was stayed by the court on January 30.
Transfer pricing refers to the actual price at which a transaction takes place between two related parties, usually belonging to the same group.
The claims by Swami Aseemanand, an accused in the Samjhauta Express, Hyderabad Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Dargah blasts, that the RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat had “sanctioned” these terror acts have sparked off a controversy as BJP and its ally party Shiv Sena has questioned the veracity of the interview. On the other hand, Congress reacted strongly on this issue and if said the allegations might be true. 
Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe has approached the Bombay High Court seeking invocation of Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act, Environment (Protection) Act and Benami Transaction Act against the persons accused by CBI in the Adarsh Housing Society scam. 
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key suspect in the murder of RSS Pracharak Sunil Joshi, will be taken to Indore soon for PET scan as part of her treatment for cancer. 
A special MCOCA court today remanded Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his aide Asadullah Akhtar in ATS custody till February 18 in connection with the 2011 Mumbai terror attack case.