Archives for 2019

Former Union Minister P Chidambaram will also file another petition on the same matter on behalf of former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

GUWAHATI: Senior Congress leaders of Assam filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the amended Citizenship Act on Saturday, a party spokesperson said here.

Former Union Minister P Chidambaram will also file another petition on the same matter on behalf of former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, the spokesperson told PTI.

In their petition, leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia, Barpeta MP Abdul Khaleque and Mariani MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi highlighted the “blatant attempt to nullify the sanctity of Assam Accord, alleged contradictions in the Act with the provisions of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India”.

They also said about the subjectivity related to the perception of persecuted minorities as stated in the new act.

The petition claimed that the Act is an attempt to impose an ethos which is in violation of the composite culture and age-old liberal values of the Assamese society.

The exclusion of minorities from the ambit of this Act is an attempt by the ruling party to manipulate their majority in Parliament for political gains, it said.

The petition comes at the backdrop of the unrest in Assam following the introduction and subsequent passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in both Houses of Parliament.

State unit chief Dilip Ghosh said West Bengal will be the first state where the Act will be implemented.

KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Friday said the Citizenship Amendment Act will be implemented in the state and neither Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee nor her party, Trinamool Congress, will be able to stop it.

West Bengal will be the first state where the Act will be implemented, he said.

The BJP leader’s remarks came after Banerjee, one of the most vocal opponents of the amended Citizenship Act, said at a press conference that she will not allow the new law to be implemented in her state “under any circumstances”.

“Earlier she had opposed the abrogation of Article 370, demonetisation, but that didn’t stop the Union government from implementing it.

In this case too, the new Citizenship Act would be implemented in the state,” Ghosh said.

“Bengal, for that matter, would be the first state where it would be implemented,” he added.

Ghosh said Banerjee should come clean on why she is opposing it.

“Is it because she is afraid of losing her vote bank in the state? Let us make one thing very clear, the Citizenship Act would be implemented in the state, neither Banerjee nor her party would be able to stop it,” he said.

She is bothered about infiltrators but not about Hindu refugees who have been looking forward to this law for the last several decades, he claimed.

Banerjee had said the BJP will not be able to bulldoze the states to enact the new law.

The chief minister also announced a series of protests next week, saying she would hit the streets seeking revocation of the “draconian” Act.

BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya also attacked Banerjee, accusing her of “fuelling protests” in Bengal against the new Act by spreading misinformation.

“Why is Mamata Banerjee not taking action against the infiltrators who are behind the protests in Bengal? She is instigating masses to take law into their hands.

If she is so concerned about the infiltrators, why doesn’t she say anything about Hindu refugees,” he asked.

Protests demanding immediate revocation of the amended Citizenship Act reached the shores of West Bengal on Friday, with agitators resorting to violence and arson at railway stations and thoroughfares across the state.

According to police sources, people in the minority-dominated districts of rural Howrah, Murshidabad, Birbhum, parts of Burdwan and North Bengal hit the streets this morning, raising slogans against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

In Kolkata, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Park Circus seven-point crossing, seeking the revocation of the law.

They raised anti-government slogans and burnt tyres on the thoroughfare, leading to traffic congestions in the southern and the central parts of the city.

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday night gave his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it into an Act.

According to the amended Act, non-Muslim refugees, who escaped religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and moved to India before December 31, 2014, will be granted Indian citizenship.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday tore into the Narendra Modi government over various issues including the controversial Citizenship Act.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday tore into the Narendra Modi government over various issues including the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.

Rahul Gandhi said, “I was asked to apologise in the Parliament yesterday by the BJP members. They tell me to apologise for the correct thing. I am not Rahul Savarkar, my name is Rahul Gandhi. I will never apologise for the truth. Neither will any party worker apologise.”

He also called Narendra Modi a liar. “Demonetisation was a fraud. Narendra Modi lied to you at the time of demonetisation. He lied to you by saying he will fight against corruption. He snatched the money from your pockets and put it in the pockets of Adani and Ambani, ” he said.

Prior to Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi also took pot-shots at the Narendra Modi government.

Addressing the Bharat Bachao rally here at Ramlila ground, Priyanka Gandhi said: “This law will become the reason for the division of the country. If we don’t raise voice now, the country will be further divided. If you love the country, then raise your voice against it.”

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Priyanka Gandi said, “Laws are being passed which are unconstitutional.”

Mocking the BJP government over its slogan of ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’ (If Modi is there everything is possible), she said, “In newspapers or at bus stops, we see the advertisements that Modi hai to mumkin hai, but reality is that under Modi government, onion is selling at Rs 100 per kg, unemployment is at 45-year high, economy is in doldrums, Navratna PSUs are being sold, Indian Railways is being privatised and 15,000 farmers have committed suicide. This is possible only under the Modi government.”

Evoking her father’s memory while talking about Unnao rape victim, who was burnt alive by the rape accused, Priyanka said, “The blood of the Unnao daughter has mixed with the country, much like my father’s blood,” she said.

She also hit out at the government over the economic crisis and said that in six years of Modi government, the economy has only gone downward.

“Our economy was developing at a rate that the world turned their attention to, but in six years of the Modi government, our economy has tanked, people are losing jobs, factories are shutting down,” she said.

The protest rally comes amid an economic slowdown and raging protests across the northeast and in West Bengal over the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The Chief Minister is reported to have assured the delegation that the State Government will not allow implementation of National Register of Citizens in Odisha.

BHUBANESWAR:  Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik assured a delegation of leaders from Muslim community that the State Government will safeguard their future. 

The Chief Minister is reported to have assured the delegation that the State Government will not allow implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Odisha.

A delegation of Chauda Mahala Muslim Jamat from Bhadrak, Balasore and Jajpur districts met the Chief Minister at Lok Seva Bhavan here and requested him not to implement NRC in Odisha.

They also apprised him about the doubts and fear in Muslim community after the passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in Parliament.

Naveen told the delegation that while supporting CAB in Parliament, the BJD had made it clear that NRC was a separate issue and needed wider discussion. 

“The Chief Minister told us not to panic about the enactment of CAB and assured that the State Government will safeguard our future,” a member of the delegation told media persons.

Gujarat, Haryana and Tamil Nadu accounted for 14 deaths each — the most for states.

NEW DELHI:  Eighty-three people have died while cleaning sewerage lines till November 6,  according to government data submitted in Parliament. Gujarat, Haryana and Tamil Nadu accounted for 14 deaths each — the most for states. The data was submitted in response to the question on how many deaths happened since 2016. 

According to the data, there were 50 deaths in 2016, 83 in 2017, and 66 in 2018. Since 2016, a total of 282 deaths have been recorded by the government, with the highest number of deaths reported from Tamil Nadu. Between 2013 and 2019, over 60,000 manual scavengers have been identified in the survey. Over 35,000 manual scavengers were identified from Uttar Pradesh – the highest across states. 

While over 7,000 manual scavengers were identified from Maharashtra, Uttarakhand identified over 6,000 manual scavengers. A total amount of `180 crore has been spent since 2013-14 for providing rehabilitation benefits for identified manual scavengers, according to another response to a Parliament question. A central sector scheme, Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) is implemented through the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC).