Archives for 2021

New Delhi: Two men have been arrested after a video surfaced on social media purportedly showing one of them kneading the dough at a local hotel in west Delhi and the other spitting on the ‘roti’ (flatbread) just before putting them in the oven, officials said on Thursday.

In the video, a man wearing a blue t-shirt is seen kneading the dough while the other person in a white undershirt is seen preparing the ‘roti’.

Police said the man who is seen spitting on the ‘rotis’ has been identified as Ibrahim.

“After initiating the investigation, it was found that the video was from a local hotel named Chand in the Khyala area. The two men have been identified as Sabi Anwar and Ibrahim, both natives of Kishanganj in Bihar. Ibrahim was spitting on the dough.

“We have registered a case under relevant sections and arrested both the accused. We have also filed a case against the owner of the hotel named Aamir for running the eatery without permission,” a senior police officer said.

According to reports, a man was arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut last month after he was caught on camera spitting on the dough while preparing ‘rotis’ at a wedding function.

Washington: Two top Democratic senators have urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to raise with the Indian leaders the issue of treatment of peaceful farmer protesters and journalists even as they acknowledged that it is for the people and the Government of India to determine the path forward on its recently enacted farm laws.

In a letter to Blinken, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday urged the Biden administration to further engage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over its treatment of farmers in India who have been peacefully demonstrating against the passage of new farm laws.

Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

The government has denied allegations that it was trying to put an end to the MSP and the mandi system.

India has also emphasised that the protests by farmers must be seen in the context of India’s democratic ethos and polity and the Ministry of External Affairs last month said that some vested interest groups have tried to mobilise international support against the country.

In their joint letter to Blinken, Menendez and Schumer noted that India is a “long-term strategic partner with deep ties to the United States thanks to our many shared values and our large and valued Indian American community.”

“In light of these shared values and strong connections, we write with serious concern regarding the response of the Indian government to the farmer protests, they said.

In their letter, released to the press on Thursday, the two senators urged Blinken to raise the importance of freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest in conversations with his Indian counterparts and to ensure that State Department officials at all levels do so as well.

After becoming the Secretary of State, Blinken has spoken with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar multiple times. The readouts of the phone calls do not indicate that Blinken raised this issue, under pressure from his party leaders, with Jaishankar. The Biden administration has insisted that the two countries share democratic values.

Schumer and Menendez said the months-long demonstrations have been met with orders from the central government and local authorities to shut off internet access in protest areas, cut off water and electricity supplies for the tens of thousands living in protest camps, and impede the work of journalists reporting on the protests.

India’s people and the government will determine the path forward on these laws, and peaceful dialogue and respect for the viewpoints of all peaceful actors should drive that decision,” they said.

“As the US pursues a more perfect union here at home, including efforts to bolster the rule of law and our democracy, those efforts reinforce the importance of addressing challenges to democracies abroad as well, they wrote.

The letter by Schumer and Menendez comes a day after the latter wrote a similar letter to Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is visiting India this week.

There has been no response from either Austin or Blinken if they plan to raise these issues with their Indian counterparts, especially when the Biden administration is going out of its way in its outreach with the Modi government given the serious challenge it is facing from China.

Blinken and the US National Security Advisor have met their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska. This is the first in-person meriting that the Biden administration is having with the Chinese leadership.

In their letter, Menendez and Schumer said following the passage of new farm laws last fall, the farmers have engaged in over 100 days of peaceful demonstrations to express their opposition to certain policies.

While we do not take a position on internal Indian policy matters, we recognise and condemn that on January 26, a small faction of protesters engaged in unacceptable violence at the Red Fort in New Delhi, but protest leaders quickly condemned the violence and the vast majority of protesters remained peaceful.

“However, Indian authorities at different levels of government have used that day’s events as a pretext to undertake a broader and sustained crackdown on peaceful protesters, journalists, and government critics, they alleged.

Noting that they are alarmed by the sedition charges against a leading

Opposition politician and a 22-year-old climate activist related to the protests, the two senators said that the central government has repeatedly ordered Twitter to shut down accounts that relate to or report on the protests, including those of media organisations and journalists, and threatened to arrest Indian Twitter employees if the microblogging site fails to comply.

At the same time, Indian authorities have also sought to hinder the work of journalists reporting on the protests. Indian authorities have filed criminal complaints against at least 10 journalists for their reporting on the protests, including charges of sedition.

“Reporters Without Borders said the accusations represent a headlong assault on press freedom, and Indian press freedom groups have characterised them as an intimidation tactic to stifle the media, the senators wrote.

In the past, both Schumer and Menendez have spoken about the important role that India has in the US’ China policy.

They have both called for a strong relationship with India. Both have been sponsors of some key legislations on the matter.

Prominent among them include the Democracy Technology Partnership Act which says that the world’s major liberal-democratic nations must work together in a technology partnership to ensure that these technologies advance democratic institutions, norms, and values, contributing to global peace and prosperity.

The Democracy Technology Partnership Act establishes an inter-agency office at the US Department of State to lead in the creation of a new partnership among the world’s tech-leading democracies.

Multiple rounds of talks between the Indian government and farmer unions have not been able to resolve the deadlock over the new agri laws.

The government has said it has shown the utmost respect for protests by farmers and has remained engaged in dialogue with them to address their concerns.

Lucknow: The All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) appealed to the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition filed by former Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairperson Wasim Rizvi to remove 26 verses of the Quran.

The emergency meeting of the board’s executive was held in Lucknow on Thursday and it demanded from the government to give harsh punishments to people like him who are disrespectful to any religion or its holy book.

According to AISPLB spokesperson Maulana Yasub Abbas, a decision was taken in the executive meeting to request the Supreme Court to reject the PIL to maintain peace in the country.

The PIL was filed by Rizvi in the top court on March 11 and sought that 26 verses of the Quran be removed, arguing that these “promote terrorism”, triggering a row and strong opposition from various quarters.

Abbas said an appeal was made to all Muslims to put their photos on social media while reciting the Quran in their homes, mosques or imambara at 9 pm next Monday, and also put a picture of the holy book as their DPs.

He added that remarks by the Allahabad University vice chancellor against the morning azan were also strongly condemned in the meeting.

Bengaluru: Ending confusion, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday made it clear his party will contest April 17 bypolls to two assembly segments in Karnataka on its own and declared the candidate for Basavakalyan seat.

However, there seems to be no clarity yet about contesting Belgaum Lok Sabha byelection, with the former chief minister saying it will be decide in a couple of days.

JD(S) announced a Muslim candidate Syed Yasrab Ali Quadri for Basavakalyan seen as a move by the party to re-project its secular credentials, amid talks of its growing closeness to the BJP.

“We have decided to field candidates for Basavakalyan and Maski assembly constituency…..there is no question of any internal or outward understanding with any party in this polls,” Kumaraswamy said.

Speaking to reporters after meeting JD(S) office bearers and leaders from both constituencies, he said, the party has taken the assembly bypolls seriously and will fight for victory.

“In Basavakalyan, after consulting our people it has been decided to field Syed Yasrab Ali Quadri – he’s descendant of Basavakalyan’s famous Hazrat Shah Dada Karar dargah. He was with the Congress for 15 years. He has ties with all sections of society,” Kumaraswamy said.

For Maski, the candidate will be decided by Friday, he said, adding a decision on contesting Belgaum Lok Sabha seat would be taken in a couple of days after consulting local party leaders.

The bypolls will be held on April 17 and the counting of votes is slated for May 2.

By-elections to Belgaum Lok Sabha and Basavakalyan assembly seats have been necessitated by the death of Union Minister Suresh Angadi of the BJP and MLA B Narayan Rao of Congress respectively due to COVID-19 in September last year.

Maski seat fell vacant following the disqualification of MLA Prathapagouda Patil, who had won in 2018 on a Congress ticket and is now with the BJP.

Some amount of confusion had persisted about JD(S) contesting the bypolls with patriarch H D Deve Gowda stating that the party will not contest by-elections citing financial constraints while Kumaraswamy maintained it will field candidates.

Responding to a question about it, Kumaraswamy said Gowda had earlier said the party had not yet decided on fielding candidates for the bypolls. But later at a party meeting, with his permission it was decided to contest.

The JD(S) leader also noted that Raichur under which Maski constituency comes, is an extremely potential district for the party, and out of the seven assembly seats there, it can win 5-6 in the next assembly elections.

Kolkata: Shortly after her name was nominated as the BJP candidate from the Chowringhee assembly seat in the city, Sikha Mitra, wife of late Congress leader Somen Mitra, on Thursday said her name was announced without consent and she will not enter the poll fray.

Mitra also downplayed speculations of her joining the BJP, which were doing the rounds following her meeting with saffron party leader and family friend Suvendu Adhikari.

“No, I am not contesting from anywhere. My name has been announced without my consent. Also, I am not joining the BJP,” she told reporters.

The BJP on Thursday announced the names of 148 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal, including Sikha Mitra, the party’s vice-president Mukul Roy and its former state unit head Rahul Sinha.