Rajiv Gandhi’s assassin attempts to end life; her lawyer suspects foul play

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July 21, 2020

It’s been 30 long years since former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) suicide bomber and other assassins, are now languishing in jail with life imprisonment. Nalini Sriharan one of the seven convict lodged in the Central Prison for Women in Vellore in Tamil Nadu allegedly tried to end her life and threatened prison authorities of committing suicide. Meanwhile, her husband Murugan (a) Sriharan is lodged in the Prison for male convicts in the same capacity. Nalini and her husband are allowed to make two calls to each other every month. However, there is case pending in the Madras High court on whether Nalini and her husband can make video calls to their family members who are residing abroad, in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. Seven people including Nalini and her husband were convicted by the special TADA court for their role in the assassination.

The convicts were initially sentenced to death, but later it was commuted to a life imprisonment. Besides Nalini and her husband Murugan Sriharan, the other convicts are Perarivalan, Santhan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran and Robert Payas.

Nalini’s advocate Pugalendhi told media that the preliminary information was not convincing enough to believe that Nalini tried to commit suicide inside jail. “Nalini is a fighter and has endured so much in her 29-year incarceration, I doubt if the reasons stated by officials would lead her to take such an extreme step. She has never done anything of this kind during her nearly 3-decade jail term. Perhaps, there is more to it than meets the eye,” Pugalendhi said.

Pugalendhi said that he received a call at the intervening night of July 20-21 and was informed that Nalini had attempted suicide. According to Pugalendhi, the jail officials told him that Nalini and another life-convict had a misunderstanding, which later aggravated. Pugalendhi added that the life-convict complained to the jailer about her quarrel with Nalini.

Apparently, the jailer had conducted an enquiry with Nalini at around 8:30pm, after which a disturbed Nalini attempted suicide. While some versions stated that Nalini threatened to take the extreme step, others say that she had attempted suicide by using a cloth. Pugalendhi stated that tussles between prisoners and wardens taking sides were common occurrences in jails. But he points out certain anomalies – “It is likely that the prisoner might have complained to the jailer before 6pm, when the prisoners are required to return to their cells. If the complaint was made at 6pm, why was it necessary for the jailer to visit Nalini and question her at 8:30pm for what seems to be a normal issue? After 7pm the jailer doesn’t visit the prisoners who are in their cells, there are only routine visits that happen daily in the morning. What was the need to go in at night and question her?”

Suspecting that there is more to it than what is being said about this attempted suicide, Pugalendhi talks about the torture and mental agony that Nalini has faced over the last 29 years of her life, which she has spent in jail. He asserts that Nalini has always been a fighter who has stood up for her rights and believed in fighting legal battles. “From how much I know her, she is not the kind of person that would think of taking an extreme step for the above reasons. She has not attempted anything of this sort in the last 29 years. She is a strong character” he says.

Pugalendhi also talks about another important aspect that might hold a clue to what went on inside the prison. “In the weekly call that convicts can have with their lawyers, Nalini’s husband, Murugan (a) Sriharan had recently said that legal action be initiated to shift Nalini to the Puzhal prison”.

Rajiv Gandhi’s assassin threatens to commit suicide

By

Vaidehi Taman

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July 21, 2020

Rajiv Gandhi the 6th Prime Minister of India took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to become the youngest Indian Prime Minister at the age of 40. He had been associated with the Indian National Congress party. For much of his childhood, his maternal grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister. In 1970s, his mother Indira Gandhi was prime minister and his brother Sanjay Gandhi an MP; despite this, Rajiv Gandhi remained apolitical. After Sanjay’s death in a plane crash in 1980, Gandhi unwillingly entered politics at the behest of Indira. The following year he won his brother’s Parliamentary seat of Amethi and became a member of the Lok Sabha—the lower house of India’s Parliament. As part of his political grooming, Rajiv was made general secretary of the Congress party and given significant responsibility in organizing the 1982 Asian Games.

