Archives for 2020

LUCKNOW: Speaking at a function in Varanasi on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti, she urged the audience to take the teachings of the saint to the masses.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said 14th-century sant Ravidas dreamt of a society where there is no discrimination on the basis of caste and religion, and that everyone should work towards fulfilling it.

Speaking at a function in Varanasi on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti, she urged the audience to take the teachings of the saint to the masses. “He (Sant Ravidas) had dreamt of a society, where there is no discrimination and where every person is respected. You all should take forward his teachings to the masses, especially at a time, when there is so much violence and hatred in society. His teachings are need of the hour,” Priyanka Gandhi said. A 14th-century saint, Ravidas is revered in Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism. He was born in Varanasi and was a leading figure of the Bhakti Movement.

The Congress general secretary arrived in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on a day-long visit to take part in Ravidas Jayanti programmes. Priyanka said it is her privilege that she got an opportunity to bow her head at the birthplace of Sant Ravidas. “Sant Ravidas used to say in his teachings that Ram and Rahim are one. We are all part of one god. We must learn from his teachings,” she said. Before attending the function, the Congress leader offered prayers at the Guru Ravidass Janam Sthan Mandir.

BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday said if voted to power in Uttar Pradesh, her party will rename Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar. In a statement issued in Delhi, she said, “As soon as the BSP comes to power (in UP), it will rename Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar. The previous SP government had changed its name due to its casteist mentality.”

She also accused the Congress and the BJP of never honouring saint-poet Ravidas during their tenures.

The former CM’s assertion to rename Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar came close on the heels of a proposal to change the name of Basti, a district located in the eastern parts of the state, after Maharishi Vashisth.

As per the plans, the survey will be conducted to identify people of four communities — Goria, Moria, Desi and Jolah of the tea tribes, considered as indigenous.

GUWAHATI: Assam is likely to conduct an exercise to identify the state’s indigenous Muslim population and segregate them from Bangladeshi origin people, even as doubts over the accuracy of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are yet to be addressed.

As per the plans, the survey will be conducted to identify people of four communities — Goria, Moria, Desi and Jolah of the tea tribes, considered as indigenous.

Assam Welfare of Minorities Minister Ranjit Dutta has convened a meeting on Tuesday with various organisations of the four communities and other stakeholders to finalise the plan.

“Assam has about 1.3 crore Muslims population, of which around 90 lakh are of Bangladeshi origin. The remaining 40 lakh are from different tribes and they need to be identified,” Assam Minority Development Board Chairman Muminul Aowal said.

The indigenous Muslims are deprived of benefits of the government welfare schemes in absence of proper identification, he claimed.

Aowal, who is also the convenor of Janagosthiya Samanway Parishad Asom (JSPA), said the entire rationale behind such an exercise is to give protection to the indigenous people from demographic changes in the state.

“The NRC included lakhs of Bangladeshi-origin people. So, we cannot rely on that. If we do not act now, one day all the indigenous tribes will be wiped out from Assam,” he added.

“Once the indigenous tribes are officially recognised, it will be better and easier to work for the development of these people. I, as a representative of these tribes, had in 2015 met the then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh,” Aowal said.

The indigenous groups had urged Singh for such a survey, he said.

When asked how the exercise will be carried out, Aowal said, “We will request the state government to get an approval from the RGI (Registrar General of India). Without the RGI’s approval, the findings may not be legally tenable.”

The organisations representing the Muslim tribes want the paper works to be completed by March so that the actual fieldwork of enumerating people can begin early next fiscal, he said.

“The entire initiative is of the Minority Department of the state government, but it does not have the required manpower to carry out such a state-wide exercise. That is why it can be conducted through the Revenue Department, which is present at the village-level,” Aowal explained.

The NRC, which was published last year under the supervision of the Supreme Court with over 19 lakh exclusions, is being criticised by all sections for the “minimal number” of people left out.

It is being alleged that genuine Indians, mostly Hindus, were left out and many illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, mostly Muslims, were included.

The apex court is still hearing a number of petitions on the issue.

Later, a team from Indian embassy in Japan met Sarkar and promised all help. ‘The team from the Indian embassy came to meet me and assured me of all necessary help.

KOLKATA: A resident of West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district is among the 138 Indians stuck on a cruise liner quarantined at a Japanese port after some passengers were detected with Novel Coronavirus. 

Binay Kumar Sarkar, a resident of Chakulia village, is a crew member of the cruise liner ‘Diamond Princess’. Altogether, there are 132 Indian crew members and six passengers who are onboard Diamond Princess. Sarkar, 31, is on duty at the communication control room of the ship. Earlier, he had made a post on the social media pleading for help from Indian and Bengal governments for being rescued from the ship that is docked at Yokohama port.

Later, a team from Indian embassy in Japan met Sarkar and promised all help. ‘The team from the Indian embassy came to meet me and assured me of all necessary help. A medical team has been posted at the cruise liner. I am grateful to the governments for the initiatives that have been taken (so far)…,’’ Binay said over the phone. The ship is carrying 3,700 people comprising both passengers and crew members. Japan has already examined 280 people and reports of six of them came on Saturday. Among the six, three have been identified as infected with Coronavirus. 

Binay’s family members are worried about his well-being. ‘’He is staying among Coronavirus victims. My son told me that the passengers started falling victims of Coronavirus after the ship started from Hong Kong on January 25. Those who have been detected with Coronavirus have not been kept in isolation wards. I urge to the state government to initiate all efforts to bring my son back,’’ Binay’s father Chandi Sarkar pleaded.