Archives for August 2018

Describing the pro-Khalistan rally in London by the Sikhs as a conspiracy to divide the country, the Congress on Monday questioned the Narendra Modi-led government’s silence on it.

“As a sinister conspiracy is hatched to revive militancy in Punjab, why are BJP-Akali Dal mum? Why has the 56′ Modi government been stunned into a conspiratorial silence? Isn’t it a conspiracy to break the country? Why silence then?” Congress spokesman Pradeep Singh Surjewala said in a tweet attaching a news report about the pro-Khalistan rally.

The Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a human rights advocacy group with radical leanings, held what it calls a “London Declaration” on an independence referendum for Punjab at Trafalgar Square in London on Sunday.

Thousands of Sikhs and their supporters gathered to demand a ‘Referendum 2020’ campaign in Punjab.

They also brandished banners reading “Free Punjab, End Indian occupation”, “Punjab Referendum 2020 for Khalistan” and “We will re-establish Punjab as an independent country”.

In its first reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s published interview, BJP ally Shiv Sena on Monday described it as “akin to sheer propaganda”.

“The reporters sent questions to the PMO, which sent written replies. Many have treated it as an interview. In other words, it is propaganda,” the Sena said in ‘Saamana’ and ‘Dopahar Ka Saamana,’ the party’s mouthpieces.

“It happens in China, Russia, and Communist countries, a case of one-sided dialogue,” it added.

The Sena pointed out how, in a direct interview, many questions could have been asked and any “fake statement” would have been detected by the interviewer. “That much freedom must be allowed to journalists.

“The incumbent Prime Minister seems to have ended this tradition. He answers what he deems proper and the interviews are published accordingly,” the Sena said in a commentary.

It noted that in the interview, the Prime Minister indicated that seven million jobs were created in one year, of which 4.5 million came up between September 2017 and April 2018.

“The implication is that by 2019, double and triple number of jobs will be created, the PM feels,” the Sena pointed out.

“If the interview had been conducted face-to-face, the journalist would have got the opportunity to ask supplementary such as in which sectors these jobs have been created and how to verify (the claims).

“If so many jobs have indeed been created, then why do unemployed youths rampage on the streets for employment and job reservations?” it asked.

It said barely two years ago after demonetization, there were huge job losses, both in the organized and unorganized sectors.

“Mumbai’s core job-creating sectors such as construction, production and service industries now resemble a desert,” the Sena said.

“In the recent (Maratha) agitation, over 500 factories were attacked in Aurangabad and Pune, thanks to the government’s policies,” it said.

“In the past four years, the PM did not hold a single press conference but expressed his mind through (radio program) Mann Ki Baat which the media reported, but it brought no laurels to Modi,” Saamna said.

“Before the (2014) elections, Modi was a friend of the media, but after becoming the PM, he has retreated into a cage… If this continues, then many journalists may lose their jobs.”

The West Bengal Congress leadership on Sunday accused the BJP and Trinamool Congress of politicising the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and misguiding people about the issue.

“The BJP is trying to make people understand that the NRC is for protecting the Hindus who came from foreign countries as they will be considered as refugees. Similarly, (TMC supremo) Mamata Banerjee is trying to misguide the people that the NRC is a danger for the Bengalis and she will be their saviour.

“Both are doing narrowminded politics to gain benefit in the coming Lok Sabha elections,” West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President Adhir Chowdhury said here.

The NRC is meant for the state of Assam and not for any other state, he said.

He also referred to an incident of 2005, when Trinamool Congress supremo Banerjee expressed dissatisfaction in the Lok Sabha, after she was not allowed to speak on illegal influx of Bangladeshis into West Bengal.

“Even she (Banerjee) is now a different person. She now wants to give shelter to the 40 lakh people, who are not on the NRC list, in West Bengal. Why such dual character?” Chowdhury questioned.

The Congress leader said his party would hold a rally in the city on October 4, highlighting issues “through which people were misguided for the sake of vote-bank politics”.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday mourned the death of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

“Sorry to hear of the passing of Somnath Chatterjee, former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a veteran parliamentarian who had a forceful presence in the House.

“A loss for public life in Bengal and India. My condolences to his family and innumerable well-wishers,” the President said in a tweet.

The Prime Minister described Chatterjee as a stalwart of Indian politics who made the parliamentary democracy richer.

Modi tweeted that Chatterjee “was a strong voice for the well-being of the poor and vulnerable. Anguished by his demise. My thoughts are with his family and supporters”.

The 10-time parliamentarian died at 8.15 a.m., at the Bellevue Clinic in Kolkata following a cardiac arrest and prolonged age-related ailments.

He suffered the heart attack on Sunday. Following kidney-related ailment his condition was critical and he was admitted to the clinic on August 7.

After the nursing home announced Chatterjee’s death, condolences started pouring in.

Earlier Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also mourned the former Left leader in their tweets.