On the morning of 31 October 1984, his mother was assassinated by one of her bodyguards; later that day, Gandhi was appointed Prime Minister. His leadership was tested over the next few days as organized mobs rioted against the Sikh community, resulting in anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. That December, Congress party won the largest Lok Sabha majority to date, 411 seats out of 542. Rajiv Gandhi’s period in office was mired in controversies; perhaps the greatest crises were the Bhopal disaster, Bofors scandal and Mohd Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum. In 1988, he reversed the coup in Maldives, riling militant Tamil groups such as PLOTE, intervening and then sending peacekeeping troops to Sri Lanka in 1987, leading to open conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In mid-1987, the Bofors scandal damaged his corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 election. Rajiv Gandhi remained Congress President until the elections in 1991.

The Sri Lankan Civil War broke out with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was demanding an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka. Gandhi discussed the matter with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa at the SAARC meeting in 1986. In that year, the Sri Lankan army blockaded the Tamil majority district of Jaffna; Gandhi ordered relief supplies to be dropped into the area by parachute because the Sri Lankan navy did not allow the Indian Navy to enter. Gandhi signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in July 1987. The accord “envisaged devolution of power to the Tamil-majority areas”, dissolved the LTTE, and designated Tamil as an official language of Sri Lanka.

On 30 July 1987, a day after Gandhi went to Sri Lanka and signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, an honour guard named Vijitha Rohana hit him on his shoulder with his rifle; Gandhi’s quick reflexes saved him from injury. The guard was then dragged off by his security personnel. The guard said his intention was to kill Gandhi because of “the damage he had caused” to Sri Lanka. The hate for Gandhi was growing in some counter parts with in Sri Lanka. Rajiv Gandhi’s last public meeting was on 21 May 1991, at Sriperumbudur, a village approximately 40 km (25 mi) from Madras (present-day Chennai), where he was assassinated while campaigning for the Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha Congress candidate. At 10:10 pm, a woman later identified as Thenmozhi Rajaratnam approached Gandhi in public and greeted him. She then bent down to touch his feet and detonated a belt laden with 700 g (1.5 lb) of RDX explosives tucked under her dress. The explosion killed Gandhi, Rajaratnam, and at least 14 other people. The assassination was captured by a 21-year-old local photographer, whose camera and film were found at the site. The cameraman, named Haribabu, died in the blast but the camera remained intact. The Supreme Court judgment, by Justice K. T. Thomas, confirmed that Gandhi was killed because of personal animosity by the LTTE chief Prabhakaran arising from his sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka and the alleged IPKF atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils.] The Gandhi administration had already antagonized other Tamil militant organizations like PLOTE for reversing the 1988 military coup in Maldives. In the Jain Commission report, various people and agencies were named as suspects in the killing. Among them, the cleric Chandraswami was suspected of involvement, including financing the assassination. Nalini Sriharan, the only surviving member of the five-member squad behind the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, was serving life imprisonment. Arrested on 14 June 1991, she and 25 others were sentenced to death by a special court on 28 January 1998. The court confirmed the death sentences of four of the convicts, including Nalini, on 11 May 1999. Nalini was a close friend of an LTTE operative known as Sriharan alias Murugan, another convict in the case who has been sentenced to death. Nalini later gave birth to a girl, Harithra, in prison. Nalini’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in April 2000. Rajiv’s widow, Sonia Gandhi, intervened and asked for clemency for Nalini on the grounds of the latter being a mother. Later, it was reported that Gandhi’s daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had met Nalini at Vellore Central Prison in March 2008. Nalini regrets the killing of Gandhi and said the real conspirators have not been caught yet.

In August 2011, the President of India rejected the clemency pleas of Murugan and two others on death row—Suthendraraja, alias Santhan, and Perarivalan, alias Arivu. The execution of the three convicts was scheduled for 9 September 2011. However, the Madras High Court intervened and stayed their executions for eight weeks based on their petitions. In 2010, Nalini had petitioned the Madras High Court seeking release because she had served more than 20 years in prison. She argued that even life convicts were released after 14 years. The state government rejected her request. On 19 February 2014 Tamil Nadu government decided to release all seven convicts in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case, including A. G. Perarivalan and Nalini. The Government of India challenged this decision before the Supreme Court, which referred the case to a Constitution Bench. The report of the Jain Commission created controversy when it accused the Tamil Nadu chief minister Karunanidhi of a role in the assassination, leading to Congress withdrawing its support for the I. K. Gujral government and fresh elections in 1998. It’s been 29 long years, and since then, there were many twists and turns and finally not by law but by self-attempt Nalini eliminated herself by committing suicide in the jail.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Aloo – Tamatar cost sours

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Afternoon Voice

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July 20, 2020

The lockdown had led to the shutting of hotels and restaurants, apart from use of potato-based snacks – from Samosa, Aloo Chaat, Tikki, and Paav Bhaji to Masala Dosa and French Fries – taking a knock. Farmers have sold 25% of their crop kept in cold stores and will use another 15% as seed for the coming season.

Raunak Singh Chaudhary a farmer from Sirsa, Haryana told Afternoon Voice, “Most of the production of potato’s rotted in storages, due to long lockdown and less of demand”.

Balu Shere a farmer from Maharashtra told AV, “Almost all the restaurants were closed and the factories producing potato related snacks were also closed, somehow they have moved their old stock, there were no new orders, even if any orders were there, lack of drives and transportation spoiled it all. Since now restaurants partially opened the supply of potatoes’ getting costlier”.

All-India retail prices of potato and tomato, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs’ data, averaged Rs 30 and Rs 50 per kg, respectively, up from Rs 20 each three months ago. The same period saw onion prices dip from Rs 30 to Rs 20 per kg. In 20019 it was pyaaz (onion), this year it is potatoes and now tomatoes that have become costlier, even as annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation, at 6.09% in June, crossed the Reserve Bank of India’s 4-6% upper target range. The ASP of onion charged by this retailer has fallen steadily from nearly Rs 78 per kg in January to Rs 36 in March, Rs 22.5 in May and Rs 20 during the current month. On the other hand, the ASP for potato has more than doubled to Rs 31/kg since February, while displaying extreme volatility in tomato – from Rs 30/kg in January to Rs 22 in March and Rs 14 in May, before surging to Rs 57 this month. In potatoes, the recent price increase is mainly due to lower production, just, as it was about onions last year. Farmers in major potato-growing states such as Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal deposit the bulk of their produce harvested in January-March in cold stores for staggered sales till October-November when planting for the next season begins. Only an estimated 36 crore bags (of 50 kg each) from the main rabi crop of 2019-20 were stocked in cold stores this time, as against 48 crore, 46 crore, and 57 crore bags in the preceding three years. Farmers basically planted less in response to the low realizations since 2017. Regular table potato or ‘mota aloo’ is now being sold from cold stores in UP at Rs 19-20 per kg.

Mohammad Alamgir, general secretary of Agra’s Potato Growers Association said, “We earlier had production cost is Rs 9-10 per kg. Adding cold store, grading, and other charges, plus moisture loss, takes it to Rs 13-14. This is the first time in four years we made some money.”

In May, prices in key wholesale markets such as Narayangaon and Sangamner (Maharashtra) Kolar (Karnataka), Madanapalle (Andhra Pradesh), had crashed to Rs 3-5 per kg. That was the peak arrival time for the summer tomato crop, transplanted in January-March, and harvested from end-April till July. Farmers, who invest a lot in this crop hoping for better price realizations during the summer months, had to sell for a song. The current price increase started from around the last week of June, with the tapering of supplies from the summer crop. Although such tapering is normal, it was aggravated by the earlier low prices that resulted in farmers not applying fertilizers or maintaining their crops after the first few pickings.

Tomato prices could, however, ease once the just-planted Kharif crop arrives in the market. This crop, whose transplantation stretches from mid-June till end-September, has a shorter duration of 90-100 days, compared to 130-150 days for the summer tomatoes. Since it also starts yielding fruits 60-70 days after transplanting (tomato pickings happen at intervals of 3-4 days), consumers can expect some relief after mid-August.

No one is to be blamed for never-ending price rise crises

By

Afternoon Voice

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July 20, 2020

This year the lockdown has made it all costlier than ever, especially Potato and tomato costs, form demonetization to Lockdown vegetable prices always fluctuated. Above all, this is monsoon time and labor crunch, the markets are almost scanty having limited options. But for this, no government is to be blamed because all this is a circumstantial happening.

In 2013, when UPA was in the ruling government, the economy faced one of its worst crises in a decade and now the same crises in 2015 too when BJP is in power. While that is worrying about the political and economic fraternity, what is worrying ordinary Indians is the price of onions. People here eat their way through 15 million tons of onions a year. Almost every dish uses it, whether cooked in a curry or eaten raw as an accompaniment to a meal. The onion has proven as political game-changer time and again.

When UPA was in power, one member of the BJP, Vijay Jolly, gave away bags of onions instead of sweets for the Hindu festival of Rakhi. Many BJP leaders protested in front of then the PM Manmohan Singh’s doors. There were a huge uproar and instability by BJP. Now when they are in power, they are running out of the explanation. Onion prices have been known to swing elections before. In 1998, the then-ruling BJP suffered heavy losses in Delhi state elections, a result widely blamed on high onion prices.

The worried Delhi state government has started special counters across the city, to sell subsidized onions. But security guards have been deployed here too, to control angry crowds. A month ago, one kilogram of onions would have cost about 20 rupees (20-30 percent). Since then, the price has gone up nearly five-fold, costing up to 80 rupees and stinging everyone in India. The reason for the price spike is that stocks are low, after drought-hit crops and fewer rains.

Onions are considered an indispensable ingredient of most Indian cooking, providing the pungent foundation for a thousand different curries and other dishes. Onion prices have been an important political issue: they were regarded as the decisive factor in the 1998 state elections in Delhi and Rajasthan, and were responsible for bringing down the central government in 1980. India is the second-largest onion producer in the world, after China. A gap in coordination between the demand and the supply-management chain exacerbates the problem. Every couple of years we will be kicking out governments for rising onion prices because till the mismatch continues such crises will recur. New Delhi is now readying to import onions from countries like Pakistan and China, in order to meet the country’s insatiable demand. But it’s only a stopgap solution. Until infrastructure, distribution and technology improve, and wastage is reduced, governments may find their fates depend on this pungent bulb and Indian shoppers will have plenty to cry about.

Forty-five percent of the onion produce in India comes from the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. In November 2010, unseasonal and excessive rainfall in onion-producing regions such as Nashik in Maharashtra delayed the arrival of onions in markets. In December, when fresh crop usually begins to arrive, onion shipments were reduced from 2000-3000 tons a day to 700-800 tons a day in New Delhi markets, raising the price of onion from Rs 35 to Rs 88 per kg in the period of one week.

Prices of onion in the capital continue to remain at an eye-watering Rs 70-80 per kg, but it’s not the shortage of supply that’s pushing up prices so dramatically. Supply of onions in Delhi mandis has in fact increased significantly in the past 4-5 days but it has not brought down prices, indicating how traders are exploiting the crisis to make a quick buck. With the corms in short supply and prices soaring high in the domestic market, the vegetable dealers were importing onions, the most versatile veggie staple in the kitchen, from Afghanistan even as Pakistan government has imposed a ban on the export of onions since home prices of onions have already peaked to Rs 3500 for one hundred kilograms in the wholesale market. Vegetable dealers were getting only six to eight truckloads of Afghan onions to meet the local demand but the quality of Afghan onion is very poor. In Amritsar wholesale vegetable market Afghan onion was sold for Rs 15 to Rs 25 a kilogram and was largely purchased by hotel, dhaba, and restaurant owners whereas Indian onion was still in demand for domestic use. In retail, Indian onion was being sold for Rs 45 to Rs 55 per kilogram but the sales have declined in past one week. Onion has always brought tears to government, this time Potato and tomato too joined in the group.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Mumbai Police haunting for fake social media profiles and followers

By

Afternoon Voice

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July 19, 2020

There are many websites like (https://follows.com) and (https://getplusfollowers.com) these websites claim that they would give you real followers on social media, from twitter to Instagram. In turn you have to pay them for the bulk volume of followers that you order from them. There are no laws that state buying Twitter followers is illegal, but Twitter does not encourage it. The reasoning is most followers are fake and inactive accounts, which do not help Twitter or the user buying them. Most purchased followers are not real accounts. There are many service providers that sell legitimate followers. The buyer will start receiving new followers until your order is completed. Many aspiring celebrities get trapped in these practices.

In the digital world, the more followers on social media, the greater or more powerful a person is considered. This practice has now become a business and big companies’ pay heavy amounts to such people for gaining more followers.

The scam came to light after Bollywood singer Bhumi Trivedi discovered a fake profile of hers on social media and lodged a complaint with the police. A person had created Bhumi’s fake profile on Instagram and chatted with people and kept screenshots of it. The fraudster showed these two others to increase followers.

Micro (a hackers handle) told Afternoon Voice, “There is nothing new in this, very famous and popular celebrities to politicians buy these bots to follow them because its number game, you will find many celebrities with millions of followers but not even one percent of their followers are seen active, they hardly retweet or like or comment to their posts”. You will find some politicians with many followers, but hardly any retweets or interactions”. There is no point in such profiles, but when we search their handle our first impression is by the number he is followed by”.

Rascal, another hacker told Afternoon Voice, “Buying followers, likes is business these days. But creating fake accounts of celebrities and by adding followers to it and then play filth is dangerous. It’s tarnishing the repute of a particular celebrity.” There are so many such accounts across social media and literally getting hold on them is simply not possible”.

So far Mumbai Police have found that as many as 176 high-profile people, including some Bollywood celebrities and sportspersons, allegedly paid money to get followers. Mumbai Police has started fixing down on many high-profile personalities, including Bollywood celebrities, builders and sportspersons after it uncovered a racket that helped these people falsely increase their followers on social media. The racket also includes international companies.

A SIT has been constituted by Mumbai Police Commissioner Parambir Singh to probe the entire matter. Police suspect that this might threaten the law and order situation in the country.

The racket was uncovered after the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) of Mumbai Police arrested a man named Abhishek Dinesh Daude in connection with creating fake profiles on social media. A foreign social media marketing company www.followerskart.com where Daude claimed to work is now on police radar.

Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police Vinay Kumar Chaubey said, “We have investigated and found as many as 54 firms involved in this racket. SIT comprising Crime Branch along with Cyber Cell has been formed which will help in investigating this case.”

With Social Media – What has this world come to?

By

Vaidehi Taman

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July 19, 2020

People have become more of zombies, their entire world has got stuck to the social media platform, their desire to get likes, followers and comments on that virtual platform than in real life. People are relying more on social media than they do on each other, and many different issues are stemming from this. In the modern world, grossing likes has become a sort of drug. That is because it triggers a boost of the hormone called dopamine, which you also get from eating chocolate or winning a lottery. Just like fast food, being popular online creates a cycle of reward which makes you crave more. When people see a post with a large number of likes, they engage more with it, even if it is published by a complete unfamiliar person. It’s just liked that crowd mentality. Getting a big number of likes boosts their self-esteem and is a yardstick for their assumed achievement. They become proud of ourselves, because the likes they achieve are equal to social approval. This feeling is very addictive, and sometimes people get really carried away with it. The effortlessness of sharing our lives with strangers is expunging the borders of intimacy. People not only share good parts of their lives but sad ones as well. Some go to an extent of posting bedroom pictures to honeymoon trip stories, by hook or crook what they want is attention. You may see many girls these days posting pictures in skimpy clothes or bikinis, such pictures and posts get more likes than comparatively sober pictures. It may create a negative reaction, but it may also have a useful like. Sometimes sharing a bad experience can help others with similar experiences cope. Other users, though they may be strangers, can show their support and provide comfort. By pressing the “like” button, people can reach out to each other.

Many years ago, we would meet someone in a coffee shop, call them to set up another date, and then spend more and more quality time getting to know them. Nowadays, we swipe right on someone’s selfie on Tinder, then Snapchat them, follow them on Instagram, tweet them and pray that they text us back. Third day, they are doing all that in the name of dating, what we never ever thought of doing even after knowing a person for months. We have become so obsessed with likes, followers, comments, right swipes, and just about everything to do with gaining social media attention, that we may have forgotten about other important things in life. Like everything else. This obsession leads to plenty of self-esteem and self-value issues. Perhaps this is the reason they prefer to stay in the virtual world more than real life. In real life they may not get so many likes, appreciations and that fan following what they get on social media platforms. There is always conflict between real and virtual existence.

In today’s society, people honestly believe that their popularity, beauty and self-worth all twig from the amount of likes that they receive on their selfie. This can be insanely damaging to one’s self esteem as high standards can often be almost impossible to attain, especially if they’re comparing themselves to celebrities. For those kids/young adults experiencing depression or anxiety, they may carefully edit their posts to mask serious problems and pretend perfection. This is a huge issue if you consider how hard it makes it for their parents and friends to see when help is extremely necessary. Also, those same teens who have created these false online personas may end up feeling discouraged and depressed when they focus on the gap between who they pretend to be and who they really are. Meanwhile they also become attention-seekers. They are extremely concerned with attention and validation. Some lonely individuals themselves conclude that they aren’t worthy and they cannot get the type of attention they need in the real world. So, they search for it in the virtual environments being unaware that their inner conflicts cannot be resolved this way. Individuals who always dreamed of becoming famous, fail to achieve the fame and what they crave for, they end up in unknown depression.

If you’re like any of the Start Digital team then one of the first things you’ll do in the morning is check your social feed. Depending on your poison of choice it could be Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or Linkedin. Whichever platform we’re on, one of the first check points is the ‘notification’ tab. ‘Has anyone liked something of mine’? ‘Has anyone tagged me’? Etc. It’s a habit we quickly get pulled into. It’s addictive. They think that having more followers on Instagram will give you popularity in the real world and to some extent, it is true. In actuality, to get more followers on Instagram, you have to be popular in real life, but most people think it is the other way around. If they get more followers, they get noticed more, and then they have bragging rights, some people just want popularity. This isn’t a bad thing, as it boosts their confidence and helps them excel in their life. They need this extra support from social media. Some people just want to be able to have somewhere to write or express their experience. Instagram is a good platform. What’s the point of sharing experiences on Instagram if you don’t have followers though? Then there’s people who do business of giving you followers and like that is again a trap. You get addicted to adding numbers to your followers and land up paying all that you have for yourself. That little rush you get when your post gets more likes than normal? There is a reason for that rush. Dopamine. For every thumb up or heart we get a little psychological high through a shot of dopamine. The more likes the more shots. The more shots we have, the more shots we want. And we’re in a loop. Scientists used to think dopamine was responsible for pleasure in the brain, but we now know that rather than create pleasure it makes us seek.
There might be boons and curses of social media but one thing is sure, you get clutched. 70 percent of your time gets wasted on social media to check how much your posts are liked. You might be a business person, who wants to promote products, but if you don’t get shares or like, you lose confidence. By going very close to social media the human is becoming antisocial. No friends, no gatherings, no coffee time gossip or no long drives or discussions. The entire world stalls at one smartphone.

The forgotten killing of Rationalists

By

Afternoon Voice

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July 17, 2020

The cowards killed many liberals keeping a disturbing trend on, which can turn the country into a cesspool of hatred and intolerance. Gauri Lankesh’s death is being regarded as the latest in a string of murders of ‘rationalist’ writers, including MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar. It will be seven long years since Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, a well-respected rationalist and campaigner against superstition from Maharashtra, was murdered while he was out on a morning walk in Pune. Since then, three more anti-fascist activists who were effective campaigners against right-wing ideas and politics―Govind Pansare, MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh—have been murdered and investigating agencies believe the murders may be linked. Members of the Sanatan Sanstha have been accused of executing the murders but no one has been convicted so far.

Along with seven years of the murder, August will also mark the 30th birth anniversary of the Committee for Eradication of Blind Faith’ which was set up in August 1989 by Dabholkar with his peers. A unique organisation which has branches in all districts of Maharashtra and about 10,000 active members, the Committee for Eradication of Blind Faith, better known as the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was the vehicle for implementing Dr Dabholkar’s ideas and plans for fighting superstition and promoting rationalism in the so-called progressive state of Maharashtra. It is currently led by Executive President Avinash Patil, who has also been a long-term rationalist activist.

The activist’s killing had prompted the state government to enact the revolutionary ‘Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices, and Black Magic Act, 2013’, which is commonly known as the anti-superstition and black magic law.

The Maharashtra police has questioned nearly 1,000 people in the past two years, including ‘tantriks’, godmen and black magicians against whom Dabholkar campaigned vigorously, but without much success.

Varavara Rao – Activist, poet, writer and an unsung leftist Hero – Part 2

By

Vaidehi Taman

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July 17, 2020

With Varavara Rao’s life at risk, he could not discharge his duties as Secretary of Virasam and spokesperson of the revolutionary literary movement. He was not able to move freely in Andhra Pradesh. Warangal has become a forbidden place for him. Armed and unarmed ruffians and police in civil clothes attacked his house on several occasions. Persecution against his friends in the movement was also mounted. Taking into consideration all these developments, Varavara Rao chose to cancel his bail in Secunderabad Conspiracy Case. On his request, his bail was canceled and he was sent to jail on 26 December 1985.

After Varavara Rao went to jail, his interviews were restricted and under severe surveillance. His mail, including registered newspapers, was censored for months together. He was implicated in two more cases while he was in jail. One of them was another conspiracy case by name, Ramnagar Conspiracy Case. Foisted in 1986, this case went on to break records and after 17 years of trial, Varavara Rao was acquitted in 2003.

Also Read: Varavara Rao – Activist, poet, writer and an unsung leftist Hero – Part 1

In 1986, one of his poetry anthologies “Bhavishyathu Chitrapatam” (Portrait of the Future) was banned by the state government. Varavara Rao was released in 1988 when he was acquitted in Secunderabad Conspiracy Case and from 1990 onwards he started living in Hyderabad.

After a stifling repression period between 1985–89 under the Telugu Desam Party rule, the newly elected Indian National Congress government allowed a little relaxation for a short period after December 1989. Beginning from January 1990, when Virasam held its twentieth annual conference in Hyderabad to May 1990 when Andhra Pradesh Raithu Cooli Sangham held its annual conference in Warangal, millions of people attended the meetings and expressed their unity with the movement. The media reported that 1.2 million people attended the Warangal meeting; almost double the population of that city. Varavara Rao played a very important role in all these meetings as an organizer and speaker. But within a short time from this massive gathering, repression on the revolutionary movement resumed with the killing of N Prabhakar Reddy, a lawyer, and leader of APCLC. Varavara Rao had to shift to a relatively safer Hyderabad, where he joined as a post-doctoral research scholar studying oral traditions in literature at the University of Hyderabad.

Varavara Rao, along with a number of organizations stood in the forefront in exposing and resisting the pro-globalization and liberalization policies of Chandrababu Naidu who came to power in 1994. During Chandrababu Naidu’s government, three Central Committee members of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Peoples War was arrested in Bangalore and killed. Some private criminal gangs killed T. Purushotham and Md Azam Ali, leaders of APCLC and life-threat to Varavara Rao turned imminent. In 2001, the Telugu Desam government accepted a proposal to have peace negotiations with Naxalites and the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Peoples War announced the names of Varavara Rao and Gaddar as its emissaries to work out modalities for the proposed talks. The Naxalite party was under ban at that time and these two writers were chosen as emissaries, keeping in view their yeomen services in people’s causes for over three decades then. The government had also named two ministers as its representatives and after three sittings held at a time of unabated encounter killings, Varavara Rao and Gaddar pulled out of the talks’ process, that went on between May and July 2002.

The then opposition Congress party criticized the stand of the Telugu Desam Party with regard to the talks and made a categorical promise in its Election Manifesto 2004 to hold talks to arrive at a meaningful peace. The Congress came to power in May 2004 and initiated the talks’ process in June. This time around the then Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Peoples War named Varavara Rao, Gaddar and novelist G Kalyana Rao as its emissaries.

The emissaries assumed their position on 13 July 2004 and had involved themselves in several rounds of discussions on modalities with the government including the Home Minister and the government representatives. Finally, leaders of two Naxalite parties. Janashakti also joined the talks process and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Peoples War became CPI) came for the talks held between 15 and 18 October 2004. After this first round of talks, the negotiating parties had to meet for subsequent rounds but after the encounter killings of some Naxalites in January 2005, the Naxalite parties withdrew from the process on 16 January. After some failed attempts to revive the process, Varavara Rao and other emissaries withdrew from their positions on 4 April 2005. The peace process ended with the imposition of ban on CPI, Virasam, and some other people’s organizations on 18 August 2005.

Within 24 hours of the imposition of ban on Virasam, Varavara Rao and Kalyana Rao, were arrested on 19 August 2005 under AP Public Security Act and sent to Chanchalguda Central Prison in Hyderabad. Since his arrest, 7 new cases were charged against him. Apart from an earlier case of 1999 (pertaining to a protest meeting against the killings of three top leaders of Peoples War), and the case regarding the ban on Virasam, the remaining six cases pertaining to the period of talks between the government and the Naxalites. When the government revoked the AP Public Security Act against Virasam through GO Ms No. 503 of 11 November 2005, the cases against Varavara Rao and Kalyana Rao should have become redundant. after years of fight, finally, the court struck down the case on Varavara Rao under the Public Security Act on 31 March 2006 and he obtained bails for all other cases by the time. He was released from jail under bail on 31 March 2006 after a period of about eight months. In 2014 June, Telangana state was formed. He was arrested four times during the two-year rule of new Telangana state, along with restrictions on meetings, widespread arrests, and continuation of the ban on RDF. Pune police re-arrested Varavara Rao in Hyderabad on 28 August 2018 in a case relating to an alleged conspiracy to assassinate Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is languishing in jail from past two years; he is now 81 and his physical and mental condition deteriorating. Neither jail is new to him, nor the punishment, only difference in then and now is AGE.

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Adityanath instructs to form 1 lakh teams for surveillance of Covid-19 situation

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Afternoon Voice

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July 17, 2020

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed to constitute one lakh teams in the state for effective surveillance on COVID-19 situation. “For effective surveillance, the Chief Minister instructed to constitute one lakh teams in the entire state and said that the monitoring of the team of each district should be done under the leadership of the District Magistrate,” a tweet from Office of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said roughly translated from Hindi.

“KGMU’s Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Department, Dr Ved Prakash informed the Chief Minister that presently due to rain, moisture in the air has increased, due to which this infection is increasing,” said another tweet from the UP CMO. As per another tweet, Dr Prakash said that it is necessary for everyone to wear a mask and comply with social distancing to deal with the infection. Proper ventilation is necessary for public places, he added.

Dr Prakash, as per a subsequent tweet, said that 80 per cent of COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic or mild, while 15 per cent of the patients are moderate. In addition, only 5 per cent of the patients are severe/critical. Home isolation of asymptomatic or mild patients should be done to avoid this, he said further. While UP CM Yogi Adityanath said, through the public address system, people should be constantly aware of the necessary steps to deal with COVID-19, such as social distancing, masking, sanitization, hygiene etc.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website on Friday, the active cases in the state are 15,720. The number of cured and discharged is 26,675. The death toll is at 1,046. The total number of cases of coronavirus are 43,441 in the state.

Rahul targets Modi govt, says PM’s constant blunders, indiscretions have fundamentally weakened India

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Afternoon Voice

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July 17, 2020

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday targeted the central government over the India-China stand-off, stating since 2014 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “constant blunders and indiscretions” have fundamentally weakened the country. He also posted a few minutes long video and asked, “What is it about India’s situation that has made China act in such an aggressive way? What is it about this moment in time that allowed China to take such an aggressive stand against a country like India?”

“Since 2014, the PM’s constant blunders and indiscretions have fundamentally weakened India and left us vulnerable. Empty words don’t suffice in the world of geopolitics,” the Gandhi scion tweeted. In the video clip, the Congress leader said in the last six years, India was “disturbed” and “disrupted” because it failed in various areas such as protecting the economy, foreign relations and added that these situations had “made China act in such an aggressive way.”

“One has to go in multiple spaces to understand this. Countries are not protected by not one particular thing but by the confluence of forces, the confluence of systems. So a country is protected by its foreign relationships, it is protected by its neighbourhood, it is protected by its economy. It is protected by the feelings that people have. The vision that its people have. In the last six years, in all these areas India has been disturbed and disrupted.” Talking about the Centre’s foreign policies, Gandhi stated earlier that the country has strategic partnerships with the United States and Russia, which have now become transactional relations.

“Earlier, India could maneuver in geopolitics with the help of these relations but now India doesn’t enjoy these partnerships anymore,” Gandhi said He spoke on India’s current relations with its neighbouring country and said the central government has managed to anger Nepal, Bhutan and even Sri Lanka, who used to be friends with our country earlier.

“Our economy was something that we could boast about going to the world. We have seen the worst economic growth in 50 years, unemployment is highest in 40 years. The economy is in absolute disaster,” said Gandhi. “We have said on multiple occasions that the economy needs major boosts from the government. We have said fire the economy, protect small businesses,” he said.

He further stated that these three reasons have convinced China that this is the “best time to act” as India is now a country with a disastrous economy, failed foreign policies and troubled relations with its neighbours